Graffiti Interviews

Graffiti Interviews

 

Joe Powers has this on the opening page of his
site..........

 

Soul Graffiti™ LLC was
created with the single mission of building a community
aimed at shifting consciousness away
from "material graffiti" to that of "soul graffiti."

Soul graffiti is not about
inspiration or philosophy, but rather about action.

We believe that through soul
graffiti - conscious acts of kindness -
we can leave a permanent mark on
this world and upon the lives of others.

 

 

I've listed the names of those interviewed and also have a
link

to his page here......

 

'kindness, love and compassion'.......   Let's KEEP it going.

Graffiti Interviews

http://soulgraffiti.com/cms/content/category/3/15/35/

'There are so many people around the world spreading the message of kindness, love and compassion. In our Graffiti Interview section, we speak with some of these people who share their ideas, thoughts and experiences.'

Judith Orloff, M.D. -World Renowned Medical Intuitive

Mark Victor Hansen -
International Best Selling Author

Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. -
Author & Spiritual Clairvoyant

Mira Kirshenbaum -
Psychotherapist & Award-Winning Author

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev -
Realized Master, Yogi, & Mystic

Frederic Luskin, Ph.D. -
Dir., Stanford Forgiveness Project

Ron Scolastico, Ph.D. -
Psychologist, Author, Artist

David Friedman -
Kabbalist, Artist, & Teacher

Julie Salamon -
Best-Selling Author & Journalist

Echo Bodine - Renowned
Spiritual Healer

Julie Exline, Ph.D. -
Professor & Kindness Researcher

Elizabeth Sar'h
Petrinovich, Ph.D. - Doctor of Metaphysics

Calvin Standing Bear -
Native American Musician & Healer Venerable

Tenzin Yignyen - Buddhist Scholar & Teacher

James Van Praagh - World
Renowned Medium

Michael Nagler, Ph.D. -
Award Winning Author & Peace Scholar

"Abraham" - Evolved
Spirit Teachers channeled by Esther Hicks

Gary R. Renard -
Christian Teacher & Acclaimed Author

Nancy Nester, Ph.D. -
Spiritual Healer & Teacher

Ken Page -
Internationally Renowned Spiritual Healer

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My blog post from October of 2006

 

"Soul Graffiti" Artist

Sharing a Get-Away For Your Mind

~ Calm Sanctuary ~

 Just for a moment, take a few deep relaxing breaths  


Picture yourself sitting in one of these chairs.....

toes wiggling in the sand..... the sound of the water.   

Ahhhhh I am so there...Calm Sanctuary indeed.   


This morning, I had the Today show playing in the
background while I was at my computer. 
A segment of the show was talking about travel
destinations.    One that was talked about was Stephanie's Inn
located on the Pacific coast of Oregon.   

http://www.stephanie-inn.com/default.asp

http://www.stephanie-inn.com/images/video/video.asp

~ Of Dreams and Spirit ~

The story of Lopez Lomong is an absolute must read. !




I
dedicate this post not only to Lomong and his ~ Spirit ~, but the

~ Spirit ~
that LIVES in each and every one of us.   

‘True Olympic spirit is often found away from gold medalists
with
their agents and sponsorship deals -- it is found
in its purest sense in
those that come last.’
(Agence -Presse- French
News Agency)

 

Presumed dead in Sudan, Lopez Lomong lives American dream

         
   

By WAYNE COFFEY    

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

   
  Wednesday, July 30th 2008, 10:15 PM
   

   

   

       

                        

Lopez Lomong, now the pride of Tully, N.Y., goes from war-torn homeland
to representing U.S.A. in Beijing.

Twenty miles south of  Syracuse and 6,000 miles west of East Africa, a
freshly hung flag flies over the tiny town of Tully. It is on the pole in front
of the high school, just beneath the American flag, a big white rectangle with
five Olympic rings, a salute not so much to the Beijing Games that will commence
next week, but to the Lost Boy who found a home and a life and an athletic
calling, and who has made virtually everyone in his central New York state
village proud.

The
village of Tully has 924 residents and one traffic light, and one remarkable
1,500-meter runner, Joseph Lopepe (Lopez) Lomong, child prisoner turned feted
Olympian. He will begin competing in Beijing on Aug.15.

"We've never had someone in the Olympics before, and we probably will
never have another," says Eileen Baldassarre, a Tully resident whose sons are
friends with Lomong. "This is huge, because...those of us who know Lopez know
what a nice and generous kid he is."

Says
Lomong, "I came a long way, for sure, from running through the wilderness to
save my life, and now I am doing this for fun."

At
23, Lopez Lomong is a sinewy 5-11, 148-pounder and one third of perhaps the most
intriguing team of 1,500 runners the U.S. has ever assembled, a melting pot on
the move. The favorite for gold is Bernard Lagat, the defending world champion,
who captured bronze and silver in the two previous Games, running for his native
Kenya before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. The runner-up in the trials
earlier this month was Leonel Manzano, a Mexican-American and two-time NCAA
champion for Texas, whose father reportedly crossed the border 16 times before
becoming a legal U.S. resident.

And
then there is Lomong, a man whose journey has taken him from the southern Sudan
village of Kimotong to a Kenyan refugee camp in Kakuma, to the lakeside home of
Rob and Barb Rogers in Tully. He has seen kids in the next bed die, and has
visited his own grave. Why wouldn't he savor his Olympic achievement?
"This
is America, this is the land of everybody," Lomong says.

Lomong's story has been well chronicled, a fact that makes it no less
chilling. At age 6, while attending Mass with his family in Kimotong, he and
some 50 other children were taken at gunpoint by a government-backed militia in
Sudan's long-running Civil War, hauled off in a tarp-covered truck to a work
camp. After several weeks, three older boys found a hole in a fence, escaped the
camp and brought Lopez with them, walking for three harrowing days through woods
and wilderness, before stumbling into Kenyan border guards.

For
the next 10 years, home for Lopez - one of the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan -
was a a sprawling Kenyan refugee camp, where meals consisted of U.N.-provided
corn and came once a day. Soccer provided about the only respite from the
bleakness and boredom. The notion of anything better scarcely occurred to him
until late summer of 2000.

Lomong earned five Kenyan shillings (about seven cents) for moving some
dirt. He didn't spend it until he heard it could buy him a chance to see the
2000 Olympics on a black-and-white TV.

Lomong and a few friends walked five miles to see the Games. He came away
mesmerized by Michael Johnson, running the 400 meters.

He
prayed that God would give him a chance to do something similar. "I saw him run
so fast and I said, 'I want to run just like that,'" Lopez says.

A
year later, shortly after 9/11, an international relief effort began to place
the Lost Boys in American homes. Lomong wrote an essay describing his ordeals.
Rob and Barb Rogers, devout Christians, saw a notice in their church bulletin
one Sunday that Catholic Charities was looking for foster parents for the boys.

Before long, 16-year-old Lopez Lomong was on his way to Hancock Airport
outside Syracuse. He was shocked when the Rogerses met him in their car.
"He
walked to the airport (in Kenya), and assumed he'd walk from the airport
(here)," Rob Rogers says.

Lopez was awed by the breadth and asphalt splendor of Interstate 81, by
electricity and running water. He enrolled at Tully High, became a cross-country
and track star, before moving on to Northern Arizona, where he grew into an NCAA
champion. Lomong's American adventure was just beginning, and it was for the
Rogerses, too; they have since taken in five more Sudanese boys.

Rob
Rogers buys and sells heavy equipment, while Barb manages the 27 apartments they
own, and runs their laundromat, Suds and Bubbles. Uncertain about how a
virtually all-white community would receive their adopted Sudanese sons, the
Rogers have been heartened by the whole experience. Apart from a single nasty
epithet written by two high school kids - an incident that aroused the ire of
almost the entire school - the embrace has been universal.

"We
thought we'd be in the 'out' crowd, and now we're in the 'in' crowd," Rob Rogers
says, laughing. He pauses and talks about how life has changed since Lopez made
the Olympic team on the night of July 6 - exactly a year after he gained his
U.S. citizenship. He did it with a bell-lap charge that carried him from sixth
to third, balky ankle be damned.

"The
highlight of my life is telling CNN I couldn't talk because HBO was here,"
Rogers says.

At
Christmas time last year, Lomong went back to Kenya and Sudan for HBO's "Real
Sports" program, which was doing a segment on him. He reunited with his birth
mother, Rita, and his younger brothers. He even visited the grave his family
made for him, certain that he was dead. It was a small pile of stones that
contained a necklace and childhood keepsakes. They happily took the pile apart.

"They brought me to life again," Lomong says.

 

Thanks to a Tully-wide fundraising effort
spearheaded by Eileen Baldassarre, more than $13,000 has been collected to send
Rob and Barb Rogers to Beijing, along with Jim Paccia - Tully High's track coach
- and his wife, Cheryl. Rob Rogers got in the Olympic spirit almost immediately
after watching Lopez make the team, ordering an Olympic flag and banner on the
Internet for $68. The banner is on the front door, the flag flying in the front
yard.
His foster son, Lopez Lomong, a Lost Boy no longer, will soon be
surrounded by the best runners in the world. He will race hard, and whatever
happens, he will be powered by gratitude, and unencumbered by fear.

"This is payback for the people who helped me
through my childhood," Lomong says.
"Now I am running for America. I'm an
American citizen and I can go out and compete.
I'm so
thankful."

Former 'Lost Boy' leads U.S. team as

Beijing welcomes the world to China

 

(Photo - Pretty/Getty)

Lopez Lomong, one of the Lost Boys
of Sudan,
leads Team USA into Beijing's national
stadium.

 

----------------------------------------------------------

http://lopezlomong.org/

 

Lopez Lomong's
web site

" When we were in Africa,
we didn't know what was there for us as kids--we just ran.
God was
planning all of this stuff for me, and I didn't know.
Now I'm using
running to get the word out about how horrible things
were back in
Sudan during the war. Sometimes these things are not on CNN,
so if I
put out the word, I hope people can get the information.
Right now,
similar terrible things are going on in Darfur; people are
running out
of Darfur, and I put myself in their shoes."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Save Darfur

www.savedarfur.org

The
Save Darfur Coalition's mission is to raise public awareness about
the
ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response
to the
atrocities that threaten the lives of two million people in the Darfur
region.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olympic Spirit


http://www.olympicspirit.org

Inspire
the Youth of the World



'Our vision and purpose is clear -

To be an icon of Olympic values and ideals, to inspire and motivate

the youth of the world to be the best they can be'

Mark R.
Dzenick

Chairman - Olympic Spirit Group

'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.'

My dear friend Patricia, from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker,
wrote a post yesterday....

You Had It All The Time

Patricia shares about a book she is reading,
I Had It All the Time written by Alan Cohen....

In Patricia's words....

'What it took me years to realize and what this book says is, 'I had it all the time.'

'I
spent years running here and there, reading this book, watching that
video on self-improvement. According to Alan Cohen's book, I didn't
have to do any of that searching. I already had it; I just didn't know
it. All I had to do is remember who I really am.'

Patricia's post started me thinking about the many online articles I have read by Alan Cohen.    Cohen has an easy, endearing style to his writing.

THANK YOU Patricia AND Alan !!!  I have no complaint whatsoever.


I found this article of his to share..........

Thank
You
for Everything

by Alan Cohen

The story is told about a woman Zen master named Sono who taught one
very simple method of enlightenment. She advised everyone who came to her to
adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day, under all conditions. The
affirmation was, 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

Many people from all arenas of life came to Sono for healing. Some
were in physical pain; others were emotionally distraught; others had financial
troubles; some were seeking soul liberation. No matter what their distress or
what question they asked her, her response was the same: 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.' Some people went away
disappointed; others grew angry; others tried to argue with her. Yet some people
took her suggestion to heart and began to practice it. Tradition tells that
everyone who practiced Sono?s mantra found peace and healing. 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

My friend Lisa, an attractive woman in her late 30?s, came to one of
my seminars after I had not seen her for a number of years. She informed the
group that a year earlier she had been diagnosed with a brain disorder that
required immediate surgery. The surgery was done, a steel plate was inserted in
her head, and her doctor keeps her under close observation. Lisa reported that
now she lives from day to day. Privately I told Lisa that I was sorry she had
gone through this whole ordeal. "Oh, don?t be sorry," she told me emphatically.
"I?m not sorry at all. This was one of the best things that has ever happened to
me. It really got me to appreciate my life and relationships. I married a
wonderful guy and we are thinking about having children. I wouldn?t trade the
experience if I could.' 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you simply dropped
your complaints? It's a radical proposal, since most of us have been trained to
question, analyze, and criticize everything we see. But then we end up
questioning, analyzing, and criticizing ourselves. Then we miss out on joy, the
only true measure of success.

The ecstatic mystic poet Hafiz proclaimed, 'All a sane man can ever
think about is giving love.'  One evening I received a phone call from my friend
Cliff, a Jewish guy from Brooklyn who discovered A Course in
Miracles and became a world-class love exuder. Cliff just went
around finding good and beauty in everyone he met. On the phone, Cliff told me, 'I just called to tell you how much I love and appreciate you.'

'Well, thank you Cliff,' I answered, delighted. 'I really appreciate
that . . . What prompted you to call me at this moment?'

'My knee was hurting me, and I knew that the only way I could feel
better would be to give more love. So I began to think of the people in my life
who I care about, and you came to mind.'    'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

As we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving, many of us will be
getting together with our families. Perhaps family issues may come to the fore
and we might be tempted to fall into a pattern of rehashing old resentments and
arguments. Wouldn?t it be fabulous if, as we sat with our relatives, we held in
mind, 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.' Imagine
what this Thanksgiving would be like if we decided that no matter how much mom
complained about dad; how much dad bugged us about getting a real job; or how
unspiritual our ex is, we chose to be an unstoppable appreciation machine and
found the good in our loved ones. Indeed this would be a triumphant Thanksgiving
to remember!

Yes, I know, there is a voice inside you objecting, 'But if I did not
complain, people would walk all over me and selfish opportunists would
genetically manipulate my food and terrorists would keep crashing airplanes into
buildings and . . ., . . ., and. . . . Got it. Now if you went to Sono, her
response would be,'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

 I am simply suggesting that we practice the mantra for an
entire Thanksgiving day. And then maybe one day a week. Then we might start to
feel so good and our lives will become so effective that we want to turn every
day into Thanksgiving.

In my book Handle
with Prayer I state that the highest form of prayer is
gratitude. Instead of asking God for stuff, start thanking God for stuff, and
you will find that God has already given you everything you could want or need,
including the adventure of discovering more riches every day.

Life is a big treasure hunt. Eventually we grow weary of seeking
treasures outside ourselves, and we begin to look within. There we discover that
the gold we sought, we already are. The beauty we overlooked because we were
focusing on what was missing, still lives and awaits us like an anxious lover.
As T.S. Eliot nobly noted, 'The end of all our exploring will be to arrive
where we started and know the place for the first time.'

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.
Have
a great Thanksgiving.

*Water* ~ Magical Connectivity

 

Photographs I took yesterday in my yard.

Don't miss the tiny fly having a sip of water
in the second picture.   

 

Yesterday, after an overnight rain, I started thinking about water.

Water is a thing that absolutely connects each and

everyone of us.  :)   

There can be a magic to it if we hold ourselves mindful
each time we come in contact with water. 

Please know that I will say a prayer of blessing for YOU,
when I am in touch with water.   Would you do the same ?  :)



http://tinyurl.com/Shower-Praying 

xo xo
Debs-E

Illusions ~ The Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah - Quote 3

Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull  came out in 1977 with
Illusions ~ The Adventures Of A Reluctant Messiah.

Snipped the following from an Amazon.com editorial...

"Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give
our souls wings: that people don't need airplanes to soar...that even
the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them...
and that messiahs can be found in the unlikeliest places--like hay
fields, one-traffic-light midwestern towns, and most of all, deep
within ourselves."

The 192 page paper back edition opens with this line...

"There was a Master come unto the earth, born in the holy land of Indiana,
raised in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne...."

What I am planning on doing is blogging, in no particular order,
a few quotes every now and then from the book ....

'Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.

  Being true to anyone else, or anything else is not

only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.'

Lining The Streets of Your Future

Would you drive down a road if you knew a truck

just dumped a load of these ?

HARDLY !!!

When you hold a negative thought,

you are lining the streets of your future. 

Thoughts are ~ things ~ just be aware of yours.

 

A Masterpiece

This was the sunrise this morning in my town. 



In every sunrise, I always marvel in gratitude

knowing that I will never ever see the same one again.

Everyday it's a 'one of a kind' masterpiece. !

Just like you and just like me....  A masterpiece. !!!

We May Never Pass This Way (Again)

Life, so they say, is but a game and we let it slip away.

Love, like the Autumn sun, should be dyin' but it's only just begun.

Like the twilight in the road up ahead, they don't see just where we're goin'.

And all the secrets in the Universe, whisper in our ears

And all the years will come and go, take us up, always up.

We may never pass this way again. 

We may never pass this way again.

We may never pass this way again.

Dreams, so they say, are for the fools and they let 'em drift away.

Peace, like the silent dove, should be flyin' but it's only just begun.

Like Columbus in the olden days, we must gather all our courage.

Sail our ships out on the open sea. Cast away our fears

And all the years will come and go, and take us up, always up.

We may never pass this way again. 

We may never pass this way again.

We may never pass this way again.

So, I wanna laugh while the laughin' is easy. I wanna cry if it makes it worthwhile.

We may never pass this way again, that's why I want it with you.

'Cause, you make me feel like I'm more than a friend. 

Like I'm the journey and you're the journey's end.

We may never pass this way again, that's why I want it with you, baby.

We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again.

We may never pass this way again. We may never pass this way again. 

Albums : Diamond Girl -1973

(Lyrics : James Seals / Music : James Seals, Dash Crofts, 1973)

He Said This - and - Why I do What I do

"I, Robert   _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support
and
defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and
domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance
to the same; and that I
will obey the orders of the
President of the United States and the orders of the

officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the
Uniform Code of
Military Justice. So help me God."

I have no idea at all when Robert said these words, but I do know when the 24 year old
took his last breath on this Earth.   
That was on July 15, 2007 while on duty in Baghdad, Iraq. 

I also know the month and year he took his first breath........March of 1983.

Since March 24th of this year I have signed every guestbook of our Fallen
Heroes on the day they passed.   To date, I have met 1631 of America's finest
men and women.    Hmmmmmmmm I did say met.    Might sound kind of strange
since they are all dead.    Before I actually add my message, I read through the
previous posts.    Sometimes I will even go on the net and try and find out more
about the person.     I can actually ~feel~ them with me.     They reach out and
I hear a THANK YOU.     They know exactly what it will mean to their family and
friends to know ... They are not forgotten.   


My nearly 12 year old Kevin asked me the other day........

'Mommy, why do you do this when it makes you cry' ?

His question came in response to seeing me tear up over an email I read.
That email was from Robert's sister....    This is what she wrote me....


'How beautiful, I am Rob's
sister and this has given me
so much
reason to hold my
head up and know my brother
is at peace. This words
have
meant more to me than you
will ever know. God Bless
you and
thank you from the
bottom of my heart. The
world needs more people like

you.'

I tried my best to explain to my son what my tears were about.   I think
my explanation fell a bit short for his young mind to grasp.

Having had my Air Force son Vince, and his wife, Dana... my Air Force
daughter in law both serve over in Iraq, I know we could have lost either
of them over there. 

My keeping up daily with my blog - Remember The Fallen, and
signing the guestbooks, has taken time away from my personal blog here.....
But I hope sharing the words of his sister, one year after his death
helps shed some light on why I do what I do.


I thank you my dear readers for understanding WHY I am not
posting here as often as I used to.    :)


Here is a link to Robert’s guestbook   Legacy Site


This is a copy of the message I post..................

 

Holding you all in my
thoughts and prayers.

 

 

The Wind on The

Downs

 

“I like to think of you
as brown and tall,

As strong and living as
you used to be,

In khaki tunic, Sam Brown
belt and all,

And standing there and
laughing down at me.

Because they tell me,
dear, that you are dead,

Because I can no longer
see your face,

You have not died, it is
not true, instead

You seek adventure in
some other place.

That you are round about
me, I believe;

I hear you laughing as
you used to do,

Yet loving all the things
I think of you;

And knowing you are
happy, should I grieve?

You follow and are
watchful where I go.”

 

(Written by Marian Allen
during World War l )

 

Two lines that I wish you
to keep near your heart…….

 

“You seek adventure in
some other place.

That you are round about
me, I believe”

 

 

I did not know Robert,
but I am remembering

his service. He is my hero. !

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

The Other Side

 

i'm over on the other
side

where life and death
softly divide.

left my skin and bones
behind

now i'm over on the other
side.

 

can you feel me there
with you?

my breath is gone but i'm
not through.

loved you then and i
still do

from over on the other
side.

 

i can fly. really fly.

below the earth ... all
through the sky.

tell em all i did not
die.

i'm just over on the
other side.

 

it's good here on the
other side.

the sweetest songs...the
bluest skies.

thank you for the tears
you cried

but it's good here on the
other side.

 

i can fly. really fly.
below the earth...all through the sky.

tell em all i did not die.

i'm just over on the
other side

 

the world is smaller than
a needle's eye.

where life and death
softly divide.

when you leave your skin
and bones behind

i'll be waiting on the
other side.

 

i can fly. really fly.
below the earth ... all through the sky.

go tell em all i did not
die.

i'm just over on the
other side.

 

Song lyrics by Don
Conoscenti

C Desert Muse/SESAC

www.donconoscenti.com

(Used with permission)

 

“I hope it brings great
comfort to any and all.

Peace on you.
DonCon” 4-2008

 

 

The Other Side –

(To hear the song)

http://tinyurl.com/3o8gol

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Deb Estep ~

Ohio

Proud Air Force Mom SSgt
Vince – Lackland AFB

Proud Air Force MIL SrA
Dana – Randolph AFB

 

Remembering The Fallen –
Blog

http://tinyurl.com/3z8p55

 

 

Angel and soldier drawing
I have shared here.

http://tinyurl.com/6gey8b

 

Tone

Stop right now, and grab
a post it note, or an index card
Or some piece of
paper. On that paper write the word –
tone

 

Okay….. you read that
line and thought… ‘I’ll do it later’.

No……. please DO IT
NOW.    Smile

Have you ever walked
around a grocery store and you keep meeting the same person in every isle
? This happened to me last week as my
son and I were out
shopping. I would turn the corner and
there was this family of 4.
A father,
mother and 2 girls. I would guess the
children’s ages to have been  about
12 and 10.  The family might not have stayed with me over
these several days since I kept running into them in the isles
had it not been for the
negative, hostile and derogatory tones in which the parents were speaking to
one another.....and now they haunt me.

If I had the ability to secretly
video tape this family those adults might
be shocked at seeing and
hearing themselves in the manner in which
they behaved.

Tone is the use of
pitch in language to distinguish lexical or
grammatical meaning— that is, to
distinguish or inflect words.

~ Be Aware of your tone ~

As a parent, I have used the one word reminder – tone
– many times
over to my children. 

It’s really quite amazing, but we would never think
of speaking to a
stranger in just quite the ‘tone’ that we flip off to
those nearest
and dearest to us.

So…….. please go now and post the word tone someplace
around
your home as a reminder for yourself.

'The Forests Will Echo With Laughter'

 

"And it's whispered that soon

if we all call the tune

then the piper will lead us to reason.

And a new day will dawn

for those who stand long,

and the forests will echo with laughter."

Led Zeppelin ~ Stairway to Heaven

(photo - Enchanted Forest Path)

A Message Today ~ From Nature

Today as I walked out to watch Kevin get on the bus,
I glanced down at my flowerbed.   With our location in
Northern Ohio Spring arrives later than most places.

My hyacinths just popped through the soil not all that long ago.
They have yet to open in full bloom, but this is a picture of one
of them that I snapped this morning.....

As the hyacinth popped up and grew, it uplifted that which
was around it.    It almost looks like it's holding the leaves.

It was just a beautiful lesson that I wanted to share.

Hyacinth's
Check out this link to see some in full bloom.   
I think I'll post another picture after this little one
opens up and blooms. 

My Main Blog at Typepad - Deb_Inside

Deb _Inside

http://www.deb_inside.typepad.com/

"Bless Everyone You Meet"

Yesterday I was listening to an audio book by Gary Zukov,
Soul Stories.

Gary was talking about a presentation he had heard.
The person giving the talk was a Hawaiian Kahuna.

The Kahuna was saying that you should 'bless everyone you meet'.
'You can not bless and judge a person at the same time'.

The Kahuna went on to say.....  IF you think you can't find
at least one thing nice to think about a person..... send them
a blessing saying  ........

"Thank you for this person, they are feeding

the plants when they exhale"

"Bless Everyone You Meet"

 Photo taken May 23, 2007 - Tinker's Creek Park Bedford Ohio

Thursdays Tag

Deb over at Gitten it Out of My Head... has

TAGGED ME....   

I'm breaking the rules and not tagging
anyone else...   hee hee.... but here's
my response......

Four Films I'd Watch Again:

• The Wizard of Oz - (my all time fav movie)



• The Polar Express



• Indigo



• A Christmas Carol -(with George C. Scott)

Four Places I've Lived:

• Cleveland, OH



• Bedford, OH



• Maple Heights, OH



• Reminderville, OH

Four TV Shows I Watch:

• The Weather Channel



• HGTV



• NASCAR Racing - ('Boogity, Boogity, Boogity' Darrell Waltrip )



• That's Life - Local AM TV

Four Things To Eat:

• Seafood



• Seafood



• Did I mention seafood  ;)



• DanDee Cheese Twists

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

• By the ocean



• A cabin in the woods



• Visiting an art museum



• Any park

Hey play along in the comments...........

Remembering Our Fallen U.S. Military Heroes

I've created a new blog ---

Remembering The Fallen

Military Times has an amazing site - - -

Honor the Fallen - - -


Honoring those who fought and died in
Operations Iraqi freedom and Enduring Freedom.   There is a search area
on the database at the Military Times site.    I'm gathering the names
and information and listing it day by day on this site.



I wanted a place where on that day, I could remember ALL who
have given their all. 

My heartfelt prayers for the family and friends
of these heroes.

In Memory of ALL U.S. Military Heroes

Please Help Support Former Army Captain Sargent Binkley

Sargent is the son of Jane Ellen and Ed Binkley.   I know Jane Ellen
from a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder web site of which we are both
members.   

Being the Mom of a United States Air Force Staff Sergent, I know very
well that this could be my son Vincent in this picture.   

I've pulled some info about Sargent from his web site.   Please read this
or go to this web site and read more.
Sarge Binkley needs OUR HELP !!!!!

There are addresses listed at the site help out in a letter writing
effort and also phone numbers to call.   

If this were my Vinny, I would be pleading for your support....
and you know what, once you are a military Mom, they ALL FEEL like
my kids....    SO I AM PLEADING !!!!!!!!

If you can't find the time, or don't wish to write a letter, prayers are most
welcome, not only for this young man, but for all who live with the horror
of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

THANK YOU SARGE for your service and I pledge to support you !!!!

 

http://supportsarge.org

 

 

 

Sargent & his Mom Jane Ellen

 

.

Under California's strict mandatory minimum sentencing laws,
US Army Captain Sargent Binkley is facing at least 12 years in state
prison. If you know Sargent and/or are opposed to mandatory minimum
sentencing, please read the following. You can help.

Update 3/18 Sargent's Santa Clara court date has been
postponed until mid-July, with the San Mateo court date likely to
change as well. This delay gives us more time to push the county DAs to
take a settlement. Your letters and phone calls are helping - keep them
coming!

Sargent Binkley committed two robberies in 2006. These
crimes were desperate attempts to obtain the painkillers he became
addicted to after sustaining injuries while serving abroad. These
injuries were repeatedly misdiagnosed and mistreated by the military
medical system, resulting in Sargent’s downward spiral of addiction. He
harmed no-one, took no money, and turned himself in. Under California’s
minimum sentencing law, no judge can commute his sentence to one more
in proportion to his crime. Sargent has been in jail for over a year
and a half and faces final sentencing soon in Santa Clara County.

We support the elimination of California's excessive mandatory
minimum sentencing laws, which give the power usually reserved to
judges over to District Attorneys. But changing the law takes time that
Sargent Binkley doesn't have. Public pressure is the only thing that
may cause the respective District Attorneys to reconsider; please help
us in this fight by writing a letter or making a phone call as soon as you can.
Two minutes of your time can help persuade District Attorneys Deborah
Medved and Steve Wagstaffe to apply a more equitable and appropriate
sentence, and obtain justice for Sargent Binkley.

About Sargent

Sargent
Binkley was born and raised in Los Altos, California. He attended Los
Altos High School, where he excelled in school while playing on the
football and rugby teams and becoming an Eagle Scout. Binkley’s goal as
a teenager was to work hard enough to enroll at the US Military Academy
in West Point, NY. He succeeded, and matriculated there in 1993. After
graduation in 1997 he entered the US Army, completing the airborne jump
course and the notoriously difficult Ranger training.

Sargent was sent to Bosnia after his graduation, where he served as
a peacekeeper by guarding the mass graves of genocide victims. From
there he was sent to Central America, where he participated in drug
interdiction operations. At one point he was ordered to open fire on a
truck that contained a civilian teenage boy, an act that haunts him to
this day. While on duty in Honduras, he fractured his pelvis and
dislocated a hip. This injury was consistently misdiagnosed by Army
physicians over the next several years, resulting in chronic pain and
an addiction to prescription painkillers.

Sargent was honorably discharged out of the Army in 2002 and
returned to civilian life. He worked for a time until his chronic pain
and addiction destroyed his ability to be productive. He moved back
home with his parents, who paid for a diagnosis by a private sports
physician. The private doctor used a high-resolution MRI and found
tears in the cartilage of his left hip, injuries that the military
medical system had been unable to find. Surgery finally fixed the
problem. After this his prescriptions from the VA were discontinued but
his addiction remained, compounded by a psychiatric diagnosis of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Sargent held up two Walgreens pharmacies in 2006 – one in Mountain
View on the twentieth of January, the second in San Carlos on the third
of March. He used an unloaded gun, harmed no one, and left only with
bags full of painkillers. Shortly after the second robbery he turned
himself in. After a year and a half in custody, he is working his way
through a drug rehabilitation program as he awaits trial.

administrator – September 8, 2007  –  7:58pm