Everybody sends flowers, and while they are nice, all you get is a little card to wrap up everything you feel. It's never enough, and neither is this, but it's personal, and it's all I know. This is the old-fashioned kind of verse that rhymes. Forgive me. I'm writing this at four in the morning. I sure hope it makes sense tomorrow.
My Friend Len
It was a long time ago in '72.
You hardly knew me and I barely knew you.
We were two different people from a different walk,
So we would pass in the halls but we'd never talk.
And I never got to know your darling Mary.
In fact all I knew of you was that you were quite hairy. (You may laugh here)
But I remember as I watched you walk off that stage
That somehow inside I knew of your rage.
'Twas injustice you must have felt on that day
The same injustice that takes our loved ones away.
We don't understand why life is so cruel
How we could be robbed of a precious jewel.
We're hurt and confused and feeling quite lost
For we have just paid the ultimate cost.
I've shared the pain that I'm sure you must feel,
A time ago I was handed the same deal.
Like yours my love lived too short a life
My lover, my friend, my soulmate, my wife.
And when I thought I had experienced pain like no other,
Three tiny months later, I said goodbye to my brother.
I don't tell you this to make you more sad
But to offer a hand for the sorrows we've had.
And to tell you that one day your life starts anew
And once again, you must learn what it means to be you.
The dawn will break through to reveal a new day
And you'll think that the sun will not give you a ray.
Just search through the clouds that you see up above,
And remind yourself that you know what it's like to be loved.
I didn't know what kind of love Mary had to give
But I do know that she would want you to live.
Live life as though you had never a care
Knowing your true love will always be there.
The story of Len, Part Two will be told
By meeting new friends or perhaps friends of old.
It may be the best way to honor her wishes
And make up for the times you didn't do dishes. (Feel free to laugh again)
Walk a new pathway, knowing time and again
That I will walk with you, with my old-new friend Len.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
My Aha Moment
I realize now that I took the wrong approach when I began the endeavor of blogging. I wanted to discipline myself to blog every day at first, and then every other day when I became aware that the well of material would soon run dry. Discipline is fine, but that was outside the goal I wanted to achieve. The goal was to share my thoughts, experiences and, at the risk of conceit, my wisdom on occasion.
The epiphany struck me this evening. One should blog when one has something about which to blog. Inspiration is the lifeblood of every writer. Writer's block is nothing more than the mind telling the flesh that now is not the time. The inspiration will guide you.
Tonight, I watched The Miracle Worker with my daughter. I have never been more content in my life. If you wonder how Barbie dolls, Play-Doh, Legos and Monopoly have stood the test of time, it's because we want so desperately to share those experiences with our offspring. We recapture those childhood feelings symbiotically and empathetically through our children.
At the respective ages of 17 and 56, my daughter and I hardly have much in common. We don't watch the same shows, read the same books or even entertain ourselves in the same ways. She has no more interest in playing Bookworm than I do in watching Pretty Little Liars.
However, tonight we shared, and it opened my eyes. We have more in common than I think, and it's because we share the same values--the important things in life. We both love the movie Remember the Titans, and we watch it whenever we get the chance, because it promotes our values of equality and acceptance, regardless of race, creed or color. We shared the experience of The Miracle Worker tonight because of our desire to see that those who are afflicted with mental or physical disorders be given the same opportunities we have had.
These aren't values based on a religious, philosophical or political ideology. These are basic human values that we should all share if we expect to survive together. I sat on the easy chair while she lay on the couch, comforted by the fact that for whatever reason she has inherited those values. That supercedes all the physical attributes, good or bad, that she may have inherited. I have peace knowing that I am sending into the adult world a human being who will make the planet better, even if in a small way.
Long after I'm gone, no one will remember me like they remember William Shakespeare, Susan B. Anthony, Albert Einstein or Marie Curie. My legacy will not contain fame or fortune, but to me something more valuable. My legacy will be that I have carried the best of my values that my parents instilled in me, and their parents before them, and will assure that they pass to at least one more generation.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
The epiphany struck me this evening. One should blog when one has something about which to blog. Inspiration is the lifeblood of every writer. Writer's block is nothing more than the mind telling the flesh that now is not the time. The inspiration will guide you.
Tonight, I watched The Miracle Worker with my daughter. I have never been more content in my life. If you wonder how Barbie dolls, Play-Doh, Legos and Monopoly have stood the test of time, it's because we want so desperately to share those experiences with our offspring. We recapture those childhood feelings symbiotically and empathetically through our children.
At the respective ages of 17 and 56, my daughter and I hardly have much in common. We don't watch the same shows, read the same books or even entertain ourselves in the same ways. She has no more interest in playing Bookworm than I do in watching Pretty Little Liars.
However, tonight we shared, and it opened my eyes. We have more in common than I think, and it's because we share the same values--the important things in life. We both love the movie Remember the Titans, and we watch it whenever we get the chance, because it promotes our values of equality and acceptance, regardless of race, creed or color. We shared the experience of The Miracle Worker tonight because of our desire to see that those who are afflicted with mental or physical disorders be given the same opportunities we have had.
These aren't values based on a religious, philosophical or political ideology. These are basic human values that we should all share if we expect to survive together. I sat on the easy chair while she lay on the couch, comforted by the fact that for whatever reason she has inherited those values. That supercedes all the physical attributes, good or bad, that she may have inherited. I have peace knowing that I am sending into the adult world a human being who will make the planet better, even if in a small way.
Long after I'm gone, no one will remember me like they remember William Shakespeare, Susan B. Anthony, Albert Einstein or Marie Curie. My legacy will not contain fame or fortune, but to me something more valuable. My legacy will be that I have carried the best of my values that my parents instilled in me, and their parents before them, and will assure that they pass to at least one more generation.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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