How many of YOU can say that you’re still best friends with your high school sweetheart ~ 38 years and counting ~ and that he still sends you love songs?
Okay, so, maybe “Bad Company” isn’t quite a “love song”, BUT, the mere fact that there’s at least one person in this world who thinks of me when they get Death Punched is as close to a cosmic hug as could be.
That’s the masterpiece of a legacy I’m working on, folks, NOT just the birth and death dates that will be etched in granite on my headstone one day hopefully many years from now. As far as I’m concerned, it looks like I’m KILLIN’ it!
This is probably one of THE most important messages I will ever drop in this Diary, so, thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to listen to it. It’s as very long as actual dragon’s tail, because there was so much to say and no way to do it quickly.
If you or someone you know is struggling with a dragon of any kind, please get help immediately, and perhaps share the link to this entry. No one … and I mean NO ONE … deserves to walk this Earth alone while they’re slaying dragons. Don’t let those tragic voices inside your head sentence you to death. Pick up your sword and FIGHT!
As is par for the course with my epic journey, as I was literally making this video, a knucklehead sister of mine was “liking” a comment I’d written about one of Ivan‘s posts some time ago:
The purpose of a story is to be an axe that breaks up the ice within us. Ivan, my friend, the beautiful insanity in YOUR story is surely the axe that has not just broken the frozen tundra within in so many of us, but transformed it into the fire beneath our wings. Enjoy that view of all us crazies from your stage, Fucker, and keep on hacking away at all our ice.
Guess what, people?
Consider … Me … HACKED!
Am I still somewhat of a frozen tundra these days? You Jean-Claude Van DAMN betcha! But, you see, I’m not really frozen anymore and don’t think I ever really was, it’s just that I’m really fuckin’ careful who I let into my world with a pick axe!
From what I now see as I look back on the wasteland I only thought was my younger self, the only thing that was “frozen” in me was my ability to speak the truth about the lies and farces I’d been perpetuating. As it turned out, I just needed to be transformed and risen and apostrophe I have become! It is now my truest prayer that my bittersweet tale of insanity and survival has already been an axe for some of you to begin breaking up any ice that may exist on your tundra.
By the way, how lucky am I to not have to wait until I’m dead to be a living, breathing embodiment of how “unfreezing” yourself and learning to REALLY live while you’re ALIVE is done? That’s kind of EPIC!
Oh, and by the way, I just cannot say enough how thankful I am that I’ve finally found the perfect place to use this song I’ve loved for well over half of my lifetime here in The Diary.
While there is a lot to be said about determination and perseverance in the art of human survival, let us never cease to pray.
Even if you think that no one “Upstairs” is listening when you pray, there’s a 50% chance that you’re either right or wrong. Trust me when I say that I, too, once had my doubts in the way long years gone by, but through it all I decided that I’d rather err on the side of caution than be caught dead (pun intended) on that paddle boat to Hades on the half of a chance that hell is real. Besides, if all it takes is a mustard seed of faith to call yourself a believer, why not just give praying a try? The way I see it, the only thing you really stand to lose is a deep dive into eternal fire.
And by the way, NO, I’m prolly not the ideal one to be sitting here preaching to ya, ’cause, umm, not only am I the living embodiment of “Jesus For Dummies” if there is such a book in print, I also have a mouth like a frigging sailor and the most unfiltered filter to go with it.
It was December 1995, at the forefront of the crumbling of the fortress around my soul when I heard these most powerful spoken words of Reverend Billy Graham:
Can you see God? Have you ever seen Him? I’ve never seen the wind. I’ve seen the EFFECTS of the wind, but I’ve never seen the wind. Can you see the breeze? There’s a mystery to it.
My point being …
Even when the unbelieving world thinks you’re literally and insane, just trust in the mystery anyway and never stop marching ’round and around those walls until they finally come crumbling down, even if you look like a fool. It’s called “blind faith like a child“, my friend. For the record, I don’t love and adore God because I’m “scared to death” of going to hell … I love Him because He has literally given me everything despite the fact that I do NOT deserve it. “Three strikes and I was in“, and that’s what makes this and every other Easter Sunday a very good day for me and a certifiably CRAZY “Jesus Freak”!
Two years ago this night, I made an entry entitled “Three Strikes And I’m In!” about what “this”, of all Fridays means to me. Well, since that night, not much has changed, other than to say that I’ve only grown stronger in my truly blind, if not ridiculous faith in Jesus.
Meanwhile, somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon this passage about the REAL “not so good” truth, but also, the REAL “OH, so GOOD truth” about “this” particular Friday, the author of whom is unknown to me. If, by the way, ANY of you out there seeing this right now do happen to know who wrote it, please message and let me know I can give them all due and proper credit:
He received 39 stripes because 40 was known to kill a man. They wanted him alive! They held handfuls of his beard, and hair and pulled it out by the roots. They wanted him alive! They kicked, punched, and spit on him for hours until there wasn’t a single spot on his body not covered in blood. They wanted him alive! They shoved a crown of thorns down on his head so harshly it stuck in his skin and skull. They wanted him alive! After hours of being beaten, mocked, whipped, flogged, and tortured, they made Him walk with a cross. They made Him carry it. A rough piece of wood with splinters digging into fresh wounds. They wanted him alive! They wanted Him to feel every ounce of pain they could bring. He HAD to feel it in order to heal us. Crucifixion was historically one of the cruelest most tortured deaths a human could face … hours upon hours of torture … torture most of us can not mentally think of because that kind of cruelty just isn’t normal and isn’t something our minds can comprehend. We celebrate Easter with pastel colors, happy children hunting eggs, and chocolate bunnies. The truth is that there was absolutely nothing happy about the day Jesus died. It was cruel, bloody, and nasty. He could have stopped all of it. He could have called every angel in Heaven to demolish every person standing and shouting “Crucify Him!” He didn’t. He knew that in order to have a Sunday, you have to have a Friday. He knew that in order to have joy, you have to carry your cross. He felt everything that day. He felt how your heart broke wide open when you had to watch your baby die. He felt how heavy your life was when you were staring down the barrel of a gun wondering if the man you call husband was going to shoot you. He carried the weight of the burden you have felt since your spouse died and life just doesn’t seem right anymore. On that cross, he held the rapists, murderers, sinners, and saints, leveling every playing field, and saying, “ALL of you are worth it!” He knew He had to carry the cross, but He never promised that the cross you’d have to carry in this life would not be heavy. HIS WASN’T! His promise is that Sunday is coming. No matter how heavy your Friday was today, be it financially, emotionally, mentally, or physically, such that the burden of that cross you bore all but crumbled and leveled you under its weight, His promise was simply this: He will never make you carry it alone. Now, tell me? What kind of king would step down from his throne for this? For me? For you? For this “humanity” we have become? Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God did! He did every bit of it for you and me. Oh, yes, it’s SO heavy to carry the crosses in our life that we sometimes think we can’t even take one more step with. But look up, my friends … because Sunday is coming!
{Author Unknown}
Most Bible scholars, as well as most “Jesus For Dummies” like me, hold that on “this” Friday 1,993 days ago, the blameless king and only Son Of God stepped down from His throne to take 39 stripes, three nails, and a crown of thorns into His skull for those who would claim His name. Even as strong as I am in my walk, I’m still not ever really sure exactly where to begin with what to say about the conversation I’ve played in my head so many times with anyone who cares to listen. But I do know this:
Just in case anyone forget who was assassinated on this day in 1968 and why the banks are closed and kids are home from school, I just thought I’d share.
Meanwhile, I’m not quite sure how well the good Dr. King would think we’re doing today as far as his message of hope and peace and the accompanying wisdom, justice, courage, moderation, and LOVE it would take to truly unite this nation … as ONE … “under God” … but I’m guessing he’d probably be disappointed.
This nation will rise up …
… but I guess we just have to keep falling down before we can really start rising up, right? We’ve regressed, people … not progressed … and as far as I can tell, we are more divided than ever.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love this country, the flag she flies, and the freedoms I enjoy as an American woman. That being said, sometimes it’s REALLY hard not to lose hope and keep the faith here in this flailing “huMANity” even for the most hopeful and faithful of us.
By the way, PARENTS:
Might I just suggest that you at least “try” to explain to your kids why they’re home from school today? It couldn’t hurt, right?
Now don’t you be afraid. We can always talk about it. No need to medicate, ’cause I know you’re strong without it. You got me through the days when I thought I couldn’t face it. Oh, let me count the ways. The love we have you can replace it. Just hold on … I’m not that strong. There’s a little piece of Heaven right here where you are. The fact that you keep trying is what sets you apart. Help me find the reason, and I’ll help you find the way to get rid of all your pain … little by little … day by day.
Bittersweet, poignant, and ironic, dontcha think, considering that he was the one who ended up not being strong enough to just hold on an stay. With that, I finally release these words into the atmosphere and back to him, only tweaked in my kinda way:
Now, you’re far away, and I’m alone to cry about it. It’s not a better place since you died and left me here to say: “Hold on … I was never that strong.” But I’ve gotten STRONGER, so, if you need me, I’m not far away. Now, I’ll just keep holding on, so I can help them find their way, ’cause there’s a little piece of Heaven right here where you were. The fact that I keep trying is what sets me apart! You helped me find the reason, so I can help them find the way to get rid of all their pain … little by little … day by day.I love you, Zachariah.
Those words are amongst my most treasured scars and souvenirs. Nope! No one ever DID say that this living gig was gonna be easy. Yup! I really have gone through Hell on Earth too many times to count. Meanwhile, I’m just sitting here thinking that all of this pain sufferingwas, indeed, “the point”, because how would anyone ever really know what Heaven is unless they’ve been to hell?
I’m here again … but NOT a thousand miles away from You. No, I can’t do this on my own (nor would I want to). Since I’ve seen Your face, I’ve known that I was Yours and found everything I thought I lost before. When You call my name, You make me into one whole piece in Your eye.
I’m STILL standing strong amidst a lifetime of shards and pieces that I suppose should have actually killed me by now, but instead, have only helped me find God’s face and voice within myself. I’ll never be broken and alone in silent darkness with all these shards and pieces again.
Some years ago, an extremely powerful song was born from one of my favorite albums. That Said song has since become one of my utmost battle cries to the devil:
I’m gonna hit you right where it hurts. I’m gonna give you everything that you deserve. If you need attention … something to say … let’s hear your confession. I am just too hard to break! Your words are reckless … delusional! Inside you’re helpless … far from who you say you are. You try to push me over the edge. I won’t let you pull me down to your level again! And now you’re here to stare me down. And now you’re here to stand your ground. I’ll knock you down … I’ll drag you out … no mercy! How do you like it now?
Bring it! Bring it! I’m still right here undefeated! Say whatever you want … it really don’t mean anything.
Bring it! Bring it! If there’s no fear let me see it! There is nothing you got that will ever get to me!
Guess what, though? Today that song just became one of my utmost battle cries to myself. I didn’t let my anger get the best of me. I kicked my ego’s ass, rose above the hostile, albeit well-deserved feelings I have towards my husband’s THING of a “brother”, and remembered who ABOVE the hell I am! I’m the risen and reigning queen that the “Zack Of Shit” he couldn’t be bothered with left behind.
Very long, complicated, and sometimes ugly story short? Hey, Devil? I WIN! YOU LOSE! The same goes for you, “brother THING”! why don’t you hit me up whenever you need that hundred bucks. It’ll be waiting in my wallet! And by the way, not only is your police pants blue Porsche ASS ugly, you barely fucking fit in it, little big man. Lol! Something tells me that see you next Tuesday Meggy is the one that unfortunate decision for you, kinda like the even more unfortunate one she made for you to piss away your baby brother.
I will not be forgotten! This is my time to shine! I’ve got the scars to prove it … only the strong survive! I’m not afraid of dying! Everyone has their time! Life never favored weakness!WELCOME TO THE PRIDE!
🎶
They say that perseverance will always lead to victory, and indeed I believe that’s true. Quite sadly, however, it is also true that life never has favored weakness, everyone does have their time, and (ps), you have to be willing to die! No, I’m not just talking about LITERALLY dying. I mean that sometimes you have to be willing to metaphorically die … to YOURSELF … by killing your ego.
The real trick is knowing what’s worth fighting for in the first place and knowing what TRUE victory looks like. Sometimes, LOSING is actually WINNING. See, that’s where the ego death comes into play. Some of the bloodiest battles and wars were started by man’s insufferable ego … and some of the most epic victories were found at the losing end of “man versus himself”. Remember:
Your ego wants you to win so you feel good about yourself. Yet it’s exactly the ego itself that’s sabotaging you from winning. The paradox… Killing the ego before it becomes big is a great way to sustain a happy life … because once it gets enough power, you’ll start to beat yourself up for small stuff. It’s a guaranteed way to cripple yourself.
Sounds complicated, right? Well, it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. If laying low in an almost perpetual state of rest to the point of appearing lazy is a good enough survival tactic on the pride lands, it’s good enough for all of us, too. A lion’s victories in war are only as good as the energy it’s conserved for only the most necessary of primal battles. So, too, is it with we human animals. Just sayin’!
… and our group of 25 outstanding students and 15 adults representing John Paul II Catholic High School on an epic Spring Break excursion!
Although I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I am a major fan of Jesus and His Father (the only two beings I have ever or will ever idolize). Even still, this adventure with the Mona Lisa was exceptionally moving for me, in that every one of the “signs” I’d asked for before taking off from Dallas were found here on this journey. As such, I have made some fairly serious life decisions that are going to change everything for me going forward, which changes are sure to avail themselves over the course of time here in The Diary.
No, I do not know why. God Himself know I don’t deserve any of this. Here I am, though, still rocking my favorite daughter gig, because for some reason He continually showers me with me all the power and grace I can possibly handle, even despite myself and my retched ways. Every widowed mom should be so lucky.
For the record, although although we did take a few pictures, for the most part we stayed immersed living IN all the moments rather than watching them from behind a lens.
And every day he passed a monastery’s high cathedral walls, and it made his life seem meaningless and small. And he wondered how it would be to live in such a place – to be warm, well fed and at peace, to shut the world away.
The Fossanova Abbey is a thirteenth century Cistercian monastery perched high upon a secluded hill about 60 miles south of Rome. Made almost entirely of travertine, the baron walls of the basilica, devoid of any decoration or artwork, is considered to be one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Italy, if not the world. It wasn’t even supposed to be a part of our tour, by the way, and the opportunity to visit availed itself somewhat out of the blue after leaving Pompei.
As Gia and I wandered down each more frugal, if not severe corridor, all we could do was inhale our speechless awe. But it wasn’t until we reached the altar nave that I truly had a moment, when the rose window perched high above a trinity of smaller windows reduced me to tears. It was Him! He was there! I could feel Him gazing down at me with as much pure love and joy as I felt gazing up at Him:
I wept as I saw you aching, broke as I watched you falling, and suffered as I watched you struggling to get back up and find your way to Me through through the fog. You couldn’t always see me, but I never left your side, and now that you finally understand that you DON’T have to understand “everything and all of it“, you’re standing at My high cathedral walls where nothing about your journey has been meaningless or small. I love you, Child. You are warm, well fed, and at peace Here.
At first, I was overcome with what almost felt like grief when it was time to leave. The profound peace I’d felt in His all-encompassing presence there was numbing, if not addictive. For a split second, I’d even thought to myself, “Maybe I could just come back here and live”? So, I began searching for the words to describe to myself what had just happened to me beneath those windows. No, I take that back … what happened within me. That’s when I was pulled back to a song I’ve been listening to for more than two decades. It is, perhaps, one of the best ways I’ve found to even remotely describe the physical manifestation of my heart being compressed as every atom in my body is consumed with the tingling, burning sensation I’ve known for years now when He’s present. It’s a feeling I wish I could just “poof” to all of you:
Lovely traces … I can sense Him in everything. The way that He moves me takes me far away … I seek no escape! I am dreaming through His eyes. I am wandering through His mind. I’m overtaken by the way that He delivers me … I’m transcended. There’s no place I’d rather be than here in Heaven. Without Him I’m incomplete … it’s hopeless! Wholly devoted … I immerse myself in Him. Baptize me in His love, ’cause drowning in the thought of Him haunts my soul. I’m taken by the things He does. It doesn’t matter what I lose … I’m His. Under His command, like a puppet on a string. I am willing to put my faith in Him, so, before the world I sing:He consumes me. He consumes me. Like a burning flame running through my veins. He consumes me. Moves right through me. Any time, any place … He invades my space. He consumes me.
{Words to “You Consume Me” Adapted}
When we got on the bus and were heading back to Rome, I just closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, fully comforted in knowing that not only will I never forget that sacred place, but more so than anything, I was taking those high cathedral walls and the feeling I had there with me. You see, nothing about either my journey through the abbey or this life itself has been meaningless or small. He loves me, consumes me, and dwells WITHIN me. I am warm, well fed, and at peace wherever I roam. Oh, and I truly amHis favorite daughter.
After the tour, we visited the nearby Cellini Gallery, where I scored this bauble made from Mount Vesuvius lava. Fashioned from the Her core, not only do these beads ground me back to Mother Earth herself, but with my ancestral roots that trace back to right there in Southern Italy, even more so do they connect me to the ancient mariners who came before me:
They’re the pirates who came before me and the zephyrs in my sky who forged this path and built this mountain for me to stand on as they push me into the perpetual state of punctuation and magic I’ve become as I navigate this sea of madness. In the meantime, as I continue to soar through these golden years of mine, “I’ll be wearing steel that’s bright and true and carrying the news that must get through!
Look closer at my bracelet, and you’ll see a little charm. Our time there was over and I was supposed to be heading to the bus, so, I rushed through my purchase and didn’t notice it until I returned home. Truth being told, because I’m half blind without my glasses, and also because I’m not typically a fan of jewelry with “little charms”, it wasn’t until I was literally standing in my closet about to snip it off that I realized what it was. It was a teeny, tiny anchor, and yet another reminder that He’s with me eternally in my storms, just as I know He was with those of “my people” who were buried in those ashes.
Going forward, I’ll wear this bracelet proudly in honor of having walked in the footsteps of those who perished in those ashes for me, as I scream these epic “I WIN! YOU LOSE!” words to that Godforsaken devil in my mind:
Only time would hold the answer of how their season turned. They stayed there bleeding, suffering, burning deeper, then finally sinking under. Oh, how they fought to survive so that I would never break!So, you pulled me under with your lies and watched me breaking underneath, but I hid away that darkness in the Light that burns now deeper in me. You never knew who I was, because you NEVER held the key: They lived, then they died, and from their ashes I’ve ignited so they’ll NEVER fade away!
… ’cause believe it or not, yes, there IS still plenty of Light to be found while we’re out there stumbling through the all the darkness in this world. Sounds kinda funny coming from ME these days, especially after my recent “cheeseburger & picnics” rant, right? Momma’s been a little bitter. Meanwhile …
Take it from me … they don’t care if you’re lonely. As you can see, they don’t care if you’re scared. Your heart IS the only friend you have in this whole world. Don’t start to think you can’t do this yourself. This is the call out! This is the call to the broken! (Stand up!) To all the ones who’ve been thrown away. This is the call to the broken! (Stand up!) Stand up and take back your world today!I know what you’re thinking. You say you’re tired of keeping score, keeping score? Trust me, you’re not the only one going through this. You see, I’ve been through this before! This is the call out!
By the way, a very Happy Birthday to this, one of my all time favorite self-empowerment ballads by one of my all time favorite “keepin’ it REAL” bands, 3 Doors Down, that was born this day back in 2016 with the release of it’s mother album, “Us and the Night“.
On a beautiful Wednesday afternoon exactly one year ago today, “the music wheel of destiny” stopped my world, and my heart, and sent me straight into the breakdown lane of one of the busiest highways in Dallas so that I could literally “cry my eyes out”. It was as if Zack were singing this beautifully haunting melody to me, my daughter, and my son in a message from “The Brighter Side Of Grey“, where in our hearts we know he finally is. If you haven’t ever heard this song, I cannot urge you enough to listen to it, especially if you are at odds with yourself over the legacy you are going to be leaving behind for your own children and loved ones.
So, with that, Happy THREE YEAR Grey-Aversary to me and anyone else who’s riding this beautiful “grey high” train with me to the brighter side of everything you’re painting your legacy with! If you, like many of us, are grieving the loss of someone who you loved … WAIT! NO! … someone who you still love, no matter how long ago it has been, do me a favor and SAY THEIR NAME today!
And remember …
“Death Is NOTHING At All“. I mean, does it HURT that they aren’t still physically “here” with us? HELLO? Of course it does! All of this grief we share is our infinite and unexpressed love for them. They are still here, though … just slipped into the next room … watching, listening, and absorbing all of thisthrough their telescopes. When we say their names, they can hear us, I promise, promise, PROMISE! In the meantime, just keep it GREY today, and don’t forget to listen to our song …
Don’t get me wrong, folks. I don’t do things for anyone from a selfish place. The altruistic soul my skin adorns refuses to give of myself for personal gain. I do what I do for the people in my halo (and sometimes even strangers) from a place of unbridled love and passion for pebble-skipping and wave-making, regardless of whether I’ll ever see the tsunami of fruit from the gifts of my heart and hands. I truly don’t need to be “seen, heard, or appreciated”. It literally sets my soul on fire to at least try to make all the people, places, and things I’ve touched better than I found them, and that feeling is reward enough for me … BUT … I’m not gonna lie, folks … I don’t hate it, either!
With that, I am blasted right back to the past to one of my favorite “oldies but goodies”, Circa 1999, which I am now blasting back out to my babies, my God, and even myself:
Hey, look at me, living life for you. When it’s good. When it’s hard. You know me. You know my heart. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I give up anything at all when You call. All I know … it’s worth it all!
Make it a powerful Monday, friends! If there’s someone in YOUR life whose works and deeds have made it better, but perhaps you haven’t told them yet, SAY THE WORDS that tell them.
That being said, not a day in my life has passed in the 26 years that I’ve had a relationship with Jesus that I don’t mentally picture Him “weeping”. He wept for Lazarus. He wept for those who were weeping for Lazarus. He wept for the all of mankind. It’s the one image of Him that I hold the very tightest, and yes, I actually “hold” that mental picture of Him weeping near to my heart and “feel” the actual idea of Jesus weeping. He weeps for me. He weeps for you. He weeps for all of this jacked up FUCKING bullshit that He’s watching go down as time passes by and the division in humanity becomes its demise, and WOW, look at me, I just cursed again!
I’m not gonna lie, folks, there’s been a lot of dark and toxic “stuff” hanging in the balance over not necessarily my own head, but the heads of my beautiful children. My one and only son is fighting a domestic and internal war against an enemy that is all but devouring him, which “enemy” is one of the very few people he’s loved, trusted, and had unyielding and completely blind faith in all the days of his life. Meanwhile, as his mother, all I can do is just sit back and watch as he is metaphorically dangling over a muddied swamp with just one beast in it. It’s a hopeless, torturous, and abysmal feeling, because unless and until he can find the strength and courage to finally walk away from that beast once and for all, there is nothing I can do to help him. So, today, amid the carnage and fallout from a battlefield I am literally helpless on, all I could manage to do is feel like weeping. So, guess what?
I LET MYSELF!
Weeping is one of the things that makes me a human being and not the monster this world full of Satan’s minions wants to turn me into. If you’ve been around this Diary long enough by now, you know that I have a song for every entry, but that some songs have made an appearance more than once:
By the way, it’s okay to feel sadness and grief for the things that have died inside of you, and it’s certainly okay to cry. Now that I think of it, it’s such a blessing that one of my favorite verses in the Bible also happens to be the shortest: JOHN 11:35: Jesus wept. CRY AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED TO! Get mad! Scream out loud! Do whatever you must to let yourself feel everything that has hurt you so you can finally let it go!
The music loving world received a profound gift in the form of one of the most powerful songs of my own life 16 years ago this day, and now I’m about to hit my knees and thank GOD that He ever gave this offering to me in the first place. If weeping was good enough for His Son, then weeping is good enough for me. I’d be hard-pressed to forget that there are some people in this world who either can’t or simply won’t allow themselves the utmost privilege and honor of “weeping”, because:
I’m so afraid of the gift You gave me.
So many people are afraid to just let all those tears go for fear that once they start they’ll never stop. For those people, I will pray tonight. Everyone should be so lucky as to own the ability to allow themselves to weep and wail when they need to. Sometimes the only way to ensure that the literal storm of tears that is brewing in your heart and soul “will ever stop” is to release them! They’ll stop when they’ve done their job, then start again when they need to get back to work. Goodnight everyone!
Twenty years ago today, humanity lost a treasure the likes of which it’s rarely known, Mister Rogers. Much like one of his modern day brethren whose halo still graces our atmosphere, Keanu Reeves, Fred Rogers was “love incarnate“, and there truly was no additional component to his character.
“He stayed the same human throughout the worst and the best in his life. He was pure … and people saw that.”
Perhaps my favorite part of every episode was the moment he’d meet me at my level, remind me that I mattered, and say things like …
“I like you just the way you are.”
“It’s you l like.”
“You’ve made this day special just by being YOU!”
“Look for the helpers!”
Indeed, it’s true that an entire generation of us were fortunate enough to have grown up withimpeccable words such as those being planted deep within our psyches as the tentpoles for our core understanding of kindness, caring, empathy, patience, and compassion. He was so much more than just the PBS Kids TV host wearing his mother’s beloved hand-knit sweaters so many of us fondly remember watching on the screen while our mother’s were still in the kitchen keeping the home fires burning, he was a living transmission of love that left an imprint across our hearts of what humanity at its utmost and highest could look like that many of us still call upon and at least try to carry forward as adults.
One hasn’t lived until they’ve seen a man who they thought was a tower of steel on the verge of tears after what was probably their last “Daddy/Daughter Dance” until her wedding day. How did this all go so wrong? Please allow me to be a blubbering mess for the remainder of this night, and (PS), grief SUCKS and mental illness can burn in actual HELL!
With that, perhaps we should consider “the words” to a song that may be an oldie, but it’s still a damn goodie, that I listen to all the time:
Silence is golden but these are the words that the world needs to hear. Terms of compassion will cause a reaction as love drives them near. But still we choose to hide behind the face of pride, pretending we are blind to the calling. This is my point and case, if hate can be erased with such a simple phrase, why are we stalling?
Some just assume we already know of the love that they feel. Some have a heartfelt emotion, but never the words to reveal. I think we all relate, so why are we afraid to let our hearts convey what we’re feeling? There is a world in need with hungry souls to feed, and love can intercede if we’re willing.
So, say the words, say the words, say “I love you”. Say the words I long to hear. Say the words, say the words, say “I love you”. Say the words I long to hear. Ya gotta say it. Ya gotta say it. SAY IT!
By the way, “saying the words” doesn’t just apply to romantic partners. It means speaking words of love, kindness, and caring that your children and even friends or strangers may need to hear. Don’t just assume that your people know the beautiful things you feel for them in your heart. I mean, let’s face it … NONE OF US ARE MIND-READERS! Also, there are many people in this world, and maybe even some of your people, whose love language is words of affirmation. Meaning, the only way they really “hear” the words “I love you” is by really hearing the words “I love you.”
Do they make you smile when they walk into the room? Does their smile brighten the darkest of spaces? Do they inspire you? Encourage you? Make you want to be a better person? Do they make everything about your existence in what can seem like a dreadful existence more enjoyable, comfortable, and “worth it all”? TELL THEM! Tell them they’re beautiful! Tell them they’re smart! Tell them you have faith in them, that your proud of them, and proud to even know them!
I can end life. I can give life. I bring truth. I bring lies. I am heard … but not seen.Who am I?I AM WORDS!
My valentine may be elsewhere now, but I will revel in all the sweet words I’ll share with all my valentines on Earth today … not the least of which is the very recently broken, not so golden silence between me and my Dad. These texts between he and I may seem a bit silly to the rest of the world, but to me, they are my case in point that hate really can be erased by SAYING THE WORDS!
Always remember that every word you speak into someone’s ears or The Cosmos itself can either sow a garden or destroy a crop. So, yes, SAY THE WORDS, but make them extraordinary and IMPECCABLE!
Lastly, and on a side note, I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but it is my truest prayer that everyone reading this either has already or will someday soon attract a “Naked Partner” who speaks the love language of your heart so that you don’t have to spend what is often an entirely fruitless lifetime trying to interpret, decode, translate, and explain the language of your soul.
With everything happening today, you don’t know whether you’re coming or going, but you think that you’re on your way. Life lined up on the mirror … don’t blow it. Look at me when I’m talkin’ to you! You looking at me – but I’m lookin’ through you. I see the blood in your eyes. I see the love in disguise. I see the pain hidden in your pride. I see you’re not satisfied, and I don’t see nobody else. I see myself. I’m looking at the mirror on the wall. Here we are again. Through my rise and fall, you’ve been my only friend. You told me that they can’t understand the man I am. So, why are we here talkin’ to each other again?
Uh, I see the truth in your lies. I see nobody by your side. But I’m with you when you’re all alone, and you correct me when I’m lookin’ wrong. I see that guilt beneath the shame. I see your soul through your window pane. I see the scars that remain. I see YOU! I’m looking at the mirror on the wall. Here we are again. Through my rise and fall, you’ve been my only friend. You told me that they can’t understand the man I am. So, why are we here talkin’ to each other again?
Lookin at me now I can see my past. Damn, I look just like my f-ckin dad. Light it up, that smoke and mirrors. I even look good in the broken mirror. I see my momma smile … thats a blessin’. I see the change. I see the message, and no message could been any clearer, so, I’m startin’ with the man in the mirror on the wall.
Believe it or not, I’ve been kinda laying low lately due to some painful revelations about my childhood and family. I was in the very early stages of starting to questioning everything again, but as it turned out, I really don’t need to question anything, so, I’m good! I had to bop myself on the head with my magically magic wand and sprinkle myself with pixie dust to remind myself of just who in Heaven AND hell I truly am again.
I’m an extraordinary, magical princess living in a magical fairytale kingdom, and no one and nothing takes my power from me unless I decide they can. I’m kinda legendary that way! Now I’m just sailing softly through the Sun in my not-so-broken stone age dawn, flying high over the meadows in my mind and making waves across my time.
As for the aforementioned magically MAGIC wand I wield, I shall not relinquish either it or its power from my hands until it’s time for me to place it in the hands of its next rightful owner, my daughter, who is also a strangely practical magical fairy princess living in a magical fairytale kingdom of her own, but instead of wearing a diamond encrusted tiara like her mom, she wears a heart of gold and the soul of a sage, mixed with sarcasm, dark eyeliner, a sketchbook, a pen, and a life-size skeleton who rides shot gun in her car year-round. Lol. Yup! That’s a true story! I mean, seriously, people? Did you think I would have any other kind of young woman apprenticing under me for up future reign in an EPIC monarchy of her own?
And one last thing …
Always remember that while some people in this world may look like pure magic, some people really ARE pure magic. It’s your job to learn how to tell the difference. Trust your intuition and that gnawing little feeling in your gut, because that’s your practical magic trying to POOF you to your power, and it’ll never let you down, I promise! Smoke and mirrors may make for a good show, but they’re usually just a distraction from the truth behind practical deceit and lies. In the meantime, keep on keepin’ it real all my pretties! With love, from your magical, fantastical, pixie dust schlepping queen … “REAL Cat”!
… that moment you’re in the middle of what should have been a happy family text about the first-class, luxury vacation he had offered to send us all away on, but instead, you are cold-cocked in the face with the reality that it wasn’t just “dear ole Dad” who was the primary poisoner and “root cause” of the damage to your family tree. I mean, I’d always known that she, too, played her part in our family’s disintegration, but it wasn’t until tonight that I really understood the depth of that damage:
Mom, I’m going to say something and then shut my phone off for the day because I am REALLY upset about what you just did to Dad on that “family text”. It triggered me back to my childhood AND early adulthood when you would constantly say things like:“Just stop feeling sorry for yourself.”“Other people have it worse than you.”“There are children STARVING in Biafra.”“Think about all the people who have no arms and legs.”“You should be ashamed of yourself for all that self-pity.”
No more! It’s gross! It was emotionally abusive, invalidating, ABUSIVE, and a good part of the reason I started torturing myself both mentally and physically because I couldn’t just “be grateful enough” to NOT be devastated by all the REAL trauma I have gone through. You sent a subliminal message to me that I wasn’t allowed to “feel too bad” about ANYTHING because “others had it worse”.Meanwhile, you have ALSO been doing that to Dad literally ALL the years I can remember, and I can’t even begin to count all the times I heard you tell HIM: “Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself! Just look at your beautiful family.”Trauma shaming and trauma comparing are cruel, Mom. Can’t you understand that?
Yes, I know that we have ALL had “beautiful houses, cars, clothes, and plenty of food to eat”, but that doesn’t erase all the HELL some of us have been through. That includes Dad, too.How would YOU like it if EVERY single time you let us know how badly your RA is making you feel, we said, “Just get the fuck over yourself, mom! There are children starving in Africa!”Does the fact that there are, indeed, “starving, homeless, sick people in the world” change the fact that your illness REALLY does make your body ache?No, it doesn’t!Both things can be true at the same time.
What upsets me the most about that text this morning is that here he FINALLY is after all these years REALLY trying to do something nice for this family, but you had to go and bitch slap him and shame him that way – AND – it was for NOTHING – because he wasn’t being self-pitiful, he was making a JOKE!That was pretty gross, mom. You should probably think about that for a minute.What the hell is wrong with you? “Virtue signaling” is a sign of narcissism, you do know that, right?From now on, when you tell us ANYTHING about your disease, we should all accuse you of self-pity?No! No, we shouldn’t.
Please don’t do that to ANY of us anymore. We’ve all had about enough of your “holier than thought” GUILTING and SHAMING us for having REAL feelings for our various trips to “hell”. It caused me a lot of psychological damage over the years, and probably Dad, too. IT’S ENOUGH!
I think I’ve finally had enough of this! I didn’t come this far to have to keep on choking and burning on ashes I never asked to rise above. For God’s sake, people, it really isn’t a competition, and YES, we’ve ALL been broken. Haven’t we suffered enough yet? It’s time to heal? Can’t we all just lay down the guns and calm this fire that never seems to stop burning? Even a phoenix has its limits and gets tired of choking on ashes!
CALM THE FIRE
Calm the fire. Do not fight anymore. They don’t know what they’re saying. They don’t know anything at all. For all that matters is you know that this is not their fault. There are places we should never go. Lost between the cracks something wicked waits below, and all I’m saying there are some things better left unseen at all. It’s been so long, it’s tearing me apart. I cannot understand or comprehend where we went wrong. Now we’ve come so far … the madness in our hearts will never end … ’cause I’ve seen it all. I can’t fight it anymore. If fire burns forevermore, is there nothing left to save, ’cause now more than ever, what we need is love to replace all the obscene. Something good, and something beautiful. If only we could see that now more than ever what we need is a little love. Is there no more? Have we gone too far? There’s nothing I can do to make you sway … to see the blood running through our hearts … no different from the blood we’ve come to hate. (Alter Bridge)
On second thought, get it etched on the inside of your forearm where my favorite “Secrets Make You Sick” tattoo is so you’ll see it 24/7.
So, let’s think this through …
Close your eyes for a minute and think about something you don’t like. It can be anything from a person, place, or thing, to a fresh hot steamin’ bowl of lima beans (the mere sight of which make me PUKE). Now that you have that “thing” in the forefront of your mind,
I want you to LOVE IT!
Well? Did you do it? Do you “love it” now? Hmm. Why not? Let’s try this again. I am heretofore demanding that you
LOVE that thing you HATE … NOW!
Did it work? Do you love it now? Umm, no! NO, YOU DON’T! No one can MAKE you “feel” anything unless we want to. It’s one of the perks of being a sentient being. There is freedom within within the confines of our own minds to do, say, think, and FEEL whatever the FUCK we want to. It’s our “this is where I END and YOU BEGIN” autonomy!
I personally have a first-hand perspective of having been programmed from birth to adhere to the thoughts, rules, and pathways that the “powers that be” tried to indoctrinate me with. Even so, there is a POWER within and available to us all to FEEL what we feel, and NOT feel what we DON’T. That POWER is mine! That POWER is yours! NO ONE CAN TAKE IT AWAY FROM US! So, why do we just GIVE it away? No one, and I mean NO ONE, can MAKE you “feel inferior” unless you LET them!
If someone is trying to make you FEEL “inferior”, well, that’s about them, not about you, and, umm, it’s prolly ’cause that’s how they FEEL about themselves. The only way a person who “FEELS inferior” can make themselves feel “not inferior”, is to either deal with themselves and take back their own power, or unleash the ill-perceived “strength” they find in their own deflection try to take someone else’s.
Don’t you DARE let me find out that you are one of my people out there running around letting other people bring you down. You are SO much better than that! I PROMISE! Know who you are, own what you feel, and although you certainly don’t have to be a Jean-Claude Van Damn asshole about it, learn to say, “No, THANK YOU!” when it comes to protecting the boundaries around your FEELINGS!
What I love about song by Rascal Flatts is that while it was obviously meant to be about LOVING who you love, you can replace the word love with “FEEL” throughout and still be empowered by it. Make it a great day, my friends, and FEEL what YOU feel, no matter what!
I guess I’ll never understand it. Why do we take it all for granted until it’s gone. FEEL what YOU feel with all that you have, and don’t waste the time that flies so fast. FEEL what YOU feel, and say that you do. Yeah, with every single breath you’re breathing … FEEL what YOU feel! FEEL what YOU feel … again and again and again and again.
{“Love Who You Love” by Rascal Flatts … Words Adapted}
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
I would much rather stand in the eye of the storm with Jesus as my anchor, then have sailed through a storm-free existence without Him. I would never have known unconditional love, experienced the consumption of His Light, and found my true Home otherwise. Hey, devil? Did you get everything you wanted? Lol! No, you didn’t! You didn’t get ME, now, didja? I’m still here stillGod’s favorite daughter. Oh, and by the way … HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY to this truly EPIC song!
LIVINGIN THE
EYE OFTHE STORM
I can’t run … too dangerous to open the door. I can’t hide … there’s nowhere to go anymore. I’ve got nothing to hold on to. I can’t break through living in the eye of the storm.
I’m watching all of these dark clouds. I’m watching blue skies turn to gray … and the lightening has struck ground … and a million eyes start to rain.
I’m watching everything go down. I’m watching everything wash away. The lonely streets don’t talk now. Nobody hears what they’ve gotta say.
I’m watching hopeful hearts breaking. I’m watching lovers turn to enemies. All our memories fading … we forget the ones we really need.
I’m watching evil men break dreams. I’m watching good intentions turn to greed. They’re never satisfied taking what all their power just couldn’t feed.
I know I gotta be strong, but it’s hard to hold on and on and on and on and on. I can’t run … too dangerous to open the door. I can’t hide … there’s nowhere to go anymore. I’ve got nothing to hold on to. I can’t break through living in the eye of the storm. So numb … surrounded by a violent force. Inside … fighting through a deepening war. I need something to hold on to to get me through living in the eye of the storm.
Awwww! How sweet! Hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, Jean-Claude Van DAMN mother effing hugs! Step right up, folks, ’cause it’s “National Hugging Day“, which I guess means that imma have to stay in my effing house, ’cause umm …
Did you also know that hugs were invented to drive that probably only 0.1% of humanity who not only don’t like hugs, but after they’ve had to cordially, awkwardly, or unexpectedly get hugged by some well-intended “hugger” who prolly didn’t even mean to assault them, they then have to go rinse their body and soul off with SOAP and SAGE quite literally over the edge? Yup. THAT’S ME! I’m one of those oddball “0.1 percenters” who doesn’t really even want to “people“, much less be stood too close to or HUGGED (unless I WANT TO)!
Ironically, if for some strange reason I really DO want a hug or some, err, “other” (wink, wink) kind of physical connection from a MAN, I literally can’t and WON’T keep my hands off him without either a restraining order or death. My poor husband, God rest his soul, had to literally hide from me at times because assaulting his physicality was my favorite recreational sports.
MEANWHILE …
Hi everyone! It’s me, CAT! Unless I’ve known you for, like, 140 years, and have a VERY close relationship with you … OR I’ve given birth to you … OR you’re going to be party to giving me grandchildren one day … OR I’ve been in love with, engaged to, or married to you … if you see me walking by, look away and don’t get any smart ideas. I may be a “cute” cat at times, but I’ve also been arrested for assaulting someone who physically assaulted me against my will, and will happily go back again.
Now, get out there and just hug the ever loving SHIT out of anyone in your path – BUT – on the off chance that you got this message “loud and clear” and you see me out of the castle today, alls I’m sayin’ is that maybe you could at least just warn a bitch first:
Umm, hi! Did you KNOW that today is National Hugging Day? Guess what, then? INCOMING!
I just sat there. I just held Shelby’s hand. There was no noise, no tremble, just peace. Oh, God. I realize as a woman how lucky I am. I was there when that wonderful creature drifted into my life, and I was there when she drifted out. It was the most precious moment of my life.
As for God? While of course, at the time I couldn’t exactly feel Him, every single shred of my being knows that He was there in that room with me, just like “The Footprints In The Sand”. He was weeping as He was holding me as I was weeping and holding her as she was dying in my arms during this, the most bittersweet moment of my life. After all those years of praying for a baby, I’d gotten an angel instead.
Happy 19th, Gina Marie. I, too, realize just how lucky I am to have been there when you drifted into my life, and then again when you drifted out. We may have only crossed paths for a handful of fleeting hours, but I was honored to have been the one to both carry you here and send you right back Home. It truly was the most precious moment of my life.
Ten miles from town, and I didn’t break down, and there wasn’t any smoke on the side of the road. I’m here on my own … but I’m not alone … ’cause wherever I am is my home. All that I’m after is a life full of laughter, and although I won’t be laughing with you, I know that all that still matters is love ever after after the life went through. Yes, there’s still life after you.
The Frog may be gone, the Butterfly he left behind still flitters and flutters with reckless abandon through the skies with a tail fire that rivals even the brightest shooting stars.
Some day, God willing, I’ll drive my grandkids back to this place and tell them all about how everyone thought that Crazy Grandma Cat’s husband was nothin’ but a loser who was gonna have us all living under a bridge.
Hey, ladies? Never forget that Prince Charming doesn’t always ride up on a white horse with a sword. Sometimes he rolls in with an ass ugly Ford truck, a giant heart, and a pocket full of dreams. Dig for the gold that you find in their heart … NOT the gold in their wallet. Just have unconditional love for and faith in him, support hisdreams in every way possible, don’t bust his balls while he’s busting his own balls trying to get you that tiara, and just see what might could happen!
Believe it or not, though, this most tragic of truths is one of my highest honors and privileges. You can’t have one without the other – life and death, that is – and losing thedaughter I literally prayed for on my knees was one of the most bittersweet catalysts to everything I’ve since come to understand about the brevity of existence and “the mathematics of faith“:
Happy 19th birthday, my tiny Gina Marie. I, too, realize just how lucky I am to have been there when you drifted into my life, and then again when you drifted out. We may have only crossed paths here for that handful of fleeting hours, but I was honored to be the one to have both carried you here AND sent you right back Home. It truly WAS the most precious moment of my life.
I believe that I was specifically chosen to bear the burden of this twisted sorority I’m in so that I could become a living example of crazyblind faith in a God and His choices that are otherwise unnatural and unfathomable. As most grieving parents would likely agree, outliving our children and having to survive “here” with the parts of our hearts and souls they took with them isn’t for the faint of heart and something I would never wish upon another. Pray GOD that I don’t ever have to bury another child, because they are amongst my very few Achilles‘ tendons.
With that, I am reminded of one of those Quora questions that I love to hate so much, and WOW did it end up being the most perfectly timed pairing for my thoughts:
If, indeed, I knew I only had 10 minutes until I died, the FIRST thing I’d do is reach out to my kids and let them know that:
Although I certainly won’t be excited at the news of my death, I am, as they know, ready for what comes next and have been for quite some time. I know without a doubt what lies beyond those stained glass doors and am unafraid.
Though my body will be gone, I’ll be the zephyr in their skies that brushes their cheeks and whispers in their ears, and will be watching them from afar through my supernova telescope.
When it’s finally time for them to read this Diary and watch all my crazy videos, they know that every one of the “secrets” I couldn’t keep anymore were very much my truths, and despite some bumps in the road along my journey, I did my best to create a legacy for them and theirs that would read more as a virtual love letter and not a tragedy. Then, I’d beg them one last time to please take only the best parts of me into their lives going forward and leave out all the rest.
Sure, it may be sad at first, but my death will be nothing at all, and I’ll want them to smile when it’s time to bid me adieu knowing that despite the many circumstances that seemed contrary, I had the BEST life ever, was THE happiest queen alive, and they made me so fucking proud just as they were, simply because they were mine!
Yes, I know that’s a lot to relay in less than ten minutes, which is why I already have some things prepared for my crossing over when it’s time for them to carry me down the aisle.
All that being said, the SECOND thing I would do is just close my eyes, make the sign of The Cross, and tell Jesus that His absolute favorite daughter and most divine apostrophe of all is on her way Home and that I literally CANNOT wait to meet Him in person.
Meanwhile, here I am crying my damn eyes out after having written this. No, I’m not afraid of dying, but I know that when it’s time, my kids will be traumatized, and the thought of them amidst another heartache breaks me into pieces. Their pain is my pain. Their tears are my tears. My kids have both already suffered so much on this Earth, but if I’ve done my job well and planted enough faith seeds for them, “Crazy Momma Cat’s” kids are gonna be alright.
With that, and in honor of not only a new year filled with infinite possibilities, I challenge every one of you to make the next 365 days really count! This song is beyond close to my heart, by the way. Zack used to sing it to me, as it was one of his favorite songs of all. It was, therefore, the very last song he heard me play for him as I carried him down that aisle.
CARRY ME DOWN
And if you see me losing ground, don’t be afraid to lie. I know the pain inside my heart can’t break the fear inside of yours. And if you see me losing faith in what it means to die, don’t let me leave before I know what lies behind the stained-glass doors. Save sorrow for the souls in doubt. Bleed every care out. Will you carry me down the aisle that final day? With your tears and cold hands shaking from the weight. When you lower me down beneath that sky of gray, let the rain fall down and wash away your pain. For every word we never spoke, we have a tear to cry. For every silence like a wall between a better you and I. So if you see me losing sight of all the death in life, you’ll find the peace in every time I failed to see the death in mine. Let all the fear inside you drown. Tear out the blade and lay it down. Save sorrow for the souls in doubt. Bleed every care out. Will you carry me down the aisle that final day? With your tears and cold hands shaking from the weight? When you lower me down beneath that sky of gray, let the rain fall down and wash away your pain. Oh, the blood is rushing out. Oh, I’m better off without. Oh, the walls are closing in. Oh, sing for me again.
… and after having read through the many beautiful and powerful Christmas weekend “words” via cards and messages from not just my kids, but many dear friends and followers on my various different social media platforms, knowing MY words are enabling some other people to find a way to let go of some of the really heavy stuff that is anchoring them to either the past, the present, or even the bottom of an abyss has been my greatest gift and treasure. Lol, I even got a heartfelt virtual message from one of my favorite phoenixes of all, the wordsmith of all wordsmiths, Mr. Moody! Ask me if I was mad about it? Nope! I kinda wasn’t!
After having gone back and watched my own live video message excerpt this morning above, and especially after having heard myself refer to “feeling as light as a balloon”, I immediately remembered some “words” I’d once written to myself, my God, and my family:
I’m holding on to white balloons up against a sky of doom. Tell me you see them … ’cause what’s inside of me is invisible to most … even in clear view. I’m sending out a signal to the possibility of you … ‘cause right at this moment I know you are connected to a part of me that I don’t even know myself. The changes in me are likely to be like the weather … stormy and clear … strength into fear bound together. But I’ll break my silence if I believe that you and me could ever be more than just what’s been behind us. I desperately want to learn how to live in the rest of every moment I’m lucky enough to have here on this Earth until the day finally comes, hopefully many years from now, I can move on ahead to what is undoubtedly going to be the most peaceful place of all with a soul that is as light and free as a fistful of white balloons.
… and just like that, I have once again come full circle with my beautifully broken reality over a decade after having put such powerful “words” out into the Cosmos. And thus is the story of my life. Yes, I did send out a signal to my husband, my children, my God, and MYSELF, because I knew that I was connected to a part of all of them, all of this, and all of YOU in ways that I have still yet to understand. “Nothing. Everything. ALL OF IT!” … and now, HERE I AM! Has the weather been stormy and clear often both at once? Jean-Claude Van DAMN it has! Have I broken my silence and finally come to believe that I really am so much more than just what’s been behind me? YOU BETCHA!
~ by Gia Embach~
Love me or or hate me, laugh at or mock me, “divinely punctuating” the world is aside from being a mom, my truest joy. Thank you so much to all of you who are on this wordsmithing journey of my own. If only I had a real magic wand, trust me when I say that I would run around POOFING as many of you as I possibly can into the “little white balloon girl” that I am. I just want to be as much of Light in all of this darkness that I can, so, I’ll keep holding on to all my white balloons and praying that not only can some of you can see them, but that one day you’ll be bopping around throughout eternity with a fistful of white balloons of your own.
~ Christmas Eve Words Of Affirmation From THE Wordsmith ~
So, it’s Christmas 2022, and here I am thanking my Lord and Savior, JESUS yet again for my abundant undeserved blessings and gifts, not the least of which is HIS birthday today. Might I just add to the mountain of intangible treasures under my proverbial tree that I did NOT receive or “become” after the actual storms of HELL I’ve had to walk through?
Hi everyone! It’s me, the REAL Cat Williamson, not the FAKE one! All this pain and suffering have been my greatest gifts! The bitter end WILL come in time, but the joy I have found in the sweet here and now keeps me alive!
Merry Christmas to you all, and here’s hoping that you, too, will sift through your own piles of unwrappable but invaluable gifts today, not the least of which are all the things that YOU, too, have NOT become, despite any less than optimal circumstances that should have led to down the road to a bitter end.
THE BITTER END
I’ve walked every road and turned every corner. Searched high and low where I did not belong. Adrift with the tide, always hungry and yearning. If only I’d known that the answer was here all along. The bitter end will come in time, but the joy I have found in the sweet here and now keeps me alive! I’ve kissed the lips of an angel in waiting. Devil in kind, I’ve been lost and deceived. The thrill had to fade in this world for the taking. Once I woke up to what mattered, then I could see. The bitter end will come in time, but the joy I have found in the sweet here and now keeps me alive! We’re lost on a road where all we can find are just the remnants of hope that somehow we leave far behind. But this much I know … somehow we’ll be alright, ’cause it’s never too late to learn how to start living right. The bitter end will come in time, but the joy I have found in the sweet here and now keeps me alive! {Alter Bridge}
Everything changed for the better this night on the thirty year anniversary of her death. Maybe she wasn’t really the devil incarnate … or evil … or my enemy. Maybe she was only ever meant to be the ying to my other Grandma’s yang and one of my greatest lessons in forgiveness, power, and grace of all. For that, I say this:
Grandma, if you can hear me, maybe I had this all wrong? I, of all people, know EXACTLY what it’s like to be a little girl hiding in grown woman’s body so desperately far away from The Sun. Maybe it really IS true that “hurt people HURT people”, and that you, like me, did the best that you could to just SURVIVE.
I’m sorry. SO sorry! Please forgive me for all of the things I’ve thought in my head, and worse yet, the many AWFUL words about you that I put out into the atmosphere. Hey, who knows? Maybe I’ll see, you, too, on the brighter side of all this GREY. I love you.
(PS) If you happen to see my baby, my husband, my Grandma Mary, and my GRANDPA, tell them all that I love them!
(PSS) Oh, and one last thing. If you happened to be watching us through your telescope, perhaps you saw this, too, today? It would appear that THIS, of all Christmas Eves since you left, was meant for some OTHER miracles of forgiveness, power, and grace, too …
This world needs every nugget, glimmer, and beacon of of hope it can get. No, God has not forsaken us, but it can sure as HELL feel that way at times. I get it – I do! Even still, the choice is yours to wake up each day and DECIDE to be a Light in SOMEONE else’s darkness, no matter what less than optimal circumstances and storms are befuddling you. Let these words be the song your soul sings to the people in your direct line of FIRE:
When The Sun is hard to find … when it’s raining in your eyes … when the shadows block those pretty little blue skies living inside you. When the falling of your tears, makes a candle disappear … when you just can’t see The Light, baby I’ll find a way to shine. I’ll find a way to shine!
(“Shine” by Keith Urban)
By the way, don’t forget to sing this one to YOURSELF as often as necessary. I sure as HEAVEN do! After all, I am my own greatest love story, so, why shouldn’t I sing love songs to myself? Now, snap to it people! Get out there and SHINE today. Someone on your path might really need to catch your disease.
Well, good morning my handsome prince! Here’s hoping this is the best day EVER! Please do me a favor and listen to this new song I found, and listen to it REAL good. It’s special. Yes, it “might” make you cry … BUT … it might also help remind you why we are BOTH doing everything in our power to CHANGE the broken cycle in this family.
I believe with every shred of my being that you do now have ALL the pieces of the puzzle in your hand, not the LEAST of which is “the girl”. Christian, I just know that she is the one God made for YOU. Neither one of you is “perfect”, son. NONE OF US ARE! But trust me when I say that I know your heart better than anyone else in this world. I mean, DUH, I’m the QUEEN who made it. I also know how that vast wonderland of a mind of yours works, too. IT’S JUST LIKE MINE! That’s how I KNOW that you two were made “perfect for EACH OTHER”.
This next season of your life is probably when all the good stuff is REALLY gonna start happening, not the LEAST of which is raising a little family, which is why you NEED to absorb EVERY word in this powerful song. Let it be a song you listen to every day to remind you that there really IS no “present” like “the time”. Just think about the “season” we all had Zack in our lives, and how he changed EVERYTHING for ALL of us. It may have only been “a little more than a decade”, but the truest gift he left behind for all of us was THE TIME.
{Text on December 2, 2022}
Son,
Thirty years ago this minute, at 4:50pm, you made your appearance and changed the trajectory of my life forever. Know that as I’m writing this I’m literally crying my eyes out, because I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by. With that, and as you prepare for the first trip of what will hopefully be a lifetime together with our girl, aside from the trip itself, my gift to you is just these “words”. Only, this time, they’re the borrowed words to that Jay Allen song I sent last week.
This morning, I said an extra prayer in addition to my usual ones. I asked God that if any of the words I’ve ever said to you in our last three decades together land and stick to the inner most places of your broken but healing heart and soul, it’s these most powerful ones of all:
Take a picture. Take a chance. Chase a dream. Chase a girl. Say a prayer. Take a trip. Don’t hold your breath. Hold your kids before they’re too big. Help a stranger. Help yourself. Pull that Bible off that shelf. Open it up with your mind. See the world through His eyes. Make the most of what matters the most in this life. ‘Cause it can fade in a minute, no matter how you spin it. That clock keeps ticking. It can stop on a dime. Be careful how you spend it. In a blink, it’s gone, goodbye. ‘Cause there’s no time like the present. Oh, there’s no time like the present. And there’s no present like the time. It’s a gift. It’s all you get. Make a friend. Make amends. Make a call. Tell the truth. Say I love you.
I love you, Christian Peter, “to The Moon and back”, then back againto eternity. Enjoy your trip to Aspen and allow yourself the much needed time to just relax, have fun, cut loose, cut up, and gear up for what I believe is this next most important decade of your life. It’s time for you to start rising above all the ashes we all left you in throughout these bittersweet years, and planting the roots of a much healthier family tree of your own. Please let our many mistakes and failures be the springboard from which you really start “stealing the Sun” and flying from the inside.
Most importantly, though, please take good care of that girl, and remember: “That angel hangs on every word you say”. Always be mindful of how to talk to her. She’s someone’s daughter, someone’s sister, will hopefully be someone’s momma and entire world one day, and she’s the daughter of God who I believe He made perfect just for YOU! No, son, I don’t think she’s perfect” … none of us are … and also, “perfect” would just be boring. But yes, she’s perfect for you. I know with every single fiber of my being that she’s the one I’ve been praying for incessantly since the day that YOU were born exactly thirty years ago. BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORDS! They’re notjust little toy guns, but they are, in fact, like toothpaste: Once you put them out there, you can’t but them back in the tube.
Well, that’s it, then. Another decade is in the books! Here’s to another STELLAR one filled with love, laughter, and every possible brighter side of all the beautiful GREY that is our lives. Although the world may see you as a man, I will only ever see you as the first boy who stole and captured my heart eternally.
Oh, and one last thing. Never forget that Zack is still watching all of this from his telescope in the sky. Keep on making him prouder than he already was and still is after seeing all the growth in you since he’s been gone. I love you to The Moon and back …
Three total strangers at the restaurant where we had my son’s birthday dinner tonight said I had “a really infectious energy”, and as we were leaving, one of our waitstaff quickly pulled me aside and said, “You have such a happy spirit, girl! You make me smile!” I almost cried! So, on the drive home alone, I shut off my radio and allowed myself the safe and quiet space to think out loud and just talk to myself. Lol! Yes, I even answered myself back!
How, Catherine? HOW? How in the actual ‘you’ve survived HELL‘ are you not a miserable, jaded, toxic fucking bitch? How do you still smile? How do you still laugh? How are you still so happy? How do you always manage to turn shit storms into sunshine and chaos into creation?
Umm, DUH! Have you MET you? You’re a positively infectious QUEEN, not just because you CHOOSE to be, but because you’re a gift from God to the masses. THIS is How He’s using you … it’s your purpose and highest calling!
Indeed, this was the conversation “me and me” had. Guess what? IT’S TRUE! I do have a genuinely happy spirit. I own it, cherish it, revel in, and embrace it! Meanwhile, if you could be inside my skin and feel how I feel right now, you would think I just won Miss Universe.
If I’m not meant to “walk on” through another 86,400 seconds tomorrow, knowing I’ve made some people in my path feel “positively infected” means I’m living a life of use to others. What if someone who crossed my path tonight is barely hanging on and my “infection” was a glimmer of Light in their darkness? What if one of them really needed smile?
Beauty fades – AND IT WILL – but not only does the energy we send into the atmosphere not fade away, it will linger on infinitely long after our mortal bodies are but ashes returned to the Earth. Thank you, Jesus, that I finally got my energy right, ’cause being a “good infection” in a all too often toxic world is all really want to be. I want to leave this place and the people I meet along the way better than I found them.
Although I had already used this song that has infected my soul since first hearing it twenty years ago, it wasn’t until my drive home last night that one of the lines literally crawled up my spine in every best way possible, and fully circled its way back around to me:
You’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been … a place that has to be believed to be seen. You could have flown away, a singing bird in an open cage who will only fly, only fly for freedom. What you got you can’t deny it, can’t sell it or buy it. Walk on!
Little did I know that one day I’d look back and understand that the reason I loved it in the first place was because someday I would actually be the little bird in the song. What I’ve got, I can’t deny it, can’t sell it, or buy it. All I can do is just keep walking on in all my inner beauty, power, and grace, always flying Home to the freedom I’ve found in my infectious soul and blinding everyone around me with my Light.
Tonight, I’ll sleep in peaceful bliss as the most blessed queen of the world. Kinda like “Glinda The GOOD Witch”, but instead, I’m “REAL Cat The Beautifully INFECTIOUS Bitch!” Besides, “all I get to KEEP is all I share“, so, I’m just gonna stay contagious!
… and just like that, a very short but powerful 47 second speech by Tyler Perry that I just happened to stumble across tonight became a part of my life story via this Diary because it IS the very short but powerful story of all the bittersweet and beautiful seasons of my extraordinary life.
… and thus, the fourth but probably not last appearance of one of my ultimate “Death Punches” to the heart life songs which is the very first thing that came to my mind when I was listening to this 47 seconds of greatness. For those of you who haven’t heart this beautiful speech yet, know that the “less than a minute” you’ll spend listening to it will be more than worth your investment. ENJOY!
When I saw this Heraclitus quote recently, one of my all-time favorite songs by one of my all-time favorite bands immediately came to mind, so, I thought I’d pair them together in honor of the 36th anniversary of its release this week:
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the course of my bittersweet and beautiful lifetime, it’s that the only thing that never changes is the fact that everything changes. Yet, the mere contradiction in the constant “inconsistency” of our existence is something we can all be thankful for. Do me a favor and close your eyes for three seconds, then open them:
ONE one hundred …
… TWO one hundred …
… THREE one hundred!
Well? Did you do it? GOOD! In case you didn’t know, every shred of everything about not just your life, but the entirety of the world as we know it just changed. While you were busy counting, and even if nothing about you or your surroundings seems different, IT IS! Meanwhile, the wisest of us know that the ability to adapt to constant change is the one true key to survival. Just thing about your ancestors, God rest their souls:
One hundred years have gone and men again they came that way to find the answer to the mystery. They found his body lying where it fell on that day, preserved in time for all to see. What became of the man that started? All are gone and their souls departed. Left me here in this place so all alone.
As overwhelming as this whole “living” gig can seem, and especially given that sometimes it really can feel as though you’re walking solo through a frozen tundra – NO! You are never all alone! JUST LOOK INSIDE A MIRROR! You are them! They are you! You’re the living embodiment of the quarters they kept and all of the changes they had to weather so that you could be standing upright in this brave new world. They’re beside you and behind you every step of the way, whispering:
Hey, you got this! You’re one of ours and we’ve already carved your path.
Look, I’m no scientist and certainly no expert on the power of our DNA, but I do know that somewhere in the history of mankind was the very first of “me and mine” and “you and yours”. I’m a woman who stands firmly and proudly upon the mountain of untold trials, errors, lessons, and survival of the countless of my people who came before me. I’m the living, breathing, warrior QUEEN that they produced. Is there really “true royalty” in my bloodline? Who knows? WHO CARES? As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a piece of paper or public opinion that made me who I am today … it’s all those beloved “cave-people” of mine who set me up for success, NOT FAILURE, so, imma make sure that I represent them well and not let any of their sacrifices or wisdom that’s hard-wired in me have been in vain.
For the record, although on the surface, the song seems dark and sad, for me, it became the road map to the flip side of its lyrics:
But now it seems to me that NOTHING’S lost and ALL is gained. Sometimes things ARE what they seem. They heard me calling, rescued me, and set me free in this place, but NEVER lost and alone.
I’ll wrap this up now with one of my favorite quotes by Mariam Rose, the beloved Aboriginal activist, faithful Christian, and artist:
When we heal ourselves, we heal our ancestors from wounds that run deep in our family. When we heal our ancestors, we heal the world from wounds that run deep in humanity.
Carry on, now, all you cavepeople and have a HAPPY and THANKFUL Thanksgiving!
Okay, so maybe the lyrics to this song don’t really speak to the “32 pennies” epiphany I had this weekend while driving home from Nashville. Even so, these words do apply:
Thirty two pennies in a Ragu jar … that’s all I’ve got to my name … but I love her and she loves me … to the pennies it’s all the same.
Meanwhile, and might I just add how frigging cool the power of “music alchemy” is once again? And last, but not least …
To My Kids,
Regardless of the road we’ve walked together and all the sauce your Dad and I spilled on the proverbial table of your lives, always know that “I loved him and he loved me”. You were both born to this world from love.
Although we may not have had the entire dollar to give each other and sometimes even you two, please know with every shred of your beings that your dad and I both did the very best we could with the set of broken utensils from our own childhoods to make you the best damn sauce we could and fill your childhood piggy banks with as many pennies as possible.
If God is the God I know He is and He continues not to forsake me, I have to believe that each of you will add even better ingredients and more and shinier pennies to your own families’ pots of sauce one day. Just “take the best parts of us“, lock them away without the key, and know that win, lose, or draw, we are always by your sides … now … and eternally. I love you.
~ “BMITW”
… and if I die with a penny in my pocket, then I guess that’s all I need!
The Diary Of My Perfection 