Will it get better?

He who is present at a wrongdoing and does not lift a hand to prevent it is as guilty as the wrongdoers.
= Omaha

I thought this was an appropriate quote from my book of native proverbs, in the light of the seemingly never ending bullying going on in our schools and online.

The kids are learning this behavior from somewhere. Whether it's the parents, a mentor or other kids in school, this is not normal and we need to educate people of the long term results.

As adults, we can usually make it through a rough spot or two and know that it will get better. As children that are 13 or 14 years old, four years until graduation is beyond comprehension. Even a week can seem like an eternity. A week of torture can be all it takes for a youngster to decide to take his or her own life. It can be so hard to see that there is hope. We all need to be present in our daily interactions with them. You could be the person who saves someone's life. Just by being nice to them. By standing up to someone that is picking on someone else. It's a big, lonely world out there for some of these kids.

During my upcoming trip, we will be filming a "It get's better video" in memory of Jamey Rodemey and all the other kids that we have lost because of bullying over the last year. I am happy to participate in this project and I hope that it does help someone. But even more than that, I live by example every day. We can't let this continue. Laughing at other people just because they may seem a little different is unacceptable. I was that kid. And I hope that no one ever has to go through what I went through.

I have had to do a service for one such kid a few years ago. It was by far the hardest funeral that I have ever done. It rips your heart out to see the family suffering from the loss. It's very real. I still visit the grave of that young man some three years later. And I wonder if anyone learned anything from his death, or is it all still the same.

Testimonial

Here it is, almost October in Michigan. The nights are getting cooler and the days are not so warm any more either. I understand that autumn is in the air. That the end of summer has come. But tell me why the big maple tree in my yard is the only tree in the neighborhood that is turning color. While every tree around us is a lush dark green, my maple has turned a burning shade of red and is loosing it's leaves all over the garden and the cars. Now, before you tell me that it must be the species of tree, I present to you that the tree that was planted 200 feet away from a seed that came off from the flaming tree, is still green. What's up with that?!

At work last night, I was approached by one of my co-workers. She had been invited to another co-workers church on Thursday for what he calls a testimonial. So she asked what this testimonial was all about. He informed her that it was a young man in their congregation that had cured himself of homosexuality. That he wants to share with the world how he overcame the sin and remorse. How he is now a happy healthy and married straight man doing God's work.

I found it interesting that he is giving this testimonial to the church and not at the local gay and lesbian center. And that our co-worker chose to invite a straight woman to attend, not a gay man. You would think if he was doing God's work, he'd be trying to save me. Then it hit me. It's not about saving me or any other gay person in the world. It's about politics. If they can convince your average person that being gay is wrong, then everything that the GLBT community has worked for, for so many years can be reversed. Instead of loving everyone, like Jesus instructed, they choose to hate. Oh yeah, they'll love me and accept me, if I change my evil ways. Gay people come from straight parents. That's the way it works. If the parents don't accept a gay child, then maybe they will be able to convince that child to be straight. Why would you want to make your child suffer and hide who he or she really is? How is that loving your child? This particular church is advocating this type of behavior. They are advocating hate. In a time when there is too much bullying going on in our schools, we are teaching our children that it's OK to pick on that kid, because they are sinners and are going to die for their sins anyway. That's the cold hard truth.

At first I laughed off the mention of the invitation. But as the day wore on, it started to really bother me that this is going on right here in my own town.

I heard someone saying recently that an acquaintance had told him that the thought of homosexual sex disgusted him. I loved his reply. He told his friend that the thought of his parents having sex disgusted him but it was the ugliness of their sex that brought him in to this world, so he'll just have to live with it.

Sleek, sophisticated

"You can have money piled to the ceiling but the size of your funeral is still going to depend on the weather"
- Chuck Tanner




Oh, how I wish that quote were true. Last Friday the rain was pouring down. And the cars were pouring in to the parking lot even faster. After an hour of standing out there trying to keep things organized, I was soaked to the core. My feet were so wet that I made squishy noises as I walked. By the end of the day, I had the worst case of prune toes I'd seen since I was a child that wouldn't get out of the pool. I hope you're having a dry day where ever you are.

I think I'll go buy some new shoes.

Awards and Accolades

I am not one to get into these blog awards. I have refrained from participating with them in the past for a variety of reasons. But I thought I'd take the time to say Thank You! to those that have passed along the occasional award. I do appreciate that you each follow what I write and think enough about it to share it with your friends and followers.

I'd like to thank Annie over at Morning AJ for giving me this particular award. And as with all of the awards, I am very flattered. I do try to be versatile in my writing. I realize that each of you come here for a different reason. And the multiple personalities that live inside me love to talk.

I look forward every day to reading all of the blogs that I follow so it's very difficult to point out specific ones. Each blogger has a unique point of view that ads more than I could have ever imagined to my life.


I know everyone loves Jim and Sophie (Ron) out there in Nova Scotia. And who doesn't find the daily happenings in Wales to be entertaining and enlightening.

I love the photography work done by my friend Stephanie and she could use some encouragement when it comes to blogging about her interesting life. And her young inspiring son Spencer has so many stories in his head and I'm sure that I'm not the only one that would love to read them some day. I could go on and on about all of the blogs on my blog list because I love them all. But I will leave it at that.

Lastly, I'm supposed to tell 7 things about me. I think my 30 day blog challenge told more about me than I ever thought I'd tell. But, we'll see where this goes.

1. No one thinks I'm as old as I am.
2. I am schooled in business management, commercial art and interior design. With the exception of running our small company, I currently use none of that.
3. I love to travel.
4. I am married to a wonderful man that puts up with me more than he should.

5. I would do anything for my dog Pugsley.
6. I absolutely love what I do in the funeral business
7. I have been completely rebuilding my kitchen since spring. It's been all cash, one piece at a time.  Yesterday, the new cork floor was laid!

Thanks to AJ and everyone that stops by to read. I hope that I can always have something of interest for you.