1. The funeral home on Broad Ripple Avenue is opening it's doors for little ones to "Trick or Treat": Really? Who takes their kid to a funeral home for candy?
2. The Hubler commercial jingle is to the tune of "Are you Sleeping?": Really? How inane is that?
3. Speaking of which, does Terry Lee really think I want to build a relationship with him over a Honda? Really? Why would he think this is a good sales strategy? (TLC = The Terry Lee Commitment...Maybe it should be TLSBC: Terry Lee should be committed)
4. Starbucks double espresso plus energy shots are great to get you through a deadline. Really? Yes, really, but then you can't stop talking in a rapid, high pitched voice and you laugh A LOT at yourself and people start backing away...I'm just sayin'
5. There's a guy in the park who points out squirrels to his dog to chase. Really? I must be a bad dog owner, but I kinda think that's my dog's responsibility. How will he learn if I never let him have the chance to break out, try new things, fail, try again?
6. Wouldn't it be cool for all the really cute marketing mascots to get together and make a movie, or a video? Really? Seriously, the Geiko gekko, the AFLAC duck, what about the toe fungus dudes. Someone's gonna take my idea, run with it, and make a fortune: you'll see!
7. Since we are now all coughing into our elbows, I think we need to have special anti-bacterial interior arm patches. They could come in different colors and textures. Really? YES, really, it's a good idea and you wish you would have thought of it by now!
8. We are finally getting sidewalks in my section of Broad Ripple. Really? Yes...it's only been about 20 years of waiting...we have hit THE BIG TIME. I think we should have a side walk party...kind of like Carmel having a round about ribbon cutting. The only thing is that you can do more thematically with a round about party than a sidewalk celebration. For example: you could serve all round food: pizzas, bagels, donuts, etc. What can you serve at a sidewalk celebration? Strips of bacon? Twizzlers?
9. Some of the people who were railing against government and that "awful, nasty, dangerous" flu vaccine are now mad because they can't get it. Really? We are a crazy group, we Americans!
10. Michael Jackson, in the news EVERY SINGE DAY! Really? What is that all about? What about some of the TRUE hero's and talented peeps in the world who don't do freaky things to themselves or others? Could we give a little attention to them?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Secret of Dad's "Big Fat Wallet" revealed...
I went home Saturday to spend a couple of days with my mom. We are still getting adjusted to not having dad in this world. He was a force to be reckoned with, and so that force is certainly missed.
Mom wanted to show me his wallet and what she had recently discovered. Mind you, this is an interesting thing. We Gray's don't look in each other's personal items, such as purses, wallets, etc. That being the case, we have all been more than a little curious as to what Dad has been carrying around in his wallet.
He got so little as disease took more and more of his physical body, that I think the sheer size and weight of that wallet became more prominent to us. Curiosity!
So what did mom find in his wallet? Scads of dollar bills or credit cards (nope, he didn't use a credit card, and kept only a bit of "pocket money" on him, but not a lot of bills)...discount cards for shops, etc. (nope, not that either!)...so what made it so "FAT"?
Dad had pictures of we kids and his grand kids and of his wife. He had a "credit card" size prayer for a teacher. He was a teacher to the end, that's for sure! But the one thing I will never get over, is a card I (and it must've been 8 or 9 years old) had written to him. He had folded into fourths to get it to fit into his wallet. I won't tell you all that I had written him, because it's just too precious to reveal, but I will tell you this. What I shared with my dad meant enough to him that he kept it close. It didn't get thrown away, it didn't get filed, and it didn't get mis-placed. It was precious to him. I LOVE that. I can't tell you what that has meant to me.
It made me even more clear about the fact that while on this earth, we need to "say what we need to say" while we can, while we are able, because tomorrow is not a promise. I'm SO glad that I did, but I think of times I have not, and I know that those times are opportunities missed.
Did I love my dad? of course! Did my dad love me? No doubt about it...he let me know in a million different ways. He used to say "Love and Like ya Sher", before I went to bed as a youngster, and as I grew up, he still said those same words!
It's a lot like my Heavenly Father...He loves it when I send love letters to him through prayer or acts of service and kindness on his behalf. I don't imagine He has a wallet, but I know He cherishes each one. Do I love my Heavenly Dad? More and more each day. Does my heavenly dad love me? No doubt about it! He continues to tell me through His people, His word and His world, "Love and Like ya Sher"
Mom wanted to show me his wallet and what she had recently discovered. Mind you, this is an interesting thing. We Gray's don't look in each other's personal items, such as purses, wallets, etc. That being the case, we have all been more than a little curious as to what Dad has been carrying around in his wallet.
He got so little as disease took more and more of his physical body, that I think the sheer size and weight of that wallet became more prominent to us. Curiosity!
So what did mom find in his wallet? Scads of dollar bills or credit cards (nope, he didn't use a credit card, and kept only a bit of "pocket money" on him, but not a lot of bills)...discount cards for shops, etc. (nope, not that either!)...so what made it so "FAT"?
Dad had pictures of we kids and his grand kids and of his wife. He had a "credit card" size prayer for a teacher. He was a teacher to the end, that's for sure! But the one thing I will never get over, is a card I (and it must've been 8 or 9 years old) had written to him. He had folded into fourths to get it to fit into his wallet. I won't tell you all that I had written him, because it's just too precious to reveal, but I will tell you this. What I shared with my dad meant enough to him that he kept it close. It didn't get thrown away, it didn't get filed, and it didn't get mis-placed. It was precious to him. I LOVE that. I can't tell you what that has meant to me.
It made me even more clear about the fact that while on this earth, we need to "say what we need to say" while we can, while we are able, because tomorrow is not a promise. I'm SO glad that I did, but I think of times I have not, and I know that those times are opportunities missed.
Did I love my dad? of course! Did my dad love me? No doubt about it...he let me know in a million different ways. He used to say "Love and Like ya Sher", before I went to bed as a youngster, and as I grew up, he still said those same words!
It's a lot like my Heavenly Father...He loves it when I send love letters to him through prayer or acts of service and kindness on his behalf. I don't imagine He has a wallet, but I know He cherishes each one. Do I love my Heavenly Dad? More and more each day. Does my heavenly dad love me? No doubt about it! He continues to tell me through His people, His word and His world, "Love and Like ya Sher"
Monday, October 5, 2009
Passion vs. Action...gets me to thinking... about "stuff"
I have very passionate friends (no surprise there, I'm a pretty passionate person myself!), some of whom I agree with, and some with whom I "agree to disagree". Right now there seems to be A LOT of passion about A LOT of things. You name it...and someone, somewhere, is "up in arms" about it.
It's been a good thing for me to watch and to be part of. It makes me more mindful of my own passion and the way I communicate and act around things/issues/people I strongly believe in. In other words, it's making me really consider what I say vs. what I do. Here's an overt example:
I have a friend who is passionate about "life issues", especially "right to life" and all things "anti-abortion". It colors her day, every day, and in all aspects of her day. She writes letters, marches, holds signs up at events, etc. She makes it a consideration for every thing shes does: charitable donations, voting, relationships, etc., etc. She is passionate.
Don't get me wrong, I respect a lot about that ( and by the way, I'm definitely not pro-abortion)... However, I'm also not sure of all the things that "pro life" seems to entail/stand for based on the passion and rhetoric around the issue. It's hard to hear the real issues amongst all the noise. I also don't think it's a simple issue either.
Here's what I do know though: it's easy (really easy!) to write a letter to the editor, sign a petition and go to the voting booth. All these things are effective and right, but can easily be "checked of the list" and one can feel pretty good about it. However, where are the passionate advocates in the "mundane, not-so-exciting, very "daily" endeavors that would support the very people for which they are showing such passion? What about taking in and letting a young unwed mother live with you? What about mentoring a new mother? What about financially supporting agencies or people who do exactly that? What about the real "boots to the ground" work? The show and not just the talk?
Today a baby was found in a dumpster in Indianapolis. While signs were being held up downtown to protect our unborn children yesterday, a barely new born child would be abandoned to the trash heap in a very close time period. How desperate someone must have felt to do that. I don't condone it, not one bit, but I wonder if anyone offered this mother a place to stay or any help at all...we may never know...but I wonder just the same.
Reacting to, "railing against", being indignant about...(whatever), is easy, feels good, and doesn't really demand much except showing a lot of emotion. Serving, spending one's self on behalf of another, sacrificing...now that's the hard stuff, the real stuff...that's the stuff we should all be made of, because I believe it's the stuff we were born for, and the stuff that will make a lasting difference!
It's been a good thing for me to watch and to be part of. It makes me more mindful of my own passion and the way I communicate and act around things/issues/people I strongly believe in. In other words, it's making me really consider what I say vs. what I do. Here's an overt example:
I have a friend who is passionate about "life issues", especially "right to life" and all things "anti-abortion". It colors her day, every day, and in all aspects of her day. She writes letters, marches, holds signs up at events, etc. She makes it a consideration for every thing shes does: charitable donations, voting, relationships, etc., etc. She is passionate.
Don't get me wrong, I respect a lot about that ( and by the way, I'm definitely not pro-abortion)... However, I'm also not sure of all the things that "pro life" seems to entail/stand for based on the passion and rhetoric around the issue. It's hard to hear the real issues amongst all the noise. I also don't think it's a simple issue either.
Here's what I do know though: it's easy (really easy!) to write a letter to the editor, sign a petition and go to the voting booth. All these things are effective and right, but can easily be "checked of the list" and one can feel pretty good about it. However, where are the passionate advocates in the "mundane, not-so-exciting, very "daily" endeavors that would support the very people for which they are showing such passion? What about taking in and letting a young unwed mother live with you? What about mentoring a new mother? What about financially supporting agencies or people who do exactly that? What about the real "boots to the ground" work? The show and not just the talk?
Today a baby was found in a dumpster in Indianapolis. While signs were being held up downtown to protect our unborn children yesterday, a barely new born child would be abandoned to the trash heap in a very close time period. How desperate someone must have felt to do that. I don't condone it, not one bit, but I wonder if anyone offered this mother a place to stay or any help at all...we may never know...but I wonder just the same.
Reacting to, "railing against", being indignant about...(whatever), is easy, feels good, and doesn't really demand much except showing a lot of emotion. Serving, spending one's self on behalf of another, sacrificing...now that's the hard stuff, the real stuff...that's the stuff we should all be made of, because I believe it's the stuff we were born for, and the stuff that will make a lasting difference!
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