Oh the places you will go............

“And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby [OR BRAHAM] or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

It is a landmark of sorts

marking the end of one era and begins another

so today

Mr. B

stand at the mark 

where both meet and

breath in 

take it in

absorb it in.

I can't believe you are now 18

standing in your cap and gown,

smile on your face,

love in your heart.

IT is true you know...

the world is at your fingertips and while it won't always be

easy or soft 

I'd place my bets on you.  You'll leave your mark,

change the world!!!!

I remember the first time I left you

wrapped in your little blanket

to head to work

worrying and sobbing 

because I didn't want to miss a minute of all the stuff you'd do

and 

for the most part

I don't think I missed much.

Then I dropped you off at kindergarten where you begged me

to let you ride the bus...

I was so resistant

for fear that something would happen to my little blond boy...

the teacher convinced me that she'd get you on the right bus....

and

so you were off...

skipping in those orange shorts that were two sizes too big

you remember the ones you wore almost every day....

....

I waited that afternoon at the bus stop

along with little off color daughter...

the yellow bus appeared

and

I stood waiting with a hug....

suddenly 

everyone got off 

and

no off color son...

oh my..

talk about a mama gone wild...

I called the school

screaming and yelling that they had best find my boy....

let's say 

your preacher mama 

did not act the preacher...

she did apologize the next day for her off color language

but she was scared after all...

while I was on the phone

you come running through the door....

seems they had put you on the wrong bus

and you were so excited about your adventure as a big boy.....

Mr. Bus Driver..

thank you for bringing home my boy that day....

I've watched you grow,

skin your knee,

score some points,

touch down a goal or two....

you've studied---well you kind studied

and

you had lots of fun.

you've wrestled in your make-believe world...

go ahead

let me see your Jugatuve roar!!!

you've ran and and laughed and had 

some fun and trouble--but today is not a day to poke you about cell phones or river adventures.

Today

marks your milestone

and

I am thrilled to see 

all the places you will go

all the lives you'll change

all the hearts you will touch

the potential inside

starting to unfold...

i see it

and

believe in it...

You dear off color son who is not so off color---

are an incredible young man

I love what I see when I look at you...

grace for your fellow human

love that oozes

kindness of everyone.

You've always drawn the underdog in the crowd,

brought them home for us all to love

....

Mr. B

my dear off color son who is not off color

today is your day

.........

and

your sexy hot mama

well she is so proud

she could pop!

I love you to the moon and back and then some!

Have a wonderful day!

Big Daddy has been cooking for a week 

for your graduation luau party so be sure and eat lots of his deliciouso food---!!!!

so today

when you walk across the stage

and

suddenly you hear

screams and whoo's...

don't get embarrassed

wear 

your loud off color family

proud!!!

because

we love you the mostest

and

of all the places you go

...

you can always click your heels

and 

recall

there is no place like home..

no place quite like 

my off color home! other places might be quieter and cleaner--but there will never be a place quite like the off color abode!

Happy day!!!

I love you the mostest~! 

mom--the sexy hot one!

Mr. B...oh the places you will go.......

monday morning ponderings.......

Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up

I spend much of my time watching and pondering the mysteries of the human race.  We are so different yet so much the same---our own little comfortable boxes filled with ideas we've been passed and given and had layered upon us without us even knowing someone was placing something upon us--we just learned to carry the weight around.

I wonder..

wonder...

wonder..

pondering and pondering and pondering...

why, because, what if....

culture and religion and the experiential after effects of living in a home with someone who too wears the masks of their ancestors

...what if...

we learned to break open our little world,

tear a crack in our safe little abode of a box

and

took off those glasses that are colored with something other than our prescription of what is right and good and valued...

...

how do we

hurt each other

prick each other

rumble and grind against each other and

then in the same breath

say

God....IT is love...

go to church

sit on a pew

go home and

then 

talk about the people next door....whose names we don't know and whose story remains untold....

If we 

open it up,

take it off,

strip down a level of our wall

walk through the fear

what will there be

...

what will we find

eye to eye

toe to toe

people to people

underneath our multi layered safety zone

underneath that stuff that

causes us to push away others,

roll our eyes,

think those bad thought...

underneath all those layers we are burdened with

underneath it all

is 

a seed from which we came

planted deep inside the hidden crevices of our heartspace

rooted in 

love that flows from the basement of time

is 

humanities hidden potential

...

to offer grace,

extend mercy,

meet hand and heart and soul

and

stand 

eye to eye

where 

we will realize

....

There is only 

LOVE

that 

remains.

May we all 

try really hard

just for a moment or perhaps all day long

to 

crack open our little 

boxes of delusional safety

allow that seed to spread out some roots

and

share a bit of ancient truth...

LOVE

...

Be a great Monday!

blessings...the radical rambler

:You are loved:

“Limitless undying love which shines 

around me like a million suns

 it calls me on and on across the universe.”

john lennon

I was driving along feeling a bit hopeless.  
It really was an extraordinary morning.  The breeze was cool and blew through the window that I had cracked.  The coolness of the morning tried to awaken me, but I, well I was was deep inside myself closing off from the world--becoming detached from my emotions---something I've perfected over the last 50 years of my life and I suppose at times--it has served me well-but all too well at other times.

Just as I was almost to the place where I get to work--it happened!  From out of an ordinary detached morning from myself--something from the Universe stepped out and created a normal but yet extraordinary scenario for me to take in.

The light turned red and I was stuck at the light.  I tapped the steering wheel to the beat of black gospel praise on the radio---and zoned out.  I looked to my right and there they were---same old green van, same old balding dad in his teal green scrubs---same little blond girl--grown up a bit since I last wrote about them but there they were---waiting for me I suppose.

The bus pulled up.

Dad got out of the car, rushed around to help his girl out of the car.  He looked at her with love and adoration and as I watched I realized that the love I witnessed was filling up the air around me almost in such a tangible way, I could just about reach out and touch the invisible atoms that were bombarding off them, zooming out into the atmosphere and somehow making it over to me----50 (not almost 50 something anymore) reaching me--just when I needed it most.

He stared at her--you could tell he believed that she actually hung the moon and she him.   He helped her on the bus and stood staring as she took her seat to take her on to school that day.  As I assume she was sitting, he was still staring--standing there at the door waiting for something--and just as the bus drove off---he pulled up his hand and signed the "symbol for love"  holding it high and unashamed as his "girl" drove off for her day so school...

and 

there I sat

on what felt like a hopeless day

and i smiled...

smiled at the wonder of the Universe...

smiled because

I knew

the stopping at the light 

was no mere accident

for

I

i needed a subtle reminder

that

I too had been sent off 

for my day at work

with similar 

types of wonder.

Big Daddy packing my lunch

a "love you too" from my girl

off color son--he was still asleep but I peaked in right before I left 

I zoned out for just a bit

smiled again

and

felt a sense of Holy

as I remembered the sound of the symphony 

of birds playing as I got in my car...
cool breeze whispering --you're alive---LIVE! in my ear.

Something in me shifted--if only for a fragment of a day---
and as the bus
drove off
I whispered a prayer of thanksgiving
for 
all those I loved and adored
and
thanked the Creator
for 
that great "love" sign
just when I needed it most.

Have and be a  great day!!!
Watch for it!!!
that sign that you are loved....it is right in front of you!

Blessings...

the radical rambler...