Yes, it’s Hump Day!!!
How’re you all holding up?! Full week … we’re at Wednesday, right?!! Progress …
First of all, I want to once again thank each of you for what you represent in my life … up until now. Many of you I have known for years … Some, I met just once and others I long to see again! Yet, there are others with whom I remain in contact though not feverishly, it is frequent and amicable most often. Thank you … each of you. And again, if you would like to NOT receive these pieces, simply let me know!
One of those “friends” I just described in the previous paragraph is a guy whom I met at a writer’s workshop at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. It’s interesting because the venue was unique and so was the gathering …. We are still friends today. I even stayed in his two bedroom apartment in Kissimmee, FL when I worked for ACORN in Orlando, training as a foreclosure prevention “specialist” and organizing a neighborhood into an ACORN component. Shucks, I rode my Honda 1999 NightHawk 750 from So Florida to Orlando and back again on the weekends … for 4 months!! I also drove the “Night Hawk” as I traveled as a community organizer in two neighborhoods, Carver Shores & Washington Heights, near Orlando. I met some wonderful people, including the Rev. and Mrs. Vinson, doing community organizing … and I stayed with Stokely Gittens while doing so!!
Well, Stokely’s father just passed, though I think he lasted longer than most thought as he suffered from cancer. It was all the more challenging because his mother just recently passed about a year ago! Can we avoid death? Methinks not … While many “folks”, scientists and new age movements are seeking ways to reverse the aging process, it seems to be a long ways off. So, meanwhile, why don’t we accept this stage of our journey as “part of life” … or the end, at least.
Make someone smile today … you may not know how much they really need it. It is a gesture to avert sadness as well as a gesture to uplift a fellow human being. Stokely is amongst the friends I have who have recently lost parents … Please send out a prayer of uplifting, some positive thoughts … maybe even a smile!
Peace,
John I. Cook, Director
Educational Excellence 