The Joy of Life...

This week has been filled with good news and joy! We were blessed to be a part of 2 weddings this week. At the wedding yesterday I watched a beautiful bride fill the entire room with joy. She was so happy! There is nothing like a wedding to give you hope for the future. And the guests! They were as happy as she was. They ate, laughed with friends, danced and had the best time! 

Covid has taken a toll on all of us, and that needs to be addressed, but I know we will be fine. A very long time ago my grandfather was interviewed by the Houston Chronicle. I can still see him standing in front of his destroyed restaurant in Kemah Texas. The reporter asked what must be the classic obligatory question from Adam on down..."What are you going to do now?" My grandfather looked him straight in the eye and said, "The hurricane took it all, except my will...So I WILL build it back - just watch me." And you know what? He did...

We all have been in a place to start over and build again. For my husband and I it was the recession, we were knocked down to the very bottom. After some dusting off, we built back. For others it's covid that destroyed them, for some it's a terrible health problem, or a divorce...there is no end to what this world can throw at you. But don't worry....as my uncle told me the night before my mother's funeral..."you can get through this, you are made of better stuff." I believe that, I believe that with all my heart. We are made of better stuff. To those who are starting over from covid - you can do it. To those rebuilding after the riots, you can do it. To those of you in pain, any kind of pain you can get through it...There can be joy in starting over. Enjoy this beautiful spring, embrace hope and focus on what is right in the world! xxoo

Write your own headlines. "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself"

 I just read an upsetting post on facebook, that's nothing new, but rarely are they personal. This one was personal, so I responded, I didn't necessarily feel better but I was compelled to say something, so I did. The person who posted the article was immediately apologetic after she read my comment. I know she never intended to scare or harm me in any way so although I can't unsee what I read I accepted her explanation and it's over. 

That's not always the case. I have followed the facebook page of a woman who absolutely means psychological harm as she mocks precious things. I shouldn't take it, but I do, I also should unfollow her but I don't, ( some kind of masochistic tendency on my part). I have facebook friends who are philosophically opposite of me. I love smart people who disagree with me, but we don't try to trigger each other. We still talk about grandchildren, recipes, work and getting older. We don't mock each other, and that is rooted in respect. One has had heart issues, not similar to mine but anytime a surgeon touches your heart you have an immediate kinship for someone else who has. Another is just like me but we are photographic negatives politically. She is passionate, bold and never suffers fools...I like her. (I could say we are both a pain in the ass but that might not be politically correct)

After I thought about the upsetting post on facebook tonight for way too long, something else I read came to mind.....This is from an 87 year old man in a conversation with someone who was finished with all the bad news and wanted to give up on the world. The old man said, " I learned a long time ago not to see to the world through the printed headline. Instead I see the world through the people who surround me. I see the world with the realization that we love big. Therefore, I just choose to write my own headlines:

HUSBAND LOVES WIFE TODAY

FAMILY DROPS EVERYTHING TO COME TO GRANDMA'S BEDSIDE

OLD WOMAN MAKES A NEW FRIEND

So, like the old man I've decided to write my own headlines. I will let others write about what they see and I will write what I see. My words will come from what I know for sure. My headlines will be about the people around me also. 

Today my headlines come from Rumi, a 13th Century Persian Poet. I read some of his work when I was simply at my lowest I embraced his philosophy of hope and I refer to it often....

                                     "Live life as though everything is rigged in your favor"

And

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself

Remember the little girl who was throwing starfish back in the water after they washed up on the beach? A man came by and made fun of her efforts by saying, "There are too many starfish on the beach you can't possibly make a difference." She picked up another and while holding it in her hand said, "It will make a difference to this one." And she threw it back in the sea. We can all make a difference today...one kind word, one nice note, one hug...

Today let's write our own headline of love, hope and optimism. xxoo

There is Hope ... I promise

This morning I started the day much as you did. Incredulous, afraid, anxious. I still hadn't found any kind of peace when I pulled into a parking space at Sam's several hours later. The events of the last three months, and then the horrific murder of George Floyd has left me empty...except for outrage. As I got out of my car I noticed a woman in front of me loading groceries in the back of her car. 

She looked over and gave me a huge smile (I know this because our masks were down around our necks, but we were about 10 feet apart) She quickly asked me how I was and I thought I could say fine....but I didn't. I looked at her and said, "To tell you the truth, I am completely unsettled..." She asked me why and I told her "I have no idea what to do, and I feel powerless." Without any explanation she knew exactly what I was talking about. She smiled at me and said, "Don't worry, everything is going to work out, it's going to be fine." She went on to say, "This is when we lean on our faith, and remember most people are good, very, very good.The fact you stopped to talk about this gives me all the hope I need." I tried to explain that I have many black friends but I have been afraid or nervous to approach them because I think I will say something wrong and that is the last thing I want to do. She told me not to worry....to just say what is in my heart. 

She reminded me what Martin Luther King said, "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Then she told me the best thing I may have ever heard. She said, "I'm going home now to tell my grandchildren about our conversation...I am going to make sure they know people are good and love is all around us, and that everything will be ok." I just stood there and cried...I cried for George Floyd, I cried for what is happening right now in our country and I cried tears of gratitude for this incredible woman who spent time helping me feel better. We couldn't hug, but she blew me a kiss and said, "I'm Mary, it was so nice to talk to you, can't you just feel the hope?" 

It's true I did, divine hope, because of a chance meeting between two women in the parking lot at Sam's....we had everything in common, groceries, age, and grandchildren...everything except race and it made no difference at all.

This morning I started the day much as you did. Incredulous, afraid, anxious. I still hadn't found any kind of peace when I pulled into a parking space at Sam's several hours later. The events of the last three months, and then the horrific murder of George Floyd has left me empty...except for outrage. As I got out of my car I noticed a woman in front of me loading groceries in the back of her car. She looked over and gave me a huge smile (I know this because our masks were down around our necks, but we were about 10 feet apart) She quickly asked me how I was and I thought I could say fine....but I didn't. I looked at her and said, "To tell you the truth, I am completely unsettled..." She asked me why and I told her "I have no idea what to do, and I feel powerless." Without any explanation she knew exactly what I was talking about. She smiled at me and said, "Don't worry, everything is going to work out, it's going to be fine." She went on to say, "This is when we lean on our faith, and remember most people are good, very, very good.The fact you stopped to talk about this gives me all the hope I need." I tried to explain that I have many black friends but I have been afraid or nervous to approach them because I think I will say something wrong and that is the last thing I want to do. She told me not to worry....to just say what is in my heart. She reminded me what Martin Luther King said, "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Then she told me the best thing I may have ever heard. She said, "I'm going home now to tell my grandchildren about our conversation...I am going to make sure they know people are good and love is all around us, and that everything will be ok." I just stood there and cried...I cried for George Floyd, I cried for what is happening right now in our country and I cried tears of gratitude for this incredible woman who spent time helping me feel better. We couldn't hug, but she blew me a kiss and said, "I'm Mary, it was so nice to talk to you, can't you just feel the hope?" It's true I did, divine hope, because of a chance meeting between two women in the parking lot at Sam's....we had everything in common, groceries, age, and grandchildren...everything except race and it made no difference at all.