Friday Five
1. What do you most want to be remembered for?
My kindness, empathy, intelligence and humbleness.
2. What quotation best fits your outlook on life?
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.”
Malcolm X
3. What single achievement are you most proud of in the past year?
Getting my current job.
4. What about the past ten years?
I can’t just pick one.. My acceptance into Missouri Scholars’ Academy, National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C., graduating from high school, receiving my acceptance letter from Washington University on my birthday and graduating from college.
5. If you were asked to give a child a single piece of advice to guide them through life, what would you say?
Never give up on your goals.
Couple of Jokes:
Tatoo
An accountant gets home late one night and his wife says, “Where the hell have you been?” He replies, ” I was out getting a tattoo.
“A tattoo?” she frowned. “What kind of tattoo did you get?”
“I got a hundred dollar bill on my penis,” he said proudly.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she said, shaking her head in disdain. “Why on earth would an accountant get a hundred dollarb bill on his penis?”
“Well, one, I like to watch my money grow,” he began. “Two, once in a while, I like to play with my money… Three, I like how my money feels in my hand…
And lastly, instead of you going out shopping, you can stay right here at home and blow a hundred bucks.
Jack and Jill
Memorial Day 2003
Today is Memorial Day and it is also the birthday of the only dad that really raised me. Today would have been my grandfather’s birthday, my Papa. Papa was
born May 26, 1912 and he would have been 91 this year. Papa passed away twelve years ago this month.
When my birth father was or was not around, Papa was there for my family and I. He was the protector, the provider and the counselor all in one. As an
adult, I can imagine that Papa didn’t care much for my birth father, but he never let me know this. Papa’s world revolved around his Pooky, Buddy Boy and
his two daughters. A caring and considerate man, Papa did a great deal for his family, community and country.
During World War II, Papa provided honorable service to the United States Army. A very special person in my life recently presented my grandfather’s medals
to me. I cherish the medals dearly. In my family, I am the protector of the momentos, scrapbooks, photos, etc. It is a great honor to be able to look at
Papa’s medals whenever I want.
I get emotional when I think about Papa because I feel that he was snatched away from me. Papa lived a long full life but selfish thoughts run rampid
through my heart and mind. Papa knows that I love him; the thing is that I never had the opportunity to sit back and listen to his war stories or learn more
about his eight brothers and sisters and his parents. I wanted to know about the farm life and where his mother’s family came from. I wanted to know. I
still want to know.
Perhaps I can discover more on my own.
All I know is that if Papa was alive he would have led me the right way without hesistation.
Papa I owe a great deal to you for me being who I am today.
Papa I love you.
Happy Birthday Papa.
Happy Memorial Day to all of the veterans.
And also Happy Birthday to a wonderful person named Calvin.
Reflections
I’m not really feeling today’s Friday Five questions *sigh* Apparently I’m not the only one.
I’m always thankful when Fridays come around though; don’t have to deal with customers for a whole two days. Meanwhile I’m still searching for a job that will allow me to put my degree and education to use. I’m tired of having to settle for less, but I still have to make a living. Who’s gonna pay the bills… no one but ME. So sometimes it feels like I (temporarily) have to settle for less. I’m not going to give up on my goals. I glance at my degree daily and I even have my resolutions hanging up on my desk. Graduate school is a must, but it seems so far beyond my reach at this point in my life. I play my life back like an old VHS and wonder where I went wrong or what I could have done instead of one thing over another.
Regrets? No. Curious? Yes.
Remembering September 11th, 2001
Happy birthday my dear TeeTee. I love you. And as you turn a quarter of a century old, I wish you all the hapiness in the world.
Everytime I hear Whitney Houston’s and Marvin Gaye’s performance of the Star Spangled Banner, it sends chills all up and down my spine.
You gotta download those if you don’t have that in your collection.
September 11, 2001 as I saw it:
It was my day off. I remember so clearly sitting here in the cockpit (my computer room) and flipping on the Today Show. It was about 8:30 am, Matt Lauder was reporting that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. What the hell….. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes to make sure I saw what I thought I had seen correctly. I immediately called JT at work. That conversation is a blur because I just sat and dazed at the television screen. Next I hear that another plane had crashed into the other building. It felt like my heart skipped a couple of beats. I was extremely overwhelmed by the visuals. I gazed over to my computer and immediately typed the urls of my sources of news; Yahoo, CNN and New York Times. Soon, the word of a terriost attack was all over the internet.
I thought to myself, “ohh shit, it’s Tiffany’s birthday. I gotta call her and wish her happy birthday.” As I began to call my best friend, images of the World Trade Center flashed in my mind. I wished her a happy birthday and immediately we started talking about what happened. I hated that this tragedy took place on my best friend’s birthday.
After the crashes in Washington D.C. and Pennslyvania, local and world news began speculating more hijacked planes. This worried me even more.
