Living Proof

Years ago when I was just a little tike, I had this plaque up on the entrance of the hallway going into my bedroom. It was an Indian Prayer. I always asked Mom to read it to me. And although I never fully understood what it meant, she explained it to me the best she can. She said, "Don't make fun of other kids because they may have a harder life than you do. So by walking in their moccasins, you can see what they go through." I still was kind of confused. I knew not to make fun of other kids, but I didn't get the whole concept of "walk in my shoes" type of thing. Give me credit, I was only around four years old or so. I nodded and went about my day. That plaque stayed up on the wall for a very long time, until one day I finally got it. I finally knew what it meant to walk in somebody else's "moccasins".  While I was in second grade, one of my friends in my homeroom class would make fun of me - about everything. We even had sleep overs, and ...

For the past couple of days, I've been fighting a helluva' cold. I try to do things to prevent the onset of a cold, but only so much can do the trick. I was told by a friend from Japan and my own sister who visited the country that if you drink a couple of full bodied beers along with a high protein meal, it should ward off any evil. Although it helped for that remaining evening, I found myself sniffling, coughing with the occasional "my head's gonna pop off" feeling. Yesterday morning while lying in bed with a million tissues surrounding me, the news stated, "This year is going to be one of the worst flu seasons ever!" (How many times have you heard that before?) I can pull up every single year's dialogue on the flu season's "worst year" and it would be...every year. When the H1N1 virus hit us a few years back, I was alarmed to hear how harmful that vaccine was alone. Every single year, I would rush off to the doctor's to get my...

There are so many things that are taken for granted. For instance, a phone call from a friend, a handwritten letter instead of a text, and of course, a birthday wish made in person and/or a greeting card sent. Those little things that were done more often in the past have become forgotten about - lost in the shuffle of Facebook reminders that your Aunt Lily's birthday is coming up. It's no longer engraved in our minds like it was before. Technology reminds us. Technology also keeps a memory of someone's phone number. Remember when we used to know everyone's number off the top of our heads? I do... It was comforting to know I didn't have to flip through all the letters of that person's name to get their digits. I'm not saying it's bad now, but how sincere is a birthday wish made when it's on a Facebook wall? You know everyone's been alerted, so does it make it special? I've seen many of my friends' birthdays pop up in my reminders and of...

Not a good look... The older I get, the more I'm finding out that people of my generation who are gay or lesbian are living in some time warp. While it's great to still feel young and to never grow up (because I never will), there comes a point where it's time to step out of the nightclub and well, get a life. I'm writing about my opinion on this simply because someone judged the way I lived. I was told that I'm "too domesticated" and "too content" in my life by the way I live. Why yes I am, and I love it. The reason why I trekked off to nightclubs at least twice a week was because I was trying to seek a life -- well maybe just a date at first -- and settle down. Isn't that the point?  I can't see staying out till 5am getting trashed more than twice a week appealing. And don't get me wrong, my wife and I love to go out and mingle, but we're so over the hangovers and drama that comes with staying out way too late. This person e...

Remember the days of Myspace, where people could just leave random crap on your account without the ability to comment back? You would have to trek over to their account in order to respond to anything. It was tedious and well, self-indulgent in regards about your page being all about you, photos of you, tons of glitter, what you like, what you do, live, work, etc. Facebook is like that but much broader. Anyone can comment on anything you post, depending on your settings. It's more private, where as Myspace was usually kept open by many people. I admit, Facebook has become a major part of my communication with friends and family, but it doesn't help me search for things of interest like Twitter does. Twitter is fascinating, if you really learn about how to use it. At first, I was like, "Why would I just want to leave a bunch of status messages?" It's more than just telling the world you had the best seafood taco - it's about hashtagging topics of your choice...

It's our second snowfall of the year. It looks so beautiful and Christmassy outside. It's also our first winter without Dad. He loved it when it snowed. Nothing was impossible. The forecast could have called for ten feet of snow, but it was never a challenge for my dad. He had his huge tractors and backhoes ready for whatever buried us in. Years ago, when Madelene and I lived with  my parents before moving into our condo, we had these outrageous storms that blew in. Madelene and Dad were tough cookies. They were a team. Both of them would head out in these ridiculous hats and oversized snow jackets cleaning off the cars and plowing the entire driveway clean, while my mother and I sat inside cooking and having coffee like two kept housewives. "The men are outside," I'd say to Mom. I would head up onto the deck and throw snowballs right into the cab of my father's backhoe. "Sonnovabitch! See dis kid?" he'd yell at to Madelene while she'd back h...

The other day, I asked Mad, "Are you happy?" It was one of those trick questions where I wanted to see how she responds to it all - not necessarily, "Are you happy in our marriage" type of digging. I just wanted to know in general, was she "happy"...? She literally sprung up from the couch and said, "Of course! What's there to be unhappy about?" and then went on to the list of "happy little things" in our lives. I wasn't speaking about what we're grateful for, but merely an overall question about one's true happiness in life as a whole. They say happiness is a choice. Mad always tells me that words have power, but when you speak words that you think may bring those powerful 'happy' vibes over, is it more of wishful thinking -- like whatever you put out into the universe you'll get back type of mindset? Or is it a matter of believe it and receive it? Bear with me on this subject because it gets even more conf...