Leaving a legacy

 I am making a baby albun for Daniel with pictures his mother shared with me. I love the fact that she took the time to make him a baby book. In it, she has in detail things like: His first hair cut, first tooth, first word, when he first walked etc. She has it all posted with dates. All the gifts he received when he was born and all the presents he got for Christmas and birthday celebrations. I feel a little sad that I didn't do that with my all girls. I took a lot of pictures of Cristi and finished her baby album but didn't do that with Bianca and Mandy. I started those albums and never finished them. I don't even know what I did with them. I hope sometimes I could rewind time and go back to when I was a young mother. I don't know where the time went and why I didn't do those things that matter most. Why did I have to be involved in a million other things when I should have done more for my family? That will be one of my regrets in life but what I do now is make baby albums for others. Daniel has one that is very old, and what I decided to do is to make it better. His mom did a wonderful job with what she had at the time but the pages are all yellow and the pictures are gettig faded so before all that is gone, we have saved them in our computer and also shared them with the kids. I am taking what she wrote and I am placing them exactly how she had it but in an acid free album. I am also making albums of our family and so far I have done three. I have learned my lesson to not take those precious moments as a family for granted because one day they will be so valuable. I hope to do a better job from now on. It is never too late to start. This is why I have started writing in this blog more often.

I decided to start writing something on my blog daily if time permits it because I have never been good at keeping a journal and this is a good way of doing it without too much effort. Typing something is so much easier than hand writing thoughts that come to mind. I hope since I have a little more time on my hands now as an empty nester which will also allow me to be consistent.

In this blog I hope to share the values I stand for such as respect, going the extra mile, service, integrity etc. as well as special events, lessons I have learned, my personal goals, my family, I will share moments demonstrating the good times and the bad times or what some may say, the good, the bad and the ugly. As the wife of a DTA (Director of Temporal Affairs) I get to listen to amazing inspirational speakers and may experience wonderful things of the heart. I feel so lucky this way and would love to share those amazing moments.

You never know what I would write since it will all depend on my day to day activity and that is why I have named my blog One day at a time. You never know if the post will be a funny story, an inspirational thought, or an important event.  And so this blog will become the only way I can communicate effectively to the entire family. The Flores-Henriquez Almeida family is huge! This way I keep everyone in the loop and on the same page.

I want to leave a legacy to my children and grandchildren and this is why this blog is in English, my second language. Most of my family is in the United States and want them to feel like they are part of me no matter where I am living and want them to know of everything going on each day around my life. In addition, it will let everyone in my family know exactly what my core values are and what matters to me the most.

 I can honestly say that for the first time at age 54 I have felt the need to write my life story, a daily message in hopes I can be connected with all who know me but mostly my children and grandchildren. I heard a quote once who stated “In life you will realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you, and some will teach you. But most importantly…some will bring out the best in you.” My hope is for my children and grandchildren to learn from my experiences good and bad and especially not make those same mistakes I have made. To know me so when the time comes when I have passed on, they can honestly say: “I knew what she stood for.”