It’s Monday …
Yep, we are beginning another week and the first full week of November 2017 … It is another day in “paradise” … I often like to think! Yet, we get a full moon and a church shooting in a small town in Texas!! I was watching the Kelly and Ryan Show as it came on this morning. Kelly was at a loss for words, regarding why this happens so often in America … murders in churches and Vegas and elementary schools … and … and … The president said, “This is not a gun issue, this is a mental health issue.” What leadership we have … I can’t take what “America” has turned in to …
On November 9th, I will be remembering my mother, Marietta Dolores, who expired after a fall during the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma. Some of you may remember the circumstances … Over ten years ago … I still live each day, remembering both she and my dad. I think of how they would want me to be living. Most of us just “follow the leaders” or everybody else in life. One thing I have done with my life is NOT necessarily live it the way someone else lives their life. I take into account my temperament, my income, my work and play activities, my interests and goals and desires … as well as the short comings. I have mentioned more than once how I would like to retire in a foreign country. I have my reasons for not wanting to sit by in this country and watch all the mayhem and confusion during my “last days and time”! I think my mother would agree with my efforts of traveling and visiting places that I haven’t gone to before. My father, on the other hand, was a “land lubber”. He didn’t like boats or planes and only liked to travel when he drove!!!
Thinking back to the calm and peace I found abroad, I remember that people can NOT own a gun in Spain. People don’t blow their horns at the traffic light and no one revs their car engines or motorcycles in the street looking for their “15 seconds of fame”! I am glad that I was raised by both of my parents. Mother was a peace monger and Father was the provider and protector. There was no arguing and fighting allowed in the house and not between the siblings. Peace was something that we did … as a family. Church and Sunday school was on the itinerary for the weekends in our family. I am looking for that environment for my retirement. So, next week, I am finalizing plans to go to Costa Rica, Ecuador and Colombia. In memory of my “traveling mother and provider father”, I am looking to find that little place where I can spend a few of my last years, writing and reading, healing and hopefully getting to finish my third book … Peace be still!
Both parents taught me unconditional love in their own ways. I know I was loved … My mother had a special love for me as the baby boy and also as the “world traveler” following in her footsteps. I made many many friends abroad and hope to be able to visit a few places again. I didn’t get to visit Italy though I have been to England before. I thoroughly enjoyed my new friends and experiences in Europe … Spain in particular. I am off to “The Next Episode” in a few weeks. Wish me well … We’ll stay in touch!
Peace,
John I. Cook, Director
Educational Excellence 