27Mar 2012 by CJ

Things that are old are often forgotten but they once held greatness

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
Did you ever notice how things that are old are often forgotten? Did you ever pass by an old, abandoned building and wonder to yourself, how did it start out life? At the time of completion the building may have been considered state of the art - on the cutting edge of technology. Only now it’s nothing more than a piece of history that’s been plagued by vandalism and reduced to rubble. The same could be said for that 57 Chevy rusting and rotting away in an overcrowded junkyard. Certainly a pale comparison to the years when muscle cars were all the rage and drive-in movies were a common form of entertainment on Friday nights. But there must have been a time when these relics once possessed beauty and commanded…
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26Mar 2012 by CJ

The Sound of Music teaches us so many lessons about dreams

Life & Living
Growing up I knew very little about the widely popular Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music, beyond singing its title song in grade school music class. In fact it wasn’t until I was in my late 20’s that my wife first introduced me to the Von Trapp family in the 1965 film musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. It’s a shame that it took me so long to discover what millions of viewers had already known. This weekend, while visiting my 91 year old grandmother, we decided to watch it again with her. I assumed she had already seen the movie years back, but had no idea just how much she’d enjoy it. She bobbed her head up and down during songs like How Do You Solve…
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11Mar 2012 by CJ

Food on a rope is a timeless story I still love sharing with others

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
My grandmother came from a family of nine brothers and sisters and loved to share the story of food on a rope from her childhood. Her mother (my great-grandmother) was a homemaker – staying home to raise the children in their tiny North Bergen, New Jersey apartment, while her husband went to work as a furniture re-finisher. Money was always tight, as were the sleeping quarters. It wasn’t uncommon to have two or three children sharing a bed. My grandmother used to always tell me how cold her sister’s feet used to be or how she was always crying about something when they were trying to go to sleep. Another story she told over and over was that of food on a rope. You see their apartment was on the…
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08Mar 2012 by CJ

Lessons are being taught to us all the time it’s up to us to learn from them

Information & Education, Life & Living
Lessons are taught in more places than just nursery rhymes. Diane Warren is a songwriting powerhouse, penning memorable favorites for performers such as Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Elton John and even Meat Loaf. One that’s been resonating with me lately is sung by Underwood entitled, Lessons Learned (it was also recently covered by Broadway darling Kristin Chenoweth). Here’s a sampling: There's some things that I regret, some words I wish had gone unsaid,Some starts, that had some bitter endings,Been some bad times I've been through, damage I cannot undo,Some things, I wish I could do all over again,But it don't really matter, life gets that much harder,It makes you that much stronger,Oh, some pages turned, some bridges burned,But there were, lessons learned. [Chorus:]And every tear that had to fall from…
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07Mar 2012 by CJ

Life is fragile and you need to recognize miracles before they’re gone

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
Last night I bumped into an acquaintance I hadn’t seen in some time. It was another lesson learned in how life is fragile. As is customary and mannerly, the appropriate question in these circumstances is often to ask “how are you” or “how’ve you been,” and the response you’re expecting is “fine”. But that wasn’t the case here. It turns out that her 40-year-old daughter had passed away suddenly without any warning or evident cause. I was speechless as I’m sure you can understand. After all, what comforting words can you possibly offer during such a painful, sometimes unbelievable occurrence? For the remainder of the evening and even today I can’t stop thinking about her daughter’s untimely passing. I kept thinking about my wife and what in the world I…
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