Your Very Best Life

Dear Friend,

I hope that you had a fantastic 4th of July week ~and this finds you refreshed and recharged.  For many of us, we celebrated our country’s Independence with festivities that included people we love ~ friends & family, young & old, near & far.  Maybe your holiday was steeped in tradition ~ a parade, Great Grandma’s famous potato salad, a water balloon fight at dusk before the night sky was illuminated with brilliant bursts of glittering light.  Perhaps this year marked a new chapter and your celebration was a spontaneous one, or the beginning of new traditions to carry on in the years to come.    No matter where or how you spent your Independence Day, I would bet that you heard the sounds of laughter, voices  of loved ones catching up and visiting.  It’s likely that at least one person told you they loved you, and if you were anywhere in these United States of America, you heard the telltale BOOMs as fireworks erupted in every direction as the last light faded from the sky.

I’d like you to do something for me.  Close your eyes for a moment, and replay your day, all that you did, with all those around you, however, imagine that you couldn’t hear the laughter, couldn’t hear the conversations taking place around you, couldn’t hear the voice of someone expressing their love for you.

Now….. Imagine………. being able to give someone the GIFT of hearing.

I would like to invite you to join me in declaring the month of July as Independence Month, and together, playing a big game with one common goal…..SO THE WORLD MAY HEAR!
The Starkey Hearing Foundation is a remarkable organization dedicated to making a difference in the world.  As Bill Austin says, “Alone we can’t do much, but together we can change the world”, and you can see from their videos they are in fact changing the world each and every day.  I am certain that once you see what I have seen….your heart will be just as touched, just as moved, just as inspired.

Here is a link to view some of the viagra that the Starkey Hearing Foundation did ~ One of my personal favorites, if you click on “Africa”, and then “Nairobi 2010”.  To experience witnessing the exact moment that these children hear for the first time – it takes your breath away.
Please take a moment right now, and click here:

http://www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org/hearing-missions.php?video=12

This is my request…. I know, that together, by opening our hearts, and giving what we can, whether that is $1, $5, $10, $100…. and by sharing this email with your networks, friends, colleagues, etc…and asking them to do the same, we can raise at least $10,000 in the next 3 weeks…. and, by leveraging the matching gift that has been granted to us, each dollar will actually turn into $5. So, by our raising $10,000, that becomes $50,000, and THAT my friends changes the lives of 200 children forever……
So, please join me, let’s rally, and together, make a difference….. SO THE WORLD MAY  HEAR.
Here is what to do next:

You can make a check out to:
Starkey Hearing Foundation

Please include your full  name & address along with

donation, and mail to me at the following address:

Riana M. Bennerotte
11346 Eagle View Terrace
Woodbury, Mn 55129

You can donate online by visiting:
http://www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org/individual-gift.php

When you get to the follow sections, please use these instructions:

Under “Gift Selection” and “I would like to donate for” -

SELECT : Million Dollar Club

Then, at the bottom, you will see a heading called “Tribute Information”
In the drop down box, SELECT:  Honorarium

In the box to the right where it says NAME: type:  Riana M. Bennerotte

Thank you for BEING Extraordinary…..

Thank You for Giving from your Heart

…so the world may hear!

07 White Christmas

I am sitting here on this snowy Christmas Eve morning in my living room, listening to the soft sounds of Christmas music, and enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and the sparkly glow from the lights on the tree.

For some, this is truly the most wonderful time of the year…celebrations abound, joy and cheer overflow with friends and family, the uninhibited giggles as little ones gaze upon the gifts under the tree ~ wondering if they will hear Santa as he magically slips in during their sweet slumber.

This day of the year has always been about magic for me… for as long as I can remember.  Since my birth, I believe there was only a single Christmas Eve that was not spent at Grammy & Bumpy’s house.  Mama and I would pack up the car, and the 90 minute drive would seem endless.  We would pull into the driveway, and it was as if mother nature had created the scene straight out of a Thomas Kinkade painting.  The enormous pine trees beautifully flocked with crystal snow… the horses in the pasture, who would run along the fence as we drove in, their winter coats thick and full, the lights in the trees in the front the the house, all leading up the moment when the front door would open wide when they saw us drive in, and the smells of Christmas, and family, and Tradition would envelop me in a the warm hugs of their arms.

After church, the rest of our family would come back to the house, uncles and aunties and cousins….our family tradition on Christmas Eve has always been Hors d’Oeuvres for our meal, usually a little champagne toast, and wonderful conversation and laughter as we catch up and talk about what is happening in our lives, the world, and reminisce about things we remember from when we were young….

When the excitement was too much to bear any longer, we would all move to the living room and the fire would crackle, and we would say a prayer, or read a special story, and then, the sounds of paper tearing and squeals of excitement filled the house.

On Christmas morning, when I was a little girl, Bumpy would take me up on the roof (it was flat!), and to my amazement there were always sleigh tracks, tiny hoof prints and either a tiny little halter or a jingle bell or two that was “left behind”…..   That, was pure MAGIC.

As a mommy, it makes my heart full to pass on some of that magic to my little girl…. wouldn’t you know ~ last year, “Donner” happened to “throw a shoe” when Santa’s sleigh landed on our deck…. thankfully, it was covered with magic Christmas glitter, and it caught Madi’s eye glistening in the sun.

I know that for some, this is the hardest time of year, missing loved ones who are no longer with us, longing for tradition and connection but spending the holidays alone, grieving the loss of a marriage and feeling as though there is an empty space in their heart.  It is for you, I share this next wish….Know that those who are not here are here in spirit, and live on forever in the love that you had for them…when you look into the night sky, see them in the stars, as they twinkle and shine bright in the darkest dark, they are there…..loving you right back.  When we give love, we open up our hearts to receive love.  When we comfort another, we open up our spirits to receive comfort ourselves.  When we create magic where there was none, we open up our life to see the magic all around us.

Wherever you are on this day, however you are spending this night, when you awake tomorrow morning, let your heart be filled with love, your spirit soft with comfort, and be present to the magic in your life…..

Merry Christmas from my heart to yours….
I am sending you love and magic

Always,
~R