6 posts tagged “love”

The thing about this piece is that some of us think like this regardless of being a mother or a father. We worry about making ends meet, having a clean house, making sure our friends are okay and ensuring we are there for those moments when fears come to the surface and they come quickly. It happens, it's part of life. Which, in my opinion, is the reason we should love and respect one another regardless of our differences and be on the ready to ensure that "the kids" (whatever that might mean - an elder left behind needing care, the kids, the dogs or fish or cats and birds, the family heirlooms, the home, the garden that nourishes a community that one person keeps planted for all the neighbors and need to come gather food when in need. But then life takes hold and we tend to not think further than ourselves....but we should return to it often to help us reach our goals.

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Hi everyone! I simply wanted to post a message of love and happiness extended to my group of VOX friends! I hope you all have a great weekend! Smile at strangers today and wink at a few too. :) Pass the love around.

HUGS

JD

A post in a group I created speaks volumes of what it is like for ANYONE who is different from what society calls "normal" whatever normal is. I give Sean huge credit, and gratitude, for sharing his story with the masses and because that group is fairly small, but my neighborhood is quite comfy, I chose to share his story here, as well, because it's important to me that folks know how causing someone great duress due to their difference is wrong, hurtful, and can many times, damage folks for life. That's what hate is designed to be, an attempt at defeat to cripple, damage and hurt.

Folks need to understand how hurtful they are by such actions. While we may be different in some respects, we are the same in one, our humanness and we should all strive to break down walls, help others, give love when it's the most difficult thing for us to do, because that's how you know it's the right thing, it's hard.

The great things in life are simple to think, but to put them in practice, they are sometimes the most difficult thing you'll do. Read Sean's story in Living OUT Loud to gain a better understand from our perspective what it's like to be ridiculed, hated, excluded and some cases, disowned. It should not matter what you believe, how you live, or where your from. It simply should not matter. Do you believe it's okay to hate? Do you believe in making someone feel like an outsider? If that's normal, then I'm happy to be very, very different.

And this is how JD is different. Do I hate? Most Definitely.

• I hate nasty politics.
• I hate rude people.
• I hate hunger and homelessness.
• I hate hate crimes.
• I hate segregation.
• I hate unnecessary wars.
• I hate our treatment of our planet.
• I hate cruelty to animals.
• I hate deforestation, I hate clear cutting and ticky tacky tract homes.
• I hate so much regulation that we get so lost in it we can't function without the need of two others to get simple things accomplished. (yeah, I'm conservative there - go figure!)
• I hate the cost of living is rising and in many places astronomically, forcing many to move from their homes and families.
  
• I hate corrupt politics.
• I hate hungry children.
• I hate mean people.
• I hate bitterness (but we all must endure it).
• I hate violence.
• I hate rage, though sometimes we are pushed to it.
  
• I hate organized religion that condemns and tries to control and churches that teach hate of people. Look inside to where the Devil resides if you believe in that sort of thing (don't just say you do because everyone else you hang with does). Jesus did not hate. God's work as man on earth was spent doing loving and caring for those less fortunate. Those who were ill, sick, downtrodden, abandoned. (Think about that for a minute - and God created us in his image. Therefore, that's what we should do possibly? But that good ole' money and fear (the Devil) have gotten us not to care. That's what I hate.
• I hate oppression.

• I love people!
• I love the planet and all of it's NATURAL beauty and wonders.
• I love simplicity!
• I love my country and my ability to be free and happy because in some countries, they are not!
• I love my home, my puppy, and my husband (oops, wait, is he not simply because I can't get a license? He IS my husband.
• I love diversity.
• I love gay people.
• I love straight people.
• I love black, white, red and yellow people. (Oh the color wheel is such a glorious thing.)
• I love to behold multicultural babies and children and grownups. They are simply beautiful! (I don't like interracial as it makes us sound as if we are different races and we're not. We're all human).
• I love ethnic foods and the folks who make them, because without them, I simply could not make such a delicious meal of the like I'd have never known had it not been for my love of their difference.
• I love that folks help others.
• I love that people have the ABILITY to be kind. (I hate they don't use it.)
• I love that we, as a nation will fight, for what is right and usually, the big battles, we win!
• I love that I have the wherewithal to know the difference between right and wrong.
• I love that money does not drive me! Beauty, kindness and love do!
• I love that we are starting to see our affects on our planet, our nation, and our children by way of how we treat each of them.
• I love that we, as humans, CAN change. I hate that we don't many times.
• I love that we have the ability to include everyone if we choose to, I hate we do not.
• And I'm gracious and thankful that my God and my faith has taught me these things out of experience rather than a lack thereof and a fear to do so.

"Go with God, Crispy" - Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg

Love to you all,

JD

The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents' bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar.

As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar. They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty.  Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled.

I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate's treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window.  When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank.

Taking the coins to the bank was always a big production   Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.

Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully.  'Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son. You're going to do better than me.  This old mill town's not going to hold you back.'

Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly 'These are for my son's college fund. He'll never work at the mill all his life like me.'

We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone.  I always got chocolate.  Dad always got vanilla.  When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm.  'When we get home, we'll start filling the jar again.'  

He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar. As they rattled around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other.  'You'll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,' he said.  'But you'll get there; I'll see to that.'

No matter how rough things got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar.  Even the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill, and Mama had to serve dried beans several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar.

To the contrary, as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring catsup over my beans to make them more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me.  'When you finish college, Son,' he told me, his eyes glistening, 'You'll never have to eat beans again - unless you want to.'

The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town. Once, while visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and noticed that the pickle jar was gone.  It had served its purpose and had been removed. A lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar had always stood.  My dad was a man of few words, and never lectured me on the values of determination, perseverance, and faith.

The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have done.  When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly pickle jar had played in my life as a boy.  In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my dad had loved me.

The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my parents.  After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild. Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad's arms. 'She probably needs to be changed,' she said, carrying the baby into my parents' bedroom to diaper her. When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her eyes.

She handed Jessica back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room.  'Look,' she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my amazement, there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins.

I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins.  With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar.  I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt. Neither one of us could speak This truly touched my heart.  I know it has yours as well. Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.  With one small gesture you can change a person's life, for better or for worse. God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for Good in others.

The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched - they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller

You know, I'm a lucky...lucky...LUCKY man! I get to wake up each morning with Keith. I get to spend my morning waking to Keith giving me a goodbye kiss and the great day starters, like "Have a great day.", and "I love you.". I get to wake to the beautiful sunrises, like this morning's, out our bedroom window.

I get wash dishes while coffee is brewing. I get to make a strong coffee with half cup milk and a teaspoon of sugar. I get to snuggle with my pup Penny on the sofa. I get to turn on the telly and sit down with Discovery Channel's Sunrise Earth (as if my own sunrise wasn't nice enough), I get to read the good news from online friends/neighbors and I get to write about it and share what I experience with the world.

I sit here this morning and I'm, quite obviously, being gracious and thinking about what I have in my life to be thankful for and as you have read above, I have much. It may not seem it to some folks, but for me, my simple life, isn't so simple. I struggled many a day to find something to be happy about a while back. I went through a relationship where I loved someone enough to allow them to emotionally cripple me with abuse and it took about two years to get over, but I did it and I did it with the love from my partner, Keith. I came through and to this day, I can say, I'm VERY thankful I am able to forgive Until I could forgive that person, I could not move forward. It was the second most difficult thing I'd ever do in my life so far. The first was forgiving my parents. That took about 15 years.

So, today, I have this life, where I don't need much and have everything I need, plus a few extra bonus things to make our lives a bit more comfortable, but we live simply and within our means. We live on cash so we don't have, nor do we need crazy credit, we only have a mild amount of debt compared to some folks, and we get to spend our days like this together.

It does get better as you get older, too. Well, I can only speak for myself, but I hope that in sharing, folks find inspiration in my outlook and from my experiences. That is, truly, all I wish from writing all this for the world to see. I may be considered a romantic, but ask Keith, he'll tell you I'm not. But I do find myself at peace with where I am and with who I am and that wasn't always the case. I thank God for that. I could be a bitter, jaded, and hateful person from my experiences, but I chose not to be. I've known folks like that and they are not pleasant to be around.

My wish for you all today, is that you wake up, can take a deep breath, see things in a positive light, and take in the little things and not take them for granted. Don't let life get in your way of life. Peace to you all on this day and every day.

With Love,

Derek aka JD