by | November 28, 2014 · 8:56 pm

Grateful Hearts

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

– Melody Beattie

I was poking around Facebook and witnessed a plethora of heart-felt “I’m thankful for…” posts. Then I looked at my wall and found a bunch of smart-ass comments because I was hoping to make my friends laugh. But, eventually, all the serious posts induced a contemplative moment. So allow me a moment of sobriety. Well, maybe not sobriety but, perhaps, seriousness.

GratitudeThanksgiving is a day we set aside to contemplate the many blessings in our lives—to really think about specific examples of our good fortune. I have so many I can’t possibly enumerate them all, but I’d like to mention just a few.

To begin with, I’m unable to express with mere words how thankful I am for my children—all three of them. Like all kids, they have brought into my life indescribable pain and frustration, but I don’t really remember that very clearly because of what I do remember with crystal clarity. What I remember is all the joy they brought into my life.

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Filed under Life or Something Like It, Marriage, Parenting

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Independence Day

“There is nothing a man can do to liberate himself if his time of divine liberation has not come. But when the time comes, nothing can stop it.”

– Unknown

Liberty and safety are often confused. We often think that with the advent of one we somehow miraculously gain the other. That, with the acquisition of liberty, we can somehow provide for our own security and that we are only truly safe when we have the freedom to live our lives without the interference of tyranny.

FireworksOn this day, July 4th, Americans celebrate so much, as well we should. It isn’t so much that we invented democracy as we introduced the notion of the right to self-determination. And this right, while paramount in the American mindset, comes at a cost we frequently overlook.

I don’t recall the first time I saw a fireworks display on Independence Day, but I do recall the way I felt as a child when my parents took me to these events. In my earliest memory I linked the excitement of the orchestrated colors and the crackle of bombshells, along with the bright flash-bang of the mortars with the words from the poem that became our National Anthem.

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by | July 5, 2014 · 3:00 am
by | May 17, 2014 · 5:11 pm

For the Love of Seuss

Ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood.

– Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Your Inka Chicken: I’m not a fan.
I told you twice, Sam I Am.
We tried it once and I am done.  My ham sandwich is number one.
Inka Chicken is not for me.  I despise it; why can’t you see?
Get it through your head at last; Inka Chicken tastes like ass.

Dr. SuessThese five lines of Seussian poetry were written by yours truly as the expression of a fantasy reply to someone who invited me to a restaurant I have a reputation of disliking.  I can’t say for certain whether he was being a smart ass or was just extending a courtesy invitation.  Based on the chuckle after extending it, though, I’m guessing it was the former.

Most of my writing is an embellished version of real life conversations and events from work, home, and outings.  This poem was no different.  In this case I was bemused by the persistence of my coworkers goading me into eating lunch at an establishment I had made clear held no appeal to me and I wanted to share my pain with my facebook friends.  You’re welcome. Continue reading →

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Filed under Life or Something Like It, Writerly Travails