33 3rd

Captain 11

Death of a House

This is not an accident; no physical harm came to anyone. This happened yesterday, it was a planned burn. In those ashes are the memories of a family that touched every corner of the house that was. For me, this was the house where I spent a week or two every summer with my second cousin Paula. Every Christmas day with my parents and my great grandpa, grandpa and my mom's aunt and uncle and family. All the memories are still there like it was yesterday but now the house is gone, no more hearing the laughter or smelling the smells that my aunt Ruth made with tender love, the cabinets for the kitchen and dining room that were made by hand by my uncle Gordon are in those ashes, the fingerprints on that wood still belonged to the people that loved in that house. The purple bedroom, the attic door the narrow staircase to the two rooms upstairs that many hours were spent with me and my cousin, the living room where family pictures were taken, so many in those pictures are gone now. I can hear American Band Stand on the TV with the aluminum foil on the rabbit ears, getting ready to go to the little church in Badger for this or that. The crickets, the basement, the kitchen was the heart of the house, so many memories flooded back into my thoughts that I had not thought of in years. The burn and the knowledge of it brought them all back.

...have you ever been going down a flight of stairs and felt like you were missing the next step as if it is not there and panic just a little bit where your heart gets an imaginary push to the back of your chest... going to sleep knowing that this home, one of the icons in my childhood is gone, there are not many of those icons left, and it hits like many members of my family just died again. So many good memories there. I know one can't go back in time and even if we visit it, the door to the past is not open to us. The part that stings a bit more is the fact that there will be no new memories there, the door is really gone. The changes to this place have an impact on me, I cannot imagine how my cousins Sue and Paula feel and the emotions are similar to another death in the family. Closure... does not always give a good feeling. It is however an emotional one. Maybe, just maybe now that it is gone from this earth, it can be in another place with everyone who lived and loved there, still sitting at the table. A place for them to gather together and wait for us to join them. Goodbye old house...I will see you in my dreams.

Racist, Prejudice.

Racist, Prejudice.

We have many problems in this country.  One of them is the very words we speak. It is very important what comes out of your mouth. Make sure you know what it is that you are actually saying when you speak.  These days the word racist is thrown around like a feather in the wind by people who don’t even know what it actually means.  My world is full of a mixture of different kinds and colors of people, and only one race, the human race.  I treasure it in this life of mine.  I do not judge people by the color of their skin but by the content of their hearts.   The problem with today’s society is not racism even though that word is thrown around every day all the time.  The problem is prejudice.  People really NEED to know the difference.  If you do not recognize a problem you will not know where to start to begin to fix it.

 Racism is when you hate a person because of his or her race.  We all belong to ONE RACE, The Human race. Prejudice is when you judge a person by their color, sex or whatever else you judge them for before you even know the facts.   Prejudice comes from two words, pre and judice to… prejudge. An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. We definitely do have some racist people out there but there really are not that many.  We have a planet of wonderful people all different kinds of Asian, Black, Indian, White, & many combinations.  There are a few that are racist. It is unfortunate that most EVERY person has SOME prejudice.  The best thing to do to fix it is, admit it and learn to deal with it.  If you are making judgments on people and you have not even met, that is the problem. 

For instance, if you vote against someone because of their color, it is prejudice.  If you vote FOR someone because of their color… it is prejudice.  OR if you vote for or against or for someone because of his or her gender, that is prejudice.  It does not matter if the person is red, yellow, black, white, male or female.  It matters on whether or not that person can lead our country.  We are all one race, the human race.  Making it into a color code for people to fight over is the most stupid hateful thing ever. 

So please, next time you think you have a need to “call someone out” and call them a name like racist… learn what it means and stop being a prejudice person, you do not know them.   THINK before you speak.  People disagree all the time, it does not make them racist or prejudice just because they do not agree with you.  Open your eyes a little further.   I may not like sushi… I am not a racist because of it.   Please stop being stupid and start fixing your behavior towards others.  You do not live on this planet alone.

Everyone is accountable for the words they speak.  Stop being so offended at others who are not aware of the value of their words.  Stop being offended about how people say things, they obviously do not understand.  Stop letting yourself be baited by ignorance and antagonists.  Keep your nose on your own face, watch your mouth and unless you can make a situation better, just keep it to yourself.  Learn the meaning of a word before you throw it at someone especially with an intention of anger.  The reason for this post is to maybe just maybe make some people think twice and make it better.

*jumps off the soap box*.