A PARENT'S LOVE

 

We took three of our children out do dinner last night…

wanting them to partake…

of the food and dessert at a famous Tampa restaurant 

where their speciality is steak.

We decided when our youngest child turned 40

It would be a treat

To take him, his fiancé and our daughter

To a restaurant that has won awards for serving meat.

There are many ways to gauge a parents love…

knowing their children are only children for a while…

Like being there to help them grow…

Like knowing we had a hand in why they smile.

Like knowing when to listen…when to push…when to help them when they bleed…

Like knowing when to stand behind them 

Like knowing when to lead.

Like seeing them for who they are…like knowing what a difference love can make

Like allowing them to be independent…like apologizing for our mistakes

Like helping to ease their hunger and being there to quench their thirst…

Like helping them believe in themselves by believing in them first

Like loving them unconditionally…when they agitate and annoy 

Like making sure their life is filled with happiness and joy….

I could go on an on with more examples…

Like knowing when to relax and when to be a disciplinarian…

But last night Deborah and I showed our children our love…

by taking them to a steakhouse…even though we’re vegetarians.

P.S. As further proof that a parents love is not only sincere, unending and heartfelt…

we picked a fancy restaurant where…

I had to tuck my shirt into my pants…

and even wear a belt!

TWO ARTISTS

 

I love the creativity of the sun…she has an artist’s eye…each day she paints a new masterpiece as she floats across the sky.

She begins painting the moment she rises…she paints all through the day and on into the evening…until she sets…and puts her paints away.

She paints in a multitude of colors…bold and beautiful…filled with light…then gladly hands her canvas off to the moon…the artist of the night.

The moon has only two colors…different shades of dark and light…but this does not confine her creativity…as she, too, paints a masterpiece each night.

Her shades are more muted…more subtle…unlike how the sun’s are loud…mixing her shades of dark throughout the sky and her lights throughout the clouds.

She begins painting the moment the sun sets…she paints all through the night…then gladly hands the canvas back to the sun at her first light.

Two completely different artist..painting with different colors…different eyes…

completing totally different masterpieces on the same canvas…

the same sky.

Two completely different artists painting while dancing two beautiful ballets….

One bringing beauty to the night…

the other…beauty to the day.

GRANDMA'S OWL

 

There was an owl that lived in a tree behind his grandma’s house who, during the day, stayed our of sight…but who, when he slept at Grandma’s, loved to wake him up…in the middle of the night.

He once was afraid of the dark and the noises he would hear…but that old owl in his grandma’s tree cured him of that fear.

He remembers the first time he was sleeping, with his nightlight on, in Grandma’s cabin by the lake…when that old owl interrupted his dream and asked, “Are you awake?”

He saw her out the window perched in grandma’s tree…on the lowest limb and he remembers thinking…that old owl is smiling in at him?

Curious…he went to the window…while in the safety of his room he stayed…and he asked, “Don’t you know it’s dark out there…how come you’re not afraid?”

“In the night is when I do my living.” she said. “I’m don’t go to bed til dawn…and you would not believe the things I see when the sun is gone.”

Then she proceeded to tell him things she sees at night and stories of the darkness deep…So many stories that before he knew it…he was fast asleep.

And the next night she was back…in the same spot as the night before….and after so many nights listening to that old owl…he wasn’t afraid of the darkness anymore.

He enjoyed those nights she’d wake him up…from her perch on the lowest limb…he enjoyed knowing when he went to the window she’d be smiling back at him.

And he’ll never forget how his fear of the dark with all its chirps and hisses and howls…

was cured those nights at his grandma’s house when he was awakened by an owl.

PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL

 Since 1886 thousands of people have been traveling to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania every Groundhog Day to see if they’re in for 6 more weeks of winter or if spring is on its way.

Yesterday Phil the groundhog saw his shadow on his special day…predicting 6 more weeks of winter is about to head our way.

A fun fact: the German’s brought this tradition with them to America with one slight contradiction…In Europe they looked to hedgehogs for their end of winter prediction.

But they couldn’t find hedgehogs in Pennsylvania and, at first, were unsure what to do…

until they noticed Phil and his abundance of relatives and thought…groundhogs will do. 

Since then every year people gather in Punxsutawney anticipating the news about their clime…it doesn’t matter to them that Phil’s gets it right only 39% of the time.

I mean come on people if you’re really want to know what nature has in store…turn on the your TV set...that’s what Doppler radar’s for!

No, we tune in to Punxsutawney on Groundhog day not for the magic but the mystique.

because in a world that’s constantly changing it is tradition that we seek.

In a world that’s moving not always in the direction we would like….but always much too fast…we return to our traditions and our ceremonies that remind us of our past.

Perhaps in Phil we see a simpler time, with less responsibilities and woe

when all we had to worry about was the an early spring or a little more winter snow.

As for me I don’t care if Phil is some kind of climate prodigy or if he’s not a weather whiz

Because I live in Florida and in Florida…no matter what Phil sees…

we have no idea what winter is.

REMEMBERING

 

When someone we love dies…it’s as if in our life there’s been a theft

like they’ve been stolen from us…and memories are all we have left.

Initially our feelings clash when we realize what’s at stake…

We’re happy for the memories we’ve made…

Sad for the ones we’ll never make.

At times it seems unbearable…other times a little scary

knowing that as long as we are living…this is a burden we will carry.

Then over time we come to understand…each day a little more

how sadness does not last forever…and what our memories are for.

We begin to remember those we lost with joy…and though their presence we still lack…

We see the memories we have as one small way

for a moment…

to bring them back.

And the heavy burden seems a little lighter…as each memory formulates…

because we realize we’re filled with memories…and memories carry no weight.

Making it easier to understand…why our memories are made

How our loved one may have vanished from our life

but their memories will never fade.

SOMETIMES YOU NEED REMINDING

Each and every one of you in your own way is unique, wonderful, amazing…and yet…sometimes you need to be reminded…because sometimes…you forget.

Sometimes you forget how you light up the world…how you are a shining star…sometimes you forget all the wonderful things you do…and just how beautiful you are.

Sometimes you forget that you are kind and gentle…you forget how your heart can sing…sometimes you forget into the lives of others all the joy and happiness you bring.

Sometimes you forget how in this life you have developed this truly awesome knack…to love a myriad of people…and sometimes you forget how these people love you back.

If you are one of those who has forgotten and this reminder has found its way to you…may you go out today and remind someone else who may have forgotten too…

Because everyone occasionally needs reminding how they are a shining star…because everyone occasionally needs reminding just how beautiful they are.

 

HOW DO WE WANT TO FLOAT?

 

From the moment we are born we begin our journey down the river of time…it’s the same river everyone travels…it’s where all our journey’s blend…however…we don’t control how long we’ll be on the river…or when our journey ends.

We are floating solo…on the river of time there is no boat…

what determines the type of journey we will have is how we choose to float

If we float with love in our hearts…with kindness, compassion and honesty…with our hearts unburdened we are light up on the water and we float more effortlessly.

We float more peacefully this way…how smoothly across the water we glide…we lay back, allowing the current to take us…and there’s a good chance…we enjoy the ride.

If we float with anger, hatred and resentment…this burdens our heart…acting like weights…pulling us down…and as we float across the water…there’s a good chance we might drown.

Our floating is more labored…more painful….our discomfort we can’t hide…we work to keep our heads above the water and it’s so much harder to enjoy the ride.

Knowing our journey on the river of time will one day come to an end…as it does for everyone…there is a question we must ask ourselves before our journey’s done…

Since our ride will not last forever…since one day our time on the river will cease…

would we rather float in pain…

or do we prefer to float in peace.