It’s A Time For Mourning & A Time For Celebration

Yesterday I sat a bench in the gym, pulled my hoodie off and turned it around so it fell upon a back like it was a cape.

I growled, stomped my feet and muttered “I have got my power” and then I curled 90 pounds in each arm for no reason other than I was curious if I had built myself back to a place where I could do it.

As a side note if you were to speak with my mother she might show you a picture of a four or five year-old me wearing a cape and shouting “I have got my power” as I ran around the house.

Can’t say I am interested in doing everything I used to do fifty some years ago but there are moments where tapping into the young child who believed anything was possible is worthwhile.

The best part of the experience wasn’t that I was successful or that I think I can go heavier. No, it was not needing to pop some Ibuprofen today.

That liver biopsy I keep writing about proved I am not completely bullet proof, but I am still pretty damn durable. Pooey, pooey, got to ward off the evil eye. 😉

It’s A Time For Mourning & A Time For Celebration

Told a friend sometimes you reach a place where you the mourn the end of a relationship and sometimes you reach a place of celebration.

I have been digging through old posts in the blogs and deleting some that no longer serve a purpose. Been digging through and pulling out old memories, stories and comments that catch my eye.

I came across a couple worth sharing here. The one below features a conversation that took place when my oldest was about 7.

For A Good Time Call…

I have quickly learned that having children who can read presents all sorts of new challenges. My son reads everything and anything he sees. I love it. I love watching the excitement in his eyes as he sounds out new words. I love it when he asks me to what words mean and how to use them. But sometimes it does present challenges.

During a recent trip to the mall we had to make a stop at one one of the bathrooms. The interior of the stall was decorated in the latest graffiti. This was one of those unforeseen challenges that parenting seems to be chock full of.

Son: Who is Julie?
Dad: Julie who?

Son: I don’t know her last name.
Dad: Why not?

Son: It didn’t say.
Dad: What didn’t say?

Son: It just said her first name.
Dad: What did?

Son: The writing in the bathroom.
Dad: It did?

Son: Yes. It said “For a good time call Julie.”
Dad: Oh.

Son: Is she fun to play with?
Dad: I don’t know.

Son: Does she have a lot of good toys?
Dad: I don’t know.

Son: Why did it say to call her? Does she like playing with boys?
Dad: I don’t know. Maybe someone is playing a trick on her.

Son: Would you like playing with Julie?
Dad: I don’t know her.

Son: It says that you’d have fun. Maybe you should call her. You’ve been grumpy lately.
Dad: I don’t think Julie wants to hear from me.

Son: She might. You could teach her things. She might like to learn some tricks from you.
Dad: That’s ok. She probably has better things to do.

Son: But why is her name there?
Dad: Someone is playing a trick on her.

Son: I don’t really like playing with girls.
Dad: I know. One day that might change.

Son: No way!
Dad: I wouldn’t worry about it.

Son: I am not. I run too fast, besides I know what to do.
Dad: Oh? What do you too.

Son: Sammy and David’s mommy have babies in their tummies.
Dad: That is called being pregnant.

Son: Right, they’re pregnant. They always say that they’re tired.
Dad: Pregnant women get tired pretty easily.

Son: We should get all the girls pregnant.
Dad: What? Why would you say that?

Son: Because if we get them all pregnant they’ll be too tired to bother us.
Dad: There are probably better ways than that.

Son: Sammy’s dad told him that getting his mommy pregnant was really fun.
Dad: Why did he tell him that?

Son: Sammy said that he heard having babies was hard and he didn’t want his daddy to get hurt.
Dad: He did?

Son: Yes, he said that he told his daddy he didn’t want him to yell like that pregnant lady on television.
Dad: So what did Sammy’s dad say?

Son: He said that getting mommies pregnant is something that boys like to do, but I don’t think I want to.
Dad: You probably should wait until you’re married.

Son: But girls bother us. If we get them pregnant they’ll be too tired to chase us.

Dad: Believe me, that won’t stop them. Anyway, I don’t want you and your friends running around talking about getting girls pregnant. That is for grownups who love each other.

That boy of mine is a young adult now who will turn 25 this year. I might have to remind him of this story.

He’ll probably ask me if I had to try and embarrass him and I’ll share the snippet below about an embarrassing moment for me.

This particular story took place 14 years ago just before my younger sister’s wedding. Here is a snippet from a previous post.

I took my son and grandfather to the tux shop so that we could be fitted for the wedding. When it came time for me the guy behind the counter asked me if I knew my size and I asked him for a yardstick. Grandpa got a good laugh from that one and then my mother told me that it wasn’t very funny. I hadn’t a clue that she was anywhere close to me which proves that my mother has never stopped training with the ninjas who taught her how to appear and disappear when I was a child.

Life Lessons

I have been blogging since I was in my early thirties. In the earlier days there were lots of stories about my children and parenting alongside thoughts about life.

Over time I added some fiction, posts about politics and things that caught my eye. I can see an evolution in some of thoughts about life especially based upon the life experiences that came with it.

In so many ways I am not who I once was but in others both body and mind remember. It is part of why I love that Whitman quote.

Anyhoo, I read a comment that comes from a post from 20 years ago. Feels appropriate to wrap things up with it as elements of it speak to me as I am now.

I think the longings you experience are a good thing. It means that you have desire and are engaged with life, the spiritual especially. And even though the dreams may be postponed, it does not mean that they cannot be realised later on. Surprisingly, this is what has happened to me. I have had a lot of dreams come true, though those dreams have been very, very small and personal and would seem insignificant to others. For me, they are definitely by G-d’s grace.

I don’t think this is a matter of “the grass is greener” syndrome. I think sometimes our soul speaks to us of worthy things. And those worthy things do not mean separating from those you love, but rather, to keep those things in mind during our daily duties because you never know when a door will open, or a chink of light shows the way, and it will all come together and you will see it. Maybe the time is not now, but it does not mean that that time is lost forever- I think that all things that dwell in G-d, dwell in possibility. Such is the glory of true life.

If this grabbed you and you want to read more try one of these recent posts:

• Is It The End Of A Chapter Or The Start Of Something New?
• When Your Father’s Ghost Visits You Part 2
• When Your Father’s Ghost Visits You