Today I’m grateful for shoulders…
I have been blessed to have stood on my ancestors shoulders…
Blessed the way our lives have intertwined….
And I hope someday my children and grandchildren will feel blessed
to have stood on top of mine.
Today I’m grateful for shoulders…
I have been blessed to have stood on my ancestors shoulders…
Blessed the way our lives have intertwined….
And I hope someday my children and grandchildren will feel blessed
to have stood on top of mine.
We will all have certain burdens in our life…
a life that will be long and diverse enough to vary them…
May we be blessed that whatever burdens life throws at us…
we have shoulders strong enough to carry them
When I think about the way I was created…every part of my body is enchanted…
from those parts I rely on every day…to those I take for granted.
Take my shoulders for instance..there was a time when I was young
and I looked in the mirror…at my shoulders I would scoff.
thinking their only use in life is to keep my arms and head from falling off.
It wasn’t until years later…when I became a Dad
I began to fully realize the importance my shoulders had.
Yes, once I had children it didn’t take me very long
to realize why my shoulders were there…and why they needed to be strong.
When my children were small and innocent…when life was so brand new
they would ride upon my shoulders to get a better view.
When they were ready to be on their own…as their life unfurled….
I was glad I had shoulders for them to stand on
as they stepped into the world.
One important thing my children taught me…that helped me as a parent gel…
is that my shoulders not only needed to be strong…but needed to be soft as well.
Strong so they can lean on them whenever they’re filled with dread
and soft when they need comfort and a place to lay their head.
As long as I am living I hope my children (and grandchildren) will be aware
when and if they ever need them…my shoulders will be there.
These days when I think about my shoulders I no longer scoff…
I no longer think their only purpose in life
is to keep my arms and head from falling off.
No, these days when I look in the mirror…I am instantly elated…
because I now know exactly whey my shoulders were created.
Today I’m grateful for a better understanding of what a hero is:
for 72 years life has been my teacher
And she has taught me a hero
is anyone determined to make this world a better place
for every living creature.
May we all be blessed to have heroes cross our paths
Those who help to make us who we are,
who set our spirits free
and thus…
We hope they all know who they are
and
how much their heroism meant to us.
When we were young there were heroes and there were monsters
and in our innocent and limited childhood view…
from Fairy Tales and with our parents help
it was easy to tell the difference between the two.
In the evening when we woke from a nightmare and our hearts were filled with dread….
our heroes were our parents who vanquished the monsters beneath our bed.
In our Fairy Tales it was easy to tell the good people from the bad.
They were strong honorable men and woman…just like Mom and Dad
But it becomes more difficult as we grow…the more our wings are spread…
when the monsters aren’t just the ones who sleep beneath our bed.
Some monsters were easy to spot…they didn’t try to hide themselves away.
They wore swastika’s on their clothing like the Nazi’s or white sheets like the KKK.
But it became more difficult to tell the heroes from the monsters…
when their swastikas they shed
when they wore tailored suits to work instead of hoods upon their heads. .
What makes monsters different today is that they could be anyone we see….
At first glance there’s no way to tell difference between them and you and me.
They can be our neighbor…or someone we once thought of as a friend…
and we will never comprehend or fathom the horrors they intend.
Today the only way to distinguish one monster from the rest
Is to follow their path of evil, their destructiveness…their unrest.
Now, when we search for a happy ending…dream of a better day…
it’s up to us to become the heroes and every evil monster to slay.
To work for the day with the other heroes help these monsters will no longer exist…
the day when we are blessed to have no more monsters in our midst.
The day when we live in a world where we don’t cause our children any dread
the day when the only monsters they need to worry about…
are the ones beneath their bed.
One thing we are blessed to experience as parents…
which in life will always be a plus…
Is how we fall in love with our children
long before they fall in love with us.