gimini210's Blog

I watched that movie, "The Note", and was reminded of when my father passed away when I was 13 years old. He was a minister and only wanted the small churches in the country. He loved working with people who worked hard and lived harder. He spent hours driving from one ranch to another when people were ill. He helped hunt the big cats that were killing their cattle, and he help gather the cattle and brand them. He preached on Sunday and Wensday and the rest of the week he would just visit the sick and help where needed. He was big on repecting others and never bringing shame on your name.

 He used to make me watch the elderly parents of some of the people so they could go to church once in a while. I hated it at first then I started listening to them talk. They had such storied to tell. They lived in a time before cars and electric and before T.V. and their bathrooms were outhouses. They had hard winters and rough lifes but they enjoyed it while they lived it. They lived threw the depression and so did their children.

One elderly woman use to paint and she had me pull a bunch of pictures she had painted as a child out. They were beautiful, and as I looked threw them she told me what each one was about and when she had painted them. They were history on canvas. That was the moment I became interested in art. To this day I paint and when I am gone I will be leaving history behind me as well. Remembering what he did for others as well as for us made me think of what we all leave behind once we are gone. How much have we done for others without expecting to get something in return?

At this time of year it is good to remember a time when, sometimes not willingly, I was taught that giving a little of my time could bring me much more than I was giving. That no matter how rough life can become there was a time when cell phones, cable T.V. , indoor plumbing, and electric were a dream and people lived happily without them. There was a time when they chopped wood for heat and ate what they hunted or grew. They survived. The world has progressed and in doing so the elderly are put in homes with no one to listen to their tales of older days and outhouses are portable now.

The thing is, I loved my dad and he love all of us. He gave us memories and built a fondation to grow on. He taught me that to give freely is a blessing not only on the person recieving but on me more so. He has been gone now for many years. He never saw his grandchildren nor his great grandchildren, but he did leave them a bit of history. What he taught all of us has been passed on to them. He gave us the ability to love others, and to see that no one is perfect, no one is the same and everyone should be treated with respect no matter who they are or how much they have. Because those with the less usually give the most. They are the ones that give the last dollar they have not $100. of the thousands they have.

Sometimes the less is the most and the most the less. So at this time of the year it is nice to be reminded that to give to those with less can be more rewarding than recieving. But most of all to respect others no matter what they look like, what they believe in or how they think. That being diffrent is alright, and being poor is not a sin, nor a shame. It is not what you have but the type of person you are that matters. After all it is your name that you will have from birth till death and that is the one thing that should never bring you shame. Everything else will come and go but your name will always be with you.

Nite all, Merry Christmas and God bless.