…how many of the ‘small’ things in my life lead me to where I’m at today. If something small from my past was changed would I be the same person?
Edit: Thanks for the tip Rick!
Wow, I haven’t visited Facebook in quite a while. I just checked my email this morning and it said I have tons of messages in FB from Saturday (which for those of you who haven’t figured it out, it was my birthday). I want to thank each and every one of you personally for your birthday wishes and I want you all to know I love you very much!
I sometimes wonder why anybody really has a birthday when their other is the one who went through the labor of having and raising you; perhaps it should be there day instead. Well regardless; you all are great and I can’t believe I got so many great birthday wishes; many on my wall and many through a message; thanks! I’ve replied to all of you personally but wanted to reply to you all as a group as well.
My day went well on Saturday. I figured I’d sleep a little later than usual and woke up around 11:30 and checked my text messages; my first birthday wish came from my brother, Craig. That’s not surprising; he’s always been one of the first to send me a birthday wish every year; I know he loves me very much and I love him just as much. Thanks Craig, for always being there!
A few hours later mama called telling me to be ready and to choose a restaurant. I chose one of my favorites; Red Lobster! I love crab legs and while their cheese biscuits aren’t as good as mama’s, they are still quite delicious! So mama and Jack were there within a few minutes and brought my gifts (although I told her I only wanted to spend time with her). She knows me very well; my favorite gift (strangely) is socks. I’d also been considering a new journal to write in only two days earlier and told absolutely no one about it, it was just a random thought; one with a leather cover and a built in satin bookmark. Only God truly knows that it was on my mind and can you believe that the exact journal was in my bag of gifts?!? I also got a few other gifts that are quite useful and greatly appreciated (thanks mama).
The one physical gift that I got from her that meant the most was the birthday card. Most of you know that she had a stroke on August 9th of last year and while she’s doing much better physically, her communication skills, including speaking and writing, still require work (and her speech therapist is doing a great job with her on that) and improves little by little everyday; she’s a very hard worker. It’s difficult for her to write but she does her best with every word.
The card itself was perfect for me and meant a lot. The meaningful part of the card came at the end and was written by my very own mother in beautiful handwriting which read:
I LOVE YOU!
Mama and Jack
Well mama, I love you too; you’re my best friend and always will be. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you aren’t only my mother, you’re also my father and my friend as well. You’ve come a long way in a little over a year and I’m glad to have been a part of your therapeutic process to overcome that tragic day; but I sometimes feel that your stroke has only brought us closer together and I thank God for that as we’ve spent a lot more time together due to therapy and doctor visits.
Anyway, we sat around a moment reminiscing about a few memories and then made our way to Red Lobster at around 2:00 (a great time to go as we had no wait time). While I normally order a full pound of snow crab legs I instead opted for a plate of chicken fingers and a half pound of snow crab legs (which turned out to be cheaper than my normal meal). They brought their famous cheese biscuits and a salad for me and mama and then not long after they brought the main course out. Everything was delicious but I’ve never expected anything less from them. We spoke of the past and had quite a few laughs together; priceless moments over a great meal.
A funny story; I kind of told on myself (it’s a long story) about it being my birthday but it didn’t bother me that I knew they’d come and sing to me. The strange part is that only two booths down got a birthday song moments before they began to leave. What are the odds of that? I mean, I know many people who share my birthday, most of them personally (Flip Moore, Chip Freeman, Jason Jennings, and an ex-coworker had his baby 2 years ago on September 4th) and then a few celebrities as well (Beyonce Knowles & Ty Longley – former lead guitarist for Great White that died in the infamous concert fire in Florida along with many fans; luckily I got to see him in concert a few years before, R.I.P.), but a random stranger meeting at the same restaurant, at the same time, only two booths down from our own; that’s ironic.
The end of our meal came and I required a to-go box (as usual). As I was neatly putting all of my food in the boxes (salad in one and part of my main course – excluding the crab legs which were all gone – in the other) the group of waitresses gathered around. I pleasantly asked them to hang on for one split second as I wanted to enjoy my birthday song and I finished as quickly as possible before politely telling them to proceed.
Our waitress asked for my name and I said “Jonathan” as I was gathering up my food. Of course I was joking around with her the entire time to keep a smile on her face so she thought I was still joking; she asked my mother if I was telling the truth and she agreed as we all laughed. They began and I made it a point to look at each of them in the eyes with a “thank you” smile to let them know I was enjoying it and then clapped at the end and said thank you.
Mama and I shared the ice cream together which was topped with whip cream and one of my favorites; hot fudge! In my younger days I wouldn’t be caught dead eating ice cream and you still won’t see me eating birthday cake. I’d never had a sweet tooth, even as a little kid. Things have changed over the past year so mother and I enjoyed as much as we could before we were about to explode.
Being a former waiter myself, I had setup all of the remaining dishes and napkins and set them up in a fashion to make it easier to bust the table after we’d left. We made our exit to a wonderful afternoon sky, another sweet miracle gift from the good Lord above, and rode off with a belly full of food and continued to enjoy the company of one another on the way home.
Thank you God for allowing me to see another day and another year! Thank you mama for always supporting me, showing me unconditional love, and meaning the world to me! And thank you once again to everyone else (who has read this far) who has expressed birthday wishes for me on my 29th year. Here’s looking forward to another great year and many more blessings!
God Bless!
Jonathan
Today is August 10, 2010. That’s obvious to most of you. But yesterday, August 9, 2010, was exactly one year after my mother’s unfortunate stroke. I look at her today and remember her from one year ago on this very day and the change and progress I see in her is monumental; a true miracle from God at how far she’s come and recovered.
I’d like to give a warm shout out to the therapists and Floyd Primary Care who have earned a special place in our hearts in lending her a helping hand. While she still has some time before she’s fully recovered; a year ago today she was hospitalized, unable to walk or speak properly and unable to even write. While she could understand everything we were saying, she was unable to communicate her thoughts to us.
She’s able to communicate much better now, though she sometimes still needs a translator, and she’s as active as she was before.
I love you Mama. You mean the world to me. You’ve not only been a mother to me but you’ve also been a father, a friend, have supported all of my talents, and are probably my biggest fan. Thank you for always being there for me in a way no one else could. Much-like I spoke of Daddy in my Father’s Day blog; you are also one of my biggest heroes.
Original author credited to Barbara Safini on AOL News.
I found these on AOL News through Internet Explorer and thought I would share them; they’re kind of funny. Some of them are difficult to see so read through them again if you don’t spot the mistake.
One of my all time favorite games & movies. I found this on David Young’s blog from College Humor; which I found from Jake’s blog from Jake & Amir. Ok, if that isn’t a lot of advertising then I don’t know what is; just watch the video.
I want to give a special shout out to my father, Steve, who I call Daddy, for Father’s Day. As many of you are aware, he can no longer grace us with his presence as Jesus called him home in 1991; nearly 20 years ago. Daddy was, and always will be, one of my biggest heroes. He served our country in the Army and was a Vietnam War Veteran. Luckily, God allowed him to survive and come home or my brother and I would not be here today.
He was also a man of faith and took us to church every Sunday at West Rome Baptist Church, though he never forced Craig or me to get saved but I remember it like it was yesterday that I came to him and told him I wanted to be saved but didn’t know how. He and Mama sat with me between the kitchen and the den next to the backdoor and he had me repeat a prayer to give my life to the Lord and welcome Jesus into my heart.
I’ve found that many of his interests and talents were passed along to me. An eye for art and the ability to create magical pieces of artwork with nothing more than a pencil and a piece of paper, an interest in magic that started me on a long journey from a single card trick to working for one of the largest and most popular magic websites on the internet, the interest in chess which lead me to study the ins and outs of it even to this day and helped me to win 2nd place in a tournament in Atlanta in 1994 for the entire state of Georgia, and an ear for music in which I began on the piano without any lessons and eventually moved to guitar (although my “ear” and “talent” for music comes from both sides of the family), although I still can’t sing very well. That last goal has landed me on stage at XL, owned and operated by; you guessed it, West Rome Baptist Church, to play music for our Lord.
Many people feel I have a quick witted sense of humor, though others don’t, but regardless of which side of the road you’re on with that opinion, that one definitely comes from my father as well; Mama tells me that he had a very dry sense of humor. People have often come to me to be the front man in a practical joke since I can keep a straight face and keep the joke going. But I suppose it’s different for everyone and what they consider “funny” in this world.
If it weren’t for my father, and God allowing my father’s talents and interests to be passed on to me, then I wouldn’t be an entertainer; someone to put a smile on people’s faces when they are down in the dumps. Everyone has at least one God given talent; a passion that He has given to you to serve Him in your own ways.
God Bless you Daddy, and Happy Father’s Day.
Love Always,
Your Youngest Son
Jonathan
As I sit here quietly listening to the beautiful and unique sounds of thunder breaking the silence that encompass my home, I am reminded of memories of my childhood days when I would sit for hours on end watching storms from the comforts of the garage. I would sit as close as possible to the outside world with only a few feet of roof preventing the raindrops from becoming drenched and trembling from the coldness that would surely develop soon afterward. It is a pleasant memory of watching mother nature become ever so green as the leaves that covered the sky and the grass that covered the ground beneath as they drank up the droplets of water falling from the darkened clouds that shaded me from the sun which allowed just enough light to pass through so that I may soak in the beauty of the world around me.
I sit there as a young boy with a full and unknown life ahead of him, I dream about what my future has in store for me, what accomplishments I will achieve and while life I will choose to live. For this moment in my life my only worries, struggles, problems and stresses of the modern world come from finishing my homework by a certain date and what kind of grades I will make. I don’t think about the mistakes I’ll make when I become an adult but instead think of what will happen on the next day of school. Will I get in trouble and have to write my name on the blackboard? Will I leave my schoolbooks at home? Will I even make it to school or will I catch the bus on time? Will the cute girl in class talk to me and what will she say? Will someone make fun of me for what I’m wearing? Will I have to stand up in front of the class to read a written report? Am I going to forget my lunch money or will I run to the playground with joy only to find myself tripping and embarrassing myself?
It’s funny to look back on those days and remember the many things that were important to me then doesn’t really matter anymore to me now. As a young boy I knew it all and was on top of the world, even when my face was down on the dirt after a nasty spill. While each year passed I found myself slowly knowing less and less and realize that I know less now than I did back then; not because I was smarter but because I simply had no clue how little I knew. Each day as a child took a year as I watched the clock to become an adult; now each year takes only a day as I watch the clock spin faster and faster.
The things we take for granted every day of our lives are often overlooked because we punish ourselves worrying about tomorrow when we forget about today and regret yesterday. It’s an endless cycle, a battle we have within all of us, to take that first step into tomorrow but we’re worried it may be too late.
What is it we take for granted exactly? Everything and nothing all rolled into one would be my answer. We take for granted the monetary possessions we’ve gathered over the years, the jobs we’ve been blessed with when so many people are out on the streets, the roof over our heads that protect us from the world outside and comfort us as we take for granted the many nothings that we do at home, things like relaxing from a hard day’s work, time that could be spent doing something fun or nothing but enjoying the company of our families and friends, and many times our God given talents that everyone has within them, the one true gift that passions you from the deepest pits of your heart in a way that can’t be described in words or expressions.
With many of my childhood struggles being so important to me so many years ago, yet so irrelevant today, I wonder what struggles I am having today that are going to be irrelevant in the years to come, assuming our almighty God above grants us a tomorrow. Will any of my pitfalls of today have any real consequence on me tomorrow other than shaping who I will become, or will they be long forgotten memories as are the many years I spent as a young boy sitting only a few feet away from the coldness of the rain, a time in my life when I had no history behind me but a lifetime ahead of me? Was worrying about the small things such as turning in my homework on time any more important than admiring the beauty and wonders of God’s creations came during the rain and after the rain had passed by allowing the sun to shine its bright rays through the parting clouds with the occasional rainbow, or were both equally as important?
What did you take for granted yesterday? What will you take for granted tomorrow? When the storm settles, will you look back at the storm and think of how wonderful it was or will you simply be thankful for another clear day filled with the warmth of the sun in the bright blue sky?
The rain is my scrapbook of memories, a photo album if you will, of what happened yesterday and how it leads me to where I am today and where I’ll end up tomorrow. It reminds me that there are so many things that I stress out about when truth be told, the things that worry me the most are of the least importance. At this very moment you’re probably already thinking of the one thing in your life that stresses you out the most and know that it won’t be important tomorrow, and the one thing in your life that you take for granted and yet have so much passion for that you can’t stop thinking about it throughout your day. So why are you still sitting on your butt and reading this long memory?
Everyone makes a New Year’s resolution to become a better person in his or her own way and those resolutions usually have something to do with the two things I mentioned previously; the one thing that is killing you inside and out but will be of no use to you tomorrow and the one thing that is killing you to get out but you’re too busy dealing with the first to take a step forward, or even backward if you’ve run into a brick wall in life. Why do we have to wait until a New Year to start making these choices that affect us daily when we could start on them today? Why not spend tomorrow looking back and today and instead of thinking of how much you wish you had done something, you’ll be happier knowing you did it? What is your resolution for today?
May your day be blessed by our Lord above and may all of your dreams become a reality. God bless you from the bottom of my heart. And most of all, God bless our children, the innocent youth who know more than we’ll ever know that will one day walk in our footsteps and come across the same crossroads that each of us take on a daily basis and their journey to get to this point and beyond. God loves you; I love you, and so love yourself and take that first step.
Your brother as one of God’s children,
Jonathan
I’m trying to mend friendships and acquaintances with myself and with others. God, be with me during this difficult process.
Wow, I haven’t used Twitter in a while. I’m surprised to have remembered my password for it.
