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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28Feb 2012 by CJ

Neckties are no longer common but getting dressed up does make you feel good

Generosity & Kindness, Life & Living
“If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck?” - Linda Ellerbee The first question my 91 year old grandmother asked me when I got my new job was, “do you have to wear neckties?” Let’s remember she’s from a generation long ago when men wore a suit and neckties to go to the movies and women wore dresses and pumps to do their house work. Sounds pretty foreign, doesn’t it? I don’t think there was really a dress code per say at my previous job. Jeans and sneakers were commonplace and it never seemed to be an issue. In truth, I settled into that work attire pretty quickly – going…
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07Feb 2012 by CJ

Republican politicians turn an inspiring message to all into something bad

Information & Education, Life & Living
Is there anything that Republican politicians won’t try and contaminate? It seems Republican politicians are getting a little annoyed by the recent Chrysler commercial featured in this year’s super bowl. Clint Eastwood says, "It's halftime in America too. People are out of work and they're hurting and they're all wondering what they're going to do to make a comeback.” Republican Karl Rove said he was “offended” by the commercial and Michelle Malkin said she believe it alluded to his support of the auto industry. Are we done children? The political landscape has been reduced to nothing more than name calling, petty fighting and bullying on school playgrounds. We are so concerned with which side of the political field is winning the race that we forget about the everyday citizens who…
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