HE GAVE HIS BEST TO US: THE LEGACY OF A GREAT MAN

 

A series of essays….

DEMOCRACY: OURS TO LOSE UNLESS WE FIGHT HARD TO RETAIN IT!

….as seen through my eyes!

“Let me know in my heart

When my days are through

America, America

I gave my best to you

America

I gave my best to you”

— Joe Biden

From American Anthem by Nora Jones

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Wow, Monday night made it all so real for me! I have shivers just thinking about this momentous presidential convention and our commitment to freedom and democracy while protecting individual rights for all people. 

If we can take just one piece of truth, one segment of reality, or one nugget of solid memory from an administration that is summarized as helping and loving all of the people who fall under its care—let it be this song and lyrics by Nora Jones, personalized and quoted by Joe Biden.

We often seek out one thought or memory offered as a gift to us by someone or something that will live in our hearts, forever. That’s exactly what I had hoped to take away from the first night of the DNC. And, even though I waited a long time for it to arrive, at last, I found it as Joe was closing his speech to the nation: “I gave my best to you.”

My own laughter and waterworks rang true throughout the hours of accolades bestowed upon Joe. The random intimate stories of hard work, hardships, newfound joy and happiness, some we’d heard before and others new, was the running theme of the evening. Ultimately, after fifty years of service to his country, his decision to step down from his presidency is the greatest personal sacrifice he could every make. This selfless act should and will live within us until the end of time.

The ego is not something to be taken for granted. If we’re lucky, the ego relates the appropriate pride in oneself that offers up the self-esteem required to make the very best of our life and be able to share this with others. If we, the recipients of this ego, build a better life for ourselves and those we love because of it, the circle of life contains a sparkling silver lining to be passed down from generation to generation.

Joe, unlike most of us, was able to sacrifice everything he worked so hard to create within his career as a public servant. Politics to Joe is the runway that helps him take flight and become the best he can possibly be. Family is the fuel that energizes him. We, the people, are the grateful recipients that thrive under all of his kindness and love.

Aren’t we fortunate to know Joe Biden? You’re damn right we are! Who else would leave a position of such high importance for the benefit of you and me? I will bet it took an enormous amount of soul searching, confidence in the person he is passing the baton to, and faith (in his God and his family) to pull this one off. Does he have some regrets, do you think? After all, he is only human.

His fifty-two minute speech packed a punch. Delivered with strength in his convictions, it was the perfect keynote address to the nation. It was powerful! Taking such pride in all you have accomplished as president in the last four years is an act of extreme self confidence and belief in the Constitution and this great nation.

If need be, I would have stayed awake to hear his speech well into the early hours of the morning. It was necessary to hear him speak to us; be the Joe Biden that led us out of a pandemic (totally exasperated by the negative powers that be) and into a positive future the likes we have not witnessed for decades. 

Thank you, Joe!

Maybe that sounds too simple, too naive. We know it comes from the very depths of our souls. Joe knows it, too. Such a collective effort of Pride and Love and Hope.

I have been a Nora Jones fan for many years and remember watching the Ken Burn’s documentary, The War. But the years have a way of passing us by, too quickly. I did not take American Anthem to heart as, obviously, the Biden family has done. Shouldn’t we all read these Nora Jones’s lyrics (her poetic epitaph) with a true sense of patriotism; a tone of giving our life for the betterment of others? Joe did. Joe does. Joe always will and he will be lovingly immortalized for it.

I love this man. I love Joe Biden and I always will. His profound grace exists within his successor, Kamala Harris, as well. May God bless our nation and lead us forward into the light.

“I love my job, but I love my country more.”  —Joe Biden

Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

HAVE YOU EVER…?

A series of essays….

“LET THE SUN SHINE, LET THE SUNSHINE IN”

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

A spider’s web, much to my surprise, wrapped itself around my shoulders this morning as I stepped out on the back deck to capture the early morning light filtering through the adolescent leaves of our maples, sassafras, and oaks. Thinking of how our spirits can be lifted by the mere sight of sunlight penetrating the objects surrounding us and that we often take little heed of during grey, gloomy weather, I snapped several pictures before reentering the house through our knotty alder French doors.

Have you ever wondered about the nocturnal activity that surrounds you while you’re sleeping all snuggled within the soft folds of bed linens and surreal dreams of past, present, and future? As plantings cool down from the heat of the day only to be served up as delicious and colorful salad for the herds of deer roaming the landscaped lawns in the safety and comfort of night shadows. The artistic spider weaves its smooth, glossy, and intricate tapestry of threads stretching from one ceramic pot to another; one deck chair back to the built-in bench our grandchildren love to sit and play on. Walking through that delicate tapestry was like entering a new dimension in time and space; a porthole by which one transitions from the darkness of night into the morning’s light!

Have you ever looked into the depths of a child’s eyes (your own grandchild’s eyes) and felt you could dive into them as if they were the bottomless pools of untapped knowledge, unchartered hope, and limitless love you had been seeking all of your life?

Have you ever questioned yourself for any reason? From: “Should I have purchased that dress in navy blue instead of red?” To: “Would working for the renowned law firm in downtown Orlando be more prudent and fulfilling than working for an established builder in Celebration?” We make our choices along the way and to second guess them after the fact would be an imprudent thing to do. Acceptance of our personal selections in life and working hard to make them fit us comfortably has been the joy of living in a ‘free country’ awash with personal opportunities and benefits. What if the ideals behind the words free, opportunities, and benefits were stripped away from us due to the color of our skin? What if we were all made to wear navy blue instead of being able to opt for the color red?

Have you ever thought about losing your freedom and the individual rights we share as citizens of this country? Have you ever wondered about the wisdom of old men and women with shocks of white and dyed hair that harbor the need for corruption and greed? I know that change can be counteracted by more change and good shall rise from the depths of evil and that it requires patience and lots of hard work to make that happen. Retaining our democracy is so worth all we have to give to make that happen!

THE SUN RISES OVER THE BUILT-IN
BENCH OUR GRANDCHILDREN LOVE

Have you ever woken up in a place that was not your own bedroom and wondered where in the world you were? For over four, long years we questioned our grasp of normalcy which shifted from stability to trying to understand the jealous negativism surrounding a man whom we wanted to believe signed up to lead us into a brighter future. As he still, even after losing the election of 2020, pounds his lies into vulnerable people hoping to prove what most of us do not understand, I know that his was not the world I’d signed up for or expected for myself and my children. His blatant disregard for life and the pursuit of happiness never represented the cozy bedroom I fell asleep in the night before.

Have you ever felt less threatened and more loved than ever since the establishment of the Biden/Harris administration? My heart is more at peace now than it has been for years. Knowing that good change is happening with so much more to come brings such deep joy to all of us who helped make this change happen in November of 2020. We cannot afford to have this precious right to vote taken away from any single one of us by ignorant people who embrace and value white supremacy as a privilege they fully believe is theirs to flaunt as the truth.

I keep my camera on the oak library table that stands tall against the wall nearest the set of French doors in the dining room. It’s convenient to snag it on my way out the door on an early morning photo shoot. My evening adventures are slightly less conducive to walking through spider’s webs, fortunately. However, when the warm light of a firefly is enclosed within laced fingers and emits a surreal glow like minute rays of green-tinted moonlight, do we not wonder in amazement at how special our life truly is?

Later in the day, when I slowly turn around and look up into the sun that gently peeks out over our roofline, I think how it resembles a magnificent, sparkling palm tree. It’s fronds seem to be protecting our house as if they were gigantic, gossamer arms spun by a giant counterpart of the spider that had impressed me earlier in the morning. My heart is full; my world appeased.

Have you ever felt so loved that you just know that everything is going to be okay? That it would be worth while giving ourselves and the future another chance at getting it right?

“SO LET THE SUN SHINE IN, FACE IT
WITH A GRIN, SMILERS NEVER LOSE
AND FROWNERS NEVER WIN.”

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photos © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

COMMITMENT

A series of essays....

THERE IS NOTHING QUITE AS BEAUTIFUL OR
STRONG AS THE COMMITMENT OF MOTHER TO HER CHILD

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

COMMITMENT

is tantamount to both success and failure. Whether we make this pledge to ourselves or to others, a course of action is demanded of us, as per position, custom, law, or religion. Upon making it, we may choose to see our commitment in many different ways and even perceive it as a burden, destined to drag us down into its dark, spiraling depths as we attempt to fulfill our obligations and duties. And, even though our initial intentions may have been fueled by passion and love, the job at hand could transpire into a wearisome and troubled journey, if we allow it to. However, we are not made to live strictly within our 'comfort zone.' Mankind is much more resilient to negative thoughts and, for the most part, resolves its own inadequacies and fears in order to extract a sense of accomplishment based on the commitments he or she has made.

"Commitment is doing the thing you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you."  ~Unknown~    

To say that we love is a commitment to our choice of giving ourselves to another or to a certain cause and, once we have made it, we devote all of our physical and mental activities towards owning the experience because our commitment empowers us to do so. We should not feel enslaved by this choice. Love should never place restraints on the heart and soul in order to prove our intentions are real. If we truly commit to the choice to love, our reward is bliss and great joy shared with those we are committed to. We should not have to beg for these things from those we love, but be given them in return because we are equally loved. 

Taking responsibility for the welfare of an elderly person or a child with special needs requires a devotion so unselfish, honest, and true that the commitment made is worthy of all the respect and love needed to make it in the first place.

Teachers make brave and honorable commitments to all of our children and further their pledges by sacrificing their own free time and money with the idea that the children will give us back the benefit of peace of mind and the hope of a better future. God bless the teacher whose strength endures the inequalities forced upon him/her for we have been blessed by their kind and generous soul.

Athletes should respect and honor themselves while brandishing the results of a strong, powerful body, a healthy mind, and a positive outlook on life. True athletes commit to both physical and spiritual strength and have served us well as protector and warrior. Our soldiers marching off to war are athletes whose commitment to defend lives by pledging to sacrifice their own should inspire all of us. They should be met with gracious approval.

Life is short. It should not be wasted. Making a personal commitment to achieve a goal, no matter how large or small, is equal to making a commitment to someone else. It involves dedicating yourself to this agreement with yourself and knowing that there is nobody to let you down but you. Excuses are not allowed if you wish to succeed. Always keep your goals in sight and commit to them with an open heart, even in the face of adversity. Remember there is a sense of obligation whenever we make a commitment to another person. We should have that same sense of obligation to ourselves.

Think carefully and ask yourself what commitments you have already made and/or kept. Are you willing and strong enough to make new commitments to yourself and others? 

Author’s Note: Original version of this essay was published on 10/08/15. Our commitment to Freedom and Democracy has become a major priority for most of us since first writing this essay. In honor of this important endeavor, I wish us strength, determination, and the power to overcome the hatred, racism and evil that opposes us and desires to deplete us of our basic, human rights. My Love to all.

Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photo copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved