The Real Meaning of Family

A million words have been written about the importance of family, but I don’t think we truly appreciate our families until we reach the age when we know leaving the planet sooner rather than later is fast approaching like a runaway freight train. At this point in a person’s life, all the petty reasons why contact with some family members ceased seem ludicrous.

When we reach the age when our parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts have all passed on and the kids are grown and living their own lives, we suddenly realize “holy crap” we are next. While old age mostly teaches us that our bodies and minds are fast going the way of the dinosaurs, our hearts yearn for family. Love transcends time and space and gives us the strength to endure watching our bodies submit to gravity and our brains turn to mush.

I had the pleasure of visiting with family I had not seen in years yesterday in Tucson. Although this extended family is by marriage only, they are indeed still family and we go way back to when we were kids playing together in the southern California summers and then Sandy and Ricky would go back to their mom and stepdad in northern California at summer’s end.

You see, my twin brother and I never knew our father because he died when we were very young. Our stepfather was the only dad we had ever known and we were nine or ten before we even knew that Sandy and Ricky were stepsister and stepbrother. It was quite a shock actually and hurt deeply because being stepchildren held some resentment and scorn in those days by some family members. Nonsense to say the least and you would never know we were not blood related yesterday. In fact, Sandy’s sister Christine (whom I had never met) commented how we all looked alike in so many ways. That statement was music to my ears because we all looked at each other and smiled. It was true – so much for being stepchildren.

We had come full circle and left the restaurant parking lot after many hugs with the commitment to never stay out of touch again. I headed for my home in northern Arizona, while my brother Walt headed for his home in Tucson. My brother Ricky, his wife Marie and my sister Sandy left for northern California and my new sister Christina headed for her home in Palm Springs.

It was a short, but meaningful family get-together and I look forward to seeing them again soon. Ricky invited us to go fishing on his boat in Santa Cruz and Christine offered her guest house to us anytime we pass through Palm Springs. My wife Sandy was unable to be with us and was missed by everyone, especially me. Between e-mail and Facebook, I am sure we will stay in touch in the coming months. It will be fun to share stories about getting older and what kinds of moles are being removed on any given day. OK, that part will not be fun, but what the hell…it beats talking politics or religion!

One parting thought, why didn’t I get the camera out of my coat pocket and take a group photo for this blog? Because I’m an idiot, that’s why!

I’m just saying,

Mittster

Christmas thank you list

1. I am thankful to be alive even though the world is in a mess and I pee too much.




2. I am thankful I pee too much; it could be the opposite.




3. I am thankful for family and friends, even though I can count them all on both hands.




4. I am thankful for two feet because I have room for ten more friends.




5. I am thankful for having enough to eat, even though my diet is restricted to fiber.




6. I am thankful for restaurants so I can sneak out and pig out.




7. I am thankful for a daughter who makes me homemade mac and cheese for the times I can’t make it to McDonald’s.




8. I am thankful for a half-assed good brain that somehow still works after years of non-use.




9. I am thankful for a body that still functions fairly well in spite of years of abuse.





10. I am thankful for a wife who somehow loves me enough to put up with me day in and day out. Nights don’t count; I am a sound sleeper.




11. I am thankful for enough money to get by on. We all need to live within our means in any case.




12. I am thankful for a roof over our heads, even though I know we need new shingles and I will have to install them myself. I’m too old for this shit, but I’ll “get ‘er done” – somehow.




13. I am thankful for the opportunity to have written and published two novels, to be working on the third, and still have enough time to keep up with Twitter, Facebook, a Website and a blog.







14. I am thankful for technology, because without it our planet would have no hope, and there is no way I am going write anything long hand, let alone a novel.




15. I am thankful for the young people of the world. They are smart and ready to stand up for the things that are right about the world and willing to dissent to make things better.




16. I am thankful for the peacekeepers for protecting freedom, dignity, and the right to pursue happiness.




17. I am thankful for what hair I have left, mainly because I can’t afford a hair transplant and wifey won’t let me have one anyway.




18. I am thankful for what time I have left on the planet, even though some wish I would leave post haste.




19. I am thankful that even though Keith Richards and I are the same age, he looks like…well, Keith Richards.




20. Lastly, I am thankful for a life that, in spite of its dramatic ups and downs, I have arrived at a place where I smile a lot, wish everyone well, and truly care about all life on our planet.




I’m just saying,

Mittster

A Sign of Our Times

Is it just I, or is our great nation learning to live negative and fearful lifestyles? Even during the darkest hours of WWII, the United States of America was positive, optimistic and proud. What happened to the power of positive thinking and living?




What happened to the ability of being grateful for what we have today instead of worrying about what we might lose tomorrow? How many of us are living in fear, waiting for some great catalyst to wipe us off the face of the earth, while, instead, we should be living each minute of every day in joy and celebration that we are alive with a roof over our head and food on the table?




I know it’s easy to blame the negative news reports we are bombarded with daily. It’s even easier to blame all the crap we read and see on the Internet. The world is doomed December 2012. The Mayans predicted it; therefore it is truth. Since when did we start believing in cultures that sacrificed men, women and children to a multitude of gods who were carved from stone? So the Mayans ended their calendar cycle in 2012; I ended mine when I reached the age of fifty, but here I am still alive and grateful.




I remember being taught to think of the future and not live in the present. Well, I have news for you…today is really all we have, so you better live it to the fullest. I plan on celebrating my life and times with joy and happiness, while staying positive no matter what the news. Even in the worst of times, life is precious and unique. I can see, hear, smell and feel the wondrous world around me, but best of all, I can imagine and dream of worlds beyond the senses.




Let us remember that the universe we live in is all about change and that we humans might not be included in that change. That’s where faith comes into play. My faith enables me to know that when I leave this beautiful blue planet, I will go on in the spirit of Devine Love. That fact is the strength behind my positive attitude. But it matters not where the positive attitude comes from, as long as you have one. Without it, you are surely going to be living in a dark, fearful and scary place.




I say it’s time to stand up, dust yourself off, and join me in being a positive and loving person. How can you recognize the positive people? We are the ones with the smiles on our faces!

Write on,

Mittster