Things that are not said~

"Much of what was said did not matter, and that much of what mattered could not be said."

Katherine Boo

Happy birthday, Katherine Boo! The American investigative journalist and author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2000 with her series about group homes for the intellectually disabled.

Mark Nepo~ Inside Out

Inside Out  I was taken aback, when  joining a fitness club, at  the history of my body: a  rib removed, torn ligaments  in an ankle, torn muscle in a  knee, torn meniscus in the  other, arthritic thumbs, a  skull bone worn thin  by a tumor.  At first, I felt battered,  but smiled to realize that  I stand like a small cliff  worn full of holes in which  stray birds nest and I wake  with the dreams they have  while resting in me.  Each question carried  for a lifetime opens  like a hole worn in stone  through which the wind  finally sings.  A Question to Walk With: Begin to describe  the history of your own body and how life  has shaped you.

"Obit of the Day" ~ My Daddy

Obit of the Day: Inventor of the “Hummer Helmet”

David Leslie was a stockbroker by trade but his true love 

was nature. He and his wife, Mary, owned a cabin in 

northern Wisconsion which had a plethora of 

hummingbirds. Although they enjoyed watching the 

birds up close at feeders set up outside the house, it 

wasn’t quite close enough for Mr. Leslie.

So he invented the “Hummer Helmet.” The design 

was basic: a baseball helmet with three hummingbird 

feeders attached. Wearers of the helmet would be able 

to observe hummingbirds from the distance of 6 to 18

inches.  The helmet led to appearances on KSTP-TV and 

Animal Planet. But the breakthrough came when 

David Letterman invited Mr. Leslie onto The Late 

Show.  Mr. Leslie stayed in Minnesota while 

Mr. Letterman spoke to him via satellite. He would share 

periodic hummingbird updates throughout the show.

Mr Leslie, who owned patent #5996127 for the 

Hummer Helmet, died on February 5, 2013 at the age 

of 84. 

Sources: Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minnesota 

Public Radio and his patent

(Image of Mr. Leslie wearing his invention during his Late Showappearance is courtesy of the Star-Tribune)

Obit of the Day has featured several inventors. You can find them here.

Oh how I miss you Papa~ I didn't think you would ever leave me...

but you did say it would be okay, and some days it is but on others 

the grief is deep~  I love you.. Kissess for you and Mom~ Pooh

Tags

People In My Life...

Maybe some people just aren't meant to be in our lives forever. Maybe some people are just passing through. It's like some people just come through our lives to bring us something: a gift, a blessing, a lesson we need to learn. And that's why they're here. You'll have that gift forever. Danielle Steele

And so I've found this to be true~ each of you a treasure if only for a moment, a little while longer, or a lifetime!

Life and Loss and Love~

I thought I understood death and could let people go when it was their time to leave~  I have so much on my mind today and in reality it started several days ago... and a few before that.  I feel heavy.  So many untimely deaths this past week.  So much sadness for families, loved ones, me....  I have found that I can be affected by death in many different ways~  I may have a very close connection to someone, a small connection, or perhaps really, none at all, and I can feel the loss deeply, mightily.

Dan and Lynette lost their daughter to methamphetamine addiciton.  Her farewells were Thursday.  She loved butterflies, helping people, laughing, and most of all her 3 young children.  She tried hard to recover, and she did on and off.  Trish was found in her car, alone.

Christy and I met once.  She was a young 35.  She was self-employed, owned her own house, and loved her dog and her family.  We met, made a plan, and she wanted to do it alone.  She overheard a conversation between her dad and brother and her dad was saying she was never going to change, was ruining the family, didn't care.  She died 5 days after we met.  The coroner requested records and that's how we knew~ I know she died alone.

Dan was given an eight hour leave by the judge to pack up his belongings from his sober house.  He is under civil committment for the 3rd time and was waiting to go to treatment at a State operated facility.  We spoke four times that day.  He promised, we hugged, and he gave me a pinky swear.  He came back to us crumbled on the floor in the front seat of the car, with person he left with...unresponsive.  He was given Narcan, the EMT's gave it to him again, and the ambulance sat outside for over 45 minutes before it left.  Dan's case manager called me the next day and told me he wouldn't be coming back to us.  He did not die, he is intubated in the hospital.....  Opiates have full control over his life.  He is bright and funny, and appears happy on the outside.  He is alive~

And so it is, and there are thousands more~  My heart and my soul grieve.  It doesn't matter to me who you are, or where you came from our how you've tried or not tired, you just matter.  We need you, the world needs you~  I plain and simply, love you.

I LOVE YOU MOM

You've been gone seven long years~ and I miss you as much as I did the day you had to go.  I love you Momma so much~  I talk to you daily and I know you are speaking to me too.  Thank you for giving me life, love, grace, and you~ xo, Pooh

'Where we are'

It is 'where we are' that should make all the difference, whether we believe we belong there or not. 

Chang-rae Lee

After working on Wall Street for a year, Korean American novelist Chang-Rae Lee (born July 29, 1965) went back to school to get a masters degree in writing. Upon graduating, he turned his thesis into his first novel, the award-winning Native Speaker.