Category Archives: My Life

A NEW Christmas

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For much of my life (decades), August through December had been a full, busy time for me.

From childhood into adulthood, I have been involved in some sort of “Christmas Event”. Be it, a Christmas play, a musical, or something of the sort, I was involved. I have been “main characters”. I have been “singing” (however, not much). Most of my teen and adult years, I have been part of the “technically” aspects of programs.

Having a child, added to the list. We when to Christmas events, parades, programs, etc .. geared toward children.

Then, there was the “FULL ON Busy Time”. August was getting ready for State Fair that was September. This went right into preparing for Christmas Cottage (craft selling event that took place just before Thanksgiving). There was still Church Christmas programs of some sort that added to the business. Decoration for Fall .. Halloween .. Thanksgiving … Christmas (this part was NO small thing for me).

October of 2014, in the middle of the “FULL ON Busy Time”, Lucenda passed away. I stumbled through the rest of the “Time” that year.

I tried to keep things “sort of” going the following year (2015). But, I realized that it was not going to continue. I had to let go of many of the “FULL ON Busy Time” things.

I moved 3 times in 5 years. Once, across country. MUCH has changed in the past 9 years.

This Christmas is … This Christmas is a New Christmas for me.

I taught the “Grief Process” to numerous “prospective resource parents” over the years. I “knew” the “logistics” of it. Now, I “know” much more about it. The “stages” are NOT clearly defined .. they are NOT clearly separated .. they are NOT done and gone once you go through them. Grief is ongoing. It is foolish to believe there is a “time limit”.

All this stated … All this laid out on the table …

Thanks to TRUE loving and caring people in my life, I have been able to move forward.

A New House to decorate very differently than I have for … decades. New environment. Different job situations for us all. My son is 20 (still mentally processing THAT!).

This year is A NEW Christmas.

.. end transmission ..

thought for the day

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me … trying to say something briefly …

in my 53+ years, i have encountered an extreme rollercoaster of events. my emotions have been pushed beyond their limits multiple times. my trust has been crushed multiple times. my contribution to the facial tissue industry has been enormous.

what am i trying to say? i am not really sure actually.

i see others going through rough times and my heart aches for them. my annoying constant desire to fix all the world’s problems keeps me up at night …. often.

my thoughts are like someone ripped the pages of a script out of the book and threw them up in the air then read them as they landed. so are my prayers some days.

unlike some, when i commit to someone as friend, it is no small thing. to be a friend is a huge investment that i take on without thought.

for all of you … whether you like me or not … whether you like what i say or not … i am still me …. period

i pray that each of you knows that GOD will NEVER leave you, nor forsake you. HE is ALWAYS with us.

close your eyes and think of the sky just as the storm clouds are leaving on a sunny day.

Just The Way You Are – But Wait, There’s More!

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Clearly, I was too brief … I have heard this song several times in the past few days. PLUS, another song that … let’s just say “punctuated the point” that I need to expand on my previous post.

Yes. This song is Bruno singing about the beautiful woman in his life.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the words in this song.

At the time my wife and I got married, there were numerous other couples who had gotten or were getting married. I seriously have no idea just how many marriages I was aware of over the course of 5 years.

I state that, to state this … of those many marriages … MOST … yes most of those marriages have ended. Divorce. I will not spend time picking apart those marriages. It is NOT my place, nor am I even close to being an “expert” in marriage relationships. Lord knows, I had my flaws.

The purpose of this continued post is … the words of the song.

(I have the video below. Watch it and LISTEN)

Whomever you are with. BE INTENTIONAL! BE REAL!

You need to OPENLY tell them how wonderful they are. You need to intentionally tell them how important they are. You need to randomly/consistently find and emphasize the positives!

LOVE is not “sex when you want it”. LOVE … TRUE LOVE ‘REQUIRES’ effort. Love is omnidirectional in effort as well as in benefits.

Accentuate the Positives!

Love is Patient, Love is Kind. Love does not envy, Love does not boast, Love is not Proud. Love does not dishonor others, Love is not self-seeking, Love is not easily angered, Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil; Love rejoices with truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love Never Fails.

.. end transmission ..

Just The Way You Are — Take The Time!

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I have shared before how special this song is to me. I made the last chorus of this song a ringer for Lucenda’s phone. Only when I called her phone, it would play. I would leave notes all over the place telling Lucenda how beautiful she was, how much I loved her, how special she was, how important she was. When this song came out, it was … in essence … a culmination of the years of notes I had left for her (but sung by someone with talent).

Today, I was listening to it again as I was standing in my kitchen. I thought of something different this time. I knew that I needed to type these thoughts for others to see.

We do not know when our time on this earth will end. We do not know if today is our last chance to BE a light to someone.

Take the time to find the positives. Take the time to be encouraging. Take the time to be a friend. Take the time to be a helper. Take the time to be a listener. Take the time to BE POSITIVE. Take the time to be SELFLESS.

Your words could very well be the last words someone may ever hear on this earth. Choose wisely what you say.