Melting

Photo courtesy of freebeautifulphotoscollections.blogspot.com

The ice is melting away
Dripping through my veins
Time heals all wounds

Life goes on with or without me
Days tend to disappear
Time wipes the tears

Smiles happen involuntarily
Chuckles bubble to the surface
Time lessens regrets

Reaching Out Doesn't Cost Anything

The last thing in the evening I would drive to the nearest courier box to drop my business files in the box. The courier service would pick up files at a scheduled time so timing was of the essence. Last minute holdups in my home office would mean I was out the door just in time to drive to the drop box.

One evening I pulled my car out of the garage, swung the car around and headed down an alley to take advantage of the short cut to the drop box. Thankfully I was not going very fast, because a form moved out in front of me. I slowed and then stopped.

A woman dressed in dark colored clothes was holding the hand of her little boy who was also in dark clothes. She was startled because she came out of their back gate and almost walked into my car. I got out of my car and told her it was hard to see her in the dark clothes. I asked her if she had a light color jacket to wear and she said no. So I walked around to my car's side door and retrieved my brand new sparkly white sweat hoodie and handed it to her. I gave it to her and told her to be safe and to please wear the white hoodie when she walked out in the dark.

When I pulled into the parking lot at the drop box, the courier was just unlocking the box to retrieve the files, so he took my files. The small delay was worth it in many ways.

So reaching out doesn't cost anything; refraining from reaching out may cost you amazing blessings.

Children Need Caretakers

An aware parent loves all children he or she interacts with; for you are a caretaker for those moments in time.
--Doc Childre

 A child is not a vessel to be filled, but a lamp to be lit.
--Proverb

Free a child's potential and you will transform him into the world.
--Maria Montessori

Modern cynics and skeptics see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.
--John F Kennedy

Children are gifts, not a chore. They cannot be ignored or cast aside like old newspapers or used condoms. They are the future of our world. As they are treated is how they will contribute to society when they are grown. If their social understanding is stinted, they will not have the tools to fit in and discover the wonders available to them as adults. How do we get people to understand that if they are not prepared to teach by example and love unconditionally, they must not have children. Does this sound harsh? I am sixty five years old and I am sitting in a place of viewing changes in behaviors and disrespect shown to children by not giving them the chance they deserve to think and decide, and strive to better themselves emotionally and intellectually. The romantic notion to have children is immature and impractical, just as mooning over someone and getting married without much thought or pre-marriage counseling. Most weddings these days are attended by guests who are betting on how long the marriage will last.
Even the bride and groom are using divorce as an option if it does not work out, using divorce as a back up plan as they walk down the aisle. No wonder children do not stand a chance for stability when their parents are so wishy washy. Children are not disposable. They are a precious responsibility.

Consolation

"And because I love this life
I know I shall love death as well.
The child cries out when
From the right breast the mother
Takes it away, in the very next moment
To find in the left one
Its consolation."

----Rabindranath Tagore,
             from Gitanjali (Bengali collection of English poems)

"Consolation" by Steven Lavaggi

Looking Forward To A New Year

We are ushering in a new year. Let us hope the year brings hope and happiness to people who have been beaten down with the harsh realities of life. Let us help wherever possible the people who live each day with hungry bellies. Sending five dollars to an energy assistance program in your community can help an elderly member in your town be warm and stay well. Find out what is needed at your local schools and tell your friends what that is and help provide the better learning environment at the schools. Make this a year that you think of others. Make that your New Year Resolution and follow through the entire year, and see if this is the best year ever. Thinking of others and caring and sharing bring many rewards in ways you cannot even imagine.

May this year be happy for all of us.
2012 means changes. One change is that I am no longer anonymous. Here is me drinking my coffee this morning:

Toasting you all with my morning coffee and sending good wishes to you all. Thank you for your love and support.

Winning and Laughing

One of my senior friends invited me to play Bingo with her. She likes to play in a town on the other side of where she lives out in the country. She came into town to pick me up and drove out past her house a few miles to the other town. Bingo is a bi-weekly event in that little town. Lots of cars already there and the women of the parish bringing in food to sell. Bingo is held at a very large parish hall. I had already eaten but the homemade soup looked great. I would have to find out the ingredients before I would buy something, but I did buy a small bottle of water.

I was given a free bottle of dabber to mark my Bingo sheet and welcomed like family. This was my virgin Bingo night. As the man on the stage began calling numbers, I found I needed to concentrate on the six bingo boxes so I wouldn't miss dabbing any numbers. My friend who brought me won a game early on. And at the end of the night I had won two times so I went home with $15. And there was lots of visiting and laughing. I thought Bingo players would be more like Bridge players, no talking and serious playing. I don't play bridge but I watch the Bridge players at the center. Since I know nothing about Bridge, maybe they are in tournaments. Not so. The Bingo people were a blast. And I actually knew three people from the senior center. For my first time out and about I did not feel like a stranger. I was a winner in more than one way.

My Slippers Do The Old Folks Shuffle

It must be something from my childhood, but when I hear people shuffling along with feet slightly dragging, it sounds like old people to me. I am not in any way disparaging old people. I am one of them.

Someone gave me these slippers. I have worn them for a few years now. One day I accidentally spilled a drop of bleach on one slipper. So, instead of looking at the drop and letting it bother me, I took a Q-tip dipped in bleach and made a design in the slippers. My way of turning lemons into lemonade. Or in this case, damaged slippers into funky art.

When I walk around the house with my slippers on though, I don't walk my usual way. I shuffle. That is the only way to keep the slippers from slipping! Thus, the Old Folks Shuffle.