DAILY GRATITUDE MEMORY

 

I am grateful for my grandpa's wisdom

and offer one of the many lessons that he taught:

How time moves fast and forever forward…

but our memory…does not.

MEMORIES

 

May we all be blessed to live a life

filled with beautiful moments

that lead to memories

we are happy to revisit once in a while.

Memories that find a way to leak our of our eyes

roll down our cheeks

and join both ends of our smile.

THE WORST CARTOONIST

 

As we’re deciding what to keep and what to let go of for our move

which will be happening soon

we ran across some old books I made… filled with with my hand-drawn cartoons…

There was a time when I was younger…

I felt by the art gods I was was kissed…

When I thought about leaving my teaching job behind

and becoming…a cartoonist.

So on our family vacations each summer…late hours I would keep…

drawing cartoons recreating our day’s activities… 

after our children were fast asleep…

Our family thought those cartoons were silly, funny and unique.

We laughed a little at the humor I created…

and much more at my unusual cartooning technique..

It seems that not only was there no perspective in my drawings…

which caused us all to scoff…

but looking at all my drawings…my proportions were way off.

Heads and feet were too big…arms were too long… 

and I still don’t understand…

the correct way to draw faces, shoulders, fingers, legs or hands.

The funny thing is in the 10 years I drew cartoons…

no matter what the circumstance….

because my perspective and proportions never improved…

my artistic ability never advanced.

But perusing through these old cartoons…

still caused Deborah and I to laugh and cry with ease…

for as bad as my cartoons were…they brought back a host of memories.

Memories of times long ago..when our family was together 

and all the world seemed right…

when we’d play as a family during the day

and I’d draw my cartoons at night.

These home-made albums held treasures from a fun-filled wonderful past…

and reminded us of times we spent together…that were over much too fast.

But there’s something in these old cartoons…

a feeling in these pages that still enthralls…

Which means these old cartoon books I drew back then

are moving with us

big heads, big hands…and all.

SPIRITUALITY

 

I am grateful for all the wonderfully different religions people practice…

for the kind and loving person their Gods and their faith 

help them to be…

And I’m grateful knowing there are many roads

That lead to kindness, 

inner peace…

and spirituality.

WAR

 Today is a good day to remember the words of John Steinbeck

as we watch our democracy being dismantled…

for the sake of one man’s immortality…

“A society of free individuals is stronger in the long run

Than a totalitarian power dependent on herd mentality.”

If history is any indication…we know what is in store

because it is always the herd men and women who win the battles…

but free men and women who win the wars.

SUNDAY

 

Sunday…a day many people of differing faiths gather together 

to sing, to pray, to laud…

the dogma, the principles, the doctrines…the teachings of their God.

A day of devotion, worship, celebration…

a day of quiet reflection…and rest…

A day to think of our life, our family, our neighbors

and see where our lives have been blessed.

During this time of division in America…

where many have lost their compassion, their dignity…their grace 

where people are at each other’s throats

with their religion at its base.

We have a compelling reminder…

of what’s tearing our country apart…

in the words of James Talarico…

Perhaps it’s time we take them to heart.

He speaks and welcomes all religions

every belief…large or small…

“We are not a Christian nation.” He says,

“We are a nation where you are free to be a Christian

or any other faith

or no faith at all.”

DAILY GRATITUDE CHILDREN

 

I am grateful being a teacher, a father, a grandfather

and now a great-grandfather…

because children have a way…of making us feel whole

Proving, once again, the power children have 

to open our mind,

enhance our heart…

and completely soothe our soul.