https://www.foldedwisdom.com/younger-years-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1490305973602-B0RJGSSWQ1WYCCWMBAFB/hand+2.JPG younger years gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972579238-7CBE9YT2LK9XKW6G4H9O/ThC001.jpg younger years gallery Todays the day! Hooray Hooray. You're on your way! Hooray Hooray. Preschool Preschool Children's House 2. Can you believe the fun things to do? The front room now, the big boys & girls! You've made it Theo on TOP of the World! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972744126-UL0WIPGXXDJUP4SP8PO9/JoA005.jpg younger years gallery 1st Day of 2nd Grade Happy Happy Joy Joy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905331390-6IPH1USN08W3K37UZWAC/ThA015.jpg younger years gallery Theo's picking apples from the apple tree. Picking all the apples he can see. Pick Theo Theo Pick Theo Theo Pick some apples for me! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972815637-663N0XZDRJ21LEZ3Z8TZ/JoA006.jpg younger years gallery Hats on your head. Hats on a rack. Hats hiding in your pack. Hats on your knee in church. Hats that you find after a search. Hats that blow off your head in a storm. Hats (when it's cold) keep you snug, dry and warm. Hats that tell us who you are. Hats that help us see real far. Hats are cool! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497904555735-HB81Y3R7LEX22IIEBS4X/ThA061+-+pair.jpg younger years gallery Hey Theo! What do you see - what will you be today? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491412244222-FV5GZT3VU6EAX9ZU8DXC/ThBestJob1.jpg younger years gallery Theo and I do a puzzle together at school! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497903592191-MFUYGGYK1OAP7FEIBVWE/JoN002+-+pair+-+x.jpg younger years gallery The Sun shines even when it's cold outside, even when we want to hide in our hats and scarfs and coats. There's always something happy somewhere, even when we're really sad, even when the world seems bad, if we open our eyes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496269059108-NNISQ6Y74CBOH8XKVG9K/JoEarly1.jpg younger years gallery A vase of funny flowers for my funny little girl! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497903692410-2MDE18JDVWNILVK1ABIZ/JoN003+-+pair+-+x.jpg younger years gallery We work and play all day - evening comes we read then sleep and rest our night away. We wake - we dress - we eat - we leave, we start it all again. We set sail anew in the river of life and round another bend. On a river we've never sailed before each turn brings something new. It's that discovery, that surprise, that keeps us pulling through. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497904445811-VAIURZH1AU6WN91C72X4/ThA054+-+pair.jpg younger years gallery Sail on - Sail On Theo my son. Oh see what you will see!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497904866154-5E2YPPEHDTJ6WE24B0VF/ThA002.jpg younger years gallery Theo & Spidey go for a ride on Triceratops!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973063776-Y6YKC460ZT6AZPCXA7N2/JoA022.jpg younger years gallery There's a narcissus on our shelf at home in the kitchen - all alone. "Please remember" I hear her cry, "To give me water when I'm dry." "Talk to me - just once in a while. Let me see your pretty smile. If you do then pretty soon I think I'll make my flowers BLOOM" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1487968577571-V6WWD110J9H1JTISM1IM/IMG_5803.JPG younger years gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905222245-5DQ2AJVB0ML1YH8OPHSY/ThA013.jpg younger years gallery Theo and I do a puzzle together at school! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1487968008373-2TEZE3W9IVDX039SHEFD/IMG_5803.JPG younger years gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973417993-MEN6K2FABXCHMBE5YQ4M/JoG005+-+x.jpg younger years gallery Don Mattingly in last Friday's game! See 'ya next year Yankees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972533178-R0WFJ9OKJ4JDKH3TWSH6/ThB038.jpg younger years gallery We take a family picture! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972630012-29JBVOT7397ZE8ZF3ALE/ThD003.jpg younger years gallery It's almost Halloween Theo! Let's have fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972902618-VJ4S52QDCK256BSGL7BF/JoA007.jpg younger years gallery A vase of funny flowers for my funny little girl! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972973162-YHOG8FIVX9TBL13DOPRX/JoA011.jpg younger years gallery There's an eagle on a limb. Wouldn't it be fun to be him (for a little while). Makes me smile to think of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905746685-ST07HSRZ0GCHKV7TNXVM/ThA128+.jpg younger years gallery The Real Barney! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973112007-L58Q94DA0VXNP08P3BRN/JoA024.jpg younger years gallery Meet the Beatles. Aren't they fun. They were a great band! Who are the great bands now? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905577739-IOYR25OH1QSUYCZ0DLY0/ThA062.jpg younger years gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973659236-H3W6AD4HRZ7BLUX4IAAW/JoB008+-+x.jpg younger years gallery "Casper" by Theo. To Joanna: I love you Joanna (2) kisses in a row and one head equals (3) three... and you get me! Woopee!! Wooppee!! P.S. Dad loves you too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972686443-KAWFDMVS9GCMHBHXT4PQ/ThE001.jpg younger years gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973016584-744F72KUDW8HZG7F4BF2/JoA021.jpg younger years gallery Everything is comin' up rainbows all over town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497907363677-T20DGAPUAMPYF3I4S4WT/ThA159.jpg younger years gallery A pair of blooming flower pals!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973281512-IP367C4209UVSXXEI2HT/JoA036.jpg younger years gallery "Take my love and dip in Jasmine Tea" (from a song by a group called "The Band") https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905877934-SSPE5RAMPW43ORTSVSDG/ThA137.jpg younger years gallery Line boy sits and smiles... after all it's Friday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973513201-MH297U0LSROP7Y6FT66Q/JoN006.jpg younger years gallery This morning... the street lights struggled with all their might to hold the right - to win the fight with the morning light sneaking over the house tops. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497907509550-WRS9UC419IW3PQE4SBOY/ThA167.jpg younger years gallery Theo jumped over the candle stick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905489540-Q9Z008CL60TXR244GBG6/ThA35.jpg younger years gallery Sing a happy song today! I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973218905-BL6YX7GFVIUY4WE4632L/JoA034.jpg younger years gallery Joanna Coanna Doanna Loanna. Wrap around - zip up tight - hug with all my might all night - kiss a lot - kiss a lot - miss a lot when I'm at work - so much fun - on the run - I love you hon! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905074151-EAXNRLY44BEZEPP1D5I3/ThA007.jpg younger years gallery Theo's hair has a fight on his head. The hair wins. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/contemplative-envelope-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479535458-1RSTE1NDCKCH94QJGQFM/JoN007.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Everyday when I write your note I start with your name "Joanna." Then I think... "What day is it?" and think of yesterday's note and add one more. 3-4-96, 3-5-96, 3-6-96. The days pass, one by one. No matter where we are, or what we do, whether we're old or whether we're new, it's just the days of our lives we're passing through! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479535458-1RSTE1NDCKCH94QJGQFM/JoN007.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Everyday when I write your note I start with your name "Joanna." Then I think... "What day is it?" and think of yesterday's note and add one more. 3-4-96, 3-5-96, 3-6-96. The days pass, one by one. No matter where we are, or what we do, whether we're old or whether we're new, it's just the days of our lives we're passing through! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491433000286-K6DWQ4E0QXI4A9Z962FC/ThTao1.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Take time to relax and think about Life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479662153-28D2OOHK8TI1OOKD592M/JoN015.jpg contemplative envelope gallery I wonder... what Life could be if we thought about things to do that help others and in return help ourselves. I wonder........ Love 'ya. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477890754-V8FOAU8F25VRWJRSMY28/ThN059.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Oh Theo - is it true? When you wear your new black shoes you can jump as high as you choose? Oh Theo - is it true? Oh Theo - tell me no lie. When you play superhero you can fly back and forth across the sky? Oh Theo - tell me no lie. Oh Theo - is it so? You're the greatest from head to toe. Tell me tell me I've got to know. Oh Theo - is it so? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479732142-8AUNTJZ0CTAT8U1ICDYT/JoN029.jpg contemplative envelope gallery The world Joanna - you can't imagine how beautiful it really is. Think of the different places - tropical islands, snow-capped mountains, deserts of sand, miles and miles of green fields. It's awesome! Think of the kinds of weather - bitter cold - blinding sun - stormy wind and rain - cool breezes, warm winds. It's awesome! Think of the people in the world - black and brown, yellow and red and white - old, young and babies of each. It's awesome! And just think. You get to be here in the middle of it all. So what do you do? You smile - you say "thanks" and you live! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491435227655-411QRC8CRUHM4H9OP9QO/ThTao13.jpg contemplative envelope gallery The world is a beautiful place. The world is a confusing place. The world is a happy place. The world is a sad place. The world is so big. The world has so much to do in it. The world is small. The world is boring sometimes. The world is so exciting. The world is so fun. The world has so much love in it. The world is yours - use it well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479946255-66GI6YJAHC4ODJJAZBKU/JoN052.jpg contemplative envelope gallery In the mornings sometimes I'm struck by the simple beauty that we take for granted every day. If only we would open our eyes, tune our brains to the wondrous beauty channel, and see the amazing things that are right before our eyes. A morning picture for you. Enjoy! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497476587584-R05TJM29YW726GYDEVL9/ThN094.jpg contemplative envelope gallery What could be better than getting up every day - taking a deep breath and swinging your legs onto the floor and standing up? What could be better than just being young and alive? Enjoy it! Live it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480051965-8YDD40IONAOYZ53MKF0J/JoN055.jpg contemplative envelope gallery What is happiness after all? Is happiness getting what you want when you want it always? That sounds more like some kind of incredible lucky selfishness to me. Yet getting what you want sometimes could be part of being happy. What does "want" have to do with "need"? Sometimes things we need we don't think we want. Funny but true. Those are the needs we don't recognize yet. Later we realize that something we needed as missing. Maybe happiness has to do with recognizing what our particular needs are and understanding the difference (and accepting it too) between our needs and things that we want. Why am I talking like this this morning? I don't really know. I guess that struggling to separate my own needs from my wants is something I'm involved in and I hope you are too. The more you understand yourself the better you are! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491502273824-E6CDP808V0EX8965VRTC/ThTao4.jpg contemplative envelope gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496714094740-HKPUHYDRT8LHDU7KKW3J/ThE013_2002.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Open your mind Theo. I know that we all see the world with our own eyes. Our own unique eyes. From the time we are born our biggest challenge is to understand ourselves and to understand that other people are different from us - different not wrong. So learn from other people. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Listen, think & learn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480129266-ABNTMMB8QZPSPRMRI3GO/JoZ002.jpg contemplative envelope gallery One of the hardest yet most important things for anyone to do in their life is to see themselves - see and understand. Understanding yourself is a broad phrase and I mean it in a broad sense. Understanding just who you are, what you believe in. Understanding your limitations yet always trying to expand them and grow out of them. Recognizing that you're changing and attempting to direct that change. Make goals and then work to achieve them - doing what it takes even though it's hard. Shaping for yourself a vision for yourself. Recognizing that you will only have this one life, no second chances to start over, to accomplish those goals. So make the most of each day, each opportunity. Find the joy in growing and becoming Joanna! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491502401126-RV1KI22SXC0QHBEO0R1C/ThTao18.jpg contemplative envelope gallery When Michelangelo went to carve his sculpture of David, the marble was a huge, rough block. Michelangeo said he could "see the finished work inside the stone." So he began to carve. He chipped here where the head would be. He chipped there where the hand would be. He carved and carved for weeks and months. He knew what he wanted it to look like and he didn't stop until he had it. Carving a sculpture. Writing a paper. Becoming a ballplayer. They all take time, effort and the desire to be your best. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480235069-T08Q8ETOMPH7II09BVJF/JoN059.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Life can be so beautiful Joanna. Incredibly beautiful! A sunset, a beach, the mountains, the clouds, an "A" on a test, a smile from a boy you like, a hug from your best friend. So beautiful it almost hurts sometimes. Yet life can be full of pain too. War, murder, poverty, drug addiction, fatal car accidents, a "D" on a report card, a snub from someone you thought was a friend, the guy you like hooking up with someone else, missing the free throw that would have won the game. All different degrees of beauty and ugliness for sure, but all these things co-exist in our world, in our lives, and why? Why the ugliness and pain? Why in every sport does one person or team win and one loses? It just can't be any other way. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477546845-RFZBHC5G4ROR0BHNZPXY/ThN049.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Time goes by without stopping - ever! Babies turn into boys who turn into men. Changes happen slowly and seem to sneak up on us. When we realize it and become aware it's like they happened overnight. We are shocked. But we shouldn't be surprised. We knew it would happen one day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532516959-V6TE45JA1D53F4XSPVZS/JoN072.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Good morning. It's funny how we act differently around different people. I know that I act different around the director of a museum than I do with my employees or with a stranger. Buddhists believe you treat all living things with the same respect regardless. Jesus taught that as well "Love thy neighbor as thy self." Are your parents your "neighbor"? Are your teachers and friends your "neighbor"? Are the homeless people on the street your "neighbor"? Are starving children here and all around the world your "neighbor"? I think so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498242402401-TVBR7C5U34898XCEH7KM/ThN038.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Walking Sunny this morning through the neighborhood, I could hardly believe we live in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the World. Green grass wet with last night's rain, the sky gray but tinged with pink and blue and the ground around our house covered with pink petals. Take time to notice and appreciate your surroundings Theo. Our world can be such a beautiful place. In your life, help to keep it that way. Be responsible, live responsibly. We really have no choice. I hope we choose a responsible leader this Fall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480341545-RSK6XR6WLAUQAJ04O7OA/JoN065.jpg contemplative envelope gallery A silly cartoon of a very beautiful girl. Your pictures were sitting here when inspiration struck. We are who we are even though we do our best to make ourselves into who we want to be. At 50 I still struggle every day to be a better person - to be more like I want myself to be. Some days I succeed better than others. All the days of my struggles merge to form the picture of me. The good days and the bad days blend into a whole. At least that's the way I see it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491435578787-YBSFCC27READN5NUVMJ9/ThTao23.jpg contemplative envelope gallery "On your own two feet!" Ever hear of that expression? Ever thought about what it means? I'm thinking about it this morning because we all have to stand on what we have. God gave us two feet to stand on and he gave us those same two feet to take us where we want to go. Most of us don't think about our feet too much - they're a long way from our head - but where would we be without them? Your feet are strong enough to hold your weight and then some. They're strong and flexible enough to walk you anywhere you want to go - to run and get you there faster if you want. They may be a long way from your head but they'll listen to you and go where you tell 'em! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479246208-OU3NTCGUNSOOZDT9NCW4/JoJ044.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Good morning starshine! Reach with hope for the light. It's there in front of you, play catch with it. Watch it. Study it. Bask in it. Work for it. Try. Try. Try. Grow towards it like a flower towards the sun. It's the salt in your stew. It's the honey on your lips. It's always there, just out of reach, but calling you on. Run, swim, climb, hop, skip, jump, sing, smile, dream to it. Always reaching. Never arriving. Full of love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477417735-DKSJN01KNZ0R5K6WLOIU/ThN044.jpg contemplative envelope gallery You know, every morning I read stories in the paper that make me cry. Stories of whole countries full of people being murdered or starved or washed away in floods or dying of diseases. So many people suffering in the world today, while we talk about sports and colleges and new clothes. I'm guilty of blocking it all out as much as anyone else is. It's hard to live your life crying for the whole world. At the same time it's important to understand how fortunate and blessed we are as a country as a people as a family. How many talented people in the world never get a chance to work hard at their dream? I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532707228-DYAVW87O508HY38MFGKL/JoN095.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Good morning! "Sink or swim" I was just thinking about what that phrase means. When you're in the water it's up to you if you stay above water and make it to shore. The water doesn't, can't "care" about you and what you do. It's all up to you. It's not so obvious a choice on dry land. You can sit back and do nothing and survive. What would the phrase be that catches the dry land choices? "Sit or run"? Maybe... To sit could be akin to death and to run could be achievements. I'll have to think about it some more... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491433241015-M5552JQ7E294CL89H8K1/ThTao4.jpg contemplative envelope gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532645138-Z4N2PDLEL2NGEII56TL7/JoN087.jpg contemplative envelope gallery It's all about being quiet and listening. Listening to the quiet voice inside your head. Listening to the sounds of the world around you and hearing yourself in it. Your thoughts... what do they sound like? Do they sound like dreams? Hopes? Wishes? Do they sound frustrated and angry? How about happy and full of love? Be silent sometimes and hear yourself think. It's good to listen to yourself, to listen to your ideas, dreams, goals. When you can hear yourself, only then will you be truly able to hear others (good advice for me too!). I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491503238448-4IFVCER9PEDTLEQYJOHP/ThTao7.jpg contemplative envelope gallery A quiet morning this morning. We slept in the guest room and I forgot to set my alarm, but fortunately woke up anyway. Quietly. Gray and damp outside as I walked with Sunny. Quietly. A single seagull flew hard and straight towards Coney Island. Quietly. No bird sounds save a morning dove a few houses down hooting. Quietly. Around here it's just the hum of the refrigerator and the scratch of my pen as a truck breaks at the light. Quietly. If you're up I can't hear you. I guess you'll be down soon and we'll be off to school. Quietly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497533033316-4UNW6A0LV9PF8RNTKYY6/JoN103.jpg contemplative envelope gallery What a dumping yesterday hunh? Everything is smoothed and rounded and waist-deep white. Now, in the morning light, the snow is gray blue with a hint of lavender - beautiful. People can dump on people sometimes, rounding out their features, burying their unique light in a glob of anger and frustration. People can be supportive and illuminating of other people as well, bringing their specialness out into focus with the light of love. We build up; we tear down; we do both. I guess one goal for ourselves could be that we try always to build up more than we tear down. To illuminate and support more than we bury and crush. A worthy goal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497476436358-E5BB92MNZB0IITJLDINA/ThTao6.jpg contemplative envelope gallery The world of ideas. That's what we live in. Ideas are everywhere and all around us, coming at us and coming from us. What ideas to listen to, to follow, to choose, to believe in - which ones are "right" - if not objectively "right" at least right for us? When we hear something for the first time, what's our test for truth? How do we judge its correctness - its appropriateness? Ideas come at us from all directions - too many to handle really so we make filters for ourselves so that only certain kinds of ideas get our attention and we disregard the rest. That filter changes as our maturity changes, as our interests change. It's healthy to be aware of our own filters and to try to open them up a little bit when we can. It's called being open minded - a good thing! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532923078-L3WMQC5MA3M9650E8E9Z/JoN101.jpg contemplative envelope gallery To walk, to dream, to wonder about it all. To think big, to think small, to stand down or to stand tall. Who will hear us when we call? To fly and fly and fly and fly yet be nowhere but high. To laugh and laugh and laugh yet cry. Go all day long and never see the sky. Impossible to speak without sounding a sigh. Yet we walk and dream as time rolls past. We fly and laugh and hope to last. Sailing on tied to the mast. We see the time in our shadow cast! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496768789939-ACMUHTYDLMUZNKZ9W3JQ/ThT10_2009.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Someone left a fortune cookie fortune on the counter here and it reads "If you wait too long for the perfect moment, the perfect moment will pass you by." Sounds pretty true to me, although it's really hard to know when you're waiting too long or just the right amount of time, because there's some luck involved in the equation as well. "Hurry!" "Act now!" "A limited time offer." We hear these sales slogans every day, but that's other people trying to urge us to buy. The fortune is about decisions we have to make and whether we miss our chance to be what we want to be. So be what you want to be Theo! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532781418-SVN531B879KSUZSXC1T5/JoN096.jpg contemplative envelope gallery The sun rises up in the eastern sky just like it's done millions and millions of times. Will it continue for millions and millions more days? Creation. The earth. Art. Life. Find the key to unlock your door and follow the path forever more. Experiment, learn what works, what feels right and what seems wrong. Put it in your mouth and taste it before you say no. Open your heart first to yourself, then to another. At 17 try everything you can and embrace or let go and live as you do. Discover not deny. What are your choices? Who says? Who are you? Where are you going? Why? These are not scary choices - this is the excitement of living. Celebrate yourself every day. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491410590230-VGDW2K6RG7HP7KQKKEEM/ThTao1.jpg contemplative envelope gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497476908264-4WSL281A6SPJVK0XBW3J/ThN032.jpg contemplative envelope gallery There ain't no reason things are this way. It's how they always been and they intend to stay. I can't explain why we live this way. We do it every day. from Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason There is a reason actually - several of them. Things like selfishness, greed & laziness are a few I can think of right off. We all are guilty of them at one time or another. It's hard to break out of the comfortable shell we live in, see people suffering, see things that need changing, and decide to do something about it. Be a son, be a brother, be a friend, be a student, be an athlete, be a ceramist, be a lover, be a father, be a changer of things. One hat at a time or all at once or any combination, that's what life is. We are born thinking only of ourselves. Growing up - maturing - is about learning to turn that energy outward to the world. You're on that road. Walk it well! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477046772-8ZC5DY2G2OHNXLEYDGUQ/ThN035.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Mornings - school mornings - work mornings - sleep in mornings - up early mornings - dark dog walking mornings - swimming mornings - biking mornings - beautiful blue mornings with incredibly bright crescent moons and a scattering of stars - so crystalline - so beautiful - achingly so - so glad to be alive morning. Decision-making seems fresh and possible on mornings like this. God seems in his (her) heaven on mornings like this. It's good to be loved on mornings like this. To feel that love in your bones, in your heart, in your head, in your smile, in the first person you meet on the street. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532859714-WT6YR0S0E1I131FFVLKH/JoN098.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Go to the well and draw the bucket up. Drink deep from the icy cool - drink again, as often as you like... It's there for the taking. It's there for those who work to bring it up. You called it. You want it. So drink! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497478143771-4YY6JGL8XD4BME10ZY6T/ThNx080.jpg contemplative envelope gallery Poetry churns and humms like an engine that only you control. Reading is like turning the key and starting off on a journey. Writing is a gift from me to you and you to me - pass it on. Living is a raft trip down the Colorado river paddling for dear life. Love is holding on to the back of a bird as it soars and dips and perches on a sea cliff nest. Singing is unlocking the door. Learning is the greatest gift to yourself you can give. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/times-like-these-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1501780065124-YPCWC79XMYZDZ8QH8RRN/ThF125.jpg times like these gallery Today is a new day! Understand. Today life begins again! Live. Today is an opportunity! Try. Today is the first day of the rest of your Life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1501780065124-YPCWC79XMYZDZ8QH8RRN/ThF125.jpg times like these gallery Today is a new day! Understand. Today life begins again! Live. Today is an opportunity! Try. Today is the first day of the rest of your Life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1501779782181-M1W9TYW5WXCM323B4O56/ThF125.jpg times like these gallery Today is a new day! Understand. Today life begins again! Live. Today is an opportunity! Try. Today is the first day of the rest of your Life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869605288-MRQY8LOYUBFUXX2WREAR/JoO040.jpg times like these gallery I haven't had an opportunity to write to you since the events of last Tuesday morning. There was a small article in the paper Wednesday about the failure of words to describe what has happened and the effect of it on all of us. Well words are what we have so they must suffice - we must express our feelings - even as they change - particularly as they change - as time goes on. God allows many things to happen that we can't understand why. Why are some people born healthy and others born deformed? Why do some couples have children and others are unable to? Why do tornadoes and earthquakes and hurricanes happen and harm so many people? Why do we live to witness the destruction of the World Trade Towers while others perished in them? Are we better than they? Probably not. But here's our chance to try to be! My dad had a pin that read - "today is the first day of the rest of your life!" So let's get going! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963367199-VATEWGLT2N1TFPZL4BFJ/ThI026.jpg times like these gallery There's a lot of good in the world - look for it and you will find it! Theo there's a lot of important work to be done in the world - open your eyes and look for it - it's there! Theo there's so much love in the world - open your heart and feel it - it's there! Theo I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869723247-6Q7QSAYO84KLU58IDSW4/JoO041.jpg times like these gallery The world is changing Joanna - right before our eyes. Watch, help, learn, grow - It's really not so different from what you would do anyway. The sky is blue. The night is cold. The moon is new. Our love is bold. While I'm waiting here this heart of mine is singing, lover - where can you be. I don't know why that verse of a jazz song came into my head - maybe it's because it's about searching - a longing for love - a love that's out there somewhere in a cold, new world. Look for it and you will find it Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869878100-NN1BPEV5GQPDDOHK0G03/JoO042.jpg times like these gallery Today is the one month anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Towers. One month is not a very long time in the big scheme of things but it still seems like it happened a million years ago. So much of our lives have changed in so many ways in such a short time. Not just for us personally but for the whole country. It's a time to rebuild, a time to examine ourselves - all of us - to see who we are - what do we do to make the world a better place? What do we do to spread love within our family, with our friends, with strangers we meet on the street, with people who feel and act differently than we feel or act? It would be a mistake to believe that we, as individuals, can do nothing to change the world. Believe in the power of love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497463412695-L2AZA40S4MEUGCU474MO/JoN050.jpg times like these gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869999015-DW79IWL534XSS610YAK9/JoO052.jpg times like these gallery The anniversary of September 11th will always be as special day in our lives. As New Yorkers, as Americans, as people alive in this time in history. The event will always be ours to try and understand, understand, learn, grow and change and hope and pray. Pray that nothing like this will ever happen again. A tall order that is. But not impossible. We have to open our eyes to the world around us - try to find ways that we can help make it a better place. Not just for ourselves, but for all people! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870249603-BAHUYN8C4H95FGPZBYJM/ThB017.jpg times like these gallery Man we read and fell right asleep last night. It was 10:00 when you went upstairs but 9:00 when we both closed our eyes. We must have been tired. Today is 9-11 -- the second anniversary of the attack on the twin towers. You were 10 years old and in your first year of middle school. Remember? I picked you up from school and we came home and watched the news off and on all day. It was a beautiful, early fall day - just like today. The thing I want you to think about is that yes, there is hate in our world but also there is good. Tremendous good. You are surrounded by good people - me, your mom and sissy, your GG and aunts, uncles and cousins, your teachers, coaches, friends, policemen, firemen, storeowners - so many people not just here in NYC either, but all around the world. Remember all those good people and always try to be a good person yourself - like you are! I love you so much! I believe in you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870106087-TEZCMMNK3WLQJSS9IXSW/JoO079.jpg times like these gallery Hard to believe that it's two years to the day since the Twin Towers fell. I went to see the show of photographs by Mr. Law at the church on Carroll St and 7th yesterday. Mom was helping him by sitting there for an hour. He took pictures of the pictures of missing people that family members posted all over downtown. He took pictures of firemen and policemen and American flags everywhere. The pictures are sad reminders of the many people who lost their lives and the many people who loved them. They also reminded me of the goodness of the vast majority of the world of people. Yes there is hate in the world. Always has been. But there is much more goodness and caring, love and compassion. It's hard to comprehend the enormity of the loss that happened that day. It's up to us now. The living, good people of the earth. To carry on and fight hate by spreading good. Love yourself. Love your friends and family. Love strangers. Help make the world better and safer. I love you so much. I believe in you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512544432-R7CEITU5AEB0VTIK6145/ThTimes3.jpg times like these gallery Today is why we study history Theo. To remember. To learn. To teach. To not repeat the mistakes. To honor the innocent who suffered and to vow never to repeat or allow to repeat these sins. You were only a 10 year old boy when the Trade Towers fell, but try to hold onto the memory. I left my office and went to BC and picked up you and Joanna and brought you home. We watched TV in the living room at the Ansonia and we cried. I called my mother and brothers and sisters to let them know we were all OK, but our world has been and will always be changed. Go on in your life Theo. Be the best you can be and make the world the best it can be as well. It's our duty to ourselves, our world, our God. Amen! I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513536223-Y4JKW07JBWUZHM2ZRP0I/ThTimes4.jpg times like these gallery Seven years ago - you were ten years old then - the trade towers were brought down by what we call "terrorists." What a shocker that was. What a terrible tragedy it remains. The lives lost. The lives altered. A city scared. A country changed forever. I look around at the legacy and wonder how much we have really taken the lessons to heart. Yet I remain hopeful for our country and our future - the world's future I mean. Oil dominance must be stopped. Tolerance of different peoples, customs, religions must be increased. A broader idea of our important goals must be fostered. Hopefully a new president will make (help) that happen. Hopefully your generation will do a better job than mine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513359459-G92HTKE6XRM1TIBVGL7M/ThTimes1.jpg times like these gallery A silly poem - made up on the spot for a leader with wings. OBAMA IN '08. Who woulda thunk it? (Last day of classes go ahead and slam-dunk it!) "Only in America" you hear people say. When something almost unbelievable happens today. An inspiring man. A man with a plan, To bring us back to a country we can stand (behind and be proud of.) We never know what lies ahead. Will we be pleased or come to dread (our decision?) I think pleased (I hope.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513684931-26XXWAVC77YLSYV38AHL/ThTimes12.jpg times like these gallery It's like a dream this morning - OBAMA is our 44th president! I can hardly believe it. I'm proud that enough people in our country were capable of seeing past race to a genuine man of heart, intellect, judgment and ability. He certainly has his work cut out for him but I believe he has what it takes to do a good job - the best job - the right thing. You can go to school today proud to be an American! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513781757-NPBEUALLXRZDIE9NY1IW/ThTimes13.jpg times like these gallery Some number between a million and two million, suffering together for a short time, for a memory of a lifetime. I hope for great things from this man Obama, that we call our 44th President. Can he inspire banks to lend money? Markets to feel confident, peace to grow where war has been the rule? A huge order to fill, yet we ask him to try. We ask him to tell us the truth. To care about us and others in the world. To care and to try. He asks us all to care and to try as well. He asks us to be aware of other people's pain and suffering and to help however we can. Be patient and seek to understand yourself first. From there be patient and seek to understand your family and your friends. From there be open, be patient, be considerate, be helpful, be loving. That's what the world needs! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963092099-SAWHAXMZRXOFOM7P2UEU/ThF016.jpg times like these gallery This is the day to remember all those men and women who have fought in Wars to protect our freedom. Your two grandpas - Dan & Frank both fought in World War II. If they were here now they would be very proud of you. As proud of you as I am. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963001488-6M4TXDS5VVZ8JHR6EZ1W/JoX068.jpg times like these gallery The internet is very cool - very very modern - as "modern" as you can get I would imagine. I mean what could be "newer" as a concept? Computers, which make it all possible, have only been around for 15 years - less - 12 years maybe. Fiber optic phone lines that let info travel so fast are only 5 years old. Communication has been around forever but never so fast, so instantaneous, so easy. Friends (I guess strangers too sometimes) can just pop into our work at anytime (a good and bad thing - sometimes welcome, sometimes not). So much information available too. So many sites you can visit. I guess I just want you to be careful. There is a lot of weirdness on the web too and how do you know? People (and sites are put up by people) can find out about you too, just by opening up a site. Definitely don't give anyone your name, age, sex, phone #, address, etc. That info could end up places you don't want. Protect your privacy Joanna. Be careful! Ok?! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512504323-DMQH2T4EC3RUM262X418/ThTimes10.jpg times like these gallery Good morning! Do you ever wonder how other people live? I do sometimes. I saw a picture on the front page of the Times of a group of women sitting behind some thorn bushes and waiting for bread from a relief agency. They were chased from their villages by rebels and had nothing but the clothes on their backs. Can you imagine life like that if it happened to you? We are so fortunate in this country. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869354373-1MC5EA9LGO2PPAWLGL60/JoF105.jpg times like these gallery Good morning! I really enjoyed reading your essay on the Weimar Republic. I enjoyed hearing your voice inside my head as I scanned the words. I enjoyed the arguments you raised and the examples you used to support them. I enjoyed your extrapolation to the present situation in Iraq. History is so interesting. You can look back 60-70 years and grasp the different forces - the causes and effects - that shaped events of the times and trace them all the way to today. "She who does not know history is doomed to repeat it!" So true. So important. Excellent job Joanna. It may not feel easy to you to write like you do - but you make it sound easy and that's a gift. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512616844-WUWF89EDXTW6C05JXFPR/ThTimes8.jpg times like these gallery Yesterday a student with a gun killed 32 fellow students in Virginia Tech and nobody knows why. Even if they ever find out some things about his reasons, they will never be able to explain such a horrible, unimaginable act. I think of Joanna away at college and I think of the parents of those 32 kids and I sat here this morning and I cried. How much do I love you and Joanna? How much did those parents love their sons and daughters? Totally! Completely! Immeasurably! Words can't describe the feeling of a parent for his child. Everyone is somebody's child. Think about that every time you hear about an accident or flood or famine or war death. Everyone is loved. Everyone is special to someone. We are all loved. I love you Theo! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870417089-L8B9PZJOWA1H6U0T0ZOH/JoO087.jpg times like these gallery Good morning! There's so much in the world that we ignore as we live our lives... Our sheltered daily lives. So much suffering and violence in different parts of the world. Disease, famine, war - how are we supposed to deal? By being aware and being willing to do something to help in anyway we can. It's not easy because our own lives seem so full of things to deal with - imagine a different life? Share the love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512666423-3EAZU2HWIDWHID9YB6KS/ThTimes14.jpg times like these gallery History unfolds day by day - it never stops - not as long as there are people living on this 3rd rock from the Sun. History goes way back to the first humans and continues right up to this very second. The Iraq war will be an important turning point in the history of America and the world - as will 9-11-2001. This is history you're living. Know what's going on around you. Try to see the connections, the courses, the results. We are all connected - all brothers and sisters. Learn to accept and love and not judge your fellow man. Good luck today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870567419-OD0EJJGVK3E0QSTED60U/JoO090.jpg times like these gallery "These are the times that try men's souls." - Winston Churchill, about the bombing of London in WWII "It ain't over 'til it's over." - Yogi Berra, great ex Yankee catcher "Sometimes a cigar (baseball game) is just a cigar (baseball game)." - Sigmund Freud, with additions by Bob Guest "Hakuna Matada." - Pumba "Que sera, sera." (Whatever will be, will be.) - Doris Day "Let's go Yankees!" - Millions of Yankee Fans. If the BoSox win maybe Kerry will too. I'd take that trade. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512723052-ZYM6W6COU9DA091XFJOM/ThTimes5.jpg times like these gallery Ever hear of the Little Rock Nine? Well, Little Rock is the capital city of Arkansas and back in the days when schools were segregated by color, the biggest, best, all-white high school in Little Rock was Central High School and that summer the President ordered school systems to desegregate - meaning that black and white kids had to attend school together. The Little Rock Nine were 9 black kids, boys and girls, who were selected to be the 1st black kids ever to go to Central High. National guard troops and mobs of angry parents surrounded the school and in spite of racist bigotry at it's worst, they did attend and graduate from Central. A hard, hard thing to do. Imagine if you were forced to attend school like that? Could you stand up and do it? You're pretty lucky! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491492518649-4CHEUHCCS3SCSK5Q2YQC/ThTimes10.jpg times like these gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496962551435-BPGV0FEO0GTR6TZH1HIT/JoO095.jpg times like these gallery Isn't it funny how America is so evenly divided these days? Why is that? How is it even possible? I heard there's an election for governor in Washington State that, at the last count, had one candidate winning by 42 votes - out of the whole state! Amazing isn't it? For everyone who feels passionate on one side of an issue, there is someone equally passionate on the opposing side. It's almost ludicrous (sp?). I mean it would be funny if it wasn't so serious. So you examine your views to be sure it's what you believe. You listen to the other ideas because they deserve it too. And you shake your head, laugh, and work for change. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513640227-CF4T6TQ9ICNGZ27D3OKH/ThTimes6.jpg times like these gallery Read the paper this morning and I have to say the news isn't good. Not much about Iraq - or even the election right now - it's all about Wall Street and the Bank Collapse and the credit squeeze. Even the article about the children's exhibit wasn't flattering. It's important to not close your eyes to what's going on around you but at the same time, no matter what, you have to stay optimistic and keep the faith. Trust that things will work out alright as long as you keep working hard and believe. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491492238043-TEMTI799H795CNCVSI6E/ThTimes3.jpg times like these gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498240867216-XMAK56AMTDKXXBZ10H2A/JoO099.jpg times like these gallery Ancient Rome - Modern Rome. Romans - Italians - People. How old the culture on Italy - how young the culture here in the U.S. As old as the Roman culture was, the Chinese culture goes back even further. Thousands of years further. Human society in Africa further still. America's not even 250 years old. Think about it. I'm 50, so go back to when my dad's father was born and this country was barely 100 years old. My great grandfather lived during the Civil War. It's all so recent. We're all so connected to it. America isn't even a teenager yet. We act like it too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869484472-15WWVWYL81OP4RPGZCPH/JoN093.jpg times like these gallery Solitude. That's what Thomas Merton's all about. Solitude and love of God of course. But Solitude as a path towards love. Not an escape from life, but a deepening of awareness. In our world today it seems like everything conspires to make it impossible to achieve solitude in our lives. Quiet, thoughtful introspection, and communication with ourselves in the world is almost perceived as a bad thing. "Without a steady stream of sound and images we are nothing" - the gurus of technology tell us. Don't be afraid of silence; of being alone in silence. Relish it. Step into the world by taking a step out. Gain insight, awareness, perspective, love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963438257-TSE8AH6GRGKGOJNHUOQ8/ThN037.jpg times like these gallery Everything came in pairs this morning. First there was the pair of Hasidic women walking up Argyle. Then a man walked by with two dogs on the leash, while off on Coney Island Ave I could hear first one, then two sirens roll by. Last night a pair of star basketball players were the story in a game 7 and on the front page of the Times was a story about a Chinese couple that had been trapped in the earthquake rubble for 28 hours, holding onto each other and talking and helping each other stay alive. Two people meet and fall in love and the result are two more people to go out into the world and make it a better place. We all need a little help from someone - help to be the best we can be - to keep going and not give up when it gets tough. Take help when it's offered - give help when you see it's needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496962750401-1RTRQVXVSX3QOVIFAE0H/JoO107.jpg times like these gallery What matters most in a life? Happiness? Success? Love? A family? I shouldn't ask questions that I don't know the answer to. I look around me here at the relative comfort that we've built and the paper is open next to me with headlines like "79,000 earthquake dead" and a picture of a man walking, crying through the destruction of his neighborhood in New Orleans. And I'm trying to have perspective on my troubles and concerns which are real I understand, but I'm alive, I'm blessed, I'm struggling, I'm thriving, I'm loving, I'm loved, I'm focused, I'm easily distracted, I'm confident, I'm concerned after 52 years I'm still searching for answers. I guess we always are and always would (will) be. So keep searching Joanna - life comes in a torrent with answers in trickles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496962837261-LXY71UCT5DNN9SN88B27/JoO113.jpg times like these gallery You know I feel more and more like a minority in this world. I'm white and well-to-do by the standards of many places in the world yet I feel invisible and un-represented sometimes. I can't believe the direction our country is moving and I feel powerless to really change anything. I want the world inherited by my generation to be better than the world we inherited so that I can pass on a better world to you, my child. Yet now the world is so full of rich vs. poor, Christian vs. Christians, Muslims vs. Muslims, oil vs. people, that the news is too filled with violence to listen to or read. So many stories of suffering people it's hard to want to work for a solution and instead we want to escape and ignore. Too many thoughts to write here. I don't know why I went off on this thought this morning? I'm really all concerned with my mom and my family. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491492062471-ACG9Q74QAPKESRCV13DF/ThTimes1.jpg times like these gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491410786566-X1ZP7TO9ATQ3ZMU8HOH5/ThTimes1.jpg times like these gallery https://www.foldedwisdom.com/best-job-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975350185-XQ0E40BNVWWWVTCMEV45/ThA074.jpg best job in the world gallery Theo Theo do you know? That summertime is on the go! Fall Fall has come around, leaves in the wind, leaves on the ground. Theo put your jacket on when you go outside! Fall Fall is here my dear, let's go for a ride! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975350185-XQ0E40BNVWWWVTCMEV45/ThA074.jpg best job in the world gallery Theo Theo do you know? That summertime is on the go! Fall Fall has come around, leaves in the wind, leaves on the ground. Theo put your jacket on when you go outside! Fall Fall is here my dear, let's go for a ride! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975273164-VJXMM1LJOCQ64SBX1I6F/JoBestJob10.jpg best job in the world gallery There is an artist who is having a show at a museum that I really like. Would you like to go see it with me one evening? The museum is called The Guggenheim and the Artist's name is Claes Oldenburg. His art is funny (that's why I like it). Also he can draw really good. Remember when I went to Washington by myself to see a show? Well now that show is here! Shall we go? Let me know! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975563258-9W42DXQLL5N9HE0CA40Y/ThA073.jpg best job in the world gallery Theo Theo Big (not small) can you tell me how (?) did you get so tall. Did you swallow a giraffe from the zoo? Did you put pants and shoes on a ladder? (and stand up on top) Did you comb your hair straight up to the sky? Did you stretch and stretch (like Stretch Armstrong) until you got so so big? -or- Did you simply eat and grow with nowhere else for your head to go - but - UP! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497974925018-QRSX5Y8TYN1S4CP36WBK/JoI024.jpg best job in the world gallery Could there be something in me that's also inside of you? And likewise could there be something in me that grew up out of you? It could be true - (do you feel it too?) We must be connected somehow. I'm sure we'll figure it out later, but it's a mystery for now! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497974410966-XSUEQMW50ICWYHIYFSNY/ThN028.jpg best job in the world gallery You are my son. I am your dad. Nothing can ever change that. But I do not own you... You are not a "thing." I cannot make you into someone you are not. I can only love you. Whoever you are. I will always love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975431206-665KCZ4YKL33S4A897IL/JoC065.jpg best job in the world gallery Can you believe it? Our life moves on - hour by hour - day by day - week by week - month by month - year by year. Time goes on and we go with it! Where are we going? Older? Yes. Smarter? I hope so. Happier? I hope so too. Let's have fun and learn a lot while we grow up together! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497974380412-7MTDY85L13N3SUIWNZIR/ThN028.jpg best job in the world gallery You are my son. I am your dad. Nothing can ever change that. But I do not own you. You are not a "thing." I cannot make you into someone you are not. I can only love you. Wherever you are. I will always love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975956384-2ZIQ2OUEJSQSE5YV6NTI/ThX006.jpg best job in the world gallery It was so nice lying in bed and reading together last night. Let's do it again soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976515279-NUWC58DO5I3LMPJ21VPN/JoN019.jpg best job in the world gallery I have a dream that parents will wake up and look at their children with new eyes. That they will realize how beautiful and fragile is the child's life - how it must be treated gently with love and respect to help it blossom and grow into the most beautiful garden in the world. I have a dream. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497542647062-JZGQBF3J1YA1P9D6H8GA/ThC29.jpg best job in the world gallery Today is Monday. Let's start the week right. Try a little more to have fun. Try a little more to learn. Try a little more to say - "I love you." Oh! And by the way - we'll also try to get a haircut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976662023-4XQX9CV1XES6BWFKQ04V/JoN020.jpg best job in the world gallery I have another dream. I dream that my kids will grow up healthy and happy and have fun doing it. That my two kids will come to realize how lucky they are to have each other - how different they are from each other and how cool each of them are. If they do then everyone will be winners. I have a dream of watching my kids grow up and do fun and interesting things - when they do - I will smile and be happy. Like I am now! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497974460703-RIGK9WNB05YO57YKLEJC/ThA075.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976286580-RITWRH8WZDS2TCBBMQ44/ThX39.jpg best job in the world gallery I know I tell you "I love you" a lot. I know I do. Being a "Dad" makes me the luckiest man in the world! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497974868827-ZGMA84C9JRR0FPN63828/JoI024.jpg best job in the world gallery Could there be something in me that's also inside of you? And likewise, could there be something in me that grew up out of you? It could be true - (do you feel it too?) We must be connected somehow. I'm sure we'll figure it out later, but it's a mystery for now! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975860318-LVNW5DGQMQBW6SZ6RYUA/JoBestJob6.jpg best job in the world gallery Good job to get your last month's church reading done. I'm sorry I had to make you like that. Being a dad is not easy sometimes but I tell you... it's the Best Job in the World!! Just because we get upset now and then or we don't always see eye to eye doesn't mean we don't love each other. We love each other very much. Disagreeing and getting mad sometimes is part of life. Fortunately it's a small part! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764622184-O5OK1C2PUS0TY8L03PI1/JoJ020_2001.jpg best job in the world gallery Sometimes we all (me too I know) need to take a step back from our lives and take a good, hard look at ourselves. Are we who we want to be? Do we like what we see? Are we doing the best we can? What do we need to do to be better - to be more like we want to be? You don't do this for your parents - for other people - you do it for yourself. You don't go to school and play sports to make me (your dad) happy - You're doing it for you! To build your life - your life habits - your life goals. If you make yourself happy - then I'm happy. It's as simple as that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976438508-HGZK3XJMCY698YWBOQBM/TheoBestJobMissingTooth.jpg best job in the world gallery Sometimes you have to lose something before you can dig up something else. Your new tooth will be even bigger and better than your old one. Hooray! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491509867360-SMXOZGZ2TKTGRA3ORHIN/ThEarly11.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977549931-0BFI82L1483L711UME6Y/JoX046.jpg best job in the world gallery There's many things that hurt, that sting our bodies and our feelings. Sometimes parents nudge - try to mold our lives, like kneading fudge into a mold. Is the shape they try to make right for you? Or is it fake? I was a kid, I'm a father now trying to do his best somehow. With mom, with Theo, with you. Holy cow! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975482138-EDRUC06NFQC0GVLNIJ3M/ThA073.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976791429-IT5INI9D7A8N2RF6WYXQ/ThBestJob23.jpg best job in the world gallery Theo you're a good kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a smart kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a handsome kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a talented kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a fourth grader! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a good son - and I wouldn't trade you for all the money in the world! Believe that 'cause it's true too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977117115-LA951SF5OHKAHMGPUQC8/JoB052.jpg best job in the world gallery What can I say about our family? Do we all love each other like crazy? Absolutely!! Do we sometimes treat each other badly? Yes - if I'm honest I'd have to admit that. But (and there's always a "but"), that part comes from anxiety - stress - not the heart. Our world is stressful - fast-paced with a lot of expectations and causes for concern. Your poem showed me that even at 13 you are not immune to these things. But we as people - as human beings, still thrive, still persevere - still set goals and try to achieve them. We don't give up. We look and see and recognize the love around us and draw on it for support. We carry our weight when we can and we ask for help when we need it. The goal of life in the animal world is survival. But people have a higher goal than that. We want to triumph - to create - to love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976944953-ZD08VHRV8ZX6T9NNFOU5/ThE009.jpg best job in the world gallery I'm your Dad! And my job is to do whatever I can for you, Joanna and your Mom. Sometimes I get to do what I want that's just for me - but most of the time taking care of my family is what I want to do. When a man has the chance to help other people he takes it. That's what a good man does. He doesn't spend his time only doing for himself. A boy who's growing up to one day be a man needs to think about that. Think of other people! Help other people! Love other people! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978008736-2C7GOBC8RMFSXWH7GHY2/JoN056.jpg best job in the world gallery You're a lucky girl to have such good teachers, good friends, a fine school and loving family. A lucky girl! And I'm a lucky man to be your Dad! I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977248026-H4RJSE4CWINLZVFQRQS5/ThN054.jpg best job in the world gallery Trust is so important Theo. You need to trust me and I need to trust you. When I tell you I will do something I make every effort to do it. When I ask you to do something I expect you to do it as well. In business we make contracts and sign our name to them. I say I will build something and they say they will pay me. A father and a son don't sign contracts - we each have our word and we trust each other to tell the truth and do what we say we will. Let's trust each other!! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977398410-BGTK5T5WREWNFUZGCCDP/JoBestJob31.jpg best job in the world gallery You have no idea how peaceful it is to sit at the kitchen table with a candle or two burning and a cup of coffee in front of you and a pen in hand ready to write. I love getting up ahead of everyone and having that hour to myself and my thoughts. It's very helpful, meditative way to start the day. It gives me a chance to think about myself, about you and Theo and mom. And writing to you gives me another chance. A chance to connect with you - share my thoughts - my life with you. A chance to give you something of my private self. Without feedback of any kind which is a plus and a minus but hey - that's life. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977698134-F8S4XRA4Q8FQP00BIQMM/ThN051.jpg best job in the world gallery Don't know why I sketched a bridge this morning? I was thinking of you and it just came out. Maybe it's an architecture connection - maybe it's a symbol of a connection to something? Like the bridge between youth and maturity that you are crossing right now. Of course if that was it, I should have drawn a much longer bridge that never really reaches the other side. The road to maturity we walk on all of our lives. It's a joy to walk it with you! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977734418-JKFREGEKY5NMFGWJUGG1/JoT005_2003.jpg best job in the world gallery When my dad died almost 26 years ago now, my mom had one of those cards printed that say "In loving memory of..." on the back and a quote or picture of a Saint on the front. Well the front she chose had this quote entitled "Take Time" and it's about just that - to take time in your life for the things that are important and some of them are good - "Take time to think - It is the source of power! Take time to be friendly - It is the road to happiness! Take time to play - It is the secret of perpetual youth! Take time to laugh - It is the music of the soul! Take time to work - It is the price of success! Take time to Love and be Loved - It is a God-given privilege" (and the greatest single idea of Christianity - I added that). I always liked the message of that card - you have to take time to think about your life and how you're living it or else it will be so busy and pass by so fast you'll be surprised. At 14 it seems like it will last forever but it won't. It seems like there will always be tomorrow but there won't. Do your best every day. Make the days count. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976385280-I1UCDAF1XNGSWQQ42RG3/JoI060.jpg best job in the world gallery It was fun to go up to the Met with you Saturday. I know it was work for you but I was glad that you had the kind of work to do that took you to a place like that. A place filled with the results of all that is good about the human race - all the struggle to achieve something wonderful that's never been seen before and to share it with so many thousands of people every day. My knowledge about art and artists is not random. I've been moved by art and the stories of the artists who make it all my life - at least from about 19 on. Find something to love! I love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978094961-OPG5PLJ0B8NY2EYYPA5D/ThN043.jpg best job in the world gallery I'm a fortunate man, born to two people who loved each other very much. I was surrounded with brothers and sisters and lots of love and support. Now I'm just trying to do the best job I can by loving the woman I chose (and who chose me) and the two children that we were blessed to have. Your mom, Joanna and you mean the world to me and I try to do the right thing for you every moment, every day of my life. What is "the right thing?" Well, besides money, a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food in your belly, I'm trying to help you make the right choices for yourself and help prepare you for the road ahead. I can help you as much as you'll let me. I can give but I cannot make you accept my offering. That's all you Theo. Own your dreams. Pick up the ball and run with it. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978149035-56M6HTELR41NJE2N4N0V/JoN074.jpg best job in the world gallery Seemed so far away (college I mean) so long ago when you were born (born to change my world). Born to be your world. Born to live and discover yourself - others - love - fear - right - wrong. An empty slate at one time (were you ever really "empty"?) So much character, style, laughter, caring and love. Look in the mirror - what do you see? Do you see the newborn babygirl? Do you see the newborn college student? Do you see a young woman on her way? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977935014-6RX4S055XQ5RSUY9F1KB/ThX52.jpg best job in the world gallery I don't know, maybe you weren't expecting a note on Beach Day, but I was walking around the neighborhood with Sunny this morning and noticing all the broken branches (even a whole fallen tree) and I was thinking of you. I think about you a lot. I remember my own high school years and I have to say that I didn't have half the motivation and the dreams that you do. You've developed ideas and plans that are your own and I'm so proud of you. We'll work together this summer and I'm excited by that. I'll help you anyway I can and anyway you'll let me. Have fun today and wear sunscreen (I couldn't help but remind you). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977829425-KDVE590ESEH3VKV1RIBS/JoB080.jpg best job in the world gallery You never stop being a daughter or a son. Even after your parents are gone and you're long on your own. The legacy stays with you. The things they taught you more by their example than their words. You find yourself in the same boat with your new family looking back to when the shoe was on the other foot and you were a kid. The other night in Peer, a boy asked how come we (as parents) don't want our kids to do the same things, experiment with drugs, alcohol and sex, that we did when we were there age? Well because we love you, that's why. That's really the simple, honest answer. And one day, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, you might find yourself responsible for me or mom. Just try your best to treat us with the same love we have always and forever given you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978059424-OER3A8KTQUEV8D5JY29M/ThN041.jpg best job in the world gallery Balancing love, pride, concern and frustration - that's what being a father is. I'm always bouncing back and forth between those feelings (and more), sometimes more than one of them at a time. What to do? How to make love always come out on top? Always just love you and Joanna for who you are, and not worry about whether or not you're all you could be - all I want you to be? Is that the way? I believe that at the end of the day that is the key. I have to push and prod and hope and dream and help out along the way, but in the end I ultimately just have to give you my unconditional love. You got it Theo! But it doesn't mean I won't tell you when I think you're making a mistake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496347791075-Q2P49AQITL4ZB4CN8AZE/JoBestJob7.jpg best job in the world gallery "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." Some things are so obvious, so hokey sounding - that we laugh instead of listen. Every day you, me, all of us, have the opportunity to set out after our goals. To start out on the trip of our lives. To find out who we are and what we want to do with our lives. It seems like you were only born yesterday but it's been 14 years. You've grown so much yet have so much more growing to do. 14 years from now you'll be a grown woman. Take those steps every day - I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491494898578-PFL02LZ4D970IJAI6H1A/ThEarly10.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491509699161-TSBZJ1Y3KCVBP8QE8PX3/ThEarly10.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491494831198-C590Y8TT2K3AOOZ1S0BW/ThBestJob7.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491509717455-IULKZ8EYIOM7O0FFKEVH/ThEarly10.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491509762919-G80S19PZ19I7YAM1K9QD/ThEarly10.jpg best job in the world gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491410516723-AGSH91UBUFVM660M0I6I/ThBestJob1.jpg best job in the world gallery https://www.foldedwisdom.com/on-the-field-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491514377454-O2EA0YRTGNQ2EQMCJFUG/ThField3.jpg on the field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491514377454-O2EA0YRTGNQ2EQMCJFUG/ThField3.jpg on the field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554515042-NA049Z5Z9LDWR08TX9GU/JoG002.jpg on the field Hey!! Let's play catch!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553754277-BHH1XKSP1ZXQTRO7K8DD/ThG027.jpg on the field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491493604476-WLXKZAX1MJHKA6MWOQQO/ThField3.jpg on the field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554447529-4RIABWDPRRMS3GW9LZUD/JoG001.jpg on the field Went to a Yankee game at Yankee stadium in the Bronx. Forty Seven Thousand people came to see 'em beat the Sox. They were not disappointed - the score was 9 to 1. I can't remember if I've ever had so so much f-u-n. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554018219-LDGBT3Z69OQ6XO2TE0ZK/ThG081.jpg on the field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554810424-V24IZ16PTWRYJ360CXNV/JoG003.jpg on the field You wouldn't believe the game last night. It was the closest game I've ever seen. Each team really wanted to win. At the plate they looked real mean. At the end of nine innings the score was tied 4 to 4. And after 10, 11 and 12, neither could score any more. Then the Mariners homered and made it 4 to 5. Then Paul O'Neill homered too and kept the Yanks alive. Then - bottom of the 15th with a man on first the Yankees homered again. Yanks 7 Mariners 5 was the score at the end! Yeah Team!!! P.s. I put tons of butter on the broccoli! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491493561964-R4Q3C3G69ADSL652T3ZM/ThField2.jpg on the field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554162180-M5FQBLJGSETBI5V29UVG/ThG095.jpg on the field Rain Rain go away - Baseball is what I want to play! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555073628-DH01S5S95FE1JOVS3UQP/JoG067.jpg on the field Sports! Sports! Sports! It's fun. There's camaraderie with your teammates and that's good. There's discipline and practice - good lessons to learn. But there's something else too - something that I missed out on by not playing sports as a kid growing up. That something is challenging yourself to be the best - to be your best - at something. Then believing in yourself - in the skills you've worked to achieve and challenging the other team, the other players, the pitcher when you're at bat, the person guarding you when you're dribbling up court, challenging them to stop you, to get you out if they can. Testing your best against their best. Isn't that why sports is more than just hitting a ball around? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554095589-GT61N9YVWME0RTNZDV8V/ThG092.jpg on the field Theo makes an unassisted double play! The first of the year! Go! Colts go! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553011745-I6L93WOC7POWBR1GH44W/ThE007.jpg on the field Hakeem Olajuwan makes 500 jump shots a day! Practice is what makes a good player out of an average one! Practice makes a great player out of a good one! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555182874-VW1TG3YX5XIWUXT9Z7AC/JoG069.jpg on the field Teamwork - it's Work to be on a Team. When Teams Work together, they win. Team: a group of people who play together to win at a sport or competition. Why do you think they call it work? Being on a team is a challenge. You are challenged to be your best and to help your teammates be their best. If you do that - if everyone does that - you will have a winning team. Every team has its share of hot dogs or people who think of themselves as superstars. They go with the competitive nature of sports. All you can do is be your best and try to help everyone - even the "superstars" be their best as well. It's called "sportsmanship." It's called "team first." It's called "leadership." So leave those other feelings off the court. Play as a team. Win or lose, play your best and have fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555521278-NYKWZZ3YZH01G8AS6UZR/JoG092.jpg on the field Good morning. Whenever there's a lot on the line, the challenge for the player is to relax and play loose. The natural tendency is to tighten up and feel nervous, which makes it harder to do your best. It's like walking on a curb without falling off is easy. But put that curb 100 ft. in the air and you'd never go near it. I don't have any magic way to help you relax in this stressful year. But maybe just remembering to play loose, thinking about it from time to time, will help you achieve some measure of success. It's not easy I know. But it's important to try. So be calm, relax and play loose Joanna! And remember that I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491514981877-G75DNXA1A0LBY2KUUCWN/ThField10.jpg on the field Hey Theo do you like to win in sports? Do you? Well the listen up and I'll tell you how. Ready? Here's the secret... 1) Practice - you can never be "good enough"! 2) Share your game with your teammates - help them - show them. Don't criticize your teammates when they make a mistake and they won't criticize you... because we all make mistakes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497556039377-L3CHFYBW9LQGGP19GVVT/JoJ035.jpg on the field It's another day Joanna. Another day to try and succeed. To experiment. To learn. To laugh and have fun. To love and support. To discover the best that you can be. And you can be pretty damn good! You put your heart into whatever you do. You care about other people, your friends, your teachers. You care about your school. Today you take yourself out on the court for your last game of the season. Bring your "A" game. Spur on your teammates to play their best. Play with heart, passion and desire to win. I can't wait to watch. Win or lose - play your best. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515127463-F7TXZD8LK6NQ55BLGAHB/ThField6.jpg on the field It was a pleasure to watch you pitch last night. You looked so calm and in control the whole time. Even when a couple of errors on ground balls put runners on you stayed focused and you pitched your way out of it. I was so proud of you. Anna Roma came up to me and said - "Theo looks so good out there!" I said "He sure does. What do you expect? - He's my son!" I love you so much! Do you see how good you can do when you stay focused? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554315012-QTDMKE5NQ80G3B2HLU1T/JoE059.jpg on the field Good morning good day! Hey Hey Ms. All Conference Whatayasay? Pretty impressive! I was very proud of you! I surprised myself at how proud I felt carrying your trophy as we left the gym. Silly I know but I couldn't help it. I thought you really had improved this year and I was glad to see it recognized. I don't remember which coach said it but one of them said that success in sports is directly correlated to the hard work and dedication you put in. It's really true in academics as well. Put in the work and see the results. You're proof of that theory as well! I love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496766286878-WLLKTXSLS1G5WK5HLGLL/ThG009_2005.jpg on the field Always try and keep the idea of giving 100% in the front of your mind. Focus on that idea, whether your in school in class, or dribbling down court or pitching on the mound. That will give you your best chance to succeed. The other thing to do is relax. So take a deep breath and just relax yourself whenever you are starting to feel stressed. Being relaxed will help you think more clearly. So be focused and be relaxed and remember that I love you and I believe in you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555374342-OHIASZG6Q6C6DHR4CFED/JoG072.jpg on the field Just learn from every game Joanna. Think about what worked and what didn't work. Think about everything - the good and the bad. Think about it all as the learning experience that it is and slowly you will get better - the team will get better - and you will win. I didn't realize that you were embarrassed of your team - I'm sorry that you feel that way but I can see how I might feel that way if it were my team too. So hey! Try to get yourself to a mental place where you can accept it (not like it - just accept it) and then play and work on things that need improving. Say "Okay - this is where we are - let's make ourselves better!" You can you know - you know that right? Positive attitudes grow winning teams - it's not just a line of crap. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491409204870-UT3MV0JCZ1NU4X8W7FT2/ThField1.jpg on the field https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553845876-ME5W0U2NWWNBDDKFHBGI/ThG053.jpg on the field Workout all your muscles. Work out your brain as well as your body. Workout the whole Theo. Make him stronger and smarter. Apply the same ideas about exercise to learning as well as to strengthening your body. The same rules apply, regular practices, regular workouts. See the connections? Have a great day! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555726753-YVDL37PISUZ5FNQ5E6JK/JoG098.jpg on the field "Wow! Who's that no. 8? She's really good!" You played well and deserved the compliment. How many games have you played that went into extra points? How many back to back? It was draining to watch it must have been brutal to play. You played as a team and in the end you lost as a team and it was an honor to be there. It's not a crime to run out of gas like that so be proud in your disappointment. Volleyball is a game that those who don't play it assume it's easier than other sports - they couldn't be more wrong. I love you for your drive, your determination, your energy and enthusiasm, your desire for balance, the way you're in touch with the deep flowing currents of your feelings. You have more talents than you know. Live and discover them! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553645539-7OROOHO2L9GTHO7X0QF3/ThG010.jpg on the field Keyspan Park!! Wow!! Hard to believe I was watching you pitch there. What a blast! Will any other field feel good enough now? You seem so at home on the mound it's amazing and fun to watch you do your thing. After that monster home run in the second I wondered how you would handle yourself but you came right back and got the outs. Very calm. Very controlled. Very good. Excellent in fact! Keep it up! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515253801-U1BYSELVC41R973K16T2/ThField7.jpg on the field Calm, control, focus, instinct, intelligence, skill, practice, and coaching. It takes all of it to succeed. No one does it on talent alone. You have that in spades Theo, now recognize what you need to add to it and get the help you need, do the work you need to do and grow and grow and grow yourself up! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497556112919-S4KZV54WW3EWO1KSI6DH/JoJ063.jpg on the field There's an old Christian saying that goes something like "God never gives you more than you're strong enough to deal with" I shouldn't have used quotes because it's really just a paraphrase. Atheists would say "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Deal with your ankle, but then forget it. Don't worry about it and play because you can't do that well - you won't be able to play your best unless you just mind over matter it and forget it. You won't be happy with yourself and your contribution to that team unless you do. Be smart; prep before practices and games but then go out and just play. I almost didn't write this because I know you will do this anyway. I love you so much! (By the way, I subscribe to both theories). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554224055-OBBCEZENLXIRU12ZLT41/ThG126.jpg on the field Bernie Williams received an honorary degree from Iona College yesterday and he made a speech. He said that when he was a teenager he knew he "had the have the ability to outwork" the other prospects. It's important to recognize early in life that you have to work at what you love to be a success. In baseball particularly, losing is a big part of the game. It's no fun I know. It stings like crazy. But the best remedy is to keep working for the next game. To make yourself stronger, smarter, more experienced. Build on this defeat and do what you can do to make yourself a better player, a better person. You will have many more successes and many more losses. It's part of the game. But learn and practice and you will have more successes and a great life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515812755-UYWZH7OTPHPC0UOR27ZK/ThField8.jpg on the field When you're on the mound and there's 2 outs and the first baseman boots the ball allowing a run to score - what do you do? You shrug it off, take a deep breath and go after the next guy. In basketball you get a steal, bring the ball down the court and kick it to a teammate under the rim who misses an easy shot - what do you do? You shrug it off, take a deep breath and keep playing hard - keep playing to win. If you're down by 10 in the 4th quarter? If you're up by 10 in the 4th quarter? You still keep playing hard to win. You protect the ball, play defense, go for rebounds and steals, take smart shots. That's what you do. I'll be in Boston tonight, but I'll be rooting for you. Have a good day! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555850681-DIJP4D7MST4E0C929YTA/JoG102.jpg on the field It was a nice day for softball yesterday. I'm sorry that it didn't turn out to be a good game and a win for BC. Don't let it keep you from regaining your confidence and winning again. It would be nice to go out on a winning note. You guys have the talent, now you need the faith and the confidence that belief in yourself brings. Everyone needs that. Belief in themselves I mean. We all need it "in spades" as they used to say. It's not always easy - it's never easy. But it's the way to success. I love you Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515914718-II5K4Z9PO4NEBNFGXRNR/ThField12.jpg on the field Losing is always painful. There's only one solace you can take and that's knowing that you did everything you possibly could to prepare yourself and you held nothing back from your all out effort. If they are going to beat you, let them have to beat the best "you" there is. In sports they often say that the team that "wants it" more than the other wins. You know all this stuff - that you have to believe in yourself, you have to have the right attitude, concentration and effort. You know that. But knowing and doing are two different things. So don't put it off. Do what has to be done now because tomorrow may be too late. Then losing will really hurt. I love you! https://www.foldedwisdom.com/did-i-tell-you-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437125532-HO45N01506JG1H1FOJAI/JoI001.jpg did I tell you... gallery How can I tell you how Mom and I love you - how can I tell you it's all for you (and Theo) everything we do! It doesn't hurt us or make us sad. In fact we do what we do glad-ly, happil-ly because we love you (and Theo too!). Just be yourself and remember love is there! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437125532-HO45N01506JG1H1FOJAI/JoI001.jpg did I tell you... gallery How can I tell you how Mom and I love you - how can I tell you it's all for you (and Theo) everything we do! It doesn't hurt us or make us sad. In fact we do what we do glad-ly, happil-ly because we love you (and Theo too!). Just be yourself and remember love is there! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437094311-FFO8XTV33M3PH6V0PLYB/JoI001.jpg did I tell you... gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437859649-ESALOMXXGEHWNHT9YUCB/ThA124.jpg did I tell you... gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437921687-OO2C3DR8C9HA6TDL75KQ/JoI003.jpg did I tell you... gallery Everyday in our lives we love each other more and more! We take care of each other - we laugh when we're happy and we cry when we're sad - all the time loving each other more and more! (I watch you grow - I love you so!) I hope that in your life you laugh so much more than you cry! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437985797-T40XX7EPTDR9XW6K7OXQ/ThI003.jpg did I tell you... gallery A candle burns for you always. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438042298-9ZWIIORNHNTP7D9HF0GL/JoI010.jpg did I tell you... gallery I didn't see you very much yesterday! Was your day OK? Did Jake bring the Jay Peak thermometer to school for you? That was nice of Michael to think of you! Your mom and I think of you and Theo all the time! When I give you a kiss and a hug it doesn't mean I don't love Theo too. I'll never stop loving either of you. I'll love you and be with you forever. A poet once said there are many kinds of love in the world - but no two loves are the same. Scientists say that no two snowflakes are the same either. I guess that's one reason I love watching snow fall... and one reason I love you too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498242835891-24RTICK2TZ4GWPL9H0HR/ThA38.jpeg did I tell you... gallery LOVE makes the world go around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438140522-U5LFUOC7RM9F7ILLOCTW/JoI012.jpg did I tell you... gallery Every school day pen in hand I stare at paper and plan what I'll say today to let you know I love you so and the things you think will not sink but float like a boat in our thoughts! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438198925-F5FSEPHKUPGUI829O7QZ/ThI008.jpg did I tell you... gallery To: Theo I appreciate you because you are so full of life - because you live the Vida Loca - because you can be so sweet and tender and so tough too! Love, dad Will you be my Valentine? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438326985-4HVK47ISR5HVBDLSU0SY/JoI021.jpg did I tell you... gallery When I'm not with you - when I'm at work or out with friends - I carry you in my heart "hotel." In a place where there's only you! Everyone I love has their own room in my heart "hotel." I only have to think of you and all my love comes to the front - I smile a warm, glad smile and I love - it helps sometimes to remember the people you love, and who love you too, are always as close as your heart hotel - and all you have to do is think, remember, and love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438273563-CFXUXQNZ5DH0VGODSU4C/ThI009.jpg did I tell you... gallery Valentines Day isn't the only day when it's good to say "I love you." Every day is the right day to say... I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438406717-ATM1SD04LPKVA2INK3XF/JoI022.jpg did I tell you... gallery Everyday I try to say "I love you." Love is not easy (sometimes). You love me even though I can make you mad (sometimes). Love isn't like the water faucet - you don't turn it on and off. Love is constant, moves with our lives, changes as we change. Never dies. P.S. You don't have to say "I love you" for me to know you do! (but it feels so good when you do!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438582871-IQT754EODD2ILR9TTCBR/ThI010.jpg did I tell you... gallery There is no love in the entire world like the love I feel for you! You are a bright, shining star in the sky of my life. Like the stars that sailors use to direct them over sea - You direct my life. Know that first and always I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497543519418-SD27CVW02E84BKLWORBR/JoN161xF.jpg did I tell you... gallery No one ever said that growing up is easy. No one ever told me that as a kid and it's still not easy even as an adult. I'm still learning how to deal with successes and failures, the good things that I want to happen and the bad things that I wish would just go away. Living encompasses it all - the good and the bad, the happy and sad, the young and the old, the love and the pain - all of it. It can't be any other way. And the only way for us to keep an even keel - a steady course - a balance in our lives - is to understand ourselves - love ourselves - and try our best to love each other. Forgive ourselves, the mistakes we make - learn from them - forgive other people the mistakes they make - even when they hurt us - and live each day to the fullest. Know that some days it will be easy and some days it will seem impossible and just go on - keep on being yourself and trying. Trying to live. Trying to love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498155466177-M25PRZL2C239SCM4X8CO/ThI011.jpg did I tell you... gallery Did I tell you I love you today and everyday. Good days, bad days, always. Did I? Did I tell you yet today? Well I do - I did - I always will! It really is quite simple. Yes indeed. I know it's all not easy. There's good days and bad days for us all. But I'll always be there cheering when you make it. I'll always help you up when you fall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152352295-Y6950B1LOX0UCMNGOZJX/JoI044.jpg did I tell you... gallery Now comes the big juggling act - the balls in the air are my family, my job, the renovation - how to make time for each? This is the struggle. How to make time with you who are growing up so fast. Time really does fly by you know. I look back at the time since you were born and it seems like only yesterday but it's not. It's been 13 Christmases, 14 birthday parties, immeasurable car trips, vacations, family events like GG70 or Christmas at Aunt Joni's and Thanksgiving in Iowa. We've really gotten around. What did I say yesterday about our being a family of nomads? 100 years ago most people lived and died within 20 miles of where they were born - not true anymore. We're a traveling culture for sure. While you travel around living your life searching for love and happiness and success - remember the love that your family - all of us - have for you. Carry us in your heart. Draw strength from that simple feeling called love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496440247375-YD4C8R2BDSQPVHOWAKYO/ThI027.jpg did I tell you... gallery Have I told you recently just how much I love you? How proud I am of you? Well I love you so much it almost hurts sometimes. And when you try your best at whatever you do I'm so proud of you. I don't care if you win or lose if I see you trying your best. In sports, in Spanish, in everything. Just try your best and win or lose, A+ or C-, you never have to feel bad. I will always love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496442188051-D8JEL0OX91FMJ7JIHJ72/JoI047.jpg did I tell you... gallery I didn't do a single April fools day joke on anyone yesterday - got to be a first for me. Did you get anyone at school? Fun is where you find it. Love is where you make it. Work is everywhere if you let it. Fun, love and work - is that life or what? All these necessary components to a healthy life. Love is the hardest to find. If you're lucky you're born into love - family love, and you at least have that. Finding love outside your family is not easy. It's not that it's hard work like digging a ditch but neither can you just go online and type in "soul mate" and hit "enter" either. Finding love is one thing. Recognizing it when you meet it is another. And keeping it, growing it is another still. It takes fun and work to make love. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496439212425-0SF7VVHQ8BEDU6Q3B6BS/ThI012.jpg did I tell you... gallery Life is good! But there are still things that must be done that are hard and no fun. Life is good! But there are still people who do bad things that hurt us, hurt people we love, that hurt our world. Still, life is good! ... Because there is Love. (Learn & Live Theo) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496440166349-80K27FH094UEDZIHSJIT/JoI048.jpg did I tell you... gallery A quilt of love. A warm, cozy blanket of love to wrap around yourself and keep you safe. Happy? Can a wrap of love make you happy? Keep you happy? I think that it can help with that but happiness takes more than the love of others. It takes love of ourselves. Why? Because love exists between two people or it doesn't exist at all. Each person brings love to the table and together they make a feast. So bring it on Joanna. Feel the love inside you and serve it up generously. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498155566352-00G5SVQA6KOQUYZD4OTR/ThI028.jpg did I tell you... gallery Christmas time is about Love Theo! It's about the Love of little babies. It's about how all of us - all people in the world - love babies. The Swiss, the Italians, the French, the Germans, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Iraqis - everyone. Everyone loves babies. If we could only all love each other. What a great world it would be! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152755613-H6PPM72QCIAA1K8L3H9M/JoI055.jpg did I tell you... gallery For fifteen and a half years I've held a special place in your life - in your heart. You've certainly held a special place in mine. I try to show my love for you everyday and I hope you've caught just a hint of it from time to time. I know that someday, maybe soon, other men will come and earn your heart, at least a place in it. And while your love for him may feel complete - I hope there will always be room for Dad. I love you so much! Happy Valentines Day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152790979-SVUS2SIUK6I9JXEC0NU7/ThI019.jpg did I tell you... gallery Good morning! You know what my job is? You know what the most important thing I have to do in this whole world is? To love you no matter what! To help you however I can! To teach you love other people! To teach you to love yourself! To help you be what you want to be! That's all! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152872712-MDSNU1T2MO8P6HE9HQ6R/JoI056.jpg did I tell you... gallery A tower that reaches for the sky rests on a rock or it falls. What's the rock in a family? Love? Love & trust? Love & communication? Love & understanding? Love & support? What's the common denominator in the above? Love is not a static thing. It changes and the people in love change. It's only fitting that it does this. As it changes, being the rock, the tower sways. It sways but it stands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498153420227-9TXJK9PXQBAU9N1DQWQA/ThN064.jpg did I tell you... gallery Cry when it's time to cry. Love when it's time to love. Laugh when it's time to laugh. Love when it's time to love. Help when it's time to help. Love when it's time to love. Accept help when it's time to accept it. Love when it's time to love. Work when it's time to work. Love when it's time to love. Play when it's time to play. Love when it's time to love. Speak when it's time to speak. Love when it's time to love. Listen when it's time to listen. Love when it's time to love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498153050943-5B3S12ZOSBJBU2FD3M5K/JoI066.jpg did I tell you... gallery Can you see what a beauty you are to me? Seriously! I mean joy and fun! Rain or sun! Walk or run! Happily! Do you know the love you sow you will reap & reap & reap. Ho! Eternally! Smile often! Relax often! Love often! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498155322057-HWIBIPUPCQU8RVP0S8RR/ThB036.jpg did I tell you... gallery Two candles for two kids. Two kids that I love so much. Two kids whose hopes and dreams are my hopes and dreams. Joanna's moving on to college -- the big university life out in Arizona. You've got three more years here in high school, a lot of living and learning to do. But you'll do it I know. I have faith in you Theo. I got your back! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496441482177-D0E5ZA4CVUAKUQM3I50P/JoJ046.jpg did I tell you... gallery Yesterday at the Memorial service the rabbi said "We are born against our will and we die against our will." But there's all the years in between that are up to us to do the most with who we are, the gifts we were given. Love yourself first - only then will you be able to love others. Does that sound trite? I don't mean it to be. I'm serious... love yourself, be yourself, be happy with yourself, grow yourself, discover yourself. I see so much in you Joanna. See it. Celebrate it. Share it. You're worth it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496441934500-A7M707EW73ZHFPMUION5/ThI020.jpg did I tell you... gallery Take a moment, everyday - even if it's just one, but at least one - take that moment, in that moment remember you are well loved. And after you have taken a moment to remember that you are so well loved, take another moment to reflect on those that you love as well. Your mom (me, maybe?), your sister, GG, your aunts and uncles and cousins - certain friends can find themselves included on your list. Remember that loving someone doesn't automatically mean they will love you in return. You have to earn love, and even then, sometimes your loving them is still not enough. Love is hard & love is sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496441713186-GUCHPPSOKAX8OVV60XN5/JoI070.jpg did I tell you... gallery I was having lunch yesterday with this guy who had called me into the 20 Pine St job and he told me this story that I thought you'd find amusing. He was working on a project in Taiwan and his company wanted to find an Asian exhibit builder to do it. He flew to Japan and was hosted by this big company for four days in Tokyo. When he finally went in to meet the big boss, he came into his office and the boss bowed low and said something in Japanese. Everyone else in the room gasped and the translator looked surprised but turned to my friend and said "He offers his daughter to you in marriage!" Don't worry, I'll never go that far to seal a deal. I love you too much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498153833742-LH8IAXKAIX9FQRRMZ1J3/ThJ085.jpg did I tell you... gallery Workin' hard! Chippin' away at the rock of life. Tickin' off the words, the seconds, the sweat and the cracklin' synapses. Thinkin' to myself on paper - aimin' my love towards you like a sunbeam - all inclusive, all encompassing - always there for you. Constant as the Northern Star and a whole lot closer. ("Put your arms around me like a circle round the sun.") There's nothing like lovin' - the giving and the getting of it. Soak it in Theo - and never hold back from giving it to whomever you feel needs it - wants it, deserves it, returns it. Work hard my son for your future depends on it. It's not a scary thought, it's an awesome one. Grab the bull by the horns and wrestle it to the ground! https://www.foldedwisdom.com/explore-the-story daily 0.75 2023-08-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496185156615-VIBKOWC6EA6UAEVXRICX/folded+wisdom The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505254437479-MJRO9MUGGA20063ISRWX/IMG_0981.JPG The Story - A SAMPLING OF NOTES https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543935228992-K50XEX3B7Z44MMRN0W8U/123.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543935228990-ORZDW5BUIUI9P41CPEBT/456.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543935232995-1ZGVG4R7WQHKIN8RZXF6/789.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543937077364-R7YHC8V4Z1DV99GT61QY/Jo_10.10.95.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888460072-8F2Z8GML3E90ULF2Q9YC/ThHalloween.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888457775-EX3Q9DMMI5SESY6RUMG5/JoFlowers.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888459268-NW7XO97QQXCCPG88HEYJ/ThFlowers.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543943002909-C94TX67UBU256332K7ZQ/TheStoryBanner.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543943100534-Y3PFTAILC8D5PG48PA0G/InspirationBanner.jpg The Story https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543943179472-5A4SZGNR1F0PMLT6NSTI/WhatsInTheFoldsBanner.jpg The Story https://www.foldedwisdom.com/summary daily 0.75 2023-12-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/13fdd827-946d-4ded-9a97-05a46e330a1e/pausenbrot+weisheiten.jpeg The Book - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/4a249bcd-bf8f-4a4d-9c72-ac797478af43/folded+wisdom+cover.jpg The Book - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543945272442-AF99B15PVTWTJEDE3MXA/TheBookBanner4.jpg The Book https://www.foldedwisdom.com/human-after-all-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497983714946-LVQFQ3Z7CBKXOAJ29GBP/JoBestJob2.jpg human after all gallery There's something that I should do, meant to do, have to do. There's something that I want to do, and that's to say... I'm sorry! I apologize for the other day when I took apart one of your Kinex so I could play and build. They are yours (not mine) and just because I'm big or I think I know what should be done - doesn't give me the right and I'm sorry! Maybe we can talk about it sometime! LOVE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497983714946-LVQFQ3Z7CBKXOAJ29GBP/JoBestJob2.jpg human after all gallery There's something that I should do, meant to do, have to do. There's something that I want to do, and that's to say... I'm sorry! I apologize for the other day when I took apart one of your Kinex so I could play and build. They are yours (not mine) and just because I'm big or I think I know what should be done - doesn't give me the right and I'm sorry! Maybe we can talk about it sometime! LOVE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987667766-Z0BYH305I1CDFS70E1M1/ThK001.jpg human after all gallery I'm sorry I hurt your big toe! I hope you forgive me! I hope it doesn't hurt too much. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984179000-DPZYG0V1U8XEXSCKS6W8/JoK003.jpg human after all gallery I'm sorry I lost my temper yesterday in the car. When one person starts yelling it's hard to not yell back. It's hard - but it's important to try anyway. Just because it's hard doesn't mean you can't do it - it's just harder that's all. Anyway, I'm sorry and I'll try not to let it happen again. It would be easier to not yell back though if you didn't yell at me in the first place! Maybe you could try harder and see if you can't think of a nicer way to express yourself too! I think we all would be happier! It was fun watching the Super Bowl with you, mom and Theo last night. Even if the Cowboys won! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984069222-2KM9TAM3B3C4P2RXWXKN/ThSx003.jpg human after all gallery I'm sad that you left your good glove in an apple orchard. I wish that hadn't happened but it did. I hope you will be more careful with your next glove. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986850600-3C5NRCMFG5OCQ7UYRXO8/JoL003.jpg human after all gallery Somehow there must be a way to talk without arguing. To ask someone to do something without their taking offense. There must be but I haven't found it yet. I'll keep looking. Will you? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984551485-024FR2RAR0NUZBCHYD80/ThS010.jpg human after all gallery Yesterday you did a hurtful thing. My hope is that you understand this. My hope is that now the door is open and love can move freely again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984313382-I5YQZXLXHG7FEPIIC9RY/JoK015.jpg human after all gallery I'm sorry for being a little down lately. Finishing a big job always brings on a little let down and the holidays were so crazy (most of it "crazy good") and I'm just sorry for not being more fun to be around. Some of that mood is bound to rub off on you and Theo. It's not really the way I want to start the next century. Let's find a new way of being together! Let's try to find a new way of understanding each other. OK? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497983865182-HHDEDRFLG1XFH5ENSIOY/ThE006.jpg human after all gallery I hope you find a way to say how you feel. You will be so much happier! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984736811-YOCLN1KHNIA38C43FZ2P/JoX048.jpg human after all gallery Our lives together have ups and downs. Days when everything seems "right" and beautiful - days when it's all wrong. Sometimes it's just moments of rightness or wrongness. I can be in a bad mood and not even realize it - saying things in a not nice way and not being able to help it. Understanding later on what I was feeling and doing. Does that ever happen to you? Probably so - you are human after all. I'm sure it happens to all of us. Communication is the key! It's the answer. It's what helps us get through. Talk to me. Help me. And I'll help you. Because I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497985271108-TEOKLG7GSUNZP887URIW/JoK021.jpg human after all gallery I want to apologize to you for losing my cool on Friday night. It was an inappropriate action on my part - undeserved by you. Please forgive me Joanna. I can make excuses for myself but there really are none that are viable. Love. Respect. Those are all words that describe feelings of relationship that are shared by two or more people. We don't "love" or "respect" in a vacuum - we need another, a reciprocator, someone who shows, responds, inspires, nurtures. I'm a man - a human being - and I happen to be your father. I'm not always right. I'm not always appropriate. But I always want to be. I always try to be. I sometimes fail. I'm sorry for that. I love you more than my words could ever express. I want for you more than your share. I pray for you every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496420967043-1QCDD1C37KOLT30W1XPL/JoBestJob2.jpg human after all gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987014144-BDJLB8W1LT1E054G0ZXD/ThL014.jpg human after all gallery Theo when you want something ask for it - don't make everyone guess what you would like. You might not always get what you want but a lot of times you will. Plus then other people will know what you like or don't like and we will give you what you like sometimes without you asking us. We all want to help you and make you happy - we love you so much. Help us make you happy by using words to tell us about you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986806506-OJUO1YO26ZNESO734O0N/JoK023.jpg human after all gallery This is our first correspondence since our shouting match on Sunday. I don't know why I joined in that discussion. I was unable to stay out of it and I should have. All these things going on - work, school, buying and selling homes - it's all stressful for all of us and makes the fuses really short. It's easy for a discussion to turn into an argument. But as a grownup I have no excuse for letting that happen and I apologize for raising my voice the way I did. I'll try my best to not let that happen again. I want you to grow up considerate and thoughtful, loving and patient, making the most of your talents and gifts, appreciative of the help you received and helpful to others who need it in return. Do you think that's too much to hope for? In many ways I see some of these things in you and I'm trying to do my best to nurture them. Times like Sunday I fail. Hopefully I succeed much more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987813934-PP5WPHW761RDHLL1UMOJ/ThL005.jpg human after all gallery Did I yell at you last night? (Yes I did.) Am I sorry I did? (You bet I am.) Am I human? Do I make mistakes? (Yes I am, Yes I do.) I'm not God Theo - no one is. I'm only a man who's trying to be a good father. I love you the way you are and I want to help you be the best you can be. Will you help me too? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986738931-2PI1DQTMWLHXY6A0IINH/JoX072.jpg human after all gallery I don't think that any of us is blessed with the ability to hear what we sound like to others. Communication and relationships happen in the space between people - with each person carrying a unique understanding of that communication away with them. What I sound like to Mom when she says I'm criticizing her and I don't think I am - What you sound like when you talk to Theo and I think you sound critical or bossy and you don't think you are - I have to understand that, just like me sometimes - you can't hear it in your words or tone of voice. Maybe we all need to try and talk with each other instead of at each other. I'll try harder! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496417495016-R9XHGRA34U9VFE0YTH00/JoBestJob2.jpg human after all gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986942117-VGMO3Z5EABU4CYT61DPM/ThS001.jpg human after all gallery Five minutes extra. Did those five minutes really make you that angry - so angry that you wouldn't do your homework last night? I'm sorry for asking you to leave when the class was over. You are a part of our family and your family needed to get home. Sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to because the group you're in wants to. You have a choice. You can go along with it and make the best of it or you can ruin the rest of the night for you and your friends. Mr. Chips said... "Have a sense of proportion." He's right! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987041781-TJKQFB9QOMVP2U27Z5XO/JoI061.jpg human after all gallery Stress Frustration & Anger. These emotions can smother love. As strong as that love may be it's light can be blocked by those three terrible forces. Are you to blame? No! Remember how I told you that art exists as a relationship between a work and a viewer? Well love exists in relationship between two people in much the same way. Are mom and I bringing so much stress, frustration and anger to the table that you respond with the same and the love is blacked out? That could definitely be the case. We'll try and do better Joanna. Try and let the love take center stage. The other crap is entrenched and not going away though we may want it to. See the love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497985073159-QQ40ACSCATBV6HEXHS1U/ThK009.jpg human after all gallery I apologize for being frustrated last night and taking it out on you. I came home feeling hassled and a little out of control. I wanted time with my family but the time was gone and I got upset because of that. Getting upset only drove my family away - the opposite of what I wanted. I'm sorry Theo! I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496420765655-SHKUIEPX5IFMN4KWYVVP/ThE006.jpg human after all gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987550533-PLZ7E11TA13AVW03RP32/JoN083.jpg human after all gallery Sometimes we open our mouth when we should have kept silent. Oftentimes we leave a friend waiting for words we never say. Sometimes a situation cries out for action yet we fail to see and act. Other times we run off half-cocked and promptly fall on our faces. Some mistakes we notice, we regret, while other ones we remain blissfully unaware. It's always better to see, understand and learn. Forgive yourself and move on. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987758651-DX4YSH9GDLQRCF9UB725/ThK003.jpg human after all gallery Everyone makes mistakes. All of us do sometimes. Sometimes the mistakes we make only hurt ourselves. Sometimes our mistakes hurt other people. When my mistakes hurt me I'm sorry. When my mistakes hurt someone else I'm really sorry. That's all I want to say besides I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987514649-QHMA0AHMS1OLN8C4THML/JoN078.jpg human after all gallery We all do things that we regret. We've all done things we're ashamed to admit. We've all been justifiably embarrassed and wrongfully humiliated. We've all had to ask for forgiveness. We all have the opportunity to grant forgiveness in return. Do we forgive ourselves our regrets, shame and embarrassment? Do we forgive them in others? Do we love ourselves and thereby open up the possibility of love for others? Do we recognize and celebrate our own uniqueness and happily share ourselves with the world? They're all good ones. They're all tough ones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498161032984-7P1EVNA2NLOP0VF2BG4F/ThL015.jpg human after all gallery I hope you had a good day today Theo. Try not to be so angry. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987150308-H0WWGODBX4HDXTGO1DTE/JoL009.jpg human after all gallery Life is hard sometimes. I know that. I know I'm doing the best I can to balance my work and my desires with the needs and wants of my family. Sometimes it seems like I can do it all and sometimes it feels like I can't get any of it to work out. Right now is one of those later times. I know it's a hard time for you too. All of us have to understand that we each have too much on our plate and not be quick to judge or yell or storm away in anger. That hurts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498161167754-B84H0OIZHAVKS6GB8Z50/ThK005.jpg human after all gallery First - I just want to say I apologize for getting upset and blaming you for making a mess last night. I was to blame as well - it wasn't your fault. Second - I want to say we all make mistakes and it's important that we forgive each other and just as important that we forgive ourselves. Third - I hope you have fun when you go to see the play this afternoon. It's always fun to get out of class but then watch, listen and enjoy the show. Fourth - I hope the history quiz is OK. Maybe you could prepare a little more on the bus back to school? Fifth - I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987867572-EXG20NRRHJQ3ULQOD9EJ/ThX36.jpg human after all gallery I'm sorry I trapped you in the car on the way to school yesterday and bombarded you with my concern. It's hard for me to communicate my thoughts and feelings in appropriate ways. Maybe I should just stick to notetaking? I know you think that you work pretty hard - you just have to keep asking yourself - "Do I really understand what I need to do well? Can I do anything else to help myself do better? Have I really given myself the best chance to do my best?" If the answers are yes, no and yes, then great - if not, then it's back to work. Simple! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987625137-NE9O54VP72JWARYKKHD5/JoL010.jpg human after all gallery Everyone who touches us makes an impact. Think of the friends and teachers who have shaped your life so far. Think of the passing glance of a stranger that made you stop and think, change your mind, or drop a coin in a cup. Being a parent means walking a line, balancing too much rope with not enough rope, balancing freedom to have your own experiences with fear for your safety and innocence. Remember these standards that you hold us to should the day come when you find yourself a mother or a teacher or a coach. You have so many gifts Joanna that I'm sure you'll do a good job at whatever you do. Just don't let your anger get in the way and let some of that creative talent you have locked up inside out once in a while will ya? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497533108615-G3ZNG1K4ZIQ9WC0A36XA/JoX167xZ.jpg human after all gallery Cooperation Appreciation Consideration Understanding Patience Love How do you teach these qualities? I guess by embodying them myself and teaching by example. When you look at Mom and I do you see us cooperating with each other? Do we seem to appreciate each other? Are we considerate? Do we try to understand each other? Are we patient? Do we show our love? We are all human. These are human qualities - and so by definition they are imperfect. We intend to demonstrate all these good qualities all the time but we fail because we are human. But we try! That's what people do - they try to be perfect in the way they live their lives. They try knowing they will fail to some extent. Because if you don't try you fail completely. I don't expect you to be perfect. I just want you to try your best! https://www.foldedwisdom.com/friends-and-family-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864285493-QFYVZ4WMICZ3FQ2VKPS8/ThR1.jpg friends & family feels gallery It's OK to disagree with our friends. But they are still our friends! Words are powerful, words go and make people feel good or words can make people feel bad or angry. It's always better to make our friends feel good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864285493-QFYVZ4WMICZ3FQ2VKPS8/ThR1.jpg friends & family feels gallery It's OK to disagree with our friends. But they are still our friends! Words are powerful, words go and make people feel good or words can make people feel bad or angry. It's always better to make our friends feel good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862681795-G0W5NN32TGOT5O4SYJUR/JoR005.jpg friends & family feels gallery Friends. Friends care about each other. Friends often like different things. Friends enjoy being together and doing things that the other really likes. Friends sometimes give up things for their friend. Friends say "Thanks for being my friend!" Friends like you for who you are. Friends are great. (You are great!) P.S. Let's talk more about friends OK? OK! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864632498-FI5F6ST2WX0CHY6GMWLR/ThB044.jpg friends & family feels gallery Here's a picture that Joanna drew for you! Bunny / Bear teaches about evaporation! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862771571-7FGIOUQM14PWBYHYI6JY/JoR006.jpg friends & family feels gallery No two people are exactly the same! EVEN Best Friends can be very different! "Opposites attract!!" Ever heard that? Sometimes we like people because they're different than we are! That's OK you know! Mom and I are really different people - sometimes different people help each other balance out. Do you have any friends that are different? Just be yourself and don't worry! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861586704-JENUJQC8KKYPJ8V461IP/JoB018.jpg friends & family feels gallery Can you see me standing here - next to mom, next to Theo, next to you? Working - helping - playing - cooking - reading - drawing - singing - changing - trying - succeeding? Can you see yourself standing here - next to mom, next to Theo, next to me? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864387596-LKNEL91PKRK2WMU6XI6E/ThR003.jpg friends & family feels gallery Hello Friend! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861689431-O4D2V2LUU0YUV23NT69A/JoB038.jpg friends & family feels gallery It's hard being the oldest kid in a family. People really expect you to set an example for the younger ones. To show, with your words and actions, the "right" way to act - to treat other people - to share - you name it. It's not easy, I know. Nothing is easy in life - or rather, a lot of very important things are not easy (but so worth it!). So try Joanna! Try for mom and I - try for Theo - and try for yourself. Keep it up! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863269165-D7XV21DJFZIAW87HWIDM/ThB003.jpg friends & family feels gallery Life in a family is fun. Living - Loving as one. Finding the new under the sun. Living - Loving as one. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862610828-Y7YY59O1E4ISZ0TM1AJ1/JoO020.jpg friends & family feels gallery Today would be my dad's 79th birthday. He was born in 1919. Next year he would be 80. It's hard for me to imagine what he would look like as an older man - he was only 58 when he died (13 years older than I am now). Happy Birthday Dad!! Hope you get as much joy from your kids and grandkids as I do!! Love ya - your son Bob. Love you Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864699821-ZSJA749HPTJFHDBD36RG/ThB052.jpg friends & family feels gallery What a whirlwind trip. A "whirlwind" is something that happens when suddenly the wind whips around in a tight circle - blowing leaves and papers with it. That's sort of what our trip was like don't you think? Most of it was fun - the car ride up was not much fun. I'm sorry for that. Next time we'll try to leave earlier. It was fun to see all the aunts, uncles & cousins - of course GG too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863025484-ISRXW960EMLE4I18RO8O/JoR027.jpg friends & family feels gallery What is a friend? Someone you share your feelings with. Someone who cares about you and who you care about. Someone you like to be with, who makes you feel comfortable, safe. Someone you'd do anything to help. Someone who trusts you to keep a secret. Someone you can laugh with. Someone who can laugh at you and it doesn't hurt. Someone who you know is not perfect, and who knows you're not perfect either and it's okay. Someone you can cry to. Someone you would defend and who would defend you. Someone who would never make you do something if it wasn't good for you. Someone who encourages you to be yourself, to be your best. Someone you support whenever you can. Someone you make sacrifices for and who sacrifices for you too. Someone you forgive when they hurt you 'cause it happens. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861179996-DY7WVMBZVM0IDZNGVHNK/JoB018.jpg friends & family feels gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862958302-UM23RQWJPWJB78OEG5QA/ThR10.jpg friends & family feels gallery Theo you have so many good friends - in school and at home. Have fun with them. Learn from them and - important news here - be a good friend to them! Friendship is a two way street. Treat your friends good. Play the games that they want to play sometimes. Share your things with them. Then they will treat you good in return. Have fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862479277-OOBNN6D6EB4L8ZEDLVXR/JoN039.jpg friends & family feels gallery So much goes on in a life today. What a complicated tapestry we weave - from the moment of our birth to our last breath. So many people we meet and even the least of them shape us somehow by our contact. The really big people in our lives - our family mostly and then our friends - shape us in incredible ways. Through it all the colored threads of ourselves form and reform over and over gradually taking on a shape that is unique - that is our life. Live it! Love it! Know it! Have fun with it! Be yourself! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864045097-NHDKJC2FMV8AXSRTOCO3/ThC005.jpg friends & family feels gallery Life is funny Theo. You are born in America, in a Big city in 1991 and you have one set of experiences. And those experiences shape you like you are made out of clay. Different experiences different shape. It's not quite that simple but almost. Your cousin Ryan grows up in a very different place - a big farm by a very small town - horses, pigs, cows all around. No big buildings, no movie theaters or museums. Just lots of land and animals. Two different experiences! Two great guys! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862817550-6DS358RZSHSAYISSKZL6/JoR022.jpg friends & family feels gallery Seems like a lot to do going down the road of seventh grade. Lots to study. Lots to learn, lots to play, lots to learn, lots of friends, lots of plans, lots to learn... We learn so much from our friends. We learn so much from our friends. It's so important that we choose good friends. You have many good friends I know. And you yourself are a good friend to many others - it works both ways. When I was growing up I was lucky to have so many good friends among my own brothers and sisters. Listen to your friends OK. Be a good friend. Grow and learn to love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863331269-MSL8JL0GCH1JY5NV4BSP/ThB014.jpg friends & family feels gallery Happy Halloween Dude! I hope you had a good weekend and it sounds like you did. Next time tell your friends that you're not allowed to watch "R" rated movies okay? I think that they sound too violent for you to be watching at your age. You will have many times when you have to tell your friends things that you don't do - like smoke cigarettes or pot or drink beer. You have to be able to say no to your friends sometimes - It's part of becoming a Man! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861824484-3LI9I7UDVA8CKZ6YBHIB/JoB065.jpg friends & family feels gallery My brother Jim's daughter Genny is turning 21 tomorrow. That's hard for me to believe. I can remember when she was born like yesterday. I have a picture somewhere of Jim, a very young Jim, wearing no shirt and holding a naked baby Genny in his arms. He was so proud and so in love. One of the greatest, most powerful moments in a man's life is when he holds his newborn daughter or son in his arms for the first time and realizes that this is what it's all about. I don't know why I'm writing this to you now - I was thinking about Genny because of her birthday and I was thinking how fast kids go from babies to adults and how fast you're growing up and how much I love you. My dad wasn't active in my life. He loved me and he worked and supported us and his presence was there but one on one he wasn't. I'm trying to do a better job. I hope I am. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863911207-OEDZ9XH6UA0SG6PH6UTR/ThBx044.jpg friends & family feels gallery Good morning! You're a lucky guy you know to have a big sister like Joanna. I know you might not always think so but I know you would agree sometimes. Brothers and sisters are a different kind of match - or maybe I should say a "match of differences" instead. Because they're automatically very different just because one's a boy and one's a girl. But people are different for more reasons than just their sex and you and Joanna are different for sure. But you have one big thing in common... your family. So help and support each other. Accept the help and support when it's offered. One day you two will be real important to each other. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497533968235-LN4PJ0206I72ZMEDPTRV/JoN070.jpg friends & family feels gallery Good morning honey! I love you so much! You know we're born to parents without a say as to who they are. We're born and our early years are spent in places where we don't have a choice - we don't get to choose our environment. Our group of friends we seem to choose but the pool we pick from is small and circumstantial. If we were born somewhere else our environment, our friends would be different. What if you were born and we lived on a farm? What if we were French? Or Italian? Or Russian? Or Chinese? How would you be different? I used to wonder what I'd be like if I was an only child and had been raised my whole life in Brooklyn? Would I have a ton of friends? Would I long to travel the world? Would I live with my mom and take care of her? Think about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863471021-5RCN4LKZ92MWFRHGTNTF/ThB030.jpg friends & family feels gallery (Today is your Uncle Jim's 50th B'DAY!) I was only 15 months when he was born and we lived in Boston. I can't say I remember the day but I remember a lot from the years that followed. Jim has always been a great brother to me. In many ways he felt like my older brother. He was always hatching plans and making things happen for himself while I laid back, learned to play the guitar and drew. It was fun growing up together. I know it's different having an older sister but love her and you'll always enjoy each other! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497534226869-ZCQ9Y7H7QRPR9RK7NA8W/JoR029.jpg friends & family feels gallery A surprise party for Isabelle's 16th? A fun, appropriate idea! I would have liked to have seen her face when she walked in - must have been precious. It's nice to be thought of by your friends - makes you feel like a wanted part of the world. We are all men and women, girls and boys of our time. The times we live in are unique in so many ways yet the issues we must face are the same ones that have been around since the first humans. Love, hate, jealousy, passion, ambivalence, search for truth, search for what makes us "tick." You and your friends are embarking on the same journey that mom and I are still on, that our parents and their parents were / are on. Open your eyes. Open your heart. Open your mind and go! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497534346811-CXUYIMX2US1COSDRMI7P/ThM004.jpg friends & family feels gallery I've been thinking about my mom the past few days. Thinking about all the things she did for me and my brothers and sisters, to help us grow up right. Guiding me with her example. Working her butt off to make our home life special which was not easy with 8 kids, a father often away at sea and no money to boot. But somehow she gave us all the gift of Love. Your mom is working to give you that same gift - Love. She's working to help you see how good you can be if you only try and believe. She's working to show you the way to be the best you can be. She's loving you with all her heart. Love her back Theo. Show her your love by listening, trying, believing, learning and succeeding. She's holding up her end of the deal, now you hold up yours OK!?!! I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498240571277-6TEQ6QOO39A50OUILT9P/JoR043.jpg friends & family feels gallery I want for you to discover yourself and to be happy with that discovery - be happy with who you are. I want for you to find new talents in yourself all the time and to find ways to use those talents that benefit you and others as well. I want for you to love yourself first and then take that love outside and share it with others. I want you to understand that people change and grow better through love and support than by criticism. I want for you to understand that friends today will be friends tomorrow if you treat them that way. Yet your heart will never be so full that there won't be room for another and another and another... always! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863746072-B8XIUM13QCD5ZGZDUA1K/ThBx043.jpg friends & family feels gallery History is so personal. You come from the joining together of two families, who in turn come from four other families. Guest, Caprio, Plotkin, Chambers, Kuhn, Sullivan. French, Italian, Jewish, English, German & Irish. Long before Intercontinental airlines made travel easy - these people rode steamships and trains and buggy & horse to get together and start new families with new possibilities. We all pick and choose what we want from our past but in large measure we are who we are and we are where we came from. Draw strength from your past of artists, business people, sailors, farmers. You are one of the first athletes. Start a new legacy - a new branch - be yourself and go far. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861980568-URJT7C9S0EIX6REN1Q5R/JoE095.jpg friends & family feels gallery I love watching you interact with your teachers (yes teachers) and friends at school. I know you want "BIG." I know you want out now and I can understand why. I also can see the bonds you have, the love you share, the fun it's all been, the good and the bad together have made a hearty soup and you've enjoyed it all. College, like high school or anything else, is what you make of it. When you put your whole self into something, so many new, unexpected yet exciting things come back to you. You discover things about yourself that you didn't know existed. You've discovered many things at BC. There's so much more of you waiting to burst out. Enjoy! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863638567-ZBM3ONPR257ZH6Z6FOB9/ThB073.jpg friends & family feels gallery A family is like the pocket the quarterback moves in, looking at his options, unhurriedly releasing his pass with the best possible chance of success. A safe haven, a sheltered cove to anchor in to plan your next journey out on the open sea. There's a time to lounge and relax in the safety there, and there's a time to use that safety to free your mind and your time to plan and work and grow. I was impressed at your parent teachers conferences on Friday. Impressed with the appreciation for you that all your teachers showed. Room for improvement yes, but still plenty of success. Keep it up Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863376556-IGRSW9KL2GYS98Q7MFNE/ThB25.jpg friends & family feels gallery The trees on Rugby silohette starkly against the brightening morning sky as Sunny and I round the corner. The image clears my head and I think of my sister Marcia - like I have been every morning since she died last August. Sisters are special creatures and you and I are both lucky to have at least one. Marcia was - and still is as far as I'm concerned - the oldest of my family of siblings. No one can ever knock her off that perch. Joanna will always be your older sib - pace setter - life example - fierce champion - strong ally (sp? God I'm a horrible speller) - helping hand - voice of reason - and more and more and more still. Love her and listen to her and try to be all those things in return. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/finding-success-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764358061-GU6Z7NCD6UII387BE4TZ/JoF009_1997.jpg finding success gallery How are you? Are you mad? Are you happy? Do you know - really know - I / we Love you? Do you know how smart you are (when you try you can!)? Do you know how bright you are - (when you smile the room lights up!) Do you know how to spell "America" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764358061-GU6Z7NCD6UII387BE4TZ/JoF009_1997.jpg finding success gallery How are you? Are you mad? Are you happy? Do you know - really know - I / we Love you? Do you know how smart you are (when you try you can!)? Do you know how bright you are - (when you smile the room lights up!) Do you know how to spell "America" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496771335118-Z72ICKARX2H3SWPTBW9O/ThF87_1999.jpg finding success gallery Your book report is totally awesome!! I know Laura helped you, but I can see your own thoughts everywhere. Really good work Theo! I'm so proud of you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496774742159-UT4LD1ICO7PJDGOY5K11/JoF015_1997.jpg finding success gallery Multiplication will come. Multiplication can be fun. Multiplication is important especially if you want to work with computers! Have fun today. It is Friday after all. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496771249065-T09PLB3GKAHD8BLA4L97/ThF84_2000.jpg finding success gallery "Use your head." Ever heard that before? Did you know your brain is like a computer? Imagine what a miracle it is to be able to think. God gave you a brain to use - use it well. Don't be afraid to use it. Don't be afraid to make a mistake. Your brain is a tool - it helps you work - it helps you play. Your brain can learn new things. There's lots of room in there. Mess around! Fill it up! Have fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496688924474-M7MXQWE81231YRX5PJ2M/JoE001_1995.jpg finding success gallery There is / are soooooooooooo many things to choose to do! How do we make up our minds??? Well......... First - we think about the different things we can do. Second - we think about what we like to do. Third - we think about what we need to do. Fourth - we do it. We pick one because.... the truth is.... sometimes.... you never know until you try!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496768597626-D9B2WSP898XCR978ARD1/ThJ100_2001.jpg finding success gallery School is play. School is hard work. School can be boring. School can be exciting. School can put you together with friends. School can sit you next to people you don't like. School has really good teachers. School has teachers that are not so good. School can make you sooooo happy. School can make you sooooo upset. School can make you proud of yourself. School can make you embarrassed. School is all of these things and more. School just is - so like Nike says... Just Do It! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764539102-6ENY7EQYR62YRXVG4KR9/JoJ010_1998.jpg finding success gallery Do you know there are so many things so many so many many many many so so many many many many many things many things so so so many many things many things so so so many many things you can do do do do do do do do do you? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496758392884-AA475MI3ISTSG4SSEDQV/ThTao22.jpg finding success gallery Can I say on this day the many ways you are and will be? The joys, the pains, the loss, the gains, the sunshine, the rains that await you. Day by day, week by week, month to year to grown up to always growing. You will never stop changing, growing, living, working, playing and just plain doing. If you don't get it today, then work and you will get it tomorrow. It's called learning. It's called living. It's called life! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496704726826-0LL27U18D5MCKI4WG6AG/JoE010_2000.jpg finding success gallery Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work What a busy time for you - for all of us - lots to do - lots that's fun - lots that's just plain drudge (rhymes with fudge!) But that's ok - we're all in it together! You - me - mom - Theo. Our friends and family... There's no escaping it. It's all just part of life. Just enjoy the good stuff - look to get what you can from the bad and grow and learn and laugh and cry and try and fail and try and succeed and get a good nights sleep and try again! Love 'ya. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496768203539-8B9GJE7MQRWKQ0DRF5IA/ThJ038_2005.jpg finding success gallery I was thinking about some good rules for you to try and live by this year and I came up with these: 1) Never underestimate yourself. 2) Define yourself by your strengths not your weaknesses. 3) Always do a little more than required. 4) Believe in yourself. 5) Never underestimate the amount of work you have to do and the time it will take to do it. 6) Put your schoolwork first and fun stuff second. 7) Remember that Mom, Melissa and I are here to help you, but you have to be willing to help yourself. Love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496761420411-1T6X0RAOXP0R8DJIAYEZ/JoE023_2001.jpg finding success gallery I couldn't sleep very well last night. I woke up thinking about what makes people succeed. Succeed in anything - school, sports, business, life. And I decided that the one thing that contributes to success the most, more than natural talent and luck, is a willingness to try and fail and try again. Most of us are afraid of failure so we don't try things or we don't try our best or we laugh it off. We don't want to be embarrassed or hurt. It's natural to feel that way - natural but it holds us back. It keeps us from experimenting with new things or from reaching our potential with the things we think we know and like. So fight that fear Joanna. Try new things. And when it comes to the things you love, fight for them too. Work hard on where you need to work. Recognize where you're weak and work on it. Make yourself better. No one else can do it for you. It's your one life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491511296692-WY76LEKA6XM6PH0EMYRM/ThYCDI13.jpg finding success gallery Here's an interesting formula to think about - STRUGGLE + SUCCESS = GROWTH It works! This one also works - STRUGGLE + FAILURE = GROWTH Everything we do involves struggle. Sometimes we win sometimes we lose. But no matter what happens we grow. We grow and learn. It all starts with the struggle. It all ends with growth. Cool hunh?! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496769246908-6NO13N54J5UTIO5HABVT/JoT008_2003.jpg finding success gallery "Who am I?" That's the hardest question in the world. You can't ask anyone else for help. You can't solve it with a computer or a dictionary or a text book - the answer isn't in any of those places. The answer is only in one place - in your own heart. It's really in there you know - I'm not kidding. Look and you will find it. Be honest and you might not like what you see. But be true, be hopeful, be passionate and you will see that that image that you see is always changing. Always evolving, growing, always in the process of becoming. There is never any one answer to the question "who am I?" If you are living, learning, playing, working, then you are growing and changing constantly. Look inside yourself - what do you see? Do you like yourself? If "yes" then keep it up. If "no" then what do you need to change to make the answer "yes"? Start by seeing the good inside and try to add more everyday. It really works. I love and believe in you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764788626-BJ8LA2FQW44CPB99XKD3/JoJ041_2004.jpg finding success gallery Take a deep breath Joanna. Close your eyes, exhale and relax. This year will march along and you will tick off, one by one, the many items on your list. You will jump the hurdles one at a time. You will be as prepared for each one as you can be. You will do the best you can and then you will move onto next year's challenges. You can and you will do it and you'll do it all in your own unique way. OK - now open your eyes. Repeat as often as necessary to relax, refocus, and play loose. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496767158311-ML6QLNTSZQD0YJB17IMQ/ThFx032_2006.jpg finding success gallery It doesn't matter what other people think about who you are and what's good for you to do. Are you surprised I would say that? I don't mean that you shouldn't listen to your parents, teachers, coaches or friends - of course you should listen and consider. What I mean is that you have to look inside yourself and find your own value, your own goals, your own path. Then think about the things you have to do to make your dreams come true. There are always obstacles that stand in your way or challenges that must be faced in order for you to keep moving forward. Accept them, deal with them, overcome them and move on. Listen to your heart and follow your own path. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496770893338-AILQTCCDGKVP03S3HPVA/JoZ006_2004.jpg finding success gallery Good morning Joanna! Somehow the note from your first day of school this year went through the washing machine. Mom was devastated and wanted me to remember what I had written and do it again. I can't really do that so I'm just writing you a new note about the first day of your Junior year of high school. It's a big year for you Joanna. You know that already don't you? You've accomplished so much in the years leading up to now. I feel like you're prepared for what's in front of you. Decisions to make. Tests to take. Sports to play. Friends to help and be helped by. In the midst of it all is you. I know it's hard to have perspective on yourself and to see yourself as special but you are Joanna - in so many ways. Let your light shine through this year and every year in everything you do! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496767297808-O5HWZENXZV8BW06NYE7G/ThFx038_2007.jpg finding success gallery Last night at chorus practice we started right out with this Stephen Sondheim broadway musical song. I was nervous because I start it out with a whole verse solo. When it was over Marlene said, "your solo was good Bob, it'll sound better when you get some confidence." Ain't that the truth! Doesn't everything work out better when you have confidence in yourself and in your ability to do it - to get the job done? Confidence is key I think to success in anything. If you believe you can learn something, write something, or throw something well, the chances are you will. Have a great day and night Theo! See you tomorrow! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764136093-D10K757I1IYQFB40MPOY/JoE070_2005.jpg finding success gallery Searching for love. Searching for faith. Searching for meaning. Being at peace with the search is key. Relax, have faith and work hard. Understand that you have your own road to walk down. You're walking on it already. With every step your story gets richer. Pursue the things you love. Always give 110% - whatever your best is and be satisfied. You will excel in this and fail in that. No one bats 1,000. It's OK. It's OK as long as you tried your best because you'll know it wasn't meant to be. If you held back you'll never know if you could have made it. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496767459617-6AY8ZIAFI2IT4VS7215J/ThFx042_2007.jpg finding success gallery Know yourself! Know your strengths, your weaknesses, your likes, your dislikes, what's good for you, what's bad, what helps, what hurts, what you want to do and what you don't want to do. "Want" is a complicated word that we usually underestimate. "Want" has all that stuff I started this note with inside it. It's not only what do I feel like at the moment, for example, "what do I want to accomplish in my life?" Or more short termed like, "What do I want to accomplish in my Junior year?" It's good to think of these kinds of "wants." It's good to try and know yourself. Try to avoid the simple but mistaken idea that you already have a fixed idea of who you are. You're growing and changing everyday. Every day there are new possibilities. Try to be open to them and learn about yourself! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496770209707-H3AQI1SSTBXLU98HLO0C/JoF130_2005.jpg finding success gallery "In 1934 I coined my own definition of success, which I tried to personally attain and get all my students to attain. It is 'peace of mind,' which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best of what you are capable." - John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach. Dr. Metzel put that quote in the front of his book "The Young Athlete" and it really struck me. Fear of failure, fear of losing is everywhere in our hyper-competitive culture. The ability to find peace of mind in that environment is huge. Whatever you set out to do always give it your best shot and then, win or lose, you'll know you didn't sell yourself short. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496758747762-0KWB2VNV90J924IVYUBA/ThYCDI9.jpg finding success gallery Don't be afraid to take chances. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to realize you made a mistake, apologize and correct course. Draw a line with confidence and then draw another. Trust your eyes, your hands, your head and your heart. Don't be afraid to lose or you may never win. Take your work seriously. Take yourself seriously. When you do that your "fun time" will be sweeter. Have dreams. Make plans. Make them happen. Take care of your own stuff. Solve your own problems. Think about the problems of others and help however you can. Live your life well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496766546650-VLGFCL73I3GR4NEHT2QB/JoX158_2006.jpg finding success gallery What is 100%? How do you give 100% to so many endeavors at the same time? Isn't there only one 100% in each of us? I was talking with your mom this morning about lots of things but one thing that stuck with me is this idea of 100%. To be a 100% good parent, a 100% good spouse, a 100% good boss or employee, a 100% good friend. How do you carve up your one 100% into all these different areas and be 100% in all of them? I guess the answer is you try to do it all - that's all. You just try!! So have a 100% good day Joanna. I love you so much (100%) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496758597631-6BT2VGIVQZ376HU44UWK/ThYCDI12.jpg finding success gallery There's an interesting article in the NYTimes OpEd page by David Brooks called "The Art of Growing Up." He talks about President A. Lincoln (in my opinion our greatest president ever) and how in his time "to achieve maturity was to succeed in the conquest of the self." That "human beings were born with sin (and) the transition to adulthood consisted of achieving mastery over them." Lincoln was the successful product of that philosophy. Brooks goes on to say how in the 20th century that idea changed. "Progressive educators emphasized students' inner goodness (not sin)... self discovery replaced self-mastery as the primary path to maturity." I see in there two philosophies. The pendulum swing - one extreme is replaced by another - from total self-mastery over natural depravity to total self-involved, inner searching. Seems to me that somewhere in between is the path. Discover yourself and then learn to focus these talents and be the best you can be. Good luck in English today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496706325170-IATXI5IN8ZUFSXX0ZD4K/JoE024_2001.jpg finding success gallery (I feel like I still haven't gotten used to writing "2001" on my letters and now it's almost time to begin writing "2002"! At least there's a certain symmetry to that.) (I have never seen such an amaryllis - four flowers on top and four on the bottom - amazing!) There are two options facing you when confronted with a new problem or decision in your life. You can say "this looks tough - let me get going!" or you can say "this looks tough - I could never do this!" That's it! It doesn't matter whether it's climbing a mountain or solving a math problem. Yeah maybe sometimes you'll come to realize that you took on a challenge that you just couldn't handle or solve - but take it on first. Then if you fail, you can still be proud of yourself for trying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497991011414-W6CCKTQCAWZUZJX1SHH3/ThN050.jpg finding success gallery Hope is an amazing and powerful thing! Think about it... where would you be without hope? "I hope I make this shot." "I hope I do well on this test." "I hope I can earn a B average." It's so important to feel hope in all that we do. Yes you have to work hard to try and make sure that your hopes come true, but without hope nothing is possible. Hope for a better future for the realization of our dreams is what makes living and working hard possible. Sometimes our goals seem so far away and out of our reach. Without hope we might give up. Yet it's exactly the time when there seems to be so little reason to have hope that hope is so important to have. Work and hope go hand in hand! I love you Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497997354944-JILECI3NOIBJYW964R0V/ThYCDI3.jpg finding success gallery Nobody does it on their own. All of us need the help and support of other people to achieve our goals. Lean on me. Lean on mom. Lean on Melissa. Lean on your teachers. Lean on your friends. Lean on your teammates. Lean on all those people around you who care for you and want to help. You will grow faster and stronger and everyone else will as well. We help ourselves when we help other people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496706475369-BE9UL2REMQP2JA7B2HQ5/JoE029_2002.jpg finding success gallery Life goes by quickly doesn't it? Whether you're aware of it or not each day slips away into the next without much thought. That's why it's so important to use your time well. Make the most of it. Sure - include "hang" time in your schedule but also include focused time as well. Look around you wherever you are - home - school - the street - see what's there. Notice things. See the beauty that others have made around you. Think of things you can do to make your world a better place. If you see someone struggling offer to help. If you see something that needs doing then do it. It starts with seeing, noticing, being aware. Open up your eyes and mind to the world around you. It will be a better place because you're in it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496705736127-5453HQ3GEN8FHDH00JD5/ThYCDI2.jpg finding success gallery Attitude - when you say "attitude" you really mean a good attitude - a good outlook - an understanding of what's going on and an acceptance of what you've got to do to deal with it. Concentration - once you accept what it takes to reach your goal, you have to focus on it and concentrate with all your ability. Effort - once you've accepted and concentrated your focus - all that remains is 100% effort. Am I talking about baseball? Sure I am. Am I talking about an English paper and a History test? Yes I am as well. A.C.E. applies to everything you tackle in life. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496707865931-PLQTQL9RND7HOMQ31DE0/JoE041_2003.jpg finding success gallery You work hard Joanna. I can see that. You honestly try to do your best. You play hard too. Maybe that holds you back a little but it's who you are so what can you do? (By "playing hard" I don't mean drugs, alcohol and sex - just loud, laughing, physical fun!) So what do you want in your life? Fun? Love? Work? Fame / Fortune? You've shown me talent. You've shown me drive. You've shown me hard work. What have you learned about yourself in your 15 years? Think about it. Don't do it for me - do it for yourself. Really get to know yourself - who you are and what you want. Then work on your life the way you work so hard in school. Keep the fun, the friends, the family but don't lose sight of you! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496705891541-B4FYDK189RFPHD5LOJSK/ThYCDI7.jpg finding success gallery Success isn't accidental. You've heard that before I'm sure - maybe even from me! Success takes planning and hard work, dedication and commitment, but it starts with the most important element of all - a dream! Without a dream what is the planning and hard work about? What dreams do you carry in your breast? (Dreams aren't like birthday candle wishes - you can share them if you want and they can still come true.) Mom and I are happy to help any way we can, but you know, ultimately it's about you! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496713331143-4TLL1JABBQ46GKKHRBL6/JoE056_2004.jpg finding success gallery Good morning! Yeah, some things happen in life because of fate or happenstance; you look down and there's ten bucks on the sidewalk. But the things we really want to happen we have to work on making it happen. Then, like in any game of winners and losers, we make it work out or it doesn't. The difference is in the desire and the effort. It's good to want things for yourself. Now go out and do what you can to make them happen! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496715406901-OAV5JGL8VBPC5JT9VE2L/ThE034_2006.jpg finding success gallery When I was growing up, there were times when I felt overwhelmed - that things were just too difficult to deal with. At times like that the easy, natural thing to want to do is to just forget about them, not do them, and just take the attitude that if I don't deal with the hard things they will some how just go away. I learned that doesn't work. Avoiding the hard stuff doesn't make it go away. The bad stuff hangs around getting worse instead of better until you decide to deal with it. It's not that you'll be able to solve perfectly every problem you face, but rather that nothing has a chance to be solved until you first decide to face it. Ignoring work, ignoring problems does not solve them. I know because I've tried too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496713415824-MVCBH8C510N9B3YMZ7R1/JoE069_2005.jpg finding success gallery I'm not crazy about the focus of education these days with the pressure to get good grades and to "test well." To me grades, or the focus of leaning on grades, misses the point of education entirely. You know how when you have a teacher you really like he/she inspires you to want to learn, not to get a good grade because that will follow naturally. Kids are competitive and I guess you all spur each other on to get good grades. But my point is grades don't measure love of learning. When school is over and the grades are a matter of record, what's left if you didn't learn to love learning? Get good grades sure, but remember to learn to love because that's what you'll keep and that's what will really help you in your life. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496715849184-VP8UVH4N8WH8JCHCXZKF/ThE078_2008.jpg finding success gallery It's never over until we say it's over - ever hear that before? While it won't apply to all things in life, it does point out an important truth... things that we have control of can be accomplished as long as we have the will to keep trying, keep working. Because once we give up - then it's over. We each decide what's important to us - what we're willing to fight for - to work for. Be careful about giving up too soon just because something is hard. That's all - that and I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496716532893-UF8QA9AU2YY02D4GQSZ5/ThX076_2006.jpg finding success gallery Cooperation is key to success Theo. Cooperate with your teachers - your parents - your coaches - your friends. Cooperate means working together, both people asking questions and solving problems. Teachers don't speak to an empty classroom - they try to engage every mind in the room. Parents don't talk to hear themselves talk either. We talk because we have something important to say and we want to be heard. Listen and respond to your teachers, to us. You will learn so much and be a happier person for that. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/there-they-go-gallery daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496347669461-O8TLBR00N23M7SEMISGE/JoBestJob3.jpg there they go gallery As unlike your senior year experience is as compared to my own, one thing is similar. Getting mentally prepared for going out on my own was tough. The things you do consciously and unconsciously to enable yourself to take that step are almost archetypal in their commonness. I want you to know, now that I see it from the vantage point of a father rather than a son, that it's difficult, necessary, important, emotional and beautiful from this side of the aisle as well. I want to say that I think it's possible to enjoy your last full year at home and still be ready and fortified for the adventure of college life. Our job and obligation as parents has always been to prepare you for this point. How'd we do? I don't really know but I'd say we didn't do too bad! Never be afraid to take a chance, be yourself and love and be loved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496347669461-O8TLBR00N23M7SEMISGE/JoBestJob3.jpg there they go gallery As unlike your senior year experience is as compared to my own, one thing is similar. Getting mentally prepared for going out on my own was tough. The things you do consciously and unconsciously to enable yourself to take that step are almost archetypal in their commonness. I want you to know, now that I see it from the vantage point of a father rather than a son, that it's difficult, necessary, important, emotional and beautiful from this side of the aisle as well. I want to say that I think it's possible to enjoy your last full year at home and still be ready and fortified for the adventure of college life. Our job and obligation as parents has always been to prepare you for this point. How'd we do? I don't really know but I'd say we didn't do too bad! Never be afraid to take a chance, be yourself and love and be loved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890857140-03PCL785JFE9RZJ4TQ9T/JoT026.jpg there they go gallery This year is / will be full of little milestones; little points of light that illuminate the road you've traveled and hit at the road that lies ahead. Now, as always, it's a question of life in the moment. Taking care of business, trusting in the future. You can't hold onto this Senior year, you can't slow it down or speed it up. Your friends, like you, are part out there and part inside themselves thinking, planning, hoping. You've touched so many people on your short trip to date, probably more than you know. And you'll keep on affecting people as you go on from here. Make your own choices, consider your strengths and use them to their fullest. A somewhat disjointed string of thoughts this morning Joanna. Every one a separate theme I could have expanded on. Instead, I touched each one like a prayer. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497889858667-1AAMFPXWC8KFQRR2BQ6Y/JoE080.jpg there they go gallery This is your class year - 2006! Ring it in loud! Ring it in proud! After a long stretch of house guests it feels strange (good) to be sitting home by myself writing to you this morning. Essays, applications seem so "yesterday." Waiting, working, dancing almost tripping through the winter now - eye on the spring. Time flies by. It always does. Blink and it's tomorrow. You have chosen your list of candidates for your reasons and now they will choose you for theirs. Feel, love, work, be happy, enjoy, cherish, hold on, let go, fly (home). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890531622-6CRPRPU50CKCW5T7JI7W/JoN099.jpg there they go gallery Your hearts treasure lies and waits while you travel on the shimmering arc of your life's path. Is it the destination or the journey that matters most? A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Take it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890592844-UHJT7BRI09E3UY9BCP2A/JoN100.jpg there they go gallery Fly away! And on your way - from time to time, stop and remember! You may have to fight for that extra point, for that extra base, for that drink of water. Be prepared! And when it's your turn - share. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890184916-CHF5FZQS8REJALU9GQPZ/JoF153.jpg there they go gallery Second half time now - downhill fast. Stay loose and keep your weight back. It's a long way to go to the last page of this chapter of (in) the book of life... of your life, so stay focused. I say the end of this chapter but there really is no "end" per se. Your life will just roll on and on through one stage to the next. School years are some of the shortest, most defined stage of your life. How will you define the years after college? As your 20s? Your 30s? Your child rearing years? Who knows? I know that right now your high school ship is heading into the harbor. As the years go by I think you will look back on this time at BC as a good time in your life. Hopefully a good time that prepared you for the good times ahead. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1515604294950-G8MKN80JEI8ZPSD6AQ94/Sagmeister_JoT027_v1.jpg there they go gallery Always there are things worth fighting for. Dreams worth striving for. Friends worth sharing. Strangers worth helping. Lovers worth loving. People worth forgiving. Never stop looking inside yourself for what you are really meant to do. Never stop looking around you for what needs doing. Shake the hand that helps you and offer your hand to help others. Go out the door each morning with your dreams on the tip of your brain and thankfulness in your heart. Work for the things. Want these things. Live for love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764259421-EWSA4NT4BV8DVMFHPPHK/JoE083_2006.jpg there they go gallery Taking steps to the door marked "Exit" on one side and reaching for the handle on the door on the other side marked "Entrance." There's quite a few steps left to take actually, classes, tests, breaks, softball, internships, an 18th birthday. Take all these steps slowly. Savor them like your favorite food. Enjoy them, even the hard ones, they'll never come again. Nothing ever comes again and we never seem to appreciate our time when we have it. But try to anyway. Not to hold onto things that are fleeting, but to appreciate and experience them wholly, share them, enjoy them, and let them go and carry them with you as you walk through the next of many doors. Have love. Have faith. Have hope. Have fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497891101628-0AUDE9T1VXBXPWCD4SR0/JoT028.jpg there they go gallery You know, how easy it will be to deal with your goin' away to college is not the point for me right now. I'm sure it will be hard for me, but I think I understand something of the natural order of things and I will be able to deal with it. I'm more invested in you right now to worry about me. I'm so proud of the young woman you're turning into right before my eyes. And I'm hopeful that the right one of all these colleges you've poured your heart and dreams into will recognize and appreciate and want that same young woman too. I'm patient; I'm livin life one day at a time; I'm watching the trees for signs of spring; I'm enjoying these days. I hope you are too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890113610-8MY72HRHLT2FVMWFSRK3/JoF152.jpg there they go gallery None of us ever can know what is in store for us in our lives. It's just not possible to know the future. All we can know or seek to know, is our own selves and what goals will make our souls grow and expand to our fullest capacity. Sure we have dreams, we make plans that depend on other people to come true, but the important goals are ours and ours alone to achieve. You have to look inside yourself and find the path that you alone must walk. Right now you're at the threshold of your college career. You chose your schools to apply to and now they've all responded. You have your choices but are any of them where you really want to end up? If not, then choose the one that will better prepare you to apply again to a school you really want next year. It's your career. It's your dream. Don't settle for anything less than your hearts desire. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890292966-CHUOLPV4QQ2PQMR2ZIYZ/JoJ060.jpg there they go gallery So U of A it is! I'm so happy for what I know will be a fabulous adventure of discovery and growth. There will be plenty of challenging work, new friends, new experiences, new ideas for exploration and fun in the sun as well. The selection process was a long and necessary road to walk and you walked it well. I can feel your comfort at your selection. I can feel the "rightness" of it as a starting point for your higher education. Now all that's left is a few exams, an internship, and a softball championship. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890369882-6L3EGG70HFAXPLBE1EUR/JoJ061.jpg there they go gallery There's a fine line sometimes between happy and sad. As fine as a thought of leaving home. As thin as a plan for new friends in a new place. It's as plain as the nose on your face. I know. Everyone knows. The stages of life, the changes of venue, the comings the goings the goodbyes the hellos. Finish strong and move along. It's all you can do. It's what you must do. Don't worry, your Brooklyn tail will wag behind you wherever you roam. It will always be home. Go ahead and be sad and be happy. You deserve both! Love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497889936919-8XYMWHTR77TNR9CWAEQX/JoE089.jpg there they go gallery Work, like anything else you can think of, is what you make of it. (Picking up a theme here?) Go on out there and try things - that's how you learn about yourself and the world, but whatever you try give it your all, see what's really there, what the limits are, what the applications to your life lie inside. Lots of options, most of which may not be appropriate but don't settle for anything because it's easy, choose it because it's right. I love you so much Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1510697670950-E9BLZRPRWWLZ5R6ZAX7A/JoN108.jpg there they go gallery Appreciate your life. Be thankful for your good fortune. Share your gifts. Help those around you to realize their own gifts. It's because we "stand upon the shoulders of giants" that we can see so far. Look for opportunities to grow. Look for opportunities to share your love. Remember that everyone in the world feels as you do, that they're special and deserved and loved. Everyone has the same rights as you, but everyone is not as fortunate, blessed, loved, gifted. Be kind. What a gift kindness is to both give and receive. Be kind! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496765140882-91VDQAFIVNFNZ8R917WD/JoJ062_2006.jpg there they go gallery Its your world now - your choices, your dreams, your path to walk. I'm here, mom's here - whatever we have done we did because we thought it was best. Whatever we can continue to do we will - we always will. We won't change too much - what you see is what you get with us - and I'm sure that some of what we are will be what you need from time to time. Life isn't always a straight line from point A to point B. It loops de loops and zigs and zags and goes forward and returns. It's the great thing about life I think. You can look back and follow the path, but looking ahead it's only til the next turn. Just keep your eyes on the prize and put one foot in front of the other and you'll be OK! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890750262-42RF4CKZCJ4I84471UZ8/JoO116.jpg there they go gallery "The East" with its mass of people and history and old buildings - small and huge - dense, teeming, diverse, chaotic, frenzied is home - at least it's always been home for you - for us. (Me? I grew up all over the place - every 2 or 3 years a new town, a new school, new friends - very different than your experience). But "the West" is a cool place (in a hot way) and I think you'll love it's "differentness," its open spaces, its huge sky, its warmth, its people, and all the other differences you've yet to discover, and will discover, for yourself. You can't help being nervous about it all - and excited too I hope. Just let the feelings flow through and do what you gotta do and you'll be fine. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890645732-KC5AF6DS983W2I2XUIBK/JoN109.jpg there they go gallery What a metaphor a bridge is! The connection from one place, one state of mind, to another. The path that lets you crossover. Do you need a bridge this summer? What will it be? Summer itself? Time? People? A job? Your family? Walk on out over the water Joanna, just put on your walking shoes and hit the road. Open your eyes while you go. See what you're leaving and where you're going. Remember your way home! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892330747-XITFW0Y7HCJ3OKBTPRD7/ThF77.jpg there they go gallery Working out with you last night was a little bit of a revelation to me. I realized how weak I have allowed myself to become - through laziness partly, but also through age - and I'm going to try to reverse that trend however I can. At one point we were sitting there resting and I looked in your face and saw you as a man. For an instant I imagined what you'd look like at 25 or so. I saw the man to be in the face of the young man sitting in front of me. Being a man is more than building a strong body (although that's a good, healthy part). All the years of family love, all the years of school contribute to a young man's sense of his ability, his dreams and his confidence and courage to go after them. I can see that growing in your face Theo, and I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497893162217-B8BSNBK6NWIZVAKZ41HV/ThT11.jpg there they go gallery Lots to keep in mind, lots to work toward, lots to look forward to, lots to dream about in the second half of senior year. College, career options, baseball, classes, prom, spring break (training), friends, a job, money, a drivers license - what else? I'm sure you can think of something that I'm missing. Work it, but have fun at the same time. These next eight months are so important, special, so full of change - make them fit you like a glove. Be yourself now more than ever. Look at the world through your own eyes and trust your instincts. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892920040-F51XTVYEZPB8A1C4UYXF/ThO10.jpg there they go gallery You know there's a book titled "Dear Theo"? It's a collection of letters written by Vincent Van Gogh to his brother. I read it years ago. Back in the days before telephones, computers, the internet, letter writing was the only way to communicate from afar. We're not very far apart you and I, but letters work to keep us in touch - at least my letters keep you in touch with my thoughts. Yesterday I was thinking about my own father and my relationship with him. The 3rd boy - the fourth child - I didn't get much of his attention. Dad was busy all week - working long days or out of town entirely and we were a pack of wolf cubs running around with GG trying to tame us. (To be continued...) I love you Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892839122-IDI9KI2D8T1LISOMABBZ/ThO9.jpg there they go gallery (contd...) I woke up this morning thinking about my dad - trying to remember the times we did things together or talked with each other or that he helped me with anything and it was a painfully short list. My dad worked all day, came home, read the paper and Time magazine, ate dinner, and watched the news and went to bed. I guess I learned from the best hunh? I've never been very good at conversation have you noticed? I guess I've been teaching that to you as well. Everybody says that girls talk but guys keep it inside - why is that? Lack of an example? Lack of experience? I think that as easy as you might think it would be, talking about yourself is hard and maybe we're just too lazy to try? I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892266368-EHLZV0NNCKST1J5FJSNG/ThF74.jpg there they go gallery What does a man do in uncertain times? In times of decision making? In stressful times of unknown future that seem so important, so necessary yet so confusing? Where's the compass set on your own true North? Where's your personal GPS? Your mapquest with the road to your destination all outlined in purple? Well I've got an answer for you - it's right there inside of you. Look around at the options and then look in for the right fit. In the end, some choices may seem to be made for you, but that's in large part an illusion because you decide what your options are - what road you want to travel. Look inside and follow your heart! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892751215-AUSJWP07FVT700SD7ZOD/ThO8.jpg there they go gallery Along about this time of year back in 1971, I was pondering my graduation and what on earth I was going to do after. There was no college counselor in my school. I didn't have a long time tutor who understood me. My father never asked me anything about myself, let alone what I thought I might like to study (I bet his dad never asked him either). My friends were equally clueless. So how do you make a decision in that environment? Still I was lucky in that my parents did think I should go to college and were willing to make it happen, but at 17 I didn't really know myself or what I was really interested in or what kind of work I'd like to do. So my dad signed me up for Clemson and said "Pre-veterinary medicine" and off I went. No one suggested I go as an "undeclared major." Too bad. It would have saved me a lot of grief. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499461401712-KY6C8X97KPUO3974XR44/ThI030.jpg there they go gallery The game goes on for another - what is it? Five or six months? Until June when you graduate from high school. Wow! Graduate! I walk around this house and I see picture after picture of you as the cutest little kid there ever was. What a beautiful smile! And so freely given that smile of yours. A genuine smile, not just a put on for the camera. I like to think that you had a happy childhood. That you feel you have grown up in a loving household. And that wherever you head off to next Fall you'll be ready academically and emotionally to succeed. I love you Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892498409-LSM6GPEWANR14JAGD9HM/ThG60.jpg there they go gallery Thinking of your game today I realized I'm down to the fingers of one hand in games you have left to pitch for BC. A little sad to think about - for me anyway - I've really enjoyed all your efforts on the ball field - even the occasional failures add to the story. Fortunately that story has had much more success and I can't tell you how proud I am of you. And not just for your baseball skills, but of you as a fine young man, filled with diverse talents and possibilities. Always stay open to new ideas, always do your best at whatever challenges come along. I love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497891995172-03OKU4DX4NCAAORM93WT/ThC24.jpg there they go gallery Tuesday morning after Senior Skip Day - what a world? I don't remember such a day when I was a Senior a zillion years ago. I wasn't playing varsity ball either. I do remember being a combination of anxious and excited as the year wore on over college and where I would go and what I would study. Senior year is one of those big change years - not exactly boy-to-man, but some of that plus some home-and-away; watched-over and on-your-own. That kind of thing. It's an exciting time. Live it fully! Enjoy it immensely! Share it freely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892196823-GKYL4L26PKAZB7QVU4Y7/ThF71.jpg there they go gallery Decisions coming into focus in spite of a couple of remaining unknowns. A feeling of progress of "rightness" of the path is in the air (along with spring and baby grass and budding trees and an early sunbeam). I love this time of year - winter slowly closing the door behind him as misty color adorns the trees and the ground becomes even brighter green. Enjoy these days Theo. Think, decide, work, play and enjoy. Life is blooming all around you - breathe it in, remember how lucky you are (we all are) and live! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498243139323-57KKT129OBPCUX397YY4/ThF69.jpg there they go gallery "Movin' on up!" Headin' on out! We celebrate the changes in our lives as we downshift and ease into the stream of whatever "next step" awaits us. There's a lot to celebrate - a lot of success - maybe some missed opportunities and second guess in the mix, but all-in-all a steady progress to this point. Not a point as in a pinnacle, but a point along a line, a path, the steady climb you've been on for almost 18 years now. I'm proud of the young man you're becoming and I'm excited by the future man you'll become as you live and celebrate many, many more "points" in the future. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892407589-9897OHKZ048T0Q22DTV6/ThF149.jpg there they go gallery I know you decided to take today off and rest after your shoulder injury yesterday, but I didn't want to miss the chance to tell you how proud I feel every time I stand next to you. I watch you and I'm filled with amazement at your abilities, your demeanor, the good looks you got from your mom, your potential to be so much, your tender ways you show your love. Go on! Get outta here! Love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491503459185-CSOK832C2U906K5JXOGA/ThTao5LASTNOTE.jpg there they go gallery Today is the last regular day of class for the seniors. Is it my last note ever? I can't imagine that it will be. Maybe the last daily one (the simple words are the hardest to spell sometimes). Sometimes it's the simple things that are the most special - the most beautiful - the most memorable. Like saying "thank you" and "please." Like taking your earbuds out and listening to the wind and the birds. Like giving a friend a ride, like sharing a good joke. Like singing a song in the bath, like snapping off a sharp curveball or connecting on a line drive. Or maybe saying "I love you so much!" https://www.foldedwisdom.com/promotional-imagery daily 0.75 2017-07-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499790461844-I3SORTWC4P1GCGM8BHWU/FWgardentub.jpg Promotional Imagery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499790461844-I3SORTWC4P1GCGM8BHWU/FWgardentub.jpg Promotional Imagery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499790406113-38B63VB7Q4GQVNS2MZJS/FWAliGloves2.jpg Promotional Imagery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499790448069-P4BRKXSLOUOHPO4CUY2D/FWbrickheart3.jpg Promotional Imagery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499790426275-SN3A9HZLWH4LW1XEKR4K/FWclosetofhearts.jpg Promotional Imagery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499790472393-ZU7MF6YDYPKP4U2J2ZQ1/FWPYH4.jpg Promotional Imagery https://www.foldedwisdom.com/inspiration-gallery daily 0.75 2018-12-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888127078-6JSN5DL6O2AI3FKLSCJU/123.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888127078-6JSN5DL6O2AI3FKLSCJU/123.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543863588093-Y3B7RSAMJQ9IRR62WG0O/123.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888165807-OXHDW3HPI2BONLJT1N4Z/456.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888195882-23IBWW9CQ729JGU4NE3C/789.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543863246391-TYBCWF8JRE2WE2ZI0LNU/123.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888228708-BJOC070MKQA7IFPY8GDW/101112.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888265244-JX5K1YRNUFAY1VR2QP7H/111213.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888285069-XPHAAF7326OQWCWUBX41/141516.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888314853-1SJAJZLDWLEMMCOG5YYM/ThFlowers.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543887193423-GEU35FI3SS763R4MWKR1/JoEagle.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888335694-7G4CDJMF4HNTW5L39AQN/ThHalloween.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543888367445-TEVL48385KOQACIH6I2G/JoFlowers.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543886930827-PWRB18LBNSUS2V5OO7SZ/JoInnateGifts.jpg Inspiration Gallery You know each of us are born with innate gifts, talents that are just in us and waiting for us to discover them, nurture them, share them with the world. Frequently we become aware of our gifts but for some reason are too shy or afraid to draw attention to ourselves and we leave them locked up inside. All of us do it to some extent. “Hide your light under a bushel (basket)” is the saying. Well now’s the time Joanna to throw off your protective wrapper and let your light speak to you of its dreams. Let it show you the path that it wants to take. Let it grow you into all you’re capable of being. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543864575512-J9V3W7YYJIXB4EA1EP73/ThFlowers.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543887065634-I7TSKJTT0KOJE27Y1XDS/ThSisterMovingOn.jpg Inspiration Gallery I’m still adjusting to my sister moving on. Hopeful that her life of faith has been rewarded and that she’s at peace. She touched many lives and made a big impact here on earth over her 61 years. Is that reward enough? To help and to lead by example and leave a mark that way? Is knowing you did good on this earth its own eternal reward? I’m sure Marcia expected more, but would settle for a life well lived. Try to lead a good life Theo. Be true to yourself. Realize your potential. Be all you can be and help others achieve their own goals as well. Then you will not have lived in vain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543864629037-279ZB7IF4302F2JTUOTW/JoEagle.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1500318266663-22MEG9XG90IW9AQQPEHL/JoA010.jpg Inspiration Gallery https://www.foldedwisdom.com/trackers daily 0.75 2017-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725352149-3DIEGQAQD2BOBJJFRWAP/CVSWritingPad4.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725352149-3DIEGQAQD2BOBJJFRWAP/CVSWritingPad4.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725741383-1DTUZK14HQI6YY78TYB7/CVSWritingPad9.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726437548-VJ4CAE94ZQY3M7NINCE8/CVSWritingPad6.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725611628-ZBDJ2Q8LJMANHBEFSYFK/CVSWritingPad7.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726029014-4B1C5U0LFK4I8X68EDMT/CVSWritingPad11.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1500404941054-H0B1SHRVPJ0085QBNWFK/CVSWritingPad4.jpg trackers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726075768-J5KZX0QBQDY7KSN38AH1/CVSWritingPad13.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726140159-EGKKOHY1NRGLO7M903WG/CVSWritingPad14.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725926012-LO840XIVLZ93O779ITO4/CVSWritingPad10.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1500403768104-K7QM3A4IJ1EIMOC3IZE7/CVSWritingPad4.jpg trackers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726220241-ZL5VI1VOOAQ2WRMAWARS/CVSWritingPad17.jpg trackers - folded wisdom note tracker https://www.foldedwisdom.com/explore-the-process daily 0.75 2017-10-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498598045085-FEF2S06MESGPVIRNMCRL/image-asset.jpeg The Process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725352149-3DIEGQAQD2BOBJJFRWAP/CVSWritingPad4.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725741383-1DTUZK14HQI6YY78TYB7/CVSWritingPad9.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726437548-VJ4CAE94ZQY3M7NINCE8/CVSWritingPad6.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725611628-ZBDJ2Q8LJMANHBEFSYFK/CVSWritingPad7.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726029014-4B1C5U0LFK4I8X68EDMT/CVSWritingPad11.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726075768-J5KZX0QBQDY7KSN38AH1/CVSWritingPad13.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726140159-EGKKOHY1NRGLO7M903WG/CVSWritingPad14.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504725926012-LO840XIVLZ93O779ITO4/CVSWritingPad10.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504726220241-ZL5VI1VOOAQ2WRMAWARS/CVSWritingPad17.jpg The Process - folded wisdom note tracker https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503518026998-TK100HYXBI4ONB4FRBLH/PROCESSTh.jpg The Process Every single person alive today (and whoever has or ever will live) has to have faith - faith in themselves, faith in God, faith that the sun will come up in the morning, faith that they will have time in their lives to accomplish what they want - all kinds of faith. I've been writing you notes every school day since you could barely read and I do it with the faith that they mean something to you (like they do to me) and that you read most of them (maybe all, who knows?) If you think back you'll probably notice that I really only write about a few different things and mostly about having faith in yourself, working hard to be the best you can be and not giving up. So believe in yourself Theo. Work hard and don't give up! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503516945634-Q42HNNJC0VVK67L123HJ/PROCESSJo.jpg The Process You have no idea how peaceful it is to sit at the kitchen table with a candle or two burning and a cup of coffee in front of you and a pen in hand ready to write. I love getting up ahead of everyone and having that hour to myself and my thoughts. It's very helpful, meditative way to start the day. It gives me a chance to think about myself, about you and Theo and mom. And writing to you gives me another chance. A chance to connect with you - share my thoughts - my life with you. A chance to give you something of my private self. Without feedback of any kind which is a plus and a minus but hey - that's life. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503670073494-4U6D924WD91D5AFBAIV0/Artboard+2.jpg The Process STEP 1: Lay a 6" x 9" piece of paper out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503670492112-I1N1DIG3OAF2CU7GM22T/Artboard+5.jpg The Process STEP 5: Tuck the tiny folds on the right side into the larger triangle pocket that's been created. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503670111285-IDNV37CMTYS5LEQLL5V6/Artboard+1.jpg The Process STEP 2: Fold the note in half (horizontally - keeping the drawing / writing on the outside), and then in half again (also horizontally). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503670170281-DA4MEO4B0Q2Y0CVE35A8/Artboard+3.jpg The Process STEP 3: Starting from the top-left side, fold the corner down into a triangle making a point at the bottom-left. Fold that point across and then up so there is a point at the top-left corner. Flip paper around so the flap is on the right, face up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503670480272-EMFY6YY6VTS50AG9J8TT/Artboard+4.jpg The Process STEP 4: Make two tiny folds on the right side.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503670514860-AXFDJCPOH0PHLFTWX8CW/Artboard+6.jpg The Process STEP 6: Leave for kids - hope they take the note off the counter, place into their pocket, and read during the day. Maybe even play some paper football! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1507743583780-AKXD3FYQGI9QYIIZ4RPO/IMG_3714.jpg The Process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1507743615915-0SQGRISF75L4KRCC739U/youngbob.jpg The Process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1501261423525-AK0L2VW9XK0JZSCYB03A/Header4.jpg The Process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503518512787-TB329FFSN8KNTKJ9T6WV/Header8.jpg The Process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503519194028-DRGBDN7I8FIW80KP6CUF/Header1.jpg The Process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503632166121-O871C4P52W67CBHEVDN2/Header9.jpg The Process https://www.foldedwisdom.com/sampling-of-notes daily 0.75 2019-01-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934112586-Q3XQ28YI23OX8E71UAA5/Th_1.29.98.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934112586-Q3XQ28YI23OX8E71UAA5/Th_1.29.98.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934505182-P9X8FW80PKVVYZIOG3LA/Jo_9.19.01.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934197982-056GVUOOMT1IB0Z66A8L/Th_2.11.00.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934107403-JZT8C0YVRVRIYX0HNZRH/Jo_01.21.04.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934114458-73XRENVY3LD8CD7P6OSV/Th_11.18.05.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934425106-4Q335FF4BJY8YWBVOTCH/Jo_11.12.04.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934113451-TFQYJZM0HVQHDUW8QMK6/Th_9.11.06.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543934107363-XQIX93SNDHV3JAY0465C/Jo_05.16.06.jpg Sampling Of Notes https://www.foldedwisdom.com/home daily 1.0 2023-05-09 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/saved daily 0.75 2018-11-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499465299058-PSXFT0WLF53F9347KW0A/JoDamaged1.jpeg so the notes were saved - damaged note folded wisdom https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499465312435-U56EF2GG1ZI3KRT27BRQ/ThDamaged2.jpeg so the notes were saved - damaged note folded wisdom https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499465299017-8NPPSY65S1W4T9BZ3KQX/JoDamaged2.jpeg so the notes were saved - damaged note folded wisdom https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499465315942-4GXM918BGN5HFADPXK0R/ThDamaged3.jpeg so the notes were saved - damaged note folded wisdom https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499465305112-LT7JS4BF02GALQJDLHZ9/JoDamaged3.jpeg so the notes were saved https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499465310802-ZRUYZHW9CVGFPCJNADLB/ThDamaged1.jpeg so the notes were saved - damaged note folded wisdom https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499465305791-4KI9KYDR9FEWTJRKN9B4/JoDamaged4.jpeg so the notes were saved - damaged note folded wisdom https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1501260101078-NQWUY6JCL1EJ69GEZBK9/Header2.jpg so the notes were saved https://www.foldedwisdom.com/bgjt daily 0.75 2018-11-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1504823448018-XA3OOD0YTXDHDBN5HGOU/Theo+Costa+Zoo.jpg the family - Theo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1503956350098-8T4L60M3BYK94IO2A1BM/IMG_0610.JPG the family - Bob https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498761825433-XOR74CJC09KKRHJ2Y3WE/JazzGlo.jpeg the family - Gloria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498763194999-RXZ3LOM96PDBN98ABNKG/JoBaseball.jpeg the family - Joanna https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496256093201-0MEYVPEGQM5EDYVN544H/tickertapeparade.jpeg the family https://www.foldedwisdom.com/contact2 daily 0.75 2019-05-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543938648927-YTUJYYBS5UHP6FG44U10/CVSWritingPad9.jpg contact https://www.foldedwisdom.com/younger-years daily 0.75 2017-06-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972579238-7CBE9YT2LK9XKW6G4H9O/ThC001.jpg Younger Years Todays the day! Hooray Hooray. You're on your way! Hooray Hooray. Preschool Preschool Children's House 2. Can you believe the fun things to do? The front room now, the big boys & girls! You've made it Theo on TOP of the World! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972744126-UL0WIPGXXDJUP4SP8PO9/JoA005.jpg Younger Years 1st Day of 2nd Grade Happy Happy Joy Joy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905331390-6IPH1USN08W3K37UZWAC/ThA015.jpg Younger Years Theo's picking apples from the apple tree. Picking all the apples he can see. Pick Theo Theo Pick Theo Theo Pick some apples for me! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972815637-663N0XZDRJ21LEZ3Z8TZ/JoA006.jpg Younger Years Hats on your head. Hats on a rack. Hats hiding in your pack. Hats on your knee in church. Hats that you find after a search. Hats that blow off your head in a storm. Hats (when it's cold) keep you snug, dry and warm. Hats that tell us who you are. Hats that help us see real far. Hats are cool! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497904555735-HB81Y3R7LEX22IIEBS4X/ThA061+-+pair.jpg Younger Years Hey Theo! What do you see - what will you be today? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497903592191-MFUYGGYK1OAP7FEIBVWE/JoN002+-+pair+-+x.jpg Younger Years The Sun shines even when it's cold outside, even when we want to hide in our hats and scarfs and coats. There's always something happy somewhere, even when we're really sad, even when the world seems bad, if we open our eyes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497903692410-2MDE18JDVWNILVK1ABIZ/JoN003+-+pair+-+x.jpg Younger Years We work and play all day - evening comes we read then sleep and rest our night away. We wake - we dress - we eat - we leave, we start it all again. We set sail anew in the river of life and round another bend. On a river we've never sailed before each turn brings something new. It's that discovery, that surprise, that keeps us pulling through. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497904445811-VAIURZH1AU6WN91C72X4/ThA054+-+pair.jpg Younger Years Sail on - Sail On Theo my son. Oh see what you will see!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497904866154-5E2YPPEHDTJ6WE24B0VF/ThA002.jpg Younger Years Theo & Spidey go for a ride on Triceratops!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973063776-Y6YKC460ZT6AZPCXA7N2/JoA022.jpg Younger Years There's a narcissus on our shelf at home in the kitchen - all alone. "Please remember" I hear her cry, "To give me water when I'm dry." "Talk to me - just once in a while. Let me see your pretty smile. If you do then pretty soon I think I'll make my flowers BLOOM" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905222245-5DQ2AJVB0ML1YH8OPHSY/ThA013.jpg Younger Years Theo and I do a puzzle together at school! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973417993-MEN6K2FABXCHMBE5YQ4M/JoG005+-+x.jpg Younger Years Don Mattingly in last Friday's game! See 'ya next year Yankees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972533178-R0WFJ9OKJ4JDKH3TWSH6/ThB038.jpg Younger Years We take a family picture! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972630012-29JBVOT7397ZE8ZF3ALE/ThD003.jpg Younger Years It's almost Halloween Theo! Let's have fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972902618-VJ4S52QDCK256BSGL7BF/JoA007.jpg Younger Years A vase of funny flowers for my funny little girl! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972973162-YHOG8FIVX9TBL13DOPRX/JoA011.jpg Younger Years There's an eagle on a limb. Wouldn't it be fun to be him (for a little while). Makes me smile to think of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905746685-ST07HSRZ0GCHKV7TNXVM/ThA128+.jpg Younger Years The Real Barney! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973112007-L58Q94DA0VXNP08P3BRN/JoA024.jpg Younger Years Meet the Beatles. Aren't they fun. They were a great band! Who are the great bands now? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905577739-IOYR25OH1QSUYCZ0DLY0/ThA062.jpg Younger Years https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973659236-H3W6AD4HRZ7BLUX4IAAW/JoB008+-+x.jpg Younger Years "Casper" by Theo. To Joanna: I love you Joanna (2) kisses in a row and one head equals (3) three... and you get me! Woopee!! Wooppee!! P.S. Dad loves you too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497972686443-KAWFDMVS9GCMHBHXT4PQ/ThE001.jpg Younger Years https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973016584-744F72KUDW8HZG7F4BF2/JoA021.jpg Younger Years Everything is comin' up rainbows all over town https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497907363677-T20DGAPUAMPYF3I4S4WT/ThA159.jpg Younger Years A pair of blooming flower pals!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973281512-IP367C4209UVSXXEI2HT/JoA036.jpg Younger Years "Take my love and dip in Jasmine Tea" (from a song by a group called "The Band") https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905877934-SSPE5RAMPW43ORTSVSDG/ThA137.jpg Younger Years Line boy sits and smiles... after all it's Friday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973513201-MH297U0LSROP7Y6FT66Q/JoN006.jpg Younger Years This morning... the street lights struggled with all their might to hold the right - to win the fight with the morning light sneaking over the house tops. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497907509550-WRS9UC419IW3PQE4SBOY/ThA167.jpg Younger Years Theo jumped over the candle stick. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905489540-Q9Z008CL60TXR244GBG6/ThA35.jpg Younger Years Sing a happy song today! I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497973218905-BL6YX7GFVIUY4WE4632L/JoA034.jpg Younger Years Joanna Coanna Doanna Loanna. Wrap around - zip up tight - hug with all my might all night - kiss a lot - kiss a lot - miss a lot when I'm at work - so much fun - on the run - I love you hon! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497905074151-EAXNRLY44BEZEPP1D5I3/ThA007.jpg Younger Years Theo's hair has a fight on his head. The hair wins. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/best-job-in-the-world daily 0.75 2017-06-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975350185-XQ0E40BNVWWWVTCMEV45/ThA074.jpg Best Job In The World Theo Theo do you know? That summertime is on the go! Fall Fall has come around, leaves in the wind, leaves on the ground. Theo put your jacket on when you go outside! Fall Fall is here my dear, let's go for a ride! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975273164-VJXMM1LJOCQ64SBX1I6F/JoBestJob10.jpg Best Job In The World There is an artist who is having a show at a museum that I really like. Would you like to go see it with me one evening? The museum is called The Guggenheim and the Artist's name is Claes Oldenburg. His art is funny (that's why I like it). Also he can draw really good. Remember when I went to Washington by myself to see a show? Well now that show is here! Shall we go? Let me know! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975563258-9W42DXQLL5N9HE0CA40Y/ThA073.jpg Best Job In The World Theo Theo Big (not small) can you tell me how (?) did you get so tall. Did you swallow a giraffe from the zoo? Did you put pants and shoes on a ladder? (and stand up on top) Did you comb your hair straight up to the sky? Did you stretch and stretch (like Stretch Armstrong) until you got so so big? -or- Did you simply eat and grow with nowhere else for your head to go - but - UP! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497974925018-QRSX5Y8TYN1S4CP36WBK/JoI024.jpg Best Job In The World Could there be something in me that's also inside of you? And likewise could there be something in me that grew up out of you? It could be true - (do you feel it too?) We must be connected somehow. I'm sure we'll figure it out later, but it's a mystery for now! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497974410966-XSUEQMW50ICWYHIYFSNY/ThN028.jpg Best Job In The World You are my son. I am your dad. Nothing can ever change that. But I do not own you... You are not a "thing." I cannot make you into someone you are not. I can only love you. Whoever you are. I will always love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975431206-665KCZ4YKL33S4A897IL/JoC065.jpg Best Job In The World Can you believe it? Our life moves on - hour by hour - day by day - week by week - month by month - year by year. Time goes on and we go with it! Where are we going? Older? Yes. Smarter? I hope so. Happier? I hope so too. Let's have fun and learn a lot while we grow up together! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975956384-2ZIQ2OUEJSQSE5YV6NTI/ThX006.jpg Best Job In The World It was so nice lying in bed and reading together last night. Let's do it again soon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976515279-NUWC58DO5I3LMPJ21VPN/JoN019.jpg Best Job In The World I have a dream that parents will wake up and look at their children with new eyes. That they will realize how beautiful and fragile is the child's life - how it must be treated gently with love and respect to help it blossom and grow into the most beautiful garden in the world. I have a dream. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497542647062-JZGQBF3J1YA1P9D6H8GA/ThC29.jpg Best Job In The World Today is Monday. Let's start the week right. Try a little more to have fun. Try a little more to learn. Try a little more to say - "I love you." Oh! And by the way - we'll also try to get a haircut. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976662023-4XQX9CV1XES6BWFKQ04V/JoN020.jpg Best Job In The World I have another dream. I dream that my kids will grow up healthy and happy and have fun doing it. That my two kids will come to realize how lucky they are to have each other - how different they are from each other and how cool each of them are. If they do then everyone will be winners. I have a dream of watching my kids grow up and do fun and interesting things - when they do - I will smile and be happy. Like I am now! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976286580-RITWRH8WZDS2TCBBMQ44/ThX39.jpg Best Job In The World I know I tell you "I love you" a lot. I know I do. Being a "Dad" makes me the luckiest man in the world! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497975860318-LVNW5DGQMQBW6SZ6RYUA/JoBestJob6.jpg Best Job In The World Good job to get your last month's church reading done. I'm sorry I had to make you like that. Being a dad is not easy sometimes but I tell you... it's the Best Job in the World!! Just because we get upset now and then or we don't always see eye to eye doesn't mean we don't love each other. We love each other very much. Disagreeing and getting mad sometimes is part of life. Fortunately it's a small part! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764622184-O5OK1C2PUS0TY8L03PI1/JoJ020_2001.jpg Best Job In The World Sometimes we all (me too I know) need to take a step back from our lives and take a good, hard look at ourselves. Are we who we want to be? Do we like what we see? Are we doing the best we can? What do we need to do to be better - to be more like we want to be? You don't do this for your parents - for other people - you do it for yourself. You don't go to school and play sports to make me (your dad) happy - You're doing it for you! To build your life - your life habits - your life goals. If you make yourself happy - then I'm happy. It's as simple as that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976438508-HGZK3XJMCY698YWBOQBM/TheoBestJobMissingTooth.jpg Best Job In The World Sometimes you have to lose something before you can dig up something else. Your new tooth will be even bigger and better than your old one. Hooray! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977549931-0BFI82L1483L711UME6Y/JoX046.jpg Best Job In The World There's many things that hurt, that sting our bodies and our feelings. Sometimes parents nudge - try to mold our lives, like kneading fudge into a mold. Is the shape they try to make right for you? Or is it fake? I was a kid, I'm a father now trying to do his best somehow. With mom, with Theo, with you. Holy cow! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976791429-IT5INI9D7A8N2RF6WYXQ/ThBestJob23.jpg Best Job In The World Theo you're a good kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a smart kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a handsome kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a talented kid! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a fourth grader! Believe that 'cause it's true. Theo you're a good son - and I wouldn't trade you for all the money in the world! Believe that 'cause it's true too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977117115-LA951SF5OHKAHMGPUQC8/JoB052.jpg Best Job In The World What can I say about our family? Do we all love each other like crazy? Absolutely!! Do we sometimes treat each other badly? Yes - if I'm honest I'd have to admit that. But (and there's always a "but"), that part comes from anxiety - stress - not the heart. Our world is stressful - fast-paced with a lot of expectations and causes for concern. Your poem showed me that even at 13 you are not immune to these things. But we as people - as human beings, still thrive, still persevere - still set goals and try to achieve them. We don't give up. We look and see and recognize the love around us and draw on it for support. We carry our weight when we can and we ask for help when we need it. The goal of life in the animal world is survival. But people have a higher goal than that. We want to triumph - to create - to love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976944953-ZD08VHRV8ZX6T9NNFOU5/ThE009.jpg Best Job In The World I'm your Dad! And my job is to do whatever I can for you, Joanna and your Mom. Sometimes I get to do what I want that's just for me - but most of the time taking care of my family is what I want to do. When a man has the chance to help other people he takes it. That's what a good man does. He doesn't spend his time only doing for himself. A boy who's growing up to one day be a man needs to think about that. Think of other people! Help other people! Love other people! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978008736-2C7GOBC8RMFSXWH7GHY2/JoN056.jpg Best Job In The World You're a lucky girl to have such good teachers, good friends, a fine school and loving family. A lucky girl! And I'm a lucky man to be your Dad! I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977248026-H4RJSE4CWINLZVFQRQS5/ThN054.jpg Best Job In The World Trust is so important Theo. You need to trust me and I need to trust you. When I tell you I will do something I make every effort to do it. When I ask you to do something I expect you to do it as well. In business we make contracts and sign our name to them. I say I will build something and they say they will pay me. A father and a son don't sign contracts - we each have our word and we trust each other to tell the truth and do what we say we will. Let's trust each other!! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977398410-BGTK5T5WREWNFUZGCCDP/JoBestJob31.jpg Best Job In The World You have no idea how peaceful it is to sit at the kitchen table with a candle or two burning and a cup of coffee in front of you and a pen in hand ready to write. I love getting up ahead of everyone and having that hour to myself and my thoughts. It's very helpful, meditative way to start the day. It gives me a chance to think about myself, about you and Theo and mom. And writing to you gives me another chance. A chance to connect with you - share my thoughts - my life with you. A chance to give you something of my private self. Without feedback of any kind which is a plus and a minus but hey - that's life. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977698134-F8S4XRA4Q8FQP00BIQMM/ThN051.jpg Best Job In The World Don't know why I sketched a bridge this morning? I was thinking of you and it just came out. Maybe it's an architecture connection - maybe it's a symbol of a connection to something? Like the bridge between youth and maturity that you are crossing right now. Of course if that was it, I should have drawn a much longer bridge that never really reaches the other side. The road to maturity we walk on all of our lives. It's a joy to walk it with you! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977734418-JKFREGEKY5NMFGWJUGG1/JoT005_2003.jpg Best Job In The World When my dad died almost 26 years ago now, my mom had one of those cards printed that say "In loving memory of..." on the back and a quote or picture of a Saint on the front. Well the front she chose had this quote entitled "Take Time" and it's about just that - to take time in your life for the things that are important and some of them are good - "Take time to think - It is the source of power! Take time to be friendly - It is the road to happiness! Take time to play - It is the secret of perpetual youth! Take time to laugh - It is the music of the soul! Take time to work - It is the price of success! Take time to Love and be Loved - It is a God-given privilege" (and the greatest single idea of Christianity - I added that). I always liked the message of that card - you have to take time to think about your life and how you're living it or else it will be so busy and pass by so fast you'll be surprised. At 14 it seems like it will last forever but it won't. It seems like there will always be tomorrow but there won't. Do your best every day. Make the days count. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497976385280-I1UCDAF1XNGSWQQ42RG3/JoI060.jpg Best Job In The World It was fun to go up to the Met with you Saturday. I know it was work for you but I was glad that you had the kind of work to do that took you to a place like that. A place filled with the results of all that is good about the human race - all the struggle to achieve something wonderful that's never been seen before and to share it with so many thousands of people every day. My knowledge about art and artists is not random. I've been moved by art and the stories of the artists who make it all my life - at least from about 19 on. Find something to love! I love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978094961-OPG5PLJ0B8NY2EYYPA5D/ThN043.jpg Best Job In The World I'm a fortunate man, born to two people who loved each other very much. I was surrounded with brothers and sisters and lots of love and support. Now I'm just trying to do the best job I can by loving the woman I chose (and who chose me) and the two children that we were blessed to have. Your mom, Joanna and you mean the world to me and I try to do the right thing for you every moment, every day of my life. What is "the right thing?" Well, besides money, a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food in your belly, I'm trying to help you make the right choices for yourself and help prepare you for the road ahead. I can help you as much as you'll let me. I can give but I cannot make you accept my offering. That's all you Theo. Own your dreams. Pick up the ball and run with it. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978149035-56M6HTELR41NJE2N4N0V/JoN074.jpg Best Job In The World Seemed so far away (college I mean) so long ago when you were born (born to change my world). Born to be your world. Born to live and discover yourself - others - love - fear - right - wrong. An empty slate at one time (were you ever really "empty"?) So much character, style, laughter, caring and love. Look in the mirror - what do you see? Do you see the newborn babygirl? Do you see the newborn college student? Do you see a young woman on her way? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977935014-6RX4S055XQ5RSUY9F1KB/ThX52.jpg Best Job In The World I don't know, maybe you weren't expecting a note on Beach Day, but I was walking around the neighborhood with Sunny this morning and noticing all the broken branches (even a whole fallen tree) and I was thinking of you. I think about you a lot. I remember my own high school years and I have to say that I didn't have half the motivation and the dreams that you do. You've developed ideas and plans that are your own and I'm so proud of you. We'll work together this summer and I'm excited by that. I'll help you anyway I can and anyway you'll let me. Have fun today and wear sunscreen (I couldn't help but remind you). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497977829425-KDVE590ESEH3VKV1RIBS/JoB080.jpg Best Job In The World You never stop being a daughter or a son. Even after your parents are gone and you're long on your own. The legacy stays with you. The things they taught you more by their example than their words. You find yourself in the same boat with your new family looking back to when the shoe was on the other foot and you were a kid. The other night in Peer, a boy asked how come we (as parents) don't want our kids to do the same things, experiment with drugs, alcohol and sex, that we did when we were there age? Well because we love you, that's why. That's really the simple, honest answer. And one day, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, you might find yourself responsible for me or mom. Just try your best to treat us with the same love we have always and forever given you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497978059424-OER3A8KTQUEV8D5JY29M/ThN041.jpg Best Job In The World Balancing love, pride, concern and frustration - that's what being a father is. I'm always bouncing back and forth between those feelings (and more), sometimes more than one of them at a time. What to do? How to make love always come out on top? Always just love you and Joanna for who you are, and not worry about whether or not you're all you could be - all I want you to be? Is that the way? I believe that at the end of the day that is the key. I have to push and prod and hope and dream and help out along the way, but in the end I ultimately just have to give you my unconditional love. You got it Theo! But it doesn't mean I won't tell you when I think you're making a mistake. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/human-after-all daily 0.75 2017-06-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497983714946-LVQFQ3Z7CBKXOAJ29GBP/JoBestJob2.jpg Human After All There's something that I should do, meant to do, have to do. There's something that I want to do, and that's to say... I'm sorry! I apologize for the other day when I took apart one of your Kinex so I could play and build. They are yours (not mine) and just because I'm big or I think I know what should be done - doesn't give me the right and I'm sorry! Maybe we can talk about it sometime! LOVE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987667766-Z0BYH305I1CDFS70E1M1/ThK001.jpg Human After All I'm sorry I hurt your big toe! I hope you forgive me! I hope it doesn't hurt too much. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984179000-DPZYG0V1U8XEXSCKS6W8/JoK003.jpg Human After All I'm sorry I lost my temper yesterday in the car. When one person starts yelling it's hard to not yell back. It's hard - but it's important to try anyway. Just because it's hard doesn't mean you can't do it - it's just harder that's all. Anyway, I'm sorry and I'll try not to let it happen again. It would be easier to not yell back though if you didn't yell at me in the first place! Maybe you could try harder and see if you can't think of a nicer way to express yourself too! I think we all would be happier! It was fun watching the Super Bowl with you, mom and Theo last night. Even if the Cowboys won! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984069222-2KM9TAM3B3C4P2RXWXKN/ThSx003.jpg Human After All I'm sad that you left your good glove in an apple orchard. I wish that hadn't happened but it did. I hope you will be more careful with your next glove. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986850600-3C5NRCMFG5OCQ7UYRXO8/JoL003.jpg Human After All Somehow there must be a way to talk without arguing. To ask someone to do something without their taking offense. There must be but I haven't found it yet. I'll keep looking. Will you? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984551485-024FR2RAR0NUZBCHYD80/ThS010.jpg Human After All Yesterday you did a hurtful thing. My hope is that you understand this. My hope is that now the door is open and love can move freely again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984313382-I5YQZXLXHG7FEPIIC9RY/JoK015.jpg Human After All I'm sorry for being a little down lately. Finishing a big job always brings on a little let down and the holidays were so crazy (most of it "crazy good") and I'm just sorry for not being more fun to be around. Some of that mood is bound to rub off on you and Theo. It's not really the way I want to start the next century. Let's find a new way of being together! Let's try to find a new way of understanding each other. OK? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497983865182-HHDEDRFLG1XFH5ENSIOY/ThE006.jpg Human After All I hope you find a way to say how you feel. You will be so much happier! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497984736811-YOCLN1KHNIA38C43FZ2P/JoX048.jpg Human After All Our lives together have ups and downs. Days when everything seems "right" and beautiful - days when it's all wrong. Sometimes it's just moments of rightness or wrongness. I can be in a bad mood and not even realize it - saying things in a not nice way and not being able to help it. Understanding later on what I was feeling and doing. Does that ever happen to you? Probably so - you are human after all. I'm sure it happens to all of us. Communication is the key! It's the answer. It's what helps us get through. Talk to me. Help me. And I'll help you. Because I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497985271108-TEOKLG7GSUNZP887URIW/JoK021.jpg Human After All I want to apologize to you for losing my cool on Friday night. It was an inappropriate action on my part - undeserved by you. Please forgive me Joanna. I can make excuses for myself but there really are none that are viable. Love. Respect. Those are all words that describe feelings of relationship that are shared by two or more people. We don't "love" or "respect" in a vacuum - we need another, a reciprocator, someone who shows, responds, inspires, nurtures. I'm a man - a human being - and I happen to be your father. I'm not always right. I'm not always appropriate. But I always want to be. I always try to be. I sometimes fail. I'm sorry for that. I love you more than my words could ever express. I want for you more than your share. I pray for you every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987014144-BDJLB8W1LT1E054G0ZXD/ThL014.jpg Human After All Theo when you want something ask for it - don't make everyone guess what you would like. You might not always get what you want but a lot of times you will. Plus then other people will know what you like or don't like and we will give you what you like sometimes without you asking us. We all want to help you and make you happy - we love you so much. Help us make you happy by using words to tell us about you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986806506-OJUO1YO26ZNESO734O0N/JoK023.jpg Human After All This is our first correspondence since our shouting match on Sunday. I don't know why I joined in that discussion. I was unable to stay out of it and I should have. All these things going on - work, school, buying and selling homes - it's all stressful for all of us and makes the fuses really short. It's easy for a discussion to turn into an argument. But as a grownup I have no excuse for letting that happen and I apologize for raising my voice the way I did. I'll try my best to not let that happen again. I want you to grow up considerate and thoughtful, loving and patient, making the most of your talents and gifts, appreciative of the help you received and helpful to others who need it in return. Do you think that's too much to hope for? In many ways I see some of these things in you and I'm trying to do my best to nurture them. Times like Sunday I fail. Hopefully I succeed much more often. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987813934-PP5WPHW761RDHLL1UMOJ/ThL005.jpg Human After All Did I yell at you last night? (Yes I did.) Am I sorry I did? (You bet I am.) Am I human? Do I make mistakes? (Yes I am, Yes I do.) I'm not God Theo - no one is. I'm only a man who's trying to be a good father. I love you the way you are and I want to help you be the best you can be. Will you help me too? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986738931-2PI1DQTMWLHXY6A0IINH/JoX072.jpg Human After All I don't think that any of us is blessed with the ability to hear what we sound like to others. Communication and relationships happen in the space between people - with each person carrying a unique understanding of that communication away with them. What I sound like to Mom when she says I'm criticizing her and I don't think I am - What you sound like when you talk to Theo and I think you sound critical or bossy and you don't think you are - I have to understand that, just like me sometimes - you can't hear it in your words or tone of voice. Maybe we all need to try and talk with each other instead of at each other. I'll try harder! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497986942117-VGMO3Z5EABU4CYT61DPM/ThS001.jpg Human After All Five minutes extra. Did those five minutes really make you that angry - so angry that you wouldn't do your homework last night? I'm sorry for asking you to leave when the class was over. You are a part of our family and your family needed to get home. Sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to because the group you're in wants to. You have a choice. You can go along with it and make the best of it or you can ruin the rest of the night for you and your friends. Mr. Chips said... "Have a sense of proportion." He's right! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987041781-TJKQFB9QOMVP2U27Z5XO/JoI061.jpg Human After All Stress Frustration & Anger. These emotions can smother love. As strong as that love may be it's light can be blocked by those three terrible forces. Are you to blame? No! Remember how I told you that art exists as a relationship between a work and a viewer? Well love exists in relationship between two people in much the same way. Are mom and I bringing so much stress, frustration and anger to the table that you respond with the same and the love is blacked out? That could definitely be the case. We'll try and do better Joanna. Try and let the love take center stage. The other crap is entrenched and not going away though we may want it to. See the love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497985073159-QQ40ACSCATBV6HEXHS1U/ThK009.jpg Human After All I apologize for being frustrated last night and taking it out on you. I came home feeling hassled and a little out of control. I wanted time with my family but the time was gone and I got upset because of that. Getting upset only drove my family away - the opposite of what I wanted. I'm sorry Theo! I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987550533-PLZ7E11TA13AVW03RP32/JoN083.jpg Human After All Sometimes we open our mouth when we should have kept silent. Oftentimes we leave a friend waiting for words we never say. Sometimes a situation cries out for action yet we fail to see and act. Other times we run off half-cocked and promptly fall on our faces. Some mistakes we notice, we regret, while other ones we remain blissfully unaware. It's always better to see, understand and learn. Forgive yourself and move on. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987758651-DX4YSH9GDLQRCF9UB725/ThK003.jpg Human After All Everyone makes mistakes. All of us do sometimes. Sometimes the mistakes we make only hurt ourselves. Sometimes our mistakes hurt other people. When my mistakes hurt me I'm sorry. When my mistakes hurt someone else I'm really sorry. That's all I want to say besides I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987514649-QHMA0AHMS1OLN8C4THML/JoN078.jpg Human After All We all do things that we regret. We've all done things we're ashamed to admit. We've all been justifiably embarrassed and wrongfully humiliated. We've all had to ask for forgiveness. We all have the opportunity to grant forgiveness in return. Do we forgive ourselves our regrets, shame and embarrassment? Do we forgive them in others? Do we love ourselves and thereby open up the possibility of love for others? Do we recognize and celebrate our own uniqueness and happily share ourselves with the world? They're all good ones. They're all tough ones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498161032984-7P1EVNA2NLOP0VF2BG4F/ThL015.jpg Human After All I hope you had a good day today Theo. Try not to be so angry. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987150308-H0WWGODBX4HDXTGO1DTE/JoL009.jpg Human After All Life is hard sometimes. I know that. I know I'm doing the best I can to balance my work and my desires with the needs and wants of my family. Sometimes it seems like I can do it all and sometimes it feels like I can't get any of it to work out. Right now is one of those later times. I know it's a hard time for you too. All of us have to understand that we each have too much on our plate and not be quick to judge or yell or storm away in anger. That hurts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498161167754-B84H0OIZHAVKS6GB8Z50/ThK005.jpg Human After All First - I just want to say I apologize for getting upset and blaming you for making a mess last night. I was to blame as well - it wasn't your fault. Second - I want to say we all make mistakes and it's important that we forgive each other and just as important that we forgive ourselves. Third - I hope you have fun when you go to see the play this afternoon. It's always fun to get out of class but then watch, listen and enjoy the show. Fourth - I hope the history quiz is OK. Maybe you could prepare a little more on the bus back to school? Fifth - I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987867572-EXG20NRRHJQ3ULQOD9EJ/ThX36.jpg Human After All I'm sorry I trapped you in the car on the way to school yesterday and bombarded you with my concern. It's hard for me to communicate my thoughts and feelings in appropriate ways. Maybe I should just stick to notetaking? I know you think that you work pretty hard - you just have to keep asking yourself - "Do I really understand what I need to do well? Can I do anything else to help myself do better? Have I really given myself the best chance to do my best?" If the answers are yes, no and yes, then great - if not, then it's back to work. Simple! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497987625137-NE9O54VP72JWARYKKHD5/JoL010.jpg Human After All Everyone who touches us makes an impact. Think of the friends and teachers who have shaped your life so far. Think of the passing glance of a stranger that made you stop and think, change your mind, or drop a coin in a cup. Being a parent means walking a line, balancing too much rope with not enough rope, balancing freedom to have your own experiences with fear for your safety and innocence. Remember these standards that you hold us to should the day come when you find yourself a mother or a teacher or a coach. You have so many gifts Joanna that I'm sure you'll do a good job at whatever you do. Just don't let your anger get in the way and let some of that creative talent you have locked up inside out once in a while will ya? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497533108615-G3ZNG1K4ZIQ9WC0A36XA/JoX167xZ.jpg Human After All Cooperation Appreciation Consideration Understanding Patience Love How do you teach these qualities? I guess by embodying them myself and teaching by example. When you look at Mom and I do you see us cooperating with each other? Do we seem to appreciate each other? Are we considerate? Do we try to understand each other? Are we patient? Do we show our love? We are all human. These are human qualities - and so by definition they are imperfect. We intend to demonstrate all these good qualities all the time but we fail because we are human. But we try! That's what people do - they try to be perfect in the way they live their lives. They try knowing they will fail to some extent. Because if you don't try you fail completely. I don't expect you to be perfect. I just want you to try your best! https://www.foldedwisdom.com/did-i-tell-you daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437125532-HO45N01506JG1H1FOJAI/JoI001.jpg Did I Tell You... How can I tell you how Mom and I love you - how can I tell you it's all for you (and Theo) everything we do! It doesn't hurt us or make us sad. In fact we do what we do glad-ly, happil-ly because we love you (and Theo too!). Just be yourself and remember love is there! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437859649-ESALOMXXGEHWNHT9YUCB/ThA124.jpg Did I Tell You... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437921687-OO2C3DR8C9HA6TDL75KQ/JoI003.jpg Did I Tell You... Everyday in our lives we love each other more and more! We take care of each other - we laugh when we're happy and we cry when we're sad - all the time loving each other more and more! (I watch you grow - I love you so!) I hope that in your life you laugh so much more than you cry! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496437985797-T40XX7EPTDR9XW6K7OXQ/ThI003.jpg Did I Tell You... A candle burns for you always. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438042298-9ZWIIORNHNTP7D9HF0GL/JoI010.jpg Did I Tell You... I didn't see you very much yesterday! Was your day OK? Did Jake bring the Jay Peak thermometer to school for you? That was nice of Michael to think of you! Your mom and I think of you and Theo all the time! When I give you a kiss and a hug it doesn't mean I don't love Theo too. I'll never stop loving either of you. I'll love you and be with you forever. A poet once said there are many kinds of love in the world - but no two loves are the same. Scientists say that no two snowflakes are the same either. I guess that's one reason I love watching snow fall... and one reason I love you too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498242835891-24RTICK2TZ4GWPL9H0HR/ThA38.jpeg Did I Tell You... LOVE makes the world go around. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438140522-U5LFUOC7RM9F7ILLOCTW/JoI012.jpg Did I Tell You... Every school day pen in hand I stare at paper and plan what I'll say today to let you know I love you so and the things you think will not sink but float like a boat in our thoughts! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438198925-F5FSEPHKUPGUI829O7QZ/ThI008.jpg Did I Tell You... To: Theo I appreciate you because you are so full of life - because you live the Vida Loca - because you can be so sweet and tender and so tough too! Love, dad Will you be my Valentine? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438326985-4HVK47ISR5HVBDLSU0SY/JoI021.jpg Did I Tell You... When I'm not with you - when I'm at work or out with friends - I carry you in my heart "hotel." In a place where there's only you! Everyone I love has their own room in my heart "hotel." I only have to think of you and all my love comes to the front - I smile a warm, glad smile and I love - it helps sometimes to remember the people you love, and who love you too, are always as close as your heart hotel - and all you have to do is think, remember, and love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438273563-CFXUXQNZ5DH0VGODSU4C/ThI009.jpg Did I Tell You... Valentines Day isn't the only day when it's good to say "I love you." Every day is the right day to say... I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438406717-ATM1SD04LPKVA2INK3XF/JoI022.jpg Did I Tell You... Everyday I try to say "I love you." Love is not easy (sometimes). You love me even though I can make you mad (sometimes). Love isn't like the water faucet - you don't turn it on and off. Love is constant, moves with our lives, changes as we change. Never dies. P.S. You don't have to say "I love you" for me to know you do! (but it feels so good when you do!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496438582871-IQT754EODD2ILR9TTCBR/ThI010.jpg Did I Tell You... There is no love in the entire world like the love I feel for you! You are a bright, shining star in the sky of my life. Like the stars that sailors use to direct them over sea - You direct my life. Know that first and always I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497543519418-SD27CVW02E84BKLWORBR/JoN161xF.jpg Did I Tell You... No one ever said that growing up is easy. No one ever told me that as a kid and it's still not easy even as an adult. I'm still learning how to deal with successes and failures, the good things that I want to happen and the bad things that I wish would just go away. Living encompasses it all - the good and the bad, the happy and sad, the young and the old, the love and the pain - all of it. It can't be any other way. And the only way for us to keep an even keel - a steady course - a balance in our lives - is to understand ourselves - love ourselves - and try our best to love each other. Forgive ourselves, the mistakes we make - learn from them - forgive other people the mistakes they make - even when they hurt us - and live each day to the fullest. Know that some days it will be easy and some days it will seem impossible and just go on - keep on being yourself and trying. Trying to live. Trying to love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498155466177-M25PRZL2C239SCM4X8CO/ThI011.jpg Did I Tell You... Did I tell you I love you today and everyday. Good days, bad days, always. Did I? Did I tell you yet today? Well I do - I did - I always will! It really is quite simple. Yes indeed. I know it's all not easy. There's good days and bad days for us all. But I'll always be there cheering when you make it. I'll always help you up when you fall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152352295-Y6950B1LOX0UCMNGOZJX/JoI044.jpg Did I Tell You... Now comes the big juggling act - the balls in the air are my family, my job, the renovation - how to make time for each? This is the struggle. How to make time with you who are growing up so fast. Time really does fly by you know. I look back at the time since you were born and it seems like only yesterday but it's not. It's been 13 Christmases, 14 birthday parties, immeasurable car trips, vacations, family events like GG70 or Christmas at Aunt Joni's and Thanksgiving in Iowa. We've really gotten around. What did I say yesterday about our being a family of nomads? 100 years ago most people lived and died within 20 miles of where they were born - not true anymore. We're a traveling culture for sure. While you travel around living your life searching for love and happiness and success - remember the love that your family - all of us - have for you. Carry us in your heart. Draw strength from that simple feeling called love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496440247375-YD4C8R2BDSQPVHOWAKYO/ThI027.jpg Did I Tell You... Have I told you recently just how much I love you? How proud I am of you? Well I love you so much it almost hurts sometimes. And when you try your best at whatever you do I'm so proud of you. I don't care if you win or lose if I see you trying your best. In sports, in Spanish, in everything. Just try your best and win or lose, A+ or C-, you never have to feel bad. I will always love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496442188051-D8JEL0OX91FMJ7JIHJ72/JoI047.jpg Did I Tell You... I didn't do a single April fools day joke on anyone yesterday - got to be a first for me. Did you get anyone at school? Fun is where you find it. Love is where you make it. Work is everywhere if you let it. Fun, love and work - is that life or what? All these necessary components to a healthy life. Love is the hardest to find. If you're lucky you're born into love - family love, and you at least have that. Finding love outside your family is not easy. It's not that it's hard work like digging a ditch but neither can you just go online and type in "soul mate" and hit "enter" either. Finding love is one thing. Recognizing it when you meet it is another. And keeping it, growing it is another still. It takes fun and work to make love. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496439212425-0SF7VVHQ8BEDU6Q3B6BS/ThI012.jpg Did I Tell You... Life is good! But there are still things that must be done that are hard and no fun. Life is good! But there are still people who do bad things that hurt us, hurt people we love, that hurt our world. Still, life is good! ... Because there is Love. (Learn & Live Theo) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496440166349-80K27FH094UEDZIHSJIT/JoI048.jpg Did I Tell You... A quilt of love. A warm, cozy blanket of love to wrap around yourself and keep you safe. Happy? Can a wrap of love make you happy? Keep you happy? I think that it can help with that but happiness takes more than the love of others. It takes love of ourselves. Why? Because love exists between two people or it doesn't exist at all. Each person brings love to the table and together they make a feast. So bring it on Joanna. Feel the love inside you and serve it up generously. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498155566352-00G5SVQA6KOQUYZD4OTR/ThI028.jpg Did I Tell You... Christmas time is about Love Theo! It's about the Love of little babies. It's about how all of us - all people in the world - love babies. The Swiss, the Italians, the French, the Germans, the Chinese, the Japanese, the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Iraqis - everyone. Everyone loves babies. If we could only all love each other. What a great world it would be! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152755613-H6PPM72QCIAA1K8L3H9M/JoI055.jpg Did I Tell You... For fifteen and a half years I've held a special place in your life - in your heart. You've certainly held a special place in mine. I try to show my love for you everyday and I hope you've caught just a hint of it from time to time. I know that someday, maybe soon, other men will come and earn your heart, at least a place in it. And while your love for him may feel complete - I hope there will always be room for Dad. I love you so much! Happy Valentines Day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152790979-SVUS2SIUK6I9JXEC0NU7/ThI019.jpg Did I Tell You... Good morning! You know what my job is? You know what the most important thing I have to do in this whole world is? To love you no matter what! To help you however I can! To teach you love other people! To teach you to love yourself! To help you be what you want to be! That's all! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498152872712-MDSNU1T2MO8P6HE9HQ6R/JoI056.jpg Did I Tell You... A tower that reaches for the sky rests on a rock or it falls. What's the rock in a family? Love? Love & trust? Love & communication? Love & understanding? Love & support? What's the common denominator in the above? Love is not a static thing. It changes and the people in love change. It's only fitting that it does this. As it changes, being the rock, the tower sways. It sways but it stands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498153420227-9TXJK9PXQBAU9N1DQWQA/ThN064.jpg Did I Tell You... Cry when it's time to cry. Love when it's time to love. Laugh when it's time to laugh. Love when it's time to love. Help when it's time to help. Love when it's time to love. Accept help when it's time to accept it. Love when it's time to love. Work when it's time to work. Love when it's time to love. Play when it's time to play. Love when it's time to love. Speak when it's time to speak. Love when it's time to love. Listen when it's time to listen. Love when it's time to love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498153050943-5B3S12ZOSBJBU2FD3M5K/JoI066.jpg Did I Tell You... Can you see what a beauty you are to me? Seriously! I mean joy and fun! Rain or sun! Walk or run! Happily! Do you know the love you sow you will reap & reap & reap. Ho! Eternally! Smile often! Relax often! Love often! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498155322057-HWIBIPUPCQU8RVP0S8RR/ThB036.jpg Did I Tell You... Two candles for two kids. Two kids that I love so much. Two kids whose hopes and dreams are my hopes and dreams. Joanna's moving on to college -- the big university life out in Arizona. You've got three more years here in high school, a lot of living and learning to do. But you'll do it I know. I have faith in you Theo. I got your back! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496441482177-D0E5ZA4CVUAKUQM3I50P/JoJ046.jpg Did I Tell You... Yesterday at the Memorial service the rabbi said "We are born against our will and we die against our will." But there's all the years in between that are up to us to do the most with who we are, the gifts we were given. Love yourself first - only then will you be able to love others. Does that sound trite? I don't mean it to be. I'm serious... love yourself, be yourself, be happy with yourself, grow yourself, discover yourself. I see so much in you Joanna. See it. Celebrate it. Share it. You're worth it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496441934500-A7M707EW73ZHFPMUION5/ThI020.jpg Did I Tell You... Take a moment, everyday - even if it's just one, but at least one - take that moment, in that moment remember you are well loved. And after you have taken a moment to remember that you are so well loved, take another moment to reflect on those that you love as well. Your mom (me, maybe?), your sister, GG, your aunts and uncles and cousins - certain friends can find themselves included on your list. Remember that loving someone doesn't automatically mean they will love you in return. You have to earn love, and even then, sometimes your loving them is still not enough. Love is hard & love is sweet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496441713186-GUCHPPSOKAX8OVV60XN5/JoI070.jpg Did I Tell You... I was having lunch yesterday with this guy who had called me into the 20 Pine St job and he told me this story that I thought you'd find amusing. He was working on a project in Taiwan and his company wanted to find an Asian exhibit builder to do it. He flew to Japan and was hosted by this big company for four days in Tokyo. When he finally went in to meet the big boss, he came into his office and the boss bowed low and said something in Japanese. Everyone else in the room gasped and the translator looked surprised but turned to my friend and said "He offers his daughter to you in marriage!" Don't worry, I'll never go that far to seal a deal. I love you too much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498153833742-LH8IAXKAIX9FQRRMZ1J3/ThJ085.jpg Did I Tell You... Workin' hard! Chippin' away at the rock of life. Tickin' off the words, the seconds, the sweat and the cracklin' synapses. Thinkin' to myself on paper - aimin' my love towards you like a sunbeam - all inclusive, all encompassing - always there for you. Constant as the Northern Star and a whole lot closer. ("Put your arms around me like a circle round the sun.") There's nothing like lovin' - the giving and the getting of it. Soak it in Theo - and never hold back from giving it to whomever you feel needs it - wants it, deserves it, returns it. Work hard my son for your future depends on it. It's not a scary thought, it's an awesome one. Grab the bull by the horns and wrestle it to the ground! https://www.foldedwisdom.com/finding-success daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496771335118-Z72ICKARX2H3SWPTBW9O/ThF87_1999.jpg Finding Success Your book report is totally awesome!! I know Laura helped you, but I can see your own thoughts everywhere. Really good work Theo! I'm so proud of you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496774742159-UT4LD1ICO7PJDGOY5K11/JoF015_1997.jpg Finding Success Multiplication will come. Multiplication can be fun. Multiplication is important especially if you want to work with computers! Have fun today. It is Friday after all. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496771249065-T09PLB3GKAHD8BLA4L97/ThF84_2000.jpg Finding Success "Use your head." Ever heard that before? Did you know your brain is like a computer? Imagine what a miracle it is to be able to think. God gave you a brain to use - use it well. Don't be afraid to use it. Don't be afraid to make a mistake. Your brain is a tool - it helps you work - it helps you play. Your brain can learn new things. There's lots of room in there. Mess around! Fill it up! Have fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496688924474-M7MXQWE81231YRX5PJ2M/JoE001_1995.jpg Finding Success There is / are soooooooooooo many things to choose to do! How do we make up our minds??? Well......... First - we think about the different things we can do. Second - we think about what we like to do. Third - we think about what we need to do. Fourth - we do it. We pick one because.... the truth is.... sometimes.... you never know until you try!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496768597626-D9B2WSP898XCR978ARD1/ThJ100_2001.jpg Finding Success School is play. School is hard work. School can be boring. School can be exciting. School can put you together with friends. School can sit you next to people you don't like. School has really good teachers. School has teachers that are not so good. School can make you sooooo happy. School can make you sooooo upset. School can make you proud of yourself. School can make you embarrassed. School is all of these things and more. School just is - so like Nike says... Just Do It! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764539102-6ENY7EQYR62YRXVG4KR9/JoJ010_1998.jpg Finding Success Do you know there are so many things so many so many many many many so so many many many many many things many things so so so many many things many things so so so many many things you can do do do do do do do do do you? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496758392884-AA475MI3ISTSG4SSEDQV/ThTao22.jpg Finding Success Can I say on this day the many ways you are and will be? The joys, the pains, the loss, the gains, the sunshine, the rains that await you. Day by day, week by week, month to year to grown up to always growing. You will never stop changing, growing, living, working, playing and just plain doing. If you don't get it today, then work and you will get it tomorrow. It's called learning. It's called living. It's called life! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496704726826-0LL27U18D5MCKI4WG6AG/JoE010_2000.jpg Finding Success Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work What a busy time for you - for all of us - lots to do - lots that's fun - lots that's just plain drudge (rhymes with fudge!) But that's ok - we're all in it together! You - me - mom - Theo. Our friends and family... There's no escaping it. It's all just part of life. Just enjoy the good stuff - look to get what you can from the bad and grow and learn and laugh and cry and try and fail and try and succeed and get a good nights sleep and try again! Love 'ya. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496768203539-8B9GJE7MQRWKQ0DRF5IA/ThJ038_2005.jpg Finding Success I was thinking about some good rules for you to try and live by this year and I came up with these: 1) Never underestimate yourself. 2) Define yourself by your strengths not your weaknesses. 3) Always do a little more than required. 4) Believe in yourself. 5) Never underestimate the amount of work you have to do and the time it will take to do it. 6) Put your schoolwork first and fun stuff second. 7) Remember that Mom, Melissa and I are here to help you, but you have to be willing to help yourself. Love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496761420411-1T6X0RAOXP0R8DJIAYEZ/JoE023_2001.jpg Finding Success I couldn't sleep very well last night. I woke up thinking about what makes people succeed. Succeed in anything - school, sports, business, life. And I decided that the one thing that contributes to success the most, more than natural talent and luck, is a willingness to try and fail and try again. Most of us are afraid of failure so we don't try things or we don't try our best or we laugh it off. We don't want to be embarrassed or hurt. It's natural to feel that way - natural but it holds us back. It keeps us from experimenting with new things or from reaching our potential with the things we think we know and like. So fight that fear Joanna. Try new things. And when it comes to the things you love, fight for them too. Work hard on where you need to work. Recognize where you're weak and work on it. Make yourself better. No one else can do it for you. It's your one life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491511296692-WY76LEKA6XM6PH0EMYRM/ThYCDI13.jpg Finding Success Here's an interesting formula to think about - STRUGGLE + SUCCESS = GROWTH It works! This one also works - STRUGGLE + FAILURE = GROWTH Everything we do involves struggle. Sometimes we win sometimes we lose. But no matter what happens we grow. We grow and learn. It all starts with the struggle. It all ends with growth. Cool hunh?! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496769246908-6NO13N54J5UTIO5HABVT/JoT008_2003.jpg Finding Success "Who am I?" That's the hardest question in the world. You can't ask anyone else for help. You can't solve it with a computer or a dictionary or a text book - the answer isn't in any of those places. The answer is only in one place - in your own heart. It's really in there you know - I'm not kidding. Look and you will find it. Be honest and you might not like what you see. But be true, be hopeful, be passionate and you will see that that image that you see is always changing. Always evolving, growing, always in the process of becoming. There is never any one answer to the question "who am I?" If you are living, learning, playing, working, then you are growing and changing constantly. Look inside yourself - what do you see? Do you like yourself? If "yes" then keep it up. If "no" then what do you need to change to make the answer "yes"? Start by seeing the good inside and try to add more everyday. It really works. I love and believe in you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764788626-BJ8LA2FQW44CPB99XKD3/JoJ041_2004.jpg Finding Success Take a deep breath Joanna. Close your eyes, exhale and relax. This year will march along and you will tick off, one by one, the many items on your list. You will jump the hurdles one at a time. You will be as prepared for each one as you can be. You will do the best you can and then you will move onto next year's challenges. You can and you will do it and you'll do it all in your own unique way. OK - now open your eyes. Repeat as often as necessary to relax, refocus, and play loose. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496767158311-ML6QLNTSZQD0YJB17IMQ/ThFx032_2006.jpg Finding Success It doesn't matter what other people think about who you are and what's good for you to do. Are you surprised I would say that? I don't mean that you shouldn't listen to your parents, teachers, coaches or friends - of course you should listen and consider. What I mean is that you have to look inside yourself and find your own value, your own goals, your own path. Then think about the things you have to do to make your dreams come true. There are always obstacles that stand in your way or challenges that must be faced in order for you to keep moving forward. Accept them, deal with them, overcome them and move on. Listen to your heart and follow your own path. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496770893338-AILQTCCDGKVP03S3HPVA/JoZ006_2004.jpg Finding Success Good morning Joanna! Somehow the note from your first day of school this year went through the washing machine. Mom was devastated and wanted me to remember what I had written and do it again. I can't really do that so I'm just writing you a new note about the first day of your Junior year of high school. It's a big year for you Joanna. You know that already don't you? You've accomplished so much in the years leading up to now. I feel like you're prepared for what's in front of you. Decisions to make. Tests to take. Sports to play. Friends to help and be helped by. In the midst of it all is you. I know it's hard to have perspective on yourself and to see yourself as special but you are Joanna - in so many ways. Let your light shine through this year and every year in everything you do! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496767297808-O5HWZENXZV8BW06NYE7G/ThFx038_2007.jpg Finding Success Last night at chorus practice we started right out with this Stephen Sondheim broadway musical song. I was nervous because I start it out with a whole verse solo. When it was over Marlene said, "your solo was good Bob, it'll sound better when you get some confidence." Ain't that the truth! Doesn't everything work out better when you have confidence in yourself and in your ability to do it - to get the job done? Confidence is key I think to success in anything. If you believe you can learn something, write something, or throw something well, the chances are you will. Have a great day and night Theo! See you tomorrow! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764136093-D10K757I1IYQFB40MPOY/JoE070_2005.jpg Finding Success Searching for love. Searching for faith. Searching for meaning. Being at peace with the search is key. Relax, have faith and work hard. Understand that you have your own road to walk down. You're walking on it already. With every step your story gets richer. Pursue the things you love. Always give 110% - whatever your best is and be satisfied. You will excel in this and fail in that. No one bats 1,000. It's OK. It's OK as long as you tried your best because you'll know it wasn't meant to be. If you held back you'll never know if you could have made it. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496767459617-6AY8ZIAFI2IT4VS7215J/ThFx042_2007.jpg Finding Success Know yourself! Know your strengths, your weaknesses, your likes, your dislikes, what's good for you, what's bad, what helps, what hurts, what you want to do and what you don't want to do. "Want" is a complicated word that we usually underestimate. "Want" has all that stuff I started this note with inside it. It's not only what do I feel like at the moment, for example, "what do I want to accomplish in my life?" Or more short termed like, "What do I want to accomplish in my Junior year?" It's good to think of these kinds of "wants." It's good to try and know yourself. Try to avoid the simple but mistaken idea that you already have a fixed idea of who you are. You're growing and changing everyday. Every day there are new possibilities. Try to be open to them and learn about yourself! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496770209707-H3AQI1SSTBXLU98HLO0C/JoF130_2005.jpg Finding Success "In 1934 I coined my own definition of success, which I tried to personally attain and get all my students to attain. It is 'peace of mind,' which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best of what you are capable." - John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach. Dr. Metzel put that quote in the front of his book "The Young Athlete" and it really struck me. Fear of failure, fear of losing is everywhere in our hyper-competitive culture. The ability to find peace of mind in that environment is huge. Whatever you set out to do always give it your best shot and then, win or lose, you'll know you didn't sell yourself short. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496758747762-0KWB2VNV90J924IVYUBA/ThYCDI9.jpg Finding Success Don't be afraid to take chances. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to realize you made a mistake, apologize and correct course. Draw a line with confidence and then draw another. Trust your eyes, your hands, your head and your heart. Don't be afraid to lose or you may never win. Take your work seriously. Take yourself seriously. When you do that your "fun time" will be sweeter. Have dreams. Make plans. Make them happen. Take care of your own stuff. Solve your own problems. Think about the problems of others and help however you can. Live your life well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496766546650-VLGFCL73I3GR4NEHT2QB/JoX158_2006.jpg Finding Success What is 100%? How do you give 100% to so many endeavors at the same time? Isn't there only one 100% in each of us? I was talking with your mom this morning about lots of things but one thing that stuck with me is this idea of 100%. To be a 100% good parent, a 100% good spouse, a 100% good boss or employee, a 100% good friend. How do you carve up your one 100% into all these different areas and be 100% in all of them? I guess the answer is you try to do it all - that's all. You just try!! So have a 100% good day Joanna. I love you so much (100%) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496758597631-6BT2VGIVQZ376HU44UWK/ThYCDI12.jpg Finding Success There's an interesting article in the NYTimes OpEd page by David Brooks called "The Art of Growing Up." He talks about President A. Lincoln (in my opinion our greatest president ever) and how in his time "to achieve maturity was to succeed in the conquest of the self." That "human beings were born with sin (and) the transition to adulthood consisted of achieving mastery over them." Lincoln was the successful product of that philosophy. Brooks goes on to say how in the 20th century that idea changed. "Progressive educators emphasized students' inner goodness (not sin)... self discovery replaced self-mastery as the primary path to maturity." I see in there two philosophies. The pendulum swing - one extreme is replaced by another - from total self-mastery over natural depravity to total self-involved, inner searching. Seems to me that somewhere in between is the path. Discover yourself and then learn to focus these talents and be the best you can be. Good luck in English today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496706325170-IATXI5IN8ZUFSXX0ZD4K/JoE024_2001.jpg Finding Success (I feel like I still haven't gotten used to writing "2001" on my letters and now it's almost time to begin writing "2002"! At least there's a certain symmetry to that.) (I have never seen such an amaryllis - four flowers on top and four on the bottom - amazing!) There are two options facing you when confronted with a new problem or decision in your life. You can say "this looks tough - let me get going!" or you can say "this looks tough - I could never do this!" That's it! It doesn't matter whether it's climbing a mountain or solving a math problem. Yeah maybe sometimes you'll come to realize that you took on a challenge that you just couldn't handle or solve - but take it on first. Then if you fail, you can still be proud of yourself for trying. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497991011414-W6CCKTQCAWZUZJX1SHH3/ThN050.jpg Finding Success Hope is an amazing and powerful thing! Think about it... where would you be without hope? "I hope I make this shot." "I hope I do well on this test." "I hope I can earn a B average." It's so important to feel hope in all that we do. Yes you have to work hard to try and make sure that your hopes come true, but without hope nothing is possible. Hope for a better future for the realization of our dreams is what makes living and working hard possible. Sometimes our goals seem so far away and out of our reach. Without hope we might give up. Yet it's exactly the time when there seems to be so little reason to have hope that hope is so important to have. Work and hope go hand in hand! I love you Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497997354944-JILECI3NOIBJYW964R0V/ThYCDI3.jpg Finding Success Nobody does it on their own. All of us need the help and support of other people to achieve our goals. Lean on me. Lean on mom. Lean on Melissa. Lean on your teachers. Lean on your friends. Lean on your teammates. Lean on all those people around you who care for you and want to help. You will grow faster and stronger and everyone else will as well. We help ourselves when we help other people. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496706475369-BE9UL2REMQP2JA7B2HQ5/JoE029_2002.jpg Finding Success Life goes by quickly doesn't it? Whether you're aware of it or not each day slips away into the next without much thought. That's why it's so important to use your time well. Make the most of it. Sure - include "hang" time in your schedule but also include focused time as well. Look around you wherever you are - home - school - the street - see what's there. Notice things. See the beauty that others have made around you. Think of things you can do to make your world a better place. If you see someone struggling offer to help. If you see something that needs doing then do it. It starts with seeing, noticing, being aware. Open up your eyes and mind to the world around you. It will be a better place because you're in it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496705736127-5453HQ3GEN8FHDH00JD5/ThYCDI2.jpg Finding Success Attitude - when you say "attitude" you really mean a good attitude - a good outlook - an understanding of what's going on and an acceptance of what you've got to do to deal with it. Concentration - once you accept what it takes to reach your goal, you have to focus on it and concentrate with all your ability. Effort - once you've accepted and concentrated your focus - all that remains is 100% effort. Am I talking about baseball? Sure I am. Am I talking about an English paper and a History test? Yes I am as well. A.C.E. applies to everything you tackle in life. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496707865931-PLQTQL9RND7HOMQ31DE0/JoE041_2003.jpg Finding Success You work hard Joanna. I can see that. You honestly try to do your best. You play hard too. Maybe that holds you back a little but it's who you are so what can you do? (By "playing hard" I don't mean drugs, alcohol and sex - just loud, laughing, physical fun!) So what do you want in your life? Fun? Love? Work? Fame / Fortune? You've shown me talent. You've shown me drive. You've shown me hard work. What have you learned about yourself in your 15 years? Think about it. Don't do it for me - do it for yourself. Really get to know yourself - who you are and what you want. Then work on your life the way you work so hard in school. Keep the fun, the friends, the family but don't lose sight of you! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496705891541-B4FYDK189RFPHD5LOJSK/ThYCDI7.jpg Finding Success Success isn't accidental. You've heard that before I'm sure - maybe even from me! Success takes planning and hard work, dedication and commitment, but it starts with the most important element of all - a dream! Without a dream what is the planning and hard work about? What dreams do you carry in your breast? (Dreams aren't like birthday candle wishes - you can share them if you want and they can still come true.) Mom and I are happy to help any way we can, but you know, ultimately it's about you! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496713331143-4TLL1JABBQ46GKKHRBL6/JoE056_2004.jpg Finding Success Good morning! Yeah, some things happen in life because of fate or happenstance; you look down and there's ten bucks on the sidewalk. But the things we really want to happen we have to work on making it happen. Then, like in any game of winners and losers, we make it work out or it doesn't. The difference is in the desire and the effort. It's good to want things for yourself. Now go out and do what you can to make them happen! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496715406901-OAV5JGL8VBPC5JT9VE2L/ThE034_2006.jpg Finding Success When I was growing up, there were times when I felt overwhelmed - that things were just too difficult to deal with. At times like that the easy, natural thing to want to do is to just forget about them, not do them, and just take the attitude that if I don't deal with the hard things they will some how just go away. I learned that doesn't work. Avoiding the hard stuff doesn't make it go away. The bad stuff hangs around getting worse instead of better until you decide to deal with it. It's not that you'll be able to solve perfectly every problem you face, but rather that nothing has a chance to be solved until you first decide to face it. Ignoring work, ignoring problems does not solve them. I know because I've tried too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496713415824-MVCBH8C510N9B3YMZ7R1/JoE069_2005.jpg Finding Success I'm not crazy about the focus of education these days with the pressure to get good grades and to "test well." To me grades, or the focus of leaning on grades, misses the point of education entirely. You know how when you have a teacher you really like he/she inspires you to want to learn, not to get a good grade because that will follow naturally. Kids are competitive and I guess you all spur each other on to get good grades. But my point is grades don't measure love of learning. When school is over and the grades are a matter of record, what's left if you didn't learn to love learning? Get good grades sure, but remember to learn to love because that's what you'll keep and that's what will really help you in your life. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496715849184-VP8UVH4N8WH8JCHCXZKF/ThE078_2008.jpg Finding Success It's never over until we say it's over - ever hear that before? While it won't apply to all things in life, it does point out an important truth... things that we have control of can be accomplished as long as we have the will to keep trying, keep working. Because once we give up - then it's over. We each decide what's important to us - what we're willing to fight for - to work for. Be careful about giving up too soon just because something is hard. That's all - that and I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496716532893-UF8QA9AU2YY02D4GQSZ5/ThX076_2006.jpg Finding Success Cooperation is key to success Theo. Cooperate with your teachers - your parents - your coaches - your friends. Cooperate means working together, both people asking questions and solving problems. Teachers don't speak to an empty classroom - they try to engage every mind in the room. Parents don't talk to hear themselves talk either. We talk because we have something important to say and we want to be heard. Listen and respond to your teachers, to us. You will learn so much and be a happier person for that. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/friends-family daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864285493-QFYVZ4WMICZ3FQ2VKPS8/ThR1.jpg Friends & Family Feels It's OK to disagree with our friends. But they are still our friends! Words are powerful, words go and make people feel good or words can make people feel bad or angry. It's always better to make our friends feel good. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862681795-G0W5NN32TGOT5O4SYJUR/JoR005.jpg Friends & Family Feels Friends. Friends care about each other. Friends often like different things. Friends enjoy being together and doing things that the other really likes. Friends sometimes give up things for their friend. Friends say "Thanks for being my friend!" Friends like you for who you are. Friends are great. (You are great!) P.S. Let's talk more about friends OK? OK! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864632498-FI5F6ST2WX0CHY6GMWLR/ThB044.jpg Friends & Family Feels Here's a picture that Joanna drew for you! Bunny / Bear teaches about evaporation! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862771571-7FGIOUQM14PWBYHYI6JY/JoR006.jpg Friends & Family Feels No two people are exactly the same! EVEN Best Friends can be very different! "Opposites attract!!" Ever heard that? Sometimes we like people because they're different than we are! That's OK you know! Mom and I are really different people - sometimes different people help each other balance out. Do you have any friends that are different? Just be yourself and don't worry! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861586704-JENUJQC8KKYPJ8V461IP/JoB018.jpg Friends & Family Feels Can you see me standing here - next to mom, next to Theo, next to you? Working - helping - playing - cooking - reading - drawing - singing - changing - trying - succeeding? Can you see yourself standing here - next to mom, next to Theo, next to me? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864387596-LKNEL91PKRK2WMU6XI6E/ThR003.jpg Friends & Family Feels Hello Friend! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861689431-O4D2V2LUU0YUV23NT69A/JoB038.jpg Friends & Family Feels It's hard being the oldest kid in a family. People really expect you to set an example for the younger ones. To show, with your words and actions, the "right" way to act - to treat other people - to share - you name it. It's not easy, I know. Nothing is easy in life - or rather, a lot of very important things are not easy (but so worth it!). So try Joanna! Try for mom and I - try for Theo - and try for yourself. Keep it up! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863269165-D7XV21DJFZIAW87HWIDM/ThB003.jpg Friends & Family Feels Life in a family is fun. Living - Loving as one. Finding the new under the sun. Living - Loving as one. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862610828-Y7YY59O1E4ISZ0TM1AJ1/JoO020.jpg Friends & Family Feels Today would be my dad's 79th birthday. He was born in 1919. Next year he would be 80. It's hard for me to imagine what he would look like as an older man - he was only 58 when he died (13 years older than I am now). Happy Birthday Dad!! Hope you get as much joy from your kids and grandkids as I do!! Love ya - your son Bob. Love you Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864699821-ZSJA749HPTJFHDBD36RG/ThB052.jpg Friends & Family Feels What a whirlwind trip. A "whirlwind" is something that happens when suddenly the wind whips around in a tight circle - blowing leaves and papers with it. That's sort of what our trip was like don't you think? Most of it was fun - the car ride up was not much fun. I'm sorry for that. Next time we'll try to leave earlier. It was fun to see all the aunts, uncles & cousins - of course GG too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863025484-ISRXW960EMLE4I18RO8O/JoR027.jpg Friends & Family Feels What is a friend? Someone you share your feelings with. Someone who cares about you and who you care about. Someone you like to be with, who makes you feel comfortable, safe. Someone you'd do anything to help. Someone who trusts you to keep a secret. Someone you can laugh with. Someone who can laugh at you and it doesn't hurt. Someone who you know is not perfect, and who knows you're not perfect either and it's okay. Someone you can cry to. Someone you would defend and who would defend you. Someone who would never make you do something if it wasn't good for you. Someone who encourages you to be yourself, to be your best. Someone you support whenever you can. Someone you make sacrifices for and who sacrifices for you too. Someone you forgive when they hurt you 'cause it happens. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862958302-UM23RQWJPWJB78OEG5QA/ThR10.jpg Friends & Family Feels Theo you have so many good friends - in school and at home. Have fun with them. Learn from them and - important news here - be a good friend to them! Friendship is a two way street. Treat your friends good. Play the games that they want to play sometimes. Share your things with them. Then they will treat you good in return. Have fun! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862479277-OOBNN6D6EB4L8ZEDLVXR/JoN039.jpg Friends & Family Feels So much goes on in a life today. What a complicated tapestry we weave - from the moment of our birth to our last breath. So many people we meet and even the least of them shape us somehow by our contact. The really big people in our lives - our family mostly and then our friends - shape us in incredible ways. Through it all the colored threads of ourselves form and reform over and over gradually taking on a shape that is unique - that is our life. Live it! Love it! Know it! Have fun with it! Be yourself! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496864045097-NHDKJC2FMV8AXSRTOCO3/ThC005.jpg Friends & Family Feels Life is funny Theo. You are born in America, in a Big city in 1991 and you have one set of experiences. And those experiences shape you like you are made out of clay. Different experiences different shape. It's not quite that simple but almost. Your cousin Ryan grows up in a very different place - a big farm by a very small town - horses, pigs, cows all around. No big buildings, no movie theaters or museums. Just lots of land and animals. Two different experiences! Two great guys! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496862817550-6DS358RZSHSAYISSKZL6/JoR022.jpg Friends & Family Feels Seems like a lot to do going down the road of seventh grade. Lots to study. Lots to learn, lots to play, lots to learn, lots of friends, lots of plans, lots to learn... We learn so much from our friends. We learn so much from our friends. It's so important that we choose good friends. You have many good friends I know. And you yourself are a good friend to many others - it works both ways. When I was growing up I was lucky to have so many good friends among my own brothers and sisters. Listen to your friends OK. Be a good friend. Grow and learn to love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863331269-MSL8JL0GCH1JY5NV4BSP/ThB014.jpg Friends & Family Feels Happy Halloween Dude! I hope you had a good weekend and it sounds like you did. Next time tell your friends that you're not allowed to watch "R" rated movies okay? I think that they sound too violent for you to be watching at your age. You will have many times when you have to tell your friends things that you don't do - like smoke cigarettes or pot or drink beer. You have to be able to say no to your friends sometimes - It's part of becoming a Man! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861824484-3LI9I7UDVA8CKZ6YBHIB/JoB065.jpg Friends & Family Feels My brother Jim's daughter Genny is turning 21 tomorrow. That's hard for me to believe. I can remember when she was born like yesterday. I have a picture somewhere of Jim, a very young Jim, wearing no shirt and holding a naked baby Genny in his arms. He was so proud and so in love. One of the greatest, most powerful moments in a man's life is when he holds his newborn daughter or son in his arms for the first time and realizes that this is what it's all about. I don't know why I'm writing this to you now - I was thinking about Genny because of her birthday and I was thinking how fast kids go from babies to adults and how fast you're growing up and how much I love you. My dad wasn't active in my life. He loved me and he worked and supported us and his presence was there but one on one he wasn't. I'm trying to do a better job. I hope I am. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863911207-OEDZ9XH6UA0SG6PH6UTR/ThBx044.jpg Friends & Family Feels Good morning! You're a lucky guy you know to have a big sister like Joanna. I know you might not always think so but I know you would agree sometimes. Brothers and sisters are a different kind of match - or maybe I should say a "match of differences" instead. Because they're automatically very different just because one's a boy and one's a girl. But people are different for more reasons than just their sex and you and Joanna are different for sure. But you have one big thing in common... your family. So help and support each other. Accept the help and support when it's offered. One day you two will be real important to each other. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497533968235-LN4PJ0206I72ZMEDPTRV/JoN070.jpg Friends & Family Feels Good morning honey! I love you so much! You know we're born to parents without a say as to who they are. We're born and our early years are spent in places where we don't have a choice - we don't get to choose our environment. Our group of friends we seem to choose but the pool we pick from is small and circumstantial. If we were born somewhere else our environment, our friends would be different. What if you were born and we lived on a farm? What if we were French? Or Italian? Or Russian? Or Chinese? How would you be different? I used to wonder what I'd be like if I was an only child and had been raised my whole life in Brooklyn? Would I have a ton of friends? Would I long to travel the world? Would I live with my mom and take care of her? Think about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863471021-5RCN4LKZ92MWFRHGTNTF/ThB030.jpg Friends & Family Feels (Today is your Uncle Jim's 50th B'DAY!) I was only 15 months when he was born and we lived in Boston. I can't say I remember the day but I remember a lot from the years that followed. Jim has always been a great brother to me. In many ways he felt like my older brother. He was always hatching plans and making things happen for himself while I laid back, learned to play the guitar and drew. It was fun growing up together. I know it's different having an older sister but love her and you'll always enjoy each other! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497534226869-ZCQ9Y7H7QRPR9RK7NA8W/JoR029.jpg Friends & Family Feels A surprise party for Isabelle's 16th? A fun, appropriate idea! I would have liked to have seen her face when she walked in - must have been precious. It's nice to be thought of by your friends - makes you feel like a wanted part of the world. We are all men and women, girls and boys of our time. The times we live in are unique in so many ways yet the issues we must face are the same ones that have been around since the first humans. Love, hate, jealousy, passion, ambivalence, search for truth, search for what makes us "tick." You and your friends are embarking on the same journey that mom and I are still on, that our parents and their parents were / are on. Open your eyes. Open your heart. Open your mind and go! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497534346811-CXUYIMX2US1COSDRMI7P/ThM004.jpg Friends & Family Feels I've been thinking about my mom the past few days. Thinking about all the things she did for me and my brothers and sisters, to help us grow up right. Guiding me with her example. Working her butt off to make our home life special which was not easy with 8 kids, a father often away at sea and no money to boot. But somehow she gave us all the gift of Love. Your mom is working to give you that same gift - Love. She's working to help you see how good you can be if you only try and believe. She's working to show you the way to be the best you can be. She's loving you with all her heart. Love her back Theo. Show her your love by listening, trying, believing, learning and succeeding. She's holding up her end of the deal, now you hold up yours OK!?!! I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498240571277-6TEQ6QOO39A50OUILT9P/JoR043.jpg Friends & Family Feels I want for you to discover yourself and to be happy with that discovery - be happy with who you are. I want for you to find new talents in yourself all the time and to find ways to use those talents that benefit you and others as well. I want for you to love yourself first and then take that love outside and share it with others. I want you to understand that people change and grow better through love and support than by criticism. I want for you to understand that friends today will be friends tomorrow if you treat them that way. Yet your heart will never be so full that there won't be room for another and another and another... always! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863746072-B8XIUM13QCD5ZGZDUA1K/ThBx043.jpg Friends & Family Feels History is so personal. You come from the joining together of two families, who in turn come from four other families. Guest, Caprio, Plotkin, Chambers, Kuhn, Sullivan. French, Italian, Jewish, English, German & Irish. Long before Intercontinental airlines made travel easy - these people rode steamships and trains and buggy & horse to get together and start new families with new possibilities. We all pick and choose what we want from our past but in large measure we are who we are and we are where we came from. Draw strength from your past of artists, business people, sailors, farmers. You are one of the first athletes. Start a new legacy - a new branch - be yourself and go far. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496861980568-URJT7C9S0EIX6REN1Q5R/JoE095.jpg Friends & Family Feels I love watching you interact with your teachers (yes teachers) and friends at school. I know you want "BIG." I know you want out now and I can understand why. I also can see the bonds you have, the love you share, the fun it's all been, the good and the bad together have made a hearty soup and you've enjoyed it all. College, like high school or anything else, is what you make of it. When you put your whole self into something, so many new, unexpected yet exciting things come back to you. You discover things about yourself that you didn't know existed. You've discovered many things at BC. There's so much more of you waiting to burst out. Enjoy! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863638567-ZBM3ONPR257ZH6Z6FOB9/ThB073.jpg Friends & Family Feels A family is like the pocket the quarterback moves in, looking at his options, unhurriedly releasing his pass with the best possible chance of success. A safe haven, a sheltered cove to anchor in to plan your next journey out on the open sea. There's a time to lounge and relax in the safety there, and there's a time to use that safety to free your mind and your time to plan and work and grow. I was impressed at your parent teachers conferences on Friday. Impressed with the appreciation for you that all your teachers showed. Room for improvement yes, but still plenty of success. Keep it up Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496863376556-IGRSW9KL2GYS98Q7MFNE/ThB25.jpg Friends & Family Feels The trees on Rugby silohette starkly against the brightening morning sky as Sunny and I round the corner. The image clears my head and I think of my sister Marcia - like I have been every morning since she died last August. Sisters are special creatures and you and I are both lucky to have at least one. Marcia was - and still is as far as I'm concerned - the oldest of my family of siblings. No one can ever knock her off that perch. Joanna will always be your older sib - pace setter - life example - fierce champion - strong ally (sp? God I'm a horrible speller) - helping hand - voice of reason - and more and more and more still. Love her and listen to her and try to be all those things in return. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/times-like-these daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1501780065124-YPCWC79XMYZDZ8QH8RRN/ThF125.jpg Times Like These Today is a new day! Understand. Today life begins again! Live. Today is an opportunity! Try. Today is the first day of the rest of your Life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869605288-MRQY8LOYUBFUXX2WREAR/JoO040.jpg Times Like These I haven't had an opportunity to write to you since the events of last Tuesday morning. There was a small article in the paper Wednesday about the failure of words to describe what has happened and the effect of it on all of us. Well words are what we have so they must suffice - we must express our feelings - even as they change - particularly as they change - as time goes on. God allows many things to happen that we can't understand why. Why are some people born healthy and others born deformed? Why do some couples have children and others are unable to? Why do tornadoes and earthquakes and hurricanes happen and harm so many people? Why do we live to witness the destruction of the World Trade Towers while others perished in them? Are we better than they? Probably not. But here's our chance to try to be! My dad had a pin that read - "today is the first day of the rest of your life!" So let's get going! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963367199-VATEWGLT2N1TFPZL4BFJ/ThI026.jpg Times Like These There's a lot of good in the world - look for it and you will find it! Theo there's a lot of important work to be done in the world - open your eyes and look for it - it's there! Theo there's so much love in the world - open your heart and feel it - it's there! Theo I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869723247-6Q7QSAYO84KLU58IDSW4/JoO041.jpg Times Like These The world is changing Joanna - right before our eyes. Watch, help, learn, grow - It's really not so different from what you would do anyway. The sky is blue. The night is cold. The moon is new. Our love is bold. While I'm waiting here this heart of mine is singing, lover - where can you be. I don't know why that verse of a jazz song came into my head - maybe it's because it's about searching - a longing for love - a love that's out there somewhere in a cold, new world. Look for it and you will find it Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869878100-NN1BPEV5GQPDDOHK0G03/JoO042.jpg Times Like These Today is the one month anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Towers. One month is not a very long time in the big scheme of things but it still seems like it happened a million years ago. So much of our lives have changed in so many ways in such a short time. Not just for us personally but for the whole country. It's a time to rebuild, a time to examine ourselves - all of us - to see who we are - what do we do to make the world a better place? What do we do to spread love within our family, with our friends, with strangers we meet on the street, with people who feel and act differently than we feel or act? It would be a mistake to believe that we, as individuals, can do nothing to change the world. Believe in the power of love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869999015-DW79IWL534XSS610YAK9/JoO052.jpg Times Like These The anniversary of September 11th will always be as special day in our lives. As New Yorkers, as Americans, as people alive in this time in history. The event will always be ours to try and understand, understand, learn, grow and change and hope and pray. Pray that nothing like this will ever happen again. A tall order that is. But not impossible. We have to open our eyes to the world around us - try to find ways that we can help make it a better place. Not just for ourselves, but for all people! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870249603-BAHUYN8C4H95FGPZBYJM/ThB017.jpg Times Like These Man we read and fell right asleep last night. It was 10:00 when you went upstairs but 9:00 when we both closed our eyes. We must have been tired. Today is 9-11 -- the second anniversary of the attack on the twin towers. You were 10 years old and in your first year of middle school. Remember? I picked you up from school and we came home and watched the news off and on all day. It was a beautiful, early fall day - just like today. The thing I want you to think about is that yes, there is hate in our world but also there is good. Tremendous good. You are surrounded by good people - me, your mom and sissy, your GG and aunts, uncles and cousins, your teachers, coaches, friends, policemen, firemen, storeowners - so many people not just here in NYC either, but all around the world. Remember all those good people and always try to be a good person yourself - like you are! I love you so much! I believe in you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870106087-TEZCMMNK3WLQJSS9IXSW/JoO079.jpg Times Like These Hard to believe that it's two years to the day since the Twin Towers fell. I went to see the show of photographs by Mr. Law at the church on Carroll St and 7th yesterday. Mom was helping him by sitting there for an hour. He took pictures of the pictures of missing people that family members posted all over downtown. He took pictures of firemen and policemen and American flags everywhere. The pictures are sad reminders of the many people who lost their lives and the many people who loved them. They also reminded me of the goodness of the vast majority of the world of people. Yes there is hate in the world. Always has been. But there is much more goodness and caring, love and compassion. It's hard to comprehend the enormity of the loss that happened that day. It's up to us now. The living, good people of the earth. To carry on and fight hate by spreading good. Love yourself. Love your friends and family. Love strangers. Help make the world better and safer. I love you so much. I believe in you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512544432-R7CEITU5AEB0VTIK6145/ThTimes3.jpg Times Like These Today is why we study history Theo. To remember. To learn. To teach. To not repeat the mistakes. To honor the innocent who suffered and to vow never to repeat or allow to repeat these sins. You were only a 10 year old boy when the Trade Towers fell, but try to hold onto the memory. I left my office and went to BC and picked up you and Joanna and brought you home. We watched TV in the living room at the Ansonia and we cried. I called my mother and brothers and sisters to let them know we were all OK, but our world has been and will always be changed. Go on in your life Theo. Be the best you can be and make the world the best it can be as well. It's our duty to ourselves, our world, our God. Amen! I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513536223-Y4JKW07JBWUZHM2ZRP0I/ThTimes4.jpg Times Like These Seven years ago - you were ten years old then - the trade towers were brought down by what we call "terrorists." What a shocker that was. What a terrible tragedy it remains. The lives lost. The lives altered. A city scared. A country changed forever. I look around at the legacy and wonder how much we have really taken the lessons to heart. Yet I remain hopeful for our country and our future - the world's future I mean. Oil dominance must be stopped. Tolerance of different peoples, customs, religions must be increased. A broader idea of our important goals must be fostered. Hopefully a new president will make (help) that happen. Hopefully your generation will do a better job than mine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513359459-G92HTKE6XRM1TIBVGL7M/ThTimes1.jpg Times Like These A silly poem - made up on the spot for a leader with wings. OBAMA IN '08. Who woulda thunk it? (Last day of classes go ahead and slam-dunk it!) "Only in America" you hear people say. When something almost unbelievable happens today. An inspiring man. A man with a plan, To bring us back to a country we can stand (behind and be proud of.) We never know what lies ahead. Will we be pleased or come to dread (our decision?) I think pleased (I hope.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513684931-26XXWAVC77YLSYV38AHL/ThTimes12.jpg Times Like These It's like a dream this morning - OBAMA is our 44th president! I can hardly believe it. I'm proud that enough people in our country were capable of seeing past race to a genuine man of heart, intellect, judgment and ability. He certainly has his work cut out for him but I believe he has what it takes to do a good job - the best job - the right thing. You can go to school today proud to be an American! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513781757-NPBEUALLXRZDIE9NY1IW/ThTimes13.jpg Times Like These Some number between a million and two million, suffering together for a short time, for a memory of a lifetime. I hope for great things from this man Obama, that we call our 44th President. Can he inspire banks to lend money? Markets to feel confident, peace to grow where war has been the rule? A huge order to fill, yet we ask him to try. We ask him to tell us the truth. To care about us and others in the world. To care and to try. He asks us all to care and to try as well. He asks us to be aware of other people's pain and suffering and to help however we can. Be patient and seek to understand yourself first. From there be patient and seek to understand your family and your friends. From there be open, be patient, be considerate, be helpful, be loving. That's what the world needs! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963092099-SAWHAXMZRXOFOM7P2UEU/ThF016.jpg Times Like These This is the day to remember all those men and women who have fought in Wars to protect our freedom. Your two grandpas - Dan & Frank both fought in World War II. If they were here now they would be very proud of you. As proud of you as I am. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963001488-6M4TXDS5VVZ8JHR6EZ1W/JoX068.jpg Times Like These The internet is very cool - very very modern - as "modern" as you can get I would imagine. I mean what could be "newer" as a concept? Computers, which make it all possible, have only been around for 15 years - less - 12 years maybe. Fiber optic phone lines that let info travel so fast are only 5 years old. Communication has been around forever but never so fast, so instantaneous, so easy. Friends (I guess strangers too sometimes) can just pop into our work at anytime (a good and bad thing - sometimes welcome, sometimes not). So much information available too. So many sites you can visit. I guess I just want you to be careful. There is a lot of weirdness on the web too and how do you know? People (and sites are put up by people) can find out about you too, just by opening up a site. Definitely don't give anyone your name, age, sex, phone #, address, etc. That info could end up places you don't want. Protect your privacy Joanna. Be careful! Ok?! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512504323-DMQH2T4EC3RUM262X418/ThTimes10.jpg Times Like These Good morning! Do you ever wonder how other people live? I do sometimes. I saw a picture on the front page of the Times of a group of women sitting behind some thorn bushes and waiting for bread from a relief agency. They were chased from their villages by rebels and had nothing but the clothes on their backs. Can you imagine life like that if it happened to you? We are so fortunate in this country. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869354373-1MC5EA9LGO2PPAWLGL60/JoF105.jpg Times Like These Good morning! I really enjoyed reading your essay on the Weimar Republic. I enjoyed hearing your voice inside my head as I scanned the words. I enjoyed the arguments you raised and the examples you used to support them. I enjoyed your extrapolation to the present situation in Iraq. History is so interesting. You can look back 60-70 years and grasp the different forces - the causes and effects - that shaped events of the times and trace them all the way to today. "She who does not know history is doomed to repeat it!" So true. So important. Excellent job Joanna. It may not feel easy to you to write like you do - but you make it sound easy and that's a gift. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512616844-WUWF89EDXTW6C05JXFPR/ThTimes8.jpg Times Like These Yesterday a student with a gun killed 32 fellow students in Virginia Tech and nobody knows why. Even if they ever find out some things about his reasons, they will never be able to explain such a horrible, unimaginable act. I think of Joanna away at college and I think of the parents of those 32 kids and I sat here this morning and I cried. How much do I love you and Joanna? How much did those parents love their sons and daughters? Totally! Completely! Immeasurably! Words can't describe the feeling of a parent for his child. Everyone is somebody's child. Think about that every time you hear about an accident or flood or famine or war death. Everyone is loved. Everyone is special to someone. We are all loved. I love you Theo! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870417089-L8B9PZJOWA1H6U0T0ZOH/JoO087.jpg Times Like These Good morning! There's so much in the world that we ignore as we live our lives... Our sheltered daily lives. So much suffering and violence in different parts of the world. Disease, famine, war - how are we supposed to deal? By being aware and being willing to do something to help in anyway we can. It's not easy because our own lives seem so full of things to deal with - imagine a different life? Share the love! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512666423-3EAZU2HWIDWHID9YB6KS/ThTimes14.jpg Times Like These History unfolds day by day - it never stops - not as long as there are people living on this 3rd rock from the Sun. History goes way back to the first humans and continues right up to this very second. The Iraq war will be an important turning point in the history of America and the world - as will 9-11-2001. This is history you're living. Know what's going on around you. Try to see the connections, the courses, the results. We are all connected - all brothers and sisters. Learn to accept and love and not judge your fellow man. Good luck today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496870567419-OD0EJJGVK3E0QSTED60U/JoO090.jpg Times Like These "These are the times that try men's souls." - Winston Churchill, about the bombing of London in WWII "It ain't over 'til it's over." - Yogi Berra, great ex Yankee catcher "Sometimes a cigar (baseball game) is just a cigar (baseball game)." - Sigmund Freud, with additions by Bob Guest "Hakuna Matada." - Pumba "Que sera, sera." (Whatever will be, will be.) - Doris Day "Let's go Yankees!" - Millions of Yankee Fans. If the BoSox win maybe Kerry will too. I'd take that trade. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491512723052-ZYM6W6COU9DA091XFJOM/ThTimes5.jpg Times Like These Ever hear of the Little Rock Nine? Well, Little Rock is the capital city of Arkansas and back in the days when schools were segregated by color, the biggest, best, all-white high school in Little Rock was Central High School and that summer the President ordered school systems to desegregate - meaning that black and white kids had to attend school together. The Little Rock Nine were 9 black kids, boys and girls, who were selected to be the 1st black kids ever to go to Central High. National guard troops and mobs of angry parents surrounded the school and in spite of racist bigotry at it's worst, they did attend and graduate from Central. A hard, hard thing to do. Imagine if you were forced to attend school like that? Could you stand up and do it? You're pretty lucky! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496962551435-BPGV0FEO0GTR6TZH1HIT/JoO095.jpg Times Like These Isn't it funny how America is so evenly divided these days? Why is that? How is it even possible? I heard there's an election for governor in Washington State that, at the last count, had one candidate winning by 42 votes - out of the whole state! Amazing isn't it? For everyone who feels passionate on one side of an issue, there is someone equally passionate on the opposing side. It's almost ludicrous (sp?). I mean it would be funny if it wasn't so serious. So you examine your views to be sure it's what you believe. You listen to the other ideas because they deserve it too. And you shake your head, laugh, and work for change. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491513640227-CF4T6TQ9ICNGZ27D3OKH/ThTimes6.jpg Times Like These Read the paper this morning and I have to say the news isn't good. Not much about Iraq - or even the election right now - it's all about Wall Street and the Bank Collapse and the credit squeeze. Even the article about the children's exhibit wasn't flattering. It's important to not close your eyes to what's going on around you but at the same time, no matter what, you have to stay optimistic and keep the faith. Trust that things will work out alright as long as you keep working hard and believe. I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498240867216-XMAK56AMTDKXXBZ10H2A/JoO099.jpg Times Like These Ancient Rome - Modern Rome. Romans - Italians - People. How old the culture on Italy - how young the culture here in the U.S. As old as the Roman culture was, the Chinese culture goes back even further. Thousands of years further. Human society in Africa further still. America's not even 250 years old. Think about it. I'm 50, so go back to when my dad's father was born and this country was barely 100 years old. My great grandfather lived during the Civil War. It's all so recent. We're all so connected to it. America isn't even a teenager yet. We act like it too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496869484472-15WWVWYL81OP4RPGZCPH/JoN093.jpg Times Like These Solitude. That's what Thomas Merton's all about. Solitude and love of God of course. But Solitude as a path towards love. Not an escape from life, but a deepening of awareness. In our world today it seems like everything conspires to make it impossible to achieve solitude in our lives. Quiet, thoughtful introspection, and communication with ourselves in the world is almost perceived as a bad thing. "Without a steady stream of sound and images we are nothing" - the gurus of technology tell us. Don't be afraid of silence; of being alone in silence. Relish it. Step into the world by taking a step out. Gain insight, awareness, perspective, love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496963438257-TSE8AH6GRGKGOJNHUOQ8/ThN037.jpg Times Like These Everything came in pairs this morning. First there was the pair of Hasidic women walking up Argyle. Then a man walked by with two dogs on the leash, while off on Coney Island Ave I could hear first one, then two sirens roll by. Last night a pair of star basketball players were the story in a game 7 and on the front page of the Times was a story about a Chinese couple that had been trapped in the earthquake rubble for 28 hours, holding onto each other and talking and helping each other stay alive. Two people meet and fall in love and the result are two more people to go out into the world and make it a better place. We all need a little help from someone - help to be the best we can be - to keep going and not give up when it gets tough. Take help when it's offered - give help when you see it's needed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496962750401-1RTRQVXVSX3QOVIFAE0H/JoO107.jpg Times Like These What matters most in a life? Happiness? Success? Love? A family? I shouldn't ask questions that I don't know the answer to. I look around me here at the relative comfort that we've built and the paper is open next to me with headlines like "79,000 earthquake dead" and a picture of a man walking, crying through the destruction of his neighborhood in New Orleans. And I'm trying to have perspective on my troubles and concerns which are real I understand, but I'm alive, I'm blessed, I'm struggling, I'm thriving, I'm loving, I'm loved, I'm focused, I'm easily distracted, I'm confident, I'm concerned after 52 years I'm still searching for answers. I guess we always are and always would (will) be. So keep searching Joanna - life comes in a torrent with answers in trickles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496962837261-LXY71UCT5DNN9SN88B27/JoO113.jpg Times Like These You know I feel more and more like a minority in this world. I'm white and well-to-do by the standards of many places in the world yet I feel invisible and un-represented sometimes. I can't believe the direction our country is moving and I feel powerless to really change anything. I want the world inherited by my generation to be better than the world we inherited so that I can pass on a better world to you, my child. Yet now the world is so full of rich vs. poor, Christian vs. Christians, Muslims vs. Muslims, oil vs. people, that the news is too filled with violence to listen to or read. So many stories of suffering people it's hard to want to work for a solution and instead we want to escape and ignore. Too many thoughts to write here. I don't know why I went off on this thought this morning? I'm really all concerned with my mom and my family. I love you! https://www.foldedwisdom.com/contemplative-envelope daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479535458-1RSTE1NDCKCH94QJGQFM/JoN007.jpg Contemplative Envelope Everyday when I write your note I start with your name "Joanna." Then I think... "What day is it?" and think of yesterday's note and add one more. 3-4-96, 3-5-96, 3-6-96. The days pass, one by one. No matter where we are, or what we do, whether we're old or whether we're new, it's just the days of our lives we're passing through! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491433000286-K6DWQ4E0QXI4A9Z962FC/ThTao1.jpg Contemplative Envelope Take time to relax and think about Life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479662153-28D2OOHK8TI1OOKD592M/JoN015.jpg Contemplative Envelope I wonder... what Life could be if we thought about things to do that help others and in return help ourselves. I wonder........ Love 'ya. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477890754-V8FOAU8F25VRWJRSMY28/ThN059.jpg Contemplative Envelope Oh Theo - is it true? When you wear your new black shoes you can jump as high as you choose? Oh Theo - is it true? Oh Theo - tell me no lie. When you play superhero you can fly back and forth across the sky? Oh Theo - tell me no lie. Oh Theo - is it so? You're the greatest from head to toe. Tell me tell me I've got to know. Oh Theo - is it so? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479732142-8AUNTJZ0CTAT8U1ICDYT/JoN029.jpg Contemplative Envelope The world Joanna - you can't imagine how beautiful it really is. Think of the different places - tropical islands, snow-capped mountains, deserts of sand, miles and miles of green fields. It's awesome! Think of the kinds of weather - bitter cold - blinding sun - stormy wind and rain - cool breezes, warm winds. It's awesome! Think of the people in the world - black and brown, yellow and red and white - old, young and babies of each. It's awesome! And just think. You get to be here in the middle of it all. So what do you do? You smile - you say "thanks" and you live! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491435227655-411QRC8CRUHM4H9OP9QO/ThTao13.jpg Contemplative Envelope The world is a beautiful place. The world is a confusing place. The world is a happy place. The world is a sad place. The world is so big. The world has so much to do in it. The world is small. The world is boring sometimes. The world is so exciting. The world is so fun. The world has so much love in it. The world is yours - use it well. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479946255-66GI6YJAHC4ODJJAZBKU/JoN052.jpg Contemplative Envelope In the mornings sometimes I'm struck by the simple beauty that we take for granted every day. If only we would open our eyes, tune our brains to the wondrous beauty channel, and see the amazing things that are right before our eyes. A morning picture for you. Enjoy! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497476587584-R05TJM29YW726GYDEVL9/ThN094.jpg Contemplative Envelope What could be better than getting up every day - taking a deep breath and swinging your legs onto the floor and standing up? What could be better than just being young and alive? Enjoy it! Live it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480051965-8YDD40IONAOYZ53MKF0J/JoN055.jpg Contemplative Envelope What is happiness after all? Is happiness getting what you want when you want it always? That sounds more like some kind of incredible lucky selfishness to me. Yet getting what you want sometimes could be part of being happy. What does "want" have to do with "need"? Sometimes things we need we don't think we want. Funny but true. Those are the needs we don't recognize yet. Later we realize that something we needed as missing. Maybe happiness has to do with recognizing what our particular needs are and understanding the difference (and accepting it too) between our needs and things that we want. Why am I talking like this this morning? I don't really know. I guess that struggling to separate my own needs from my wants is something I'm involved in and I hope you are too. The more you understand yourself the better you are! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496714094740-HKPUHYDRT8LHDU7KKW3J/ThE013_2002.jpg Contemplative Envelope Open your mind Theo. I know that we all see the world with our own eyes. Our own unique eyes. From the time we are born our biggest challenge is to understand ourselves and to understand that other people are different from us - different not wrong. So learn from other people. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Listen, think & learn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480129266-ABNTMMB8QZPSPRMRI3GO/JoZ002.jpg Contemplative Envelope One of the hardest yet most important things for anyone to do in their life is to see themselves - see and understand. Understanding yourself is a broad phrase and I mean it in a broad sense. Understanding just who you are, what you believe in. Understanding your limitations yet always trying to expand them and grow out of them. Recognizing that you're changing and attempting to direct that change. Make goals and then work to achieve them - doing what it takes even though it's hard. Shaping for yourself a vision for yourself. Recognizing that you will only have this one life, no second chances to start over, to accomplish those goals. So make the most of each day, each opportunity. Find the joy in growing and becoming Joanna! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491502401126-RV1KI22SXC0QHBEO0R1C/ThTao18.jpg Contemplative Envelope When Michelangelo went to carve his sculpture of David, the marble was a huge, rough block. Michelangeo said he could "see the finished work inside the stone." So he began to carve. He chipped here where the head would be. He chipped there where the hand would be. He carved and carved for weeks and months. He knew what he wanted it to look like and he didn't stop until he had it. Carving a sculpture. Writing a paper. Becoming a ballplayer. They all take time, effort and the desire to be your best. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480235069-T08Q8ETOMPH7II09BVJF/JoN059.jpg Contemplative Envelope Life can be so beautiful Joanna. Incredibly beautiful! A sunset, a beach, the mountains, the clouds, an "A" on a test, a smile from a boy you like, a hug from your best friend. So beautiful it almost hurts sometimes. Yet life can be full of pain too. War, murder, poverty, drug addiction, fatal car accidents, a "D" on a report card, a snub from someone you thought was a friend, the guy you like hooking up with someone else, missing the free throw that would have won the game. All different degrees of beauty and ugliness for sure, but all these things co-exist in our world, in our lives, and why? Why the ugliness and pain? Why in every sport does one person or team win and one loses? It just can't be any other way. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477546845-RFZBHC5G4ROR0BHNZPXY/ThN049.jpg Contemplative Envelope Time goes by without stopping - ever! Babies turn into boys who turn into men. Changes happen slowly and seem to sneak up on us. When we realize it and become aware it's like they happened overnight. We are shocked. But we shouldn't be surprised. We knew it would happen one day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532516959-V6TE45JA1D53F4XSPVZS/JoN072.jpg Contemplative Envelope Good morning. It's funny how we act differently around different people. I know that I act different around the director of a museum than I do with my employees or with a stranger. Buddhists believe you treat all living things with the same respect regardless. Jesus taught that as well "Love thy neighbor as thy self." Are your parents your "neighbor"? Are your teachers and friends your "neighbor"? Are the homeless people on the street your "neighbor"? Are starving children here and all around the world your "neighbor"? I think so. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498242402401-TVBR7C5U34898XCEH7KM/ThN038.jpg Contemplative Envelope Walking Sunny this morning through the neighborhood, I could hardly believe we live in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the World. Green grass wet with last night's rain, the sky gray but tinged with pink and blue and the ground around our house covered with pink petals. Take time to notice and appreciate your surroundings Theo. Our world can be such a beautiful place. In your life, help to keep it that way. Be responsible, live responsibly. We really have no choice. I hope we choose a responsible leader this Fall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497480341545-RSK6XR6WLAUQAJ04O7OA/JoN065.jpg Contemplative Envelope A silly cartoon of a very beautiful girl. Your pictures were sitting here when inspiration struck. We are who we are even though we do our best to make ourselves into who we want to be. At 50 I still struggle every day to be a better person - to be more like I want myself to be. Some days I succeed better than others. All the days of my struggles merge to form the picture of me. The good days and the bad days blend into a whole. At least that's the way I see it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491435578787-YBSFCC27READN5NUVMJ9/ThTao23.jpg Contemplative Envelope "On your own two feet!" Ever hear of that expression? Ever thought about what it means? I'm thinking about it this morning because we all have to stand on what we have. God gave us two feet to stand on and he gave us those same two feet to take us where we want to go. Most of us don't think about our feet too much - they're a long way from our head - but where would we be without them? Your feet are strong enough to hold your weight and then some. They're strong and flexible enough to walk you anywhere you want to go - to run and get you there faster if you want. They may be a long way from your head but they'll listen to you and go where you tell 'em! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497479246208-OU3NTCGUNSOOZDT9NCW4/JoJ044.jpg Contemplative Envelope Good morning starshine! Reach with hope for the light. It's there in front of you, play catch with it. Watch it. Study it. Bask in it. Work for it. Try. Try. Try. Grow towards it like a flower towards the sun. It's the salt in your stew. It's the honey on your lips. It's always there, just out of reach, but calling you on. Run, swim, climb, hop, skip, jump, sing, smile, dream to it. Always reaching. Never arriving. Full of love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477417735-DKSJN01KNZ0R5K6WLOIU/ThN044.jpg Contemplative Envelope You know, every morning I read stories in the paper that make me cry. Stories of whole countries full of people being murdered or starved or washed away in floods or dying of diseases. So many people suffering in the world today, while we talk about sports and colleges and new clothes. I'm guilty of blocking it all out as much as anyone else is. It's hard to live your life crying for the whole world. At the same time it's important to understand how fortunate and blessed we are as a country as a people as a family. How many talented people in the world never get a chance to work hard at their dream? I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532707228-DYAVW87O508HY38MFGKL/JoN095.jpg Contemplative Envelope Good morning! "Sink or swim" I was just thinking about what that phrase means. When you're in the water it's up to you if you stay above water and make it to shore. The water doesn't, can't "care" about you and what you do. It's all up to you. It's not so obvious a choice on dry land. You can sit back and do nothing and survive. What would the phrase be that catches the dry land choices? "Sit or run"? Maybe... To sit could be akin to death and to run could be achievements. I'll have to think about it some more... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532645138-Z4N2PDLEL2NGEII56TL7/JoN087.jpg Contemplative Envelope It's all about being quiet and listening. Listening to the quiet voice inside your head. Listening to the sounds of the world around you and hearing yourself in it. Your thoughts... what do they sound like? Do they sound like dreams? Hopes? Wishes? Do they sound frustrated and angry? How about happy and full of love? Be silent sometimes and hear yourself think. It's good to listen to yourself, to listen to your ideas, dreams, goals. When you can hear yourself, only then will you be truly able to hear others (good advice for me too!). I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491503238448-4IFVCER9PEDTLEQYJOHP/ThTao7.jpg Contemplative Envelope A quiet morning this morning. We slept in the guest room and I forgot to set my alarm, but fortunately woke up anyway. Quietly. Gray and damp outside as I walked with Sunny. Quietly. A single seagull flew hard and straight towards Coney Island. Quietly. No bird sounds save a morning dove a few houses down hooting. Quietly. Around here it's just the hum of the refrigerator and the scratch of my pen as a truck breaks at the light. Quietly. If you're up I can't hear you. I guess you'll be down soon and we'll be off to school. Quietly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497533033316-4UNW6A0LV9PF8RNTKYY6/JoN103.jpg Contemplative Envelope What a dumping yesterday hunh? Everything is smoothed and rounded and waist-deep white. Now, in the morning light, the snow is gray blue with a hint of lavender - beautiful. People can dump on people sometimes, rounding out their features, burying their unique light in a glob of anger and frustration. People can be supportive and illuminating of other people as well, bringing their specialness out into focus with the light of love. We build up; we tear down; we do both. I guess one goal for ourselves could be that we try always to build up more than we tear down. To illuminate and support more than we bury and crush. A worthy goal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497476436358-E5BB92MNZB0IITJLDINA/ThTao6.jpg Contemplative Envelope The world of ideas. That's what we live in. Ideas are everywhere and all around us, coming at us and coming from us. What ideas to listen to, to follow, to choose, to believe in - which ones are "right" - if not objectively "right" at least right for us? When we hear something for the first time, what's our test for truth? How do we judge its correctness - its appropriateness? Ideas come at us from all directions - too many to handle really so we make filters for ourselves so that only certain kinds of ideas get our attention and we disregard the rest. That filter changes as our maturity changes, as our interests change. It's healthy to be aware of our own filters and to try to open them up a little bit when we can. It's called being open minded - a good thing! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532923078-L3WMQC5MA3M9650E8E9Z/JoN101.jpg Contemplative Envelope To walk, to dream, to wonder about it all. To think big, to think small, to stand down or to stand tall. Who will hear us when we call? To fly and fly and fly and fly yet be nowhere but high. To laugh and laugh and laugh yet cry. Go all day long and never see the sky. Impossible to speak without sounding a sigh. Yet we walk and dream as time rolls past. We fly and laugh and hope to last. Sailing on tied to the mast. We see the time in our shadow cast! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496768789939-ACMUHTYDLMUZNKZ9W3JQ/ThT10_2009.jpg Contemplative Envelope Someone left a fortune cookie fortune on the counter here and it reads "If you wait too long for the perfect moment, the perfect moment will pass you by." Sounds pretty true to me, although it's really hard to know when you're waiting too long or just the right amount of time, because there's some luck involved in the equation as well. "Hurry!" "Act now!" "A limited time offer." We hear these sales slogans every day, but that's other people trying to urge us to buy. The fortune is about decisions we have to make and whether we miss our chance to be what we want to be. So be what you want to be Theo! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532781418-SVN531B879KSUZSXC1T5/JoN096.jpg Contemplative Envelope The sun rises up in the eastern sky just like it's done millions and millions of times. Will it continue for millions and millions more days? Creation. The earth. Art. Life. Find the key to unlock your door and follow the path forever more. Experiment, learn what works, what feels right and what seems wrong. Put it in your mouth and taste it before you say no. Open your heart first to yourself, then to another. At 17 try everything you can and embrace or let go and live as you do. Discover not deny. What are your choices? Who says? Who are you? Where are you going? Why? These are not scary choices - this is the excitement of living. Celebrate yourself every day. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497476908264-4WSL281A6SPJVK0XBW3J/ThN032.jpg Contemplative Envelope There ain't no reason things are this way. It's how they always been and they intend to stay. I can't explain why we live this way. We do it every day. from Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason There is a reason actually - several of them. Things like selfishness, greed & laziness are a few I can think of right off. We all are guilty of them at one time or another. It's hard to break out of the comfortable shell we live in, see people suffering, see things that need changing, and decide to do something about it. Be a son, be a brother, be a friend, be a student, be an athlete, be a ceramist, be a lover, be a father, be a changer of things. One hat at a time or all at once or any combination, that's what life is. We are born thinking only of ourselves. Growing up - maturing - is about learning to turn that energy outward to the world. You're on that road. Walk it well! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497477046772-8ZC5DY2G2OHNXLEYDGUQ/ThN035.jpg Contemplative Envelope Mornings - school mornings - work mornings - sleep in mornings - up early mornings - dark dog walking mornings - swimming mornings - biking mornings - beautiful blue mornings with incredibly bright crescent moons and a scattering of stars - so crystalline - so beautiful - achingly so - so glad to be alive morning. Decision-making seems fresh and possible on mornings like this. God seems in his (her) heaven on mornings like this. It's good to be loved on mornings like this. To feel that love in your bones, in your heart, in your head, in your smile, in the first person you meet on the street. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497532859714-WT6YR0S0E1I131FFVLKH/JoN098.jpg Contemplative Envelope Go to the well and draw the bucket up. Drink deep from the icy cool - drink again, as often as you like... It's there for the taking. It's there for those who work to bring it up. You called it. You want it. So drink! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497478143771-4YY6JGL8XD4BME10ZY6T/ThNx080.jpg Contemplative Envelope Poetry churns and humms like an engine that only you control. Reading is like turning the key and starting off on a journey. Writing is a gift from me to you and you to me - pass it on. Living is a raft trip down the Colorado river paddling for dear life. Love is holding on to the back of a bird as it soars and dips and perches on a sea cliff nest. Singing is unlocking the door. Learning is the greatest gift to yourself you can give. https://www.foldedwisdom.com/teams-work-together daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491514377454-O2EA0YRTGNQ2EQMCJFUG/ThField3.jpg Teams Work Together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554515042-NA049Z5Z9LDWR08TX9GU/JoG002.jpg Teams Work Together Hey!! Let's play catch!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553754277-BHH1XKSP1ZXQTRO7K8DD/ThG027.jpg Teams Work Together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554447529-4RIABWDPRRMS3GW9LZUD/JoG001.jpg Teams Work Together Went to a Yankee game at Yankee stadium in the Bronx. Forty Seven Thousand people came to see 'em beat the Sox. They were not disappointed - the score was 9 to 1. I can't remember if I've ever had so so much f-u-n. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554018219-LDGBT3Z69OQ6XO2TE0ZK/ThG081.jpg Teams Work Together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554810424-V24IZ16PTWRYJ360CXNV/JoG003.jpg Teams Work Together You wouldn't believe the game last night. It was the closest game I've ever seen. Each team really wanted to win. At the plate they looked real mean. At the end of nine innings the score was tied 4 to 4. And after 10, 11 and 12, neither could score any more. Then the Mariners homered and made it 4 to 5. Then Paul O'Neill homered too and kept the Yanks alive. Then - bottom of the 15th with a man on first the Yankees homered again. Yanks 7 Mariners 5 was the score at the end! Yeah Team!!! P.s. I put tons of butter on the broccoli! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554162180-M5FQBLJGSETBI5V29UVG/ThG095.jpg Teams Work Together Rain Rain go away - Baseball is what I want to play! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555073628-DH01S5S95FE1JOVS3UQP/JoG067.jpg Teams Work Together Sports! Sports! Sports! It's fun. There's camaraderie with your teammates and that's good. There's discipline and practice - good lessons to learn. But there's something else too - something that I missed out on by not playing sports as a kid growing up. That something is challenging yourself to be the best - to be your best - at something. Then believing in yourself - in the skills you've worked to achieve and challenging the other team, the other players, the pitcher when you're at bat, the person guarding you when you're dribbling up court, challenging them to stop you, to get you out if they can. Testing your best against their best. Isn't that why sports is more than just hitting a ball around? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554095589-GT61N9YVWME0RTNZDV8V/ThG092.jpg Teams Work Together Theo makes an unassisted double play! The first of the year! Go! Colts go! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553011745-I6L93WOC7POWBR1GH44W/ThE007.jpg Teams Work Together Hakeem Olajuwan makes 500 jump shots a day! Practice is what makes a good player out of an average one! Practice makes a great player out of a good one! Have fun today! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555182874-VW1TG3YX5XIWUXT9Z7AC/JoG069.jpg Teams Work Together Teamwork - it's Work to be on a Team. When Teams Work together, they win. Team: a group of people who play together to win at a sport or competition. Why do you think they call it work? Being on a team is a challenge. You are challenged to be your best and to help your teammates be their best. If you do that - if everyone does that - you will have a winning team. Every team has its share of hot dogs or people who think of themselves as superstars. They go with the competitive nature of sports. All you can do is be your best and try to help everyone - even the "superstars" be their best as well. It's called "sportsmanship." It's called "team first." It's called "leadership." So leave those other feelings off the court. Play as a team. Win or lose, play your best and have fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555521278-NYKWZZ3YZH01G8AS6UZR/JoG092.jpg Teams Work Together Good morning. Whenever there's a lot on the line, the challenge for the player is to relax and play loose. The natural tendency is to tighten up and feel nervous, which makes it harder to do your best. It's like walking on a curb without falling off is easy. But put that curb 100 ft. in the air and you'd never go near it. I don't have any magic way to help you relax in this stressful year. But maybe just remembering to play loose, thinking about it from time to time, will help you achieve some measure of success. It's not easy I know. But it's important to try. So be calm, relax and play loose Joanna! And remember that I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491514981877-G75DNXA1A0LBY2KUUCWN/ThField10.jpg Teams Work Together Hey Theo do you like to win in sports? Do you? Well the listen up and I'll tell you how. Ready? Here's the secret... 1) Practice - you can never be "good enough"! 2) Share your game with your teammates - help them - show them. Don't criticize your teammates when they make a mistake and they won't criticize you... because we all make mistakes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497556039377-L3CHFYBW9LQGGP19GVVT/JoJ035.jpg Teams Work Together It's another day Joanna. Another day to try and succeed. To experiment. To learn. To laugh and have fun. To love and support. To discover the best that you can be. And you can be pretty damn good! You put your heart into whatever you do. You care about other people, your friends, your teachers. You care about your school. Today you take yourself out on the court for your last game of the season. Bring your "A" game. Spur on your teammates to play their best. Play with heart, passion and desire to win. I can't wait to watch. Win or lose - play your best. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515127463-F7TXZD8LK6NQ55BLGAHB/ThField6.jpg Teams Work Together It was a pleasure to watch you pitch last night. You looked so calm and in control the whole time. Even when a couple of errors on ground balls put runners on you stayed focused and you pitched your way out of it. I was so proud of you. Anna Roma came up to me and said - "Theo looks so good out there!" I said "He sure does. What do you expect? - He's my son!" I love you so much! Do you see how good you can do when you stay focused? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554315012-QTDMKE5NQ80G3B2HLU1T/JoE059.jpg Teams Work Together Good morning good day! Hey Hey Ms. All Conference Whatayasay? Pretty impressive! I was very proud of you! I surprised myself at how proud I felt carrying your trophy as we left the gym. Silly I know but I couldn't help it. I thought you really had improved this year and I was glad to see it recognized. I don't remember which coach said it but one of them said that success in sports is directly correlated to the hard work and dedication you put in. It's really true in academics as well. Put in the work and see the results. You're proof of that theory as well! I love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496766286878-WLLKTXSLS1G5WK5HLGLL/ThG009_2005.jpg Teams Work Together Always try and keep the idea of giving 100% in the front of your mind. Focus on that idea, whether your in school in class, or dribbling down court or pitching on the mound. That will give you your best chance to succeed. The other thing to do is relax. So take a deep breath and just relax yourself whenever you are starting to feel stressed. Being relaxed will help you think more clearly. So be focused and be relaxed and remember that I love you and I believe in you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555374342-OHIASZG6Q6C6DHR4CFED/JoG072.jpg Teams Work Together Just learn from every game Joanna. Think about what worked and what didn't work. Think about everything - the good and the bad. Think about it all as the learning experience that it is and slowly you will get better - the team will get better - and you will win. I didn't realize that you were embarrassed of your team - I'm sorry that you feel that way but I can see how I might feel that way if it were my team too. So hey! Try to get yourself to a mental place where you can accept it (not like it - just accept it) and then play and work on things that need improving. Say "Okay - this is where we are - let's make ourselves better!" You can you know - you know that right? Positive attitudes grow winning teams - it's not just a line of crap. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553845876-ME5W0U2NWWNBDDKFHBGI/ThG053.jpg Teams Work Together Workout all your muscles. Work out your brain as well as your body. Workout the whole Theo. Make him stronger and smarter. Apply the same ideas about exercise to learning as well as to strengthening your body. The same rules apply, regular practices, regular workouts. See the connections? Have a great day! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555726753-YVDL37PISUZ5FNQ5E6JK/JoG098.jpg Teams Work Together "Wow! Who's that no. 8? She's really good!" You played well and deserved the compliment. How many games have you played that went into extra points? How many back to back? It was draining to watch it must have been brutal to play. You played as a team and in the end you lost as a team and it was an honor to be there. It's not a crime to run out of gas like that so be proud in your disappointment. Volleyball is a game that those who don't play it assume it's easier than other sports - they couldn't be more wrong. I love you for your drive, your determination, your energy and enthusiasm, your desire for balance, the way you're in touch with the deep flowing currents of your feelings. You have more talents than you know. Live and discover them! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497553645539-7OROOHO2L9GTHO7X0QF3/ThG010.jpg Teams Work Together Keyspan Park!! Wow!! Hard to believe I was watching you pitch there. What a blast! Will any other field feel good enough now? You seem so at home on the mound it's amazing and fun to watch you do your thing. After that monster home run in the second I wondered how you would handle yourself but you came right back and got the outs. Very calm. Very controlled. Very good. Excellent in fact! Keep it up! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515253801-U1BYSELVC41R973K16T2/ThField7.jpg Teams Work Together Calm, control, focus, instinct, intelligence, skill, practice, and coaching. It takes all of it to succeed. No one does it on talent alone. You have that in spades Theo, now recognize what you need to add to it and get the help you need, do the work you need to do and grow and grow and grow yourself up! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497556112919-S4KZV54WW3EWO1KSI6DH/JoJ063.jpg Teams Work Together There's an old Christian saying that goes something like "God never gives you more than you're strong enough to deal with" I shouldn't have used quotes because it's really just a paraphrase. Atheists would say "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Deal with your ankle, but then forget it. Don't worry about it and play because you can't do that well - you won't be able to play your best unless you just mind over matter it and forget it. You won't be happy with yourself and your contribution to that team unless you do. Be smart; prep before practices and games but then go out and just play. I almost didn't write this because I know you will do this anyway. I love you so much! (By the way, I subscribe to both theories). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497554224055-OBBCEZENLXIRU12ZLT41/ThG126.jpg Teams Work Together Bernie Williams received an honorary degree from Iona College yesterday and he made a speech. He said that when he was a teenager he knew he "had the have the ability to outwork" the other prospects. It's important to recognize early in life that you have to work at what you love to be a success. In baseball particularly, losing is a big part of the game. It's no fun I know. It stings like crazy. But the best remedy is to keep working for the next game. To make yourself stronger, smarter, more experienced. Build on this defeat and do what you can do to make yourself a better player, a better person. You will have many more successes and many more losses. It's part of the game. But learn and practice and you will have more successes and a great life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515812755-UYWZH7OTPHPC0UOR27ZK/ThField8.jpg Teams Work Together When you're on the mound and there's 2 outs and the first baseman boots the ball allowing a run to score - what do you do? You shrug it off, take a deep breath and go after the next guy. In basketball you get a steal, bring the ball down the court and kick it to a teammate under the rim who misses an easy shot - what do you do? You shrug it off, take a deep breath and keep playing hard - keep playing to win. If you're down by 10 in the 4th quarter? If you're up by 10 in the 4th quarter? You still keep playing hard to win. You protect the ball, play defense, go for rebounds and steals, take smart shots. That's what you do. I'll be in Boston tonight, but I'll be rooting for you. Have a good day! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497555850681-DIJP4D7MST4E0C929YTA/JoG102.jpg Teams Work Together It was a nice day for softball yesterday. I'm sorry that it didn't turn out to be a good game and a win for BC. Don't let it keep you from regaining your confidence and winning again. It would be nice to go out on a winning note. You guys have the talent, now you need the faith and the confidence that belief in yourself brings. Everyone needs that. Belief in themselves I mean. We all need it "in spades" as they used to say. It's not always easy - it's never easy. But it's the way to success. I love you Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491515914718-II5K4Z9PO4NEBNFGXRNR/ThField12.jpg Teams Work Together Losing is always painful. There's only one solace you can take and that's knowing that you did everything you possibly could to prepare yourself and you held nothing back from your all out effort. If they are going to beat you, let them have to beat the best "you" there is. In sports they often say that the team that "wants it" more than the other wins. You know all this stuff - that you have to believe in yourself, you have to have the right attitude, concentration and effort. You know that. But knowing and doing are two different things. So don't put it off. Do what has to be done now because tomorrow may be too late. Then losing will really hurt. I love you! https://www.foldedwisdom.com/there-they-go daily 0.75 2017-06-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496347669461-O8TLBR00N23M7SEMISGE/JoBestJob3.jpg There They Go As unlike your senior year experience is as compared to my own, one thing is similar. Getting mentally prepared for going out on my own was tough. The things you do consciously and unconsciously to enable yourself to take that step are almost archetypal in their commonness. I want you to know, now that I see it from the vantage point of a father rather than a son, that it's difficult, necessary, important, emotional and beautiful from this side of the aisle as well. I want to say that I think it's possible to enjoy your last full year at home and still be ready and fortified for the adventure of college life. Our job and obligation as parents has always been to prepare you for this point. How'd we do? I don't really know but I'd say we didn't do too bad! Never be afraid to take a chance, be yourself and love and be loved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890857140-03PCL785JFE9RZJ4TQ9T/JoT026.jpg There They Go This year is / will be full of little milestones; little points of light that illuminate the road you've traveled and hit at the road that lies ahead. Now, as always, it's a question of life in the moment. Taking care of business, trusting in the future. You can't hold onto this Senior year, you can't slow it down or speed it up. Your friends, like you, are part out there and part inside themselves thinking, planning, hoping. You've touched so many people on your short trip to date, probably more than you know. And you'll keep on affecting people as you go on from here. Make your own choices, consider your strengths and use them to their fullest. A somewhat disjointed string of thoughts this morning Joanna. Every one a separate theme I could have expanded on. Instead, I touched each one like a prayer. I love you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497889858667-1AAMFPXWC8KFQRR2BQ6Y/JoE080.jpg There They Go This is your class year - 2006! Ring it in loud! Ring it in proud! After a long stretch of house guests it feels strange (good) to be sitting home by myself writing to you this morning. Essays, applications seem so "yesterday." Waiting, working, dancing almost tripping through the winter now - eye on the spring. Time flies by. It always does. Blink and it's tomorrow. You have chosen your list of candidates for your reasons and now they will choose you for theirs. Feel, love, work, be happy, enjoy, cherish, hold on, let go, fly (home). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890531622-6CRPRPU50CKCW5T7JI7W/JoN099.jpg There They Go Your hearts treasure lies and waits while you travel on the shimmering arc of your life's path. Is it the destination or the journey that matters most? A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Take it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890592844-UHJT7BRI09E3UY9BCP2A/JoN100.jpg There They Go Fly away! And on your way - from time to time, stop and remember! You may have to fight for that extra point, for that extra base, for that drink of water. Be prepared! And when it's your turn - share. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890184916-CHF5FZQS8REJALU9GQPZ/JoF153.jpg There They Go Second half time now - downhill fast. Stay loose and keep your weight back. It's a long way to go to the last page of this chapter of (in) the book of life... of your life, so stay focused. I say the end of this chapter but there really is no "end" per se. Your life will just roll on and on through one stage to the next. School years are some of the shortest, most defined stage of your life. How will you define the years after college? As your 20s? Your 30s? Your child rearing years? Who knows? I know that right now your high school ship is heading into the harbor. As the years go by I think you will look back on this time at BC as a good time in your life. Hopefully a good time that prepared you for the good times ahead. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1515604294950-G8MKN80JEI8ZPSD6AQ94/Sagmeister_JoT027_v1.jpg There They Go Always there are things worth fighting for. Dreams worth striving for. Friends worth sharing. Strangers worth helping. Lovers worth loving. People worth forgiving. Never stop looking inside yourself for what you are really meant to do. Never stop looking around you for what needs doing. Shake the hand that helps you and offer your hand to help others. Go out the door each morning with your dreams on the tip of your brain and thankfulness in your heart. Work for the things. Want these things. Live for love. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496764259421-EWSA4NT4BV8DVMFHPPHK/JoE083_2006.jpg There They Go Taking steps to the door marked "Exit" on one side and reaching for the handle on the door on the other side marked "Entrance." There's quite a few steps left to take actually, classes, tests, breaks, softball, internships, an 18th birthday. Take all these steps slowly. Savor them like your favorite food. Enjoy them, even the hard ones, they'll never come again. Nothing ever comes again and we never seem to appreciate our time when we have it. But try to anyway. Not to hold onto things that are fleeting, but to appreciate and experience them wholly, share them, enjoy them, and let them go and carry them with you as you walk through the next of many doors. Have love. Have faith. Have hope. Have fun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497891101628-0AUDE9T1VXBXPWCD4SR0/JoT028.jpg There They Go You know, how easy it will be to deal with your goin' away to college is not the point for me right now. I'm sure it will be hard for me, but I think I understand something of the natural order of things and I will be able to deal with it. I'm more invested in you right now to worry about me. I'm so proud of the young woman you're turning into right before my eyes. And I'm hopeful that the right one of all these colleges you've poured your heart and dreams into will recognize and appreciate and want that same young woman too. I'm patient; I'm livin life one day at a time; I'm watching the trees for signs of spring; I'm enjoying these days. I hope you are too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890113610-8MY72HRHLT2FVMWFSRK3/JoF152.jpg There They Go None of us ever can know what is in store for us in our lives. It's just not possible to know the future. All we can know or seek to know, is our own selves and what goals will make our souls grow and expand to our fullest capacity. Sure we have dreams, we make plans that depend on other people to come true, but the important goals are ours and ours alone to achieve. You have to look inside yourself and find the path that you alone must walk. Right now you're at the threshold of your college career. You chose your schools to apply to and now they've all responded. You have your choices but are any of them where you really want to end up? If not, then choose the one that will better prepare you to apply again to a school you really want next year. It's your career. It's your dream. Don't settle for anything less than your hearts desire. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890292966-CHUOLPV4QQ2PQMR2ZIYZ/JoJ060.jpg There They Go So U of A it is! I'm so happy for what I know will be a fabulous adventure of discovery and growth. There will be plenty of challenging work, new friends, new experiences, new ideas for exploration and fun in the sun as well. The selection process was a long and necessary road to walk and you walked it well. I can feel your comfort at your selection. I can feel the "rightness" of it as a starting point for your higher education. Now all that's left is a few exams, an internship, and a softball championship. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890369882-6L3EGG70HFAXPLBE1EUR/JoJ061.jpg There They Go There's a fine line sometimes between happy and sad. As fine as a thought of leaving home. As thin as a plan for new friends in a new place. It's as plain as the nose on your face. I know. Everyone knows. The stages of life, the changes of venue, the comings the goings the goodbyes the hellos. Finish strong and move along. It's all you can do. It's what you must do. Don't worry, your Brooklyn tail will wag behind you wherever you roam. It will always be home. Go ahead and be sad and be happy. You deserve both! Love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497889936919-8XYMWHTR77TNR9CWAEQX/JoE089.jpg There They Go Work, like anything else you can think of, is what you make of it. (Picking up a theme here?) Go on out there and try things - that's how you learn about yourself and the world, but whatever you try give it your all, see what's really there, what the limits are, what the applications to your life lie inside. Lots of options, most of which may not be appropriate but don't settle for anything because it's easy, choose it because it's right. I love you so much Joanna. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1510697670950-E9BLZRPRWWLZ5R6ZAX7A/JoN108.jpg There They Go Appreciate your life. Be thankful for your good fortune. Share your gifts. Help those around you to realize their own gifts. It's because we "stand upon the shoulders of giants" that we can see so far. Look for opportunities to grow. Look for opportunities to share your love. Remember that everyone in the world feels as you do, that they're special and deserved and loved. Everyone has the same rights as you, but everyone is not as fortunate, blessed, loved, gifted. Be kind. What a gift kindness is to both give and receive. Be kind! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496765140882-91VDQAFIVNFNZ8R917WD/JoJ062_2006.jpg There They Go Its your world now - your choices, your dreams, your path to walk. I'm here, mom's here - whatever we have done we did because we thought it was best. Whatever we can continue to do we will - we always will. We won't change too much - what you see is what you get with us - and I'm sure that some of what we are will be what you need from time to time. Life isn't always a straight line from point A to point B. It loops de loops and zigs and zags and goes forward and returns. It's the great thing about life I think. You can look back and follow the path, but looking ahead it's only til the next turn. Just keep your eyes on the prize and put one foot in front of the other and you'll be OK! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890750262-42RF4CKZCJ4I84471UZ8/JoO116.jpg There They Go "The East" with its mass of people and history and old buildings - small and huge - dense, teeming, diverse, chaotic, frenzied is home - at least it's always been home for you - for us. (Me? I grew up all over the place - every 2 or 3 years a new town, a new school, new friends - very different than your experience). But "the West" is a cool place (in a hot way) and I think you'll love it's "differentness," its open spaces, its huge sky, its warmth, its people, and all the other differences you've yet to discover, and will discover, for yourself. You can't help being nervous about it all - and excited too I hope. Just let the feelings flow through and do what you gotta do and you'll be fine. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497890645732-KC5AF6DS983W2I2XUIBK/JoN109.jpg There They Go What a metaphor a bridge is! The connection from one place, one state of mind, to another. The path that lets you crossover. Do you need a bridge this summer? What will it be? Summer itself? Time? People? A job? Your family? Walk on out over the water Joanna, just put on your walking shoes and hit the road. Open your eyes while you go. See what you're leaving and where you're going. Remember your way home! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892330747-XITFW0Y7HCJ3OKBTPRD7/ThF77.jpg There They Go Working out with you last night was a little bit of a revelation to me. I realized how weak I have allowed myself to become - through laziness partly, but also through age - and I'm going to try to reverse that trend however I can. At one point we were sitting there resting and I looked in your face and saw you as a man. For an instant I imagined what you'd look like at 25 or so. I saw the man to be in the face of the young man sitting in front of me. Being a man is more than building a strong body (although that's a good, healthy part). All the years of family love, all the years of school contribute to a young man's sense of his ability, his dreams and his confidence and courage to go after them. I can see that growing in your face Theo, and I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497893162217-B8BSNBK6NWIZVAKZ41HV/ThT11.jpg There They Go Lots to keep in mind, lots to work toward, lots to look forward to, lots to dream about in the second half of senior year. College, career options, baseball, classes, prom, spring break (training), friends, a job, money, a drivers license - what else? I'm sure you can think of something that I'm missing. Work it, but have fun at the same time. These next eight months are so important, special, so full of change - make them fit you like a glove. Be yourself now more than ever. Look at the world through your own eyes and trust your instincts. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892920040-F51XTVYEZPB8A1C4UYXF/ThO10.jpg There They Go You know there's a book titled "Dear Theo"? It's a collection of letters written by Vincent Van Gogh to his brother. I read it years ago. Back in the days before telephones, computers, the internet, letter writing was the only way to communicate from afar. We're not very far apart you and I, but letters work to keep us in touch - at least my letters keep you in touch with my thoughts. Yesterday I was thinking about my own father and my relationship with him. The 3rd boy - the fourth child - I didn't get much of his attention. Dad was busy all week - working long days or out of town entirely and we were a pack of wolf cubs running around with GG trying to tame us. (To be continued...) I love you Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892839122-IDI9KI2D8T1LISOMABBZ/ThO9.jpg There They Go (contd...) I woke up this morning thinking about my dad - trying to remember the times we did things together or talked with each other or that he helped me with anything and it was a painfully short list. My dad worked all day, came home, read the paper and Time magazine, ate dinner, and watched the news and went to bed. I guess I learned from the best hunh? I've never been very good at conversation have you noticed? I guess I've been teaching that to you as well. Everybody says that girls talk but guys keep it inside - why is that? Lack of an example? Lack of experience? I think that as easy as you might think it would be, talking about yourself is hard and maybe we're just too lazy to try? I love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892266368-EHLZV0NNCKST1J5FJSNG/ThF74.jpg There They Go What does a man do in uncertain times? In times of decision making? In stressful times of unknown future that seem so important, so necessary yet so confusing? Where's the compass set on your own true North? Where's your personal GPS? Your mapquest with the road to your destination all outlined in purple? Well I've got an answer for you - it's right there inside of you. Look around at the options and then look in for the right fit. In the end, some choices may seem to be made for you, but that's in large part an illusion because you decide what your options are - what road you want to travel. Look inside and follow your heart! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892751215-AUSJWP07FVT700SD7ZOD/ThO8.jpg There They Go Along about this time of year back in 1971, I was pondering my graduation and what on earth I was going to do after. There was no college counselor in my school. I didn't have a long time tutor who understood me. My father never asked me anything about myself, let alone what I thought I might like to study (I bet his dad never asked him either). My friends were equally clueless. So how do you make a decision in that environment? Still I was lucky in that my parents did think I should go to college and were willing to make it happen, but at 17 I didn't really know myself or what I was really interested in or what kind of work I'd like to do. So my dad signed me up for Clemson and said "Pre-veterinary medicine" and off I went. No one suggested I go as an "undeclared major." Too bad. It would have saved me a lot of grief. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499461401712-KY6C8X97KPUO3974XR44/ThI030.jpg There They Go The game goes on for another - what is it? Five or six months? Until June when you graduate from high school. Wow! Graduate! I walk around this house and I see picture after picture of you as the cutest little kid there ever was. What a beautiful smile! And so freely given that smile of yours. A genuine smile, not just a put on for the camera. I like to think that you had a happy childhood. That you feel you have grown up in a loving household. And that wherever you head off to next Fall you'll be ready academically and emotionally to succeed. I love you Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892498409-LSM6GPEWANR14JAGD9HM/ThG60.jpg There They Go Thinking of your game today I realized I'm down to the fingers of one hand in games you have left to pitch for BC. A little sad to think about - for me anyway - I've really enjoyed all your efforts on the ball field - even the occasional failures add to the story. Fortunately that story has had much more success and I can't tell you how proud I am of you. And not just for your baseball skills, but of you as a fine young man, filled with diverse talents and possibilities. Always stay open to new ideas, always do your best at whatever challenges come along. I love you so much. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497891995172-03OKU4DX4NCAAORM93WT/ThC24.jpg There They Go Tuesday morning after Senior Skip Day - what a world? I don't remember such a day when I was a Senior a zillion years ago. I wasn't playing varsity ball either. I do remember being a combination of anxious and excited as the year wore on over college and where I would go and what I would study. Senior year is one of those big change years - not exactly boy-to-man, but some of that plus some home-and-away; watched-over and on-your-own. That kind of thing. It's an exciting time. Live it fully! Enjoy it immensely! Share it freely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892196823-GKYL4L26PKAZB7QVU4Y7/ThF71.jpg There They Go Decisions coming into focus in spite of a couple of remaining unknowns. A feeling of progress of "rightness" of the path is in the air (along with spring and baby grass and budding trees and an early sunbeam). I love this time of year - winter slowly closing the door behind him as misty color adorns the trees and the ground becomes even brighter green. Enjoy these days Theo. Think, decide, work, play and enjoy. Life is blooming all around you - breathe it in, remember how lucky you are (we all are) and live! I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498243139323-57KKT129OBPCUX397YY4/ThF69.jpg There They Go "Movin' on up!" Headin' on out! We celebrate the changes in our lives as we downshift and ease into the stream of whatever "next step" awaits us. There's a lot to celebrate - a lot of success - maybe some missed opportunities and second guess in the mix, but all-in-all a steady progress to this point. Not a point as in a pinnacle, but a point along a line, a path, the steady climb you've been on for almost 18 years now. I'm proud of the young man you're becoming and I'm excited by the future man you'll become as you live and celebrate many, many more "points" in the future. I love you so much! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1497892407589-9897OHKZ048T0Q22DTV6/ThF149.jpg There They Go I know you decided to take today off and rest after your shoulder injury yesterday, but I didn't want to miss the chance to tell you how proud I feel every time I stand next to you. I watch you and I'm filled with amazement at your abilities, your demeanor, the good looks you got from your mom, your potential to be so much, your tender ways you show your love. Go on! Get outta here! Love you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1491503459185-CSOK832C2U906K5JXOGA/ThTao5LASTNOTE.jpg There They Go Today is the last regular day of class for the seniors. Is it my last note ever? I can't imagine that it will be. Maybe the last daily one (the simple words are the hardest to spell sometimes). Sometimes it's the simple things that are the most special - the most beautiful - the most memorable. Like saying "thank you" and "please." Like taking your earbuds out and listening to the wind and the birds. Like giving a friend a ride, like sharing a good joke. Like singing a song in the bath, like snapping off a sharp curveball or connecting on a line drive. Or maybe saying "I love you so much!" https://www.foldedwisdom.com/a-sampling daily 0.75 2019-01-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1543935035910-RYPOUVKCX5COF00EHVNH/UnfoldingBackground.jpg The Notes https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-younger-years daily 0.75 2017-06-26 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-younger-years daily 0.75 2017-06-26 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-best-job daily 0.75 2017-06-22 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-best-job daily 0.75 2017-06-26 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-human-after-all daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-human-after-all daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-did-i-tell-you daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-did-i-tell-you daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-finding-success daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-finding-success daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-friends-family daily 0.75 2017-06-22 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-friends-family daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-times-like-these daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-times-like-these daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-contemplative-envelope daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-contemplative-envelope daily 0.75 2017-06-21 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-teams-work-together daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-teams-work-together daily 0.75 2017-08-15 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/joannas-there-they-go daily 0.75 2017-06-22 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theos-there-they-go daily 0.75 2017-06-22 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/the-galleries daily 0.75 2018-11-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1498599836736-IPDAPD1PUGTTH8UDBUNC/image-asset.jpeg The Notes - DIGITAL PORTFOLIO PASSWORD REQUIRED https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505254708388-BA8YH2RS6MOMRQ8A7P13/IMG_0981.JPG The Notes - A SAMPLING 20 notes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1502118921802-4OTVJX6WYEQIGYGFEQDY/circle_3_comingsoon.JPG The Notes https://www.foldedwisdom.com/esopus-magazine-issue-10-pdf daily 0.75 2017-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499789109542-YFG4YVFEGAPBP15FZ61H/image-asset.jpeg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370469889-USGA7769V3QPZI3L1SAZ/JoannaPg1.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370553651-XGWAGCYGS8SZ5VTGF3XE/TheoPg2.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370471080-VI2S0N9UTIANHW9XZYN5/JoannaPg3.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370571774-2TH84Q9PEHWMNJ6XPGGQ/TheoPg4.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370520944-65IOOOS00V8LKHQAPBQ2/JoannaPg5.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370580735-EF6917FN1NXLFOWYJPCE/TheoPg6.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370504324-I33HX51WPZUJE1WKTJDT/JoannaPg7.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370601379-LAPOBJ1R6H69N3XEZ34L/TheoPg8.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370536400-YZQMW3UAHNUFMCREK9AL/JoannaPg9.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370613924-IVC5RC22UD6SUXMST9ZB/TheoPg10.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370634613-JZ2PMX7N9BK0SZA8IU74/JoannaPg11.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370727193-OPWJKTQH5YRNP83GU347/TheoPg12.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370650285-AJH69CHC4K9WOAS29OKS/JoannaPg13.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499371106231-6NG4DSGHABECUXJJP3RX/TheoPg14.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370682216-32ZQ1DUBM460Z65JZWR9/JoannaPg15.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370777732-ZOQZEJD5YTVK9CIIYBE4/TheoPg16.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370689508-T3G3M2IZX66HE8JDER5L/JoannaPg17.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370791600-89ZPX4PIGYDPPY7TJSHN/TheoPg18.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370720452-OTF15VDNHMK2ENNOT8EF/JoannaPg19.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499705961782-UO5HTAZRHUNNSOZBUP2C/ESOPUS2.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499370218910-VVO2NK4WBVV840BHON4F/Photo+Apr+06%2C+12+27+18+PM.jpg Section 3: Esopus Magazine https://www.foldedwisdom.com/further-imagery-text-on-the-project daily 0.75 2017-08-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499806697479-7Z0NX9UQAOWGS862IRKA/Photo+Apr+06%2C+12+27+18+PM.jpg Section 4: Promotional imagery https://www.foldedwisdom.com/duplets daily 0.75 2017-10-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499367524385-GH5RB2TXQ5002HEN0GM2/JoSalad+copy.jpg Section 2: Duplets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499369522755-513B3VLNEQUZ128MD7R1/image-asset.jpeg Section 2: Duplets Wow! Dr. Gachet! What a cool version of a very cool painting by my favorite painter! The crayon / watercolor resist was a great way to capture the swirling tension of the painting background. I wish you had time to do more drawing because it's like anything else - the more you do (practice) the better you get. How long - how many classes did that take you to do that? It looks like you really worked hard on it. I saw a couple other drawings after famous paintings - was that an assignment? Whatever the motivation, it's a very beautiful drawing and you should be proud. I am! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499352359460-5RF5V97FOP0YFBN1J16L/tickertapeparade.jpeg Section 2: Duplets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499367807083-Z18D1NNTJDBKDFUWPAQM/image-asset.jpeg Section 2: Duplets A girl has to learn many things. If this wasn't true, she would not have been born a baby girl, she would have been born a woman. She must learn the difference between what she wants and what is good for her to have. Between what is given and what must be earned. Between "like" and "love." She must learn that time will not drag on forever. The things she yearns for and works for and waits for will come in their own time. She must learn to accept that her mother's fear and frustration is her mother's love - part of the story anyway. She must learn that her desire to push time and grow up quickly can hurt her no matter how normal the urge is and how careful she is. Hopefully she will realize how much she is loved. And that simple fact will carry her through. I love you so much! I believe in you! I can't believe I have to miss your game w/ Poly... be yourself! Be your best! P.S. don't forget to enter for DMB tix! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499352005648-FESKQ4KER8TWGO7S11J5/JoG029.jpeg Section 2: Duplets It was fun walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and seeing the parade with you, Theo and Mom (and Molly). A pretty special team - a pretty special time to be a New Yorker! I'm glad we went! But now we have to hustle a little bit extra to get our work done this week! I'll try to help you with your immigration homework tonight - math too! I figured out the one about 50 eyes and cats and bats! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499367709217-TKM415IQ950STNXYJTRS/image-asset.jpeg Section 2: Duplets A boy must learn to be many things. If this was not true he would be born a man. But it is true. A boy is born a baby boy who must learn to be a man. He must learn the difference between what can be given to him and what he must earn with his own two hands. He must learn that time does not last forever. The time between sitting up, crawling, standing, walking and running. The time between crying and talking, between marks on a page and reading, between a problem and it's solution. From soft, baby skin to a coarse, scruffy beard. A boy must learn many things on his way to becoming a man. You are already on your way. I love you so much! I believe in you! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499368786996-0NLLO1LRBGDSNUC7BYSO/IMG_6801.jpg Section 2: Duplets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499368409993-LND2FFTVT32P8HARL3AM/ThX55.jpg Section 2: Duplets Cold this morning. Mom got up almost as early as me and left already for an appointment in the city. You knocked me over with the baby liberty plate you made. Incredible. You live a long life (not that I have yet) and you do things, make things, and you move on and they recede into the past and when someone discovers them, takes interest in them, reinvents them - especially when that someone is your child - it touches you inside in an indescribable way. It makes you feel like you haven't wasted effort - that what you've done has value. Thank you Theo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499369444951-B8PX8HRGQYFUNP9OF7CD/image-asset.jpeg Section 2: Duplets https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499353290711-QYB8GR4FOTCWJZBSX814/Photo+Apr+06%2C+12+27+18+PM.jpg Section 2: Duplets https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theyoungeryears daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/bestjobintheworld daily 0.75 2018-04-28 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/humanafterall daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/10-galleries daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1496263770634-HD13P39LWTEVH3L5MGK3/ThTimes3.jpg a sampling - Times Like These   Notes that reflect on moments in history, newsworthy events, and notes that wonder about the state we're in https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505247093874-EY200CE5X45LKESGI5LE/ThA38+-+sampling.jpeg a sampling - Did I Tell You...     Notes about love   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505251601868-DZKSE2WH1AKB2SPGO6DW/ThE034_2006+-+sampling.jpg a sampling - Finding Success   Notes about working hard, with reminders to believe in yourself, have the right attitude, and accept encouragement https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505247234481-20JL35XDT74C2YIB36AO/JoB038+-+sampling.jpg a sampling - Friends & Family Feels Notes about family and friends - how we make them, treat them, and keep them https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505251685551-5LCVEHD016OTV2AS0LHA/JoN052+-+sampling.jpg a sampling - Contemplative Envelope   Notes FILLED with metaphors, internal thoughts, PHILOSOPHIZING and who-knows-where-that-came-from https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505251841986-42PZJXL6JJ4Q0H4KC8MM/JoN099+-+sampling.jpg a sampling - There They Go   Notes that process leaving home, the end of an era   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505246358111-H731HB6RBA8N06EFK713/ThN043+-+sampling.jpg a sampling - Best Job In The World Notes about parenting, feeling proud, and growing up together https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499462093246-967J5WIMZASKBMZCR7DY/ThB038.jpg a sampling - Younger Years     Visual notes from preschool through the fourth grade https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1499462297618-UM3FYOQQMTP492O9PIZ4/image-asset.jpeg a sampling - Human After All   Notes expressing disappointment, anger, and saying sorry https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505251447810-02E3SBDTEGMN1QN6ZZ5C/JoG069+-+sampling.jpg a sampling - Teams Work Together Notes about sports, how to win and lose gracefully, and why we practice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b0962020099e71f22d7142/1505243786849-6B11NFAPJA8QOL1XZBHT/IMG_0981.JPG a sampling https://www.foldedwisdom.com/diditellyou daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/friendsfamilyfeels daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/teamsworktogether daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/findingsuccess daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/contemplativeenvelope daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/timeslikethese daily 0.75 2017-09-12 https://www.foldedwisdom.com/theretheygo daily 0.75 2017-09-12