As I mentioned yesterday, an old friend of mine died last week. Shane and I met in 6th grade when his family moved in up the street. Since we lived on a boundary street we could choose the school we attended. Technically, we were rivals. At least our schools were. He rode the bus to the newer junior high. I attended the school on this side of town. The funny thing is, we were closer when we attended different schools. When it came time for us to attend the only high school in town, we drifted apart with different circles of friends.
friends
Your Hurt
I don’t know
what you are going through.
I won’t lie
and tell you that I do.
I can tell
the hurt is deep and true.
I won’t try
to offer a platitude.
All I ask
is to let me cry with you.
This and other fine poems available on Amazon
The Best Thanksgiving Episode. Ever.
Have I mentioned I love Thanksgiving? Perhaps you may have noticed I got a thematic week going here. It’s my ode to my most-favoriteist-need-I-say-it?the-purple-skittle-of-the-holidays. Yeah, I like Turkey Day.
Priorities
Having a bad day –
feeling a little blue?
Of course we can talk –
I’m always here for you!
Buds
Of course you’re my buddy!
Why is there some doubt
making you feel a little blue?
I thought you understood
but I suppose not
so I will explain it to you.
The Grievous Mistake
So you made a mistake
that you’d rather not talk about.
Perhaps, you think I’ll turn
my back on you and then run out?
My Goodbye Soapbox. Feel free to disagree.
Goodbyes should be hard. They should get stuck in the throat, weigh heavy on the heart and kick you in the gut. An easy goodbye is a mark of wasted time. Farewells that roll off the tongue without causing pause and reflection means something wasn’t done right. The moment wasn’t seized. Life wasn’t lived.
A parting should threaten one’s peace. It should cause at minimum, a moment of agonizing doubt. “Should I leave? Is this right?” There should be at least one person being left behind that makes the leaver wonder, “How will I ever exist without this person in my life?” True, some circumstances are better viewed in a rear view mirror but not people. Maybe some people are better as memories. But not every person.
Promises to “always remember” and “never forget” should be made with the best intention to fulfill. Of course, time takes care of such promises. The intensity of the moment lessens. Memories are idealized. Until one day in the future, those people that made such an indelible impression are the same ones whose names are on the tip of the tongue but the mind can’t quite recall.
Our connection with other people is one of the determiners of our happiness. Harmony with every person is a bit too much to hope for. But there needs to be at least one person in every situation that makes the goodbye difficult. That is the sign of a well lived life.
The Hunger Games Meets…
My friend Steph posted this on her Facebook yesterday, “Hunger Games + The Muppet Movie = some very strange dreams last night.” Are you with me on the images yet? I told her I was going to steal it and use it as my inspiration for tonight’s blog. I haven’t received a response yet…but I can’t help it. I must share.
I’ll Go If You Go
We took our church youth group rappelling Tuesday night. The young men were in charge of the activity and I was glad. It had been a bad day and I really just wanted to go home and pout. But I couldn’t. I had to switch gears and put on my happy face and be excited for the girls. Most were thrilled for the chance at the physical recreation except for one who asked me on the previous Sunday if she had to rappel. “No,” I reassured her, “we won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
