DAILY GRATITUDE SHOULDERS

 

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.

STRONG SHOULDERS

 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

SHOULDERS

 

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.

DAILY GRATITUDE HEROES

 

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.

HEREOS ACROSS OUR PATH

 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.

HEROES AND MONSTERS

 

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.

FALLING IN LOVE

 

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.