Don’t Wish Away Your Monday

By Stephanie Glidden

It’s Monday! A day of the week a lot of people dread. I think too many of us take Monday for granted. I know I’d love to be packing my husbands lunch box and kissing him goodbye as he walked out the door for work. It was over two years ago that we found out there would be no more Mondays like that. We took Mondays for granted too. We wished too many of them away, rushed through five days of the week to get to the two we wanted. What I would do now to have a normal Monday back.

What If?

In 2011, a poem written by a Colorado woman named Natalie Fognani was turned into a song by musician Lucas Hoge. The song is called “How Was I To Know?” When Natalie wrote it, she could no longer walk, talk, or move her arms and hands.

Folks, she wrote the song with her toe (a hot pink painted one at that, love it!) Natalie was trapped inside a body that didn’t work any more because of ALS. Her dream was to have her poem made into a song, which thanks to a group of special people, she was able to see her dream come true before she passed away a few months later.

For a woman who was weak and frail, she has a message that is strong and true. It’s a message we can’t afford to miss.

I read an interview that was done with Natalie. This is what she said:

“It occurred to me that most people take it for granted that they can talk and hug and kiss. I had taken all those things for granted. How was I to know I’d be in this condition? I looked forward to retirement, a next vacation. I took my good health for granted, friendships and relationships. I didn’t thank God enough for the blessings in my life”

The Little Big Things

It’s hard not to take the everyday things for granted. But I hope Natalie’s song will cause you to slow down. To focus on the little things in life today. To appreciate your Monday, and every other day of the week you can hug your kids, kiss your husband or walk to the mailbox. It’s the little things, but they really are the big things after all, aren’t they?

Here is the video that was made for the song.It starts out with how the song was made, and then the musician meets Natalie and performs for her. I’ll just warn you ahead of time: Get your tissues.

Carpe Diem

Now go, seize your day. Love the mundane, embrace the normal. My house is always in shambles on Monday. It’s a day of putting back together. I don’t always like it, but I am happy another Monday came.

How about you?