Into My Own
ONE of my wishes is that those dark trees,
So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze,
Were not, as ’twere, the merest mask of gloom,
But stretched away unto the edge of doom.
I should not be withheld but that some day
Into their vastness I should steal away,
Fearless of ever finding open land,
Or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand.
I do not see why I should e’er turn back,
Or those should not set forth upon my track
To overtake me, who should miss me here
And long to know if still I held them dear.
They would not find me changed from him they knew–
Only more sure of all I thought was true.
~ Robert Frost
The World Will Follow
I remember a story a friend told me some years ago about a family in such despair, if it wasn’t for The Salvation Army this family wouldn’t have any gifts for their children to put under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.
I’ve always walked past the man standing in the vestibule of any supermarket standing next to that red tin pot hanging under a Salvation Army sign, ringing his bell, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. The day I heard that story changed the way I felt about the man standing there year after year begging for money. It wasn’t just about the thrift store in the next town over that sells everyone Else’s junk real cheap.
The Salvation Army” is an organization that helps millions of people with dozens of programs for children, adults, and families, across the country. Since then I’ve always made it a point, no matter how many times a week I walked past that man ringing his bell, I would drop what ever money I had in my wallet for those less fortunate people.
This year, although I’m not in the same position as that family long ago, I’m also not in the position to put money in that red tin pot. It breaks my heart to just walk by that man, knowing I wasn’t there to help the next family that needed it more than me
Merry Christmas and have wonderful joyous day
Peace and Love
Cap
Proud Mama
Do you remember the emotional wreck I was when my precious daughter graduated high school in 2004. And the anxiety I had because she decided not to follow her college dream to UCF to become a forensic pathologist and go to community college instead, because of a boy? Do you remember the melt down I had because the day after graduation she moved in with her boyfriend? No, you wouldn’t. I wasn’t blogging at the time. Ha!
I got over it. I accepted the fact that she needed to make her own decisions and her own mistakes, and let them fall wherever they may. She enrolled in community college with the intent to transfer to a university. I was fine with that.
Do you remember me repeating this in 2008 when she told me she was pregnant? Then she got married. Then six months after her daughter was born she left her husband. A few of you do. All I wanted for her was to finish college and not end up like me. After I got over the initial shock and excessive crying for three months, again, I accepted the fact that this was one more milestone she must endure on life’s journey and somehow it included me. After all we never know what path we’re gonna take or where we will end up.
Seven years after high school graduation my precious daughter graduated college, on this day, December 17, 2011, with a bachelors in science and exercise science. It was a long rocky road for her, but in the end she has given me more than if she would have graduated on time in 2008.
She has grown into the most amazing person I could ever imagine. She is smart, independent, and she has given me the most precious gift of all, a granddaughter.
It was my honor to have shared with her this most special day.
Wow! It’s Been That Long Since My Last Post.
He wanted the works. The red carpet, the champagne, and maybe a couple of strippers to top it off. What he got was a red towel, a shot of cherry flavored rum, and two E-friends he had never met before.
It’s funny. Blogging. You exchange words on a daily basis for so long you acquire friendships with people you don’t even know, all across the world. Some come and go and some stick around for the duration. Those are the ones you hope someday you get a chance to meet. Those are the ones, if you’re lucky, won’t be banned from every airline and they’ll get a chance one day to come to the states. And if you’re really lucky they’ll behave and make it past the 30 day mark before being deported.
<a href=”http://thebeachedshark.blogspot.com/”>Monty</a> is the second person on my “I must meet before I die” list that I have met. He is everything I thought he’d be which is good cause I really don’t like blood on my hands since my shovel broke over the summer and my concrete porch would be worthless.
We will be forever friends.
