THE NUMBER 9

While waiting for Bryan at the airport I felt glad to be alive

As I watched two young girls wait expectantly for their grandma to arrive.

Their parents tried to calm them, but their attempts were all in vain

As the girls jumped and bounced and ran around...waiting for grandma to deplane.

I started counting the people as they exited (since they walked out in a line)

And Grandma, coincidently, came through the door at number 9.

9 has had a particular significance dating from the days of Egyptian sheiks

Stretching back to the times of the Aztecs, the Chinese and the Greeks. 

The Chinese have a word for everlasting but somehow in their grand design

That word is pronounced the same as their word for the number 9.

So to symbolize everlasting love they give 99 flowers on Valentine’s Day

The groom gives a note filled with 9’s to the bride’s family on their wedding day.

But perhaps the most significant aspect of the Chinese number nine

It’s used to remind them how the lives of their ancestors and theirs are intertwined.

9 reminds them of the those who came before...and made it possible for them to thrive

It reminds them of the miracle of life and how they’re lucky to be alive.

If one ancestor chose a different spouse, took a different path or made a different call

They know there is a good chance they would not be here at all.

Do Americans believe in the number 9...does it hold that same allure?

If you asked I imagine many of us would be hesitant or unsure.

We don’t believe in all that mystical mumbo jumbo...that Eastern philosophy.

Over here we believe in things we can feel and hear and touch and see...

Yet, I know the girls were feeling ‘on cloud 9’...their faces were agleam. 

There are 9 Supreme court justices...and 9 players on a baseball team...

As I was deep in this contemplation, a pregnant woman exited the line...

And how many months in a normal pregnancy...Oh yea!...that would be 9.

IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

A man in San Francisco killed two people and what defense did he create?

It was not his fault...he was depressed...as evidenced by all the Twinkies that he ate.

A young boy driving drunk kills 4 people and ends up in a ditch

His defense...he grew up too privileged...it’s not his fault that he is rich.

One man murders another using only his two hands

It was not his fault because at the time he was too drunk to understand.

A man rapes a 3 year old baby girl..it’s abhorrent as can be

“It’s not my fault,” is his defense...”it was she who seduced me.”

Priests in church rape young boys taking their innocence and youth.

“It’s not my fault.” The priests say...and the church helps hide the truth.

The government is not working and we’re in a downward slide

It’s not my fault, don’t look at me...blame the other side.

A couple decides to divorce...it’s unclear what came between...

They call it conscious uncoupling...what the hell does that even mean?

I’m trying to lose weight but for some reason I keep cheating

It’s not my fault I’m getting fat...it’s all this food I’m eating.

As we look around at the world today as each new offense is unmasked

It formulates in my mind a few questions to be asked.

When did it become commonplace to cast blame so easily?

When did we, as a society, stop teaching responsibility?

When did we begin looking around so our blame we could assign?

When did we stop being accountable and say, “The fault is mine?”

I used to think this was a bad thing and it would fill my heart with shame

As I watched such bad behavior with no one accepting blame.

I used to worry that someday the world would come screeching to a halt.

But now I know...when that happens...it won’t be anybody’s fault.

MOMENTS OF CONTENTMENT

A parent knows life can be fleeting...which could be cause for some resentment

That is why they search their lives for moments of contentment.

It’s why you often find them at family gatherings sitting quietly in one place

As they observe what’s going on with a contented smile on their face.

They need those quiet seconds of reflection with all their family near

To capture those moments of contentment before they disappear.

We recently had the family over and I sat quietly in one place

Capturing those moments as they brought a smile to my face...

Sitting around the dinner table listening to what all our children think

Playing catch with an old football, making an origami Sphinx.

Remembering the old adventures as the new ones all unfold

A baby falls, a mommy lifts him and that baby is consoled.

Children running all around, playing games...climbing our climbing tree.

Swinging on our only swing...blowing bubbles innocently.

Wondering how many chips and guacamole one small child can consume

The happiness one feels with his family in one room.

The excitement generated on a ride around the block in a weathered old golf cart

The tenderness of the hugs when everyone departs.

These are just a few moments of contentment I captured recently

On a beautiful afternoon in Spring...surrounded by family.

These moments are different for all of us...for every woman...every man

But we all know, since they are momentary, we must catch them when we can.

For when the world goes back to normal and the next day dawns anew.

It’s these captured moments of contentment that help to see us through.

HAPPY NURSE AND TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY

Today we salute nurses and teachers and I, for one, can see

Why we would take a day to praise them collectively.

The most important lesson they’ve learned was not discovered in any school

They learned it as they’ve lived their lives...it’s called The Golden Rule.

They know a smile can brighten a day, it’s another lesson they have learned

And all they ask is that we give them...a smile in return.

They both administer to people and their roles are frequently reversed

For how often does a nurse become a teacher...and a teacher become a nurse?

They have days where all goes well and they know that they have thrived

And other days when they are happy if they just get out alive.

They know when to be hard on us...they know when to be sweet

They’re tired at the end of the day after spending hours on their feet.

They are calm in the face of adversity for matter how loud we shout

They’ve seen or heard it all before...and we will never gross them out.

But no matter what...they never give up..they work, they toil...they pray

For they believe in miracles and await them every day.

They both know what it’s like to be important and how it feels to be needed

And they know if they touch but one person in life...then in life they have succeeded.

So today we stop to thank them both...for no matter how you spin it

The life we live is a better life with nurses and teachers in it.

CINCO DE MAYO

Happy Cinco de Mayo, a day to party while clad in red and white and green

To drink Coronas and eat Mexican rice with a side of refried beans.

You could drink a Margarita, or around a glass of Dos Equis your hand might be curled

As you believe at least for a day you could be the most interesting man in the world.

But there is something you should know about Cinco de Mayo...something to remember.

It does not celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day, (that’s the 16th of September).

Today celebrates the Battle of Puebla where a small number of Mexicans stopped the advance

Of the larger, more equipped and better trained oncoming army of France.

It celebrates freedom and courage and pride in the face of an unbeatable foe

It celebrates the Mexican heritage and the people of Mexico.

In truth when we take the time to celebrate another countries spirit it’s not very far from our thoughts

To remember and celebrate our own country and the battles for freedom we’ve fought.

It reminds us that freedom is precious, and should come with some chivalry

For we know the only way to enjoy freedom is for everyone to be free.

It’s a time to remember that freedom has a price, not just today but every day.

For there are many people out in the world who would take that freedom away.

So as you raise a glass this Cinco de Mayo as you celebrate vociferously

Remember in a way you’re celebrating all people who fight for the right to be free.

FAVORITES

Deborah has a host of favorites in her life...so many from which to choose

Favorite colors, favorite foods, favorite houses...favorite shoes.

Favorite authors, favorite actors, favorite places...things to cook

Favorite music, favorite movies, favorite animals...favorite books.

I used to kid her about the word favorite, after all the word means paramount

Yet she has so many favorites, I believe I have lost count.

But the more I’ve watched her over the years finding favorites all along

The more I think that she is right and I have been all wrong.

Yes I have teased her fickleness of favorites but now I see it’s she whose wise

As she observes the world around us through wide and innocent eyes.

Again I’m reminded as we travel the road of life, as we somehow muddle through it

It’s not only important what we see, but how we choose to view it.

How wonderful it is for her...how extraordinarily rare

To go through life, to look around and find favorites everywhere.

Imagine the anticipation...the excitement you feel along the way

If you know in the morning when you wake this could be your favorite day.

Imagine if you were open to it...if you were so inclined

All the miracles you’d discover...all the favorites you might find.

If you can find favorites in the moment...in what that moment has comprised

You are continually amazed at life and constantly surprised.

You’d fall asleep at night contented, happy, thankful....and then

You’d wake up in the morning and start all over again.

So the next time she picks a favorite...I have no reason to tease or doubt her

Because having so many favorites...is one of my favorite things about her.

THE OLD MAN AND THE LEAVES

I just completed reading Hemingway’s The Old Man And The Sea

And will now relate a similar battle that transpired...regarding me.

In case you’re unfamiliar, the story’s about an old fisherman from long ago

He’s down on his luck and loves baseball...especially Joe DiMaggio.

He travels far out to sea and catches a fish so big it must be tied along his boat 

Only to be eaten by the sharks as toward his home port he does float.

It is a story of optimism and determination, of being pushed to the edge and then

Losing everything but your spirit and starting over again.

I have a similar battle with the leaves that fall each year

No matter when I rake them up the next day more appear.

Yesterday I took my old rake...for it was time I did believe

To once again begin the story of the Old Man And The Leaves.

I raked for hours fighting sweat and pain in my arms that today still lingers,

Braving mosquitoes, low hanging branches and blisters on my fingers.

My muscles ached from bending, I hurt from my head down to my feet

As I filled the bags with old, dead leaves and placed them by the street.

But like the Old Man in his little skiff, I fought through all my pain

I even began talking to myself...and answering...is that insane!

But on I raked and on I bagged as I coughed and sighed and sneezed

Every moment hoping for a cold front or at least a little breeze.

When I finished and I was feeling a moment of delight

I heard on the news my Tampa Bay Rays lost again last night.

“Well at least,” I said through my aching bones, “All the leaves are gone.”

Just then a gust came from the heavens and dropped more leaves upon the lawn.

I had to smile at my luck remembering how Fate sometimes deceives

And tomorrow the story continues of the Old Man And The Leaves.