Candi Staton - Just When You Think It's Safe

Unconditional Love

Unconditional Love is a dynamic and powerful energy that lifts us through the most difficult times. It is available at any moment by turning our attention to it and using its wonderful potential to free us from our limitations. It requires practice and intent to allow this energy to fully permeate our daily experience. It begins with ourselves, for without self-love, we cannot know what true love can be. In loving ourselves, we allow the feeling to generate within us and then we can share it to everyone and everything around us! http://www.thelovefoundation.com

I believe this, I think we must first learn to love ourselves, and do so without condition. Sooooooo, we make a few mistakes, we sin a little, but we can still look in the mirror and love what we see there. Why?? Because our heart is light and without malice. When the heart is full of love, you will find love in abundance. It will swirl around you like a dancer, holding you in an embrace. Free your heart, free your soul, and free your mind.

We are more apt to forgive a stranger, than to forgive ourselves, as a matter of fact, I think its harder to forgive yourself than any other person in the world. At this time in my life, I have no enemies, lots of friends, but very few close friends. I love everyone who touches my life in a good way. Some more than others, but that's to be expected. I never found my true soul mate in this lifetime, but, I feel that I will in the next. Yesssssss, I do believe in reincarnation!!

Aging ain't for sissies!!

A few years ago, Smiley, (Bambi's husband) bought me this little old woman........(it was at Christmas time, and he bought me a leather jacket, and gloves to go with it. Little did he know that a few years later, I would be living with him, and now he has got to get Bambi a side car for her Harley.

I guess aging is not for sissies, but I sure do get "emotional" in my old age. It took me a week to be able to talk to my sister without crying.I did'nt want to upset her, and so I waited until I could talk to her without being so emotional. I never was good in an emergency, always did more harm than good. I remember when "little Billy" was just a wee little boy, about five years old. He fell down my stairs and I stood at the top....just screaming. I could never be in the medical profession, because I would be crying all the time.

Bet you did'nt know that "Grandma Rosy" would not be able to help you out in an emergency. Now.....on top of having a breathing problem, I also have "panic attacks", so you need me as far away as possible in an emergency.

Unknown Soldier

unidentified remains of a soldier killed in action, ceremonially entombed as the representative of all the war dead of his country, and accorded national honors. After World War I many nations, the first of which was Great Britain, selected an unknown soldier as a tribute to those who had made the supreme sacrifice.

In the U.S. the first American unknown soldier was interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., on Nov. 11, 1921. His tomb, a simple white-marble structure dedicated Nov. 11, 1932, rests in front of Arlington Memorial Amphitheater. It is inscribed: “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.” On Memorial Day 1958 two more unknown soldiers, one from World War II and one from the Korean War, were buried at the head of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (now called the Tomb of the Unknowns). On Memorial Day 1984, a soldier from the Vietnam War was interred; in 1998, genetic tests identified the remains as those of Michael Blassie (b. 1948), an Air Force lieutenant killed in combat in 1972. He was laid to rest at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Missouri. An unknown soldier of the Pacific campaign in World War II was buried at sea with full military honors.

The unknown soldier of Great Britain was buried in Westminster Abbey, in London, in 1920; the unknown soldier of France lies under the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris; the Belgian unknown soldier is in a tomb at the base of the Colonnade of the Congress, in Brussels; and the Italian unknown soldier is buried in Rome, in front of the monument to King Victor Emmanuel II. Special ceremonies are held each November 11 on Armistice Day (now known as Veterans Day in the U.S.) to honor the unknown soldiers. Tribute is paid to the American unknown soldiers on Memorial Day also. France pays similar tribute on Bastille Day.

Happy Memorial Day!

This is a long holiday week-end here in the USA. It's Memorial Day week-end, and a lot of people have bar-b-ques, family reunions, and just remember all the family and loved ones that have passed to the other side. We honor our Armed Forces, at this time. Place wreaths on all the tombs. Time to remember and time to be Thankful. Time for prayers, and time for laughter. Remember the dead and love the living!!

Creation~~~~~According to Abby

On the first day of creation,
God created the dog.

On the second day,
God created man to serve the dog.

On the third day,
God created all the animals of the earth
to serve as potential food for the dog.

On the fourth day,
God created honest toil so that man
could labor for the good of the dog.

On the fifth day,
God created the tennis ball so that
the dog might or might not retrieve it.

On the sixth day,
God created veterinary science to keep
the dog healthy and the man broke.

On the seventh day,
God tried to rest,
but He had to walk the dog.

Author Unknown

The picture is of my dog Abby and Me..

A TRUE LOVE STORY

A love story from China
An incredible love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world. Posted on July 2, 2008



It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half a century.

The 70-year-old Chinese man who hand-carved over 6,000 stairs up a mountain for his 80-year-old wife has passed away in the cave which has been the couple's home for the last 50 years.

Over 50 years ago, Liu Guojiang a 19 year-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed mother named Xu Chaoqin.

In a twist worthy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, friends and relatives criticized the relationship because of the age difference and the fact that Xu already had children.

At that time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man to love an older woman. To avoid the market gossip and the scorn of their communities, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern ChongQing Municipality.

In the beginning, life was harsh as hey had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to light up their lives.

Xu felt that she had tied Liu down and repeatedly asked him, 'Are you regretful? Liu always replied, 'As long as we are industrious, life will improve.'

In the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began and continued for over 50 years, to hand-carve the steps so that his wife could get down the mountain easily.

Half a century later in 2001, a group of adventurers were exploring the forest and were surprised to find the elderly couple and the over 6,000 hand-carved steps. Liu MingSheng, one of their seven children said, 'My parents loved each other so much, they have lived in seclusion for over 50 years and never been apart a single day. He hand carved more than 6,000 steps over the years for my mother's convenience, although she doesn't go down the mountain that much.'

The couple had lived in peace for over 50 years until last week. Liu, now 72 years, returned from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms. So in love with Xu, was Liu, that no one was able to release the grip he had on his wife's hand even after he had passed away.

'You promised me you'll take care of me, you'll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?'

Xu spent days softly repeating this sentence and touching her husband's black coffin with tears rolling down her cheeks. In 2006, their story became one of the top 10 love stories from China , collected by the Chinese Women Weekly. The local government has decided to preserve the love ladder and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever...