Kathy Riordan

Kathy Riordan
Location
Florida, United States
Birthday
April 27
Bio
One woman's view of life and the universe. Follow @katriord on Twitter.

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JANUARY 31, 2010 9:31AM

Breath of Life

Rate: 41 Flag

In Hawaiian, breath of life.

Considered sacred.  A gift of God, breathed into man at creation, given along with healing and insight.  

To exhale is cleansing.  To inhale is to take in the new.

To many cultures, key to health.  As the Chinese say, "The man who breathes to his toes will live to be a hundred."   Entire books have been written on it, prayer beads fingered achieving it. 

That which is written on the wind.  The Divine Breath.  

Aloha.  To be in the presence of the breath, the divine, the breath of life. 

Hana.  The place of healing.  Beauty.  And breath. 

 

images-3 

 

Yesterday morning at 8:47 a.m. Pacific Time my mother was taken off the ventilator, while I was present.

And did well.

And laughed.

And breathed.

 

 

 

 

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Comments

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That is wonderful news. This is indeed, Good News Sunday.
kathy, this made me tear up with relief and i still have tears in my eyes. i have been following your story, and not knowing what to say cause i am very clumsy when people are in need, and i have been running around all unseemly over at my blog, and so i am very very happy to read this today.
Kathy, when I read this the hairs on the back of my neck (the only hair left anywhere near my head) stood at attention and tears welled in my eyes. HA (with two dots) indeed.

And may Hana envelope her.
Ha! Good for her - and you! This truly makes my day!
HA! Wow. Phew... I'm breathing with you here.
Excellent news Kathy! And a beautiful reminder of the gift of breathe.
She is released. And you knew that. The breath is amazing. The true meaning of the word - inspire - which this post is ... inspiring.
thinking and breathing with you ...
What great news, Kathy ! I have been following the story on your mother too, and my heart sank when I read she was taken off the ventilator. Wonderful turn around, very happy for you and your siblings and family.
The divine breath, indeed.
Interesting -- "breathing in to your toes." I have many Vietnamese friends who express affection not just with the standard hug and kiss, but by inhaling deeply. I suspect this is more common in Oriental than Occidental culture. Happy Sunday!
Oh my God, Kathy! What a gift! I feel somewhat foolish now for assuming the worst. Please forgive me that!

Now to get to the good stuff! How is your Mom doing now? I'm sending out many, many good wishes to your Mom!
Rated
wonderful wonderful news!
I'm so glad you are there for her, and for you.
She is sleeping peacefully this morning in her room, oxygen saturations at 100, breathing on her own.
This is wonderful news. Keeping you and yours in my thoughts.
taking a deep breath for you both.
Yay! Maybe it saved her life and she can look back on this and wonder at what she went through!!
Just wonderful news_ r
*hug*

Now I have a new word to use when I meditate. Thank you. :) This is so good news sunday!
Hurraaaaaaaaah! Whew... (r)
Great news, Kathy. She laughed.....

My thoughts are with you.
This is wonderful and blessed news!

-R-


For you.

These are the best gifts of all. Continued good thoughts and prayers being sent your way.
I'm so happy for you and your family, Kathy...what joyous news, indeed...xox
How wonderful to hear this. Some wag once described death as breaking the oxygen habit; it turns out to be a deeper insight than I realized.
What wonderful news! I am so happy you have more time with your mom and that you can be there with her!
Wonderful news. Wonderfully told!
Celebrating to the rafters Kathy. Peace be with you and yours.
A very poignant piece of writing. Rated!
what a wonderful gift! our love and hope for more progress!
Divine! Love will keep all of you in its embrace! Thanks for the beautiful lesson!
I hear a sounding of many laughs of relief across this forum.
Bless all of you....
This is wonderful to hear.
Oh, such good news!! :) :) :)
Amazing--so good to see this.
My mother transferred out of ICU earlier this evening to a regular room. Tube feeds, catheters, oxygen, and IVs were all discontinued. She's been laughing and smiling for two days. I'm on a red-eye back to Florida. Thanks, everyone for your sensitive support through this past week, and the prayers offered up on my mother's behalf, much appreciated. We got her back.
I held my breath when I read that she was taken off the ventilator.
Hurray for your Mom.

You pack so much emotion into so few words.
Inspiring - in more ways than one.
My mother was transferred off the ICU last night and will be going home in a couple of days. Thanks everyone for your supportive kindness.
Right on KR. Same exercises are happening here at the Kumbh Mela....
That should have been:

Aaaaahhhhhh. Wonderful.
Kathy, I am so happy to hear this. My thoughts are with you and your mother.
This is the perfect blog for anyone who wants to know about this topic. You know so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great! Free Resume Samples