My friend Carol Gray
Tomorrow is Carol's birthday and it is about time that I wrote about her on my blog.

We all have people in our lives that are mainstays no matter how radically our lives may change there are people who will be there no matter what. Carol Gray is one of those people in my life. Our cherish friendship has continued to grow even though we have been miles apart.
When we started traveling almost 5 years ago, it was Carol who threw us an intimate going away party. On our first return to New England, she called me as we were leaving Pennsylvania on our move from Knoxville, TN in the late summer of 2005 and said, what are you doing on Sunday? I said, "coming to your house?" and she said, "Do you think you can make it? Stephen is going to be baptized." And you can bet that is where we found ourselves. The only plans we had at the time were driving and making our way to Vermont.
As we found ourselves on a second return to New England this fall, I made plans with Carol to stay with her upon our arrival in the Bay State. Their family lives in our old hometown and we had plan to stay one night. We ended up staying for four nights as my van broke down while trying to leave, my old mechanic fixed the van and we were on our way, after being taken care of by my dear friend.
Carol is a faithful friend and sister in Christ. One of the sweetest, warm hearted human beings I know. The embodiment of a loving handmaiden of her Lord. Carol is the beloved of her husband, Steve and the devoted mother of 5 beautiful children. She is unwaivering in her dedication to her own family as well as the body of Christ. I am very grateful for Carol being in my life.
Happy Birthday Carol!!!

For the second time in the last 4 plus years we have returned to New England to live, this is the motherland and we are living on the South Shore of Massachusetts in the city of Hull very close to Nantasket Beach. There are a number of people who walk or run the beach each morning and I am one of them. I have made a feeble attempt to write about one of the freedoms of New England living. If you have any questions, I hope you leave it in the comment box and I will attempt to answer them.

Sincerely Yours

Walking down the beach at the break of day
Not the soft sands of Florida but the rugged terrain of New England
The air is brisk, the sky is clear and the ocean is tuned
To the rhythm of my foot steps
I am not alone but . . .

I don’t have to say good morning
No one will think I'm rude
You don’t have to say good morning
we respect your solitude

To me this is home in the human sense of the word
It’s not that we are an unfriendly people
We just like to keep to ourselves
It’s your people and my people
A pleasant smile can say hello just as well as Good Morning but . . .

You don’t have to say good morning
No one will think you’re rude
You don’t have to say good morning
we respect your solitude

Another way to have freedom and solitude but an acknowledgment
Is through a nod or a simple twinkling of the eye
Say Good Morning if you want to but remember . . .

You don’t have to say good morning
No one will think you’re rude
You don’t have to say good morning
we respect your solitude

I have spent some time in the south
I love some folks down there but there
are pressures of civility that made me question their sincerity
Here in the Bay state, you will encounter the grumpy, cheerful, depressed and some clicking there heels for joy
Be careful if you ask someone how they are because you will probably get the truth

Catherine Mullaney ©