04Apr 2017 by CJ

Old friend – a reminder of what was and can be in life

Life & Living, Love & Relationships
“Happiness is meeting an old friend after a long time and feeling that nothing has changed.” – Anonymous My wife and I recently hosted an old family friend at our home for a few days. Time slows down for no one in this world. To my surprise, it had been many years since the last time I’d seen her in person or enjoyed her company. It’s unfortunate how the absence of someone in your daily existence truly makes you forget, even justify, why you’ve lost contact. All the wonderful memories you once shared have become nothing more than pages in your personal history book. Photos in a scrapbook you rarely, if ever, glance at. We all take for granted that our time here on earth is infinite. We always assume…
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14Feb 2017 by CJ

My story, their story – our story

Love & Relationships
“There are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.” ― Leo Buscaglia My story? Everyone has a story. Many are filled with an abundance of inspiration and hope, while others seem plagued by sorrow and despair. But no matter the circumstances or our fundamental place in society, we all have a story to tell. Stories overflowing with challenges and discoveries that eventually form the pages of our personal history books. I’ve lived on planet Earth now for over four decades. I’ve learned a great deal, lost even more, all while creating a…
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05Feb 2017 by CJ

Driving Miss Daisy teaches us a lesson about aging

Love & Relationships
The other night, I revisited a film I’d only seen in bits and pieces over the years – Driving Miss Daisy. You know how it happens – on a sleepless night flicking through television, you catch the middle, maybe the end, but hardly enough to piece together the entire storyline. But on this particular night, completely by chance, I’d turned on the television just as the opening credits appeared on screen. What luck! For those of you unfamiliar with the 1989 Academy Award Winner, Driving Miss Daisy follows Mrs. Daisy Werthan through the span of 25 years – beginning at age 72. While the story certainly focuses on many social and political issues occurring in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the overwhelming theme of Driving Miss Daisy is how growing old…
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19Sep 2016 by CJ

Piece by Piece – moving on from abandonment

Love & Relationships, Youth
When I first heard Kelly Clarkson’s song Piece by Piece, I found myself listening to it over and over again. I rarely define a style of music I listen to, mainly because I’m often attracted to amazing lyrics more than anything else. And Clarkson’s song certainly delivers. Here’s how her musical journey begins: And all I remember is your back Walking towards the airport, leaving us all in your past I traveled fifteen hundred miles to see you Begged you to want me, but you didn’t want to It’s the real-life story of Clarkson’s absentee father, and how her husband eventually was able to pick up the shattered pieces of her life and reaffirm there are still men out there who know how to be caring; know how to be…
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05Sep 2016 by CJ

Amending familial relationships can be hard

Life & Living, Love & Relationships
“It's not a person’s mistakes which define them - it's the way they make amends.”  ― Freya North I have cousins on my mother’s side, whom I haven’t seen in over 30 years. While some familial relationships experience such absences based on geographical location or the expansion of sub-families, mine seems to have more dramatic undertones, rather than a logical reality. Without airing out all my dirty laundry, there was a supposed “falling out” between members of the family - details of which have been the subject of speculation for years, but never fully revealed to me. I was around eight-years-old when this all occurred. And while I fully understand how turmoil inside the family can quickly divide people against each other, for me there’s still that little eight-year-old boy wondering…
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