MILESTONE BIRTHDAY, JOHN PRINE, AND WAKING PEOPLE UP TO REALITY

 A series of essays....

OUR ATTEMPT TO ORGANIZE A SLEEPING PEOPLE AROUND SPECIFIC GOALS.
YOU HAVE TO WAKE THE PEOPLE UP FIRST, THEN YOU'LL GET ACTION!!!

Photo courtesy EMPA

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

A meme offered by a friend on Facebook this morning struck a nerve in me; one that has been tingling and sending some of us important messages since November 8, 2016. I say “some of us” because a vast majority of us among the left-wing persuasion had either acquired so much faith in the goodness of humanity during the Obama era or, were blinded by the fact that ‘laws’ written into our Nation’s Constitution, would never tolerate stupidity in any form and 45's sorry behind would be removed from the White House in record time. I was hoping that the vast majority of citizens and politicians would not take his actions for long and his hand-picked vice president would just have to do throughout the duration of this presidency. Pence would have to do until 2020 when we could legally make change happen. 

That never happened. The beast was allowed to exhale his rank smelling breath from sea to shining sea right alongside his equally sick and greedy friends in high places. 

Every. Single. Time. An individual or group prepared to mentally or physically challenge his early regime, his minions upheld his rank and status with nothing less than their own lives. Why? Money, status of their own, out of plain fear itself, or a combination of all three? Back then, I don’t think many of us had the exact answer. Hell, we were still in speculation mode! This could never happen to a country as great as ours; a nation built upon a collection of laws and strong principles and enough people who would certainly adhere to these laws through thick and thin, come hell or high water...

Sadly, a saying I first heard in college that has stuck with me all these years comes to mind: Good guys finish last. Or, if you don’t cheat the system, you will always lose the fight. I never knew how real and hurtful to so many the application of this saying would become in my lifetime. 

We knew, for the most part, what was in store for us right from the beginning. Did we wish to believe it? No. We chose to believe in the basic goodness of mankind. This man had been around doing his nastiness for many years. People who worked for him knew him well and even came out in 60 Minutes interviews to offer examples of his hate and acknowledged stupidity as a businessman and failure as a human being. A spoiled brat of a man whose daddy bailed him out of trouble but failed to give him love now sits among us, in the highest office, distributing his revenge upon the little people he has always despised and always feared of becoming himself one day.

But, he just happened to be media’s circus clown, too. His policies and antics guaranteed a good show and great television. The Native American people and friends giving-up their time and health to prevent an oil pipeline running down from Canada and bisecting their precious lands certainly knew. The false hope he offered to the coal miners and their families in a time when even he knew it was a lost cause but his pursuit of them could guarantee him future votes, have now opened-up their eyes enough to know the truth. 

Recalling his extreme ‘Executive Order’ phase beginning his first few days in office, “If people don’t like it, we’ve got to have a country folks. Got to have a country. Countries in which immigration will be suspended would include places like Syria and Libya. And we are going to stop the tens of thousands of people coming in from Syria.” All of this was under the guise of protecting our Nation from foreign terrorists entering into the United States. He knew then what it would take to stir the pot of hatred among his minions and place genuine fear in those of us who disagreed with him on one policy after another.

His total disdain for the well-being of human life in general and the manipulation of those who could and would carry-out his desires of what many of us entitled ‘early on dictatorship’ should have been more apparent and feared from the very beginning. After all, he gave every sign and indication of taking control of the country on his terms and in his time schedule. But, unfortunately, it was a sideshow the media could not give-up on and they followed him to the ends of the earth while verbalizing every phrase, showing each disgusting mannerism, and opening up about his genuine distaste for strong, intelligent women (which we already surmised through Hillary) and his personal experiences of physically abusing woman for his own entertainment.

The meme I alluded to in my beginning thoughts refers to the greatest mistake of ours as a law abiding, people loving nation:  Our greatest mistake has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you’ll get action! It's time to wake-up, go to the polls or write-in your votes in November, and vote him out for good!!  

PRINE IN 1975

JOHN PRINE -- A GENTLE MAN
WITH A HUGE HEART AND A KIND SOUL...

                                  Photos courtesy Tom Hill/Wireimage

As I sit here in my own home, isolated from my children, grandchildren, and friends, listening to songs written and performed by the great John Prine as a mid-April snow-shower blankets the world outside, I can’t imagine a more severe wake-up call than a global pandemic threatening and  taking so many lives. It’s invisible grip has us alone and lonely watching the chaos of thousands fighting for their last breath and wondering if we could be the next number that fattens the statistic column featured in bright red on the right side of most cable channel screens these days.

I can only ask what will it actually take to wake the people up first before we get the action required to shut this scourge on humanity, in the form of a man who could care less about his fellow humans, down for good? A man who not only has never offered comfort to the living members of families now mourning the death of loved ones, but who is actually responsible for their death in the first place by not handling the pandemic with speed and wisdom. Think about that for a moment. 

This man has touted the strength and power of a strong economy from day one. Ironically, he is now personally  responsible for our nation’s greatest economic demise since The Great Depression nearly one hundred years ago, lasting from October of 1929 to 1941! He either does not truly understand that by his actions, along with those of the Republican Party in all levels of government, or his lack of action to subdue this pandemic from its earliest stages, his complacency, lack of caring, and fear of losing his election this year, will always be remembered by his immortal words...”I don’t take any responsibility.” 

For now, I am finding solace in the lyrics of John’s songs that make me laugh, make me think, and make me wonder about my life as a young woman growing-up as a citizen of the Midwest, or the ‘Small Heartland,’ with its amber waves of grain blowing on a warm, summer breeze, taking long walks along the Lake Michigan shoreline holding hands with someone you care about, and living the uncomplicated (even though we didn’t agree at the time) life of a passionate youth hell-bent on becoming whomever they wished to be. 

Today, all I want is an opportunity to have my grandchildren enjoy the same freedoms we often took for granted back then.. Maintain the hope that their innocence is not stripped away from them too soon.. And, pray that they are more selective about the woman or man they vote for to lead and run our country in the future. I would do anything to take back the outcome of the Presidential election of 2016...for their sake, as well as for the thousands of martyrs who have died from complications of COVID-19, including all of the caregivers who have worked so hard to save their lives only to have lost their own in the process.

FRIENDS

I refer back to John, the falling snow, and one of my best friends celebrating her milestone birthday today. At this moment, I will have to find solace in that which I still can enjoy and have a small amount of control over. It will always be the little things that provide us with the happiness we  seek; even when one of those things happens to be helping to organize and ignite a fire under a sleeping people around specific goals. We have to wake-up and find our voices before our opportunity to do so is lost forever. Vote in November!

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay smart and we will get through all of this.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER, WHAT SHALL WE CHANGE? EVERYTHING!

 A series of essays....

THE NEW WORLDWIDE FASHION ACCESSORY FOR
SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN (?) OF 2020

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

“We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another.

Suddenly, Disney is out of magic,

Paris is no longer romantic,

New York doesn't stand up anymore,

the Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.

Hugs and kisses suddenly become weapons -- and not visiting parents and friends becomes an act of love.

Suddenly, you realize that power, beauty and money are worthless and can't get you the oxygen you're fighting for.

The world continues its life and it is beautiful. It only puts humans in cages. I think it's sending us a message:

You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine. When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my master."  — Anonymous Author

The ritual of waking-up early to write intensifies everyday that the morning breaks earlier and the days begin to roll into one another and be renamed Thatday, Thisday, and Whatday is this? Most human contact is encapsulated in small screens and going outside means raking last autumn’s leaves and tending to the flower patches. My goodness, we're going to enjoy some hellishly noteworthy gardens this year...when we’re able to walk openly and get out to see them!

John Prine didn’t make it. Man, that sucks! He was a gauge of hope for me. I remember thinking, “If we don’t lose John, this crumbling world is turning around and the highly susceptible will have given us more hope to carry-on and believe in the strength of mankind and the future.” RIP, John. You are loved. You will be missed.

We won’t remember all of their names like we will John’s. Too many heroes are falling, divesting this world of good people who signed-up to help their fellow man out of the grace and glory of their own hearts. Like an Irish storyteller (a seanchaí), the survivors come home each night and relay their intensely sad and often gruesome stories to those who will listen, only to return, in far less than adequate battle gear, to do it all over again the next day! Their loving efforts and hard work will be remembered forever.

And, there will always be someone like you and me, isolated within our homes, who listen, keyboard at the ready, fingers poised, willing to open up our hearts to the truth and layout our feelings to anyone who wants to read our ideas and opinions. I am humbled by you taking the time to read mine each week.

After reading the story highlighted above, it was important for me to sit down and contemplate the ramifications of each line, every thought and purpose behind the author’s words and how they would and should affect all of us. Essentially, “We fell asleep in one world and woke up in another.” What was black is now white, tall is short, high is low, soft is hard, right is wrong, and fairy tales and children’s stories have been successfully written with even less prompting.

It’s exactly what it’s been like living under the current administration in Washington D.C. for the past four years; an upside down world of wrong versus right and what we were asked to believe in has now turned against us and used as ammunition to strike us down at every turn. The war zone we live in dictates that, “Hugs and kisses suddenly become weapons, and not visiting parents and friends becomes an act of love.” Sadly, our lives have changed drastically from what we previously thought to be normal. Ordinary and usual become preconceived notions formulated long ago in another time and a different place.

Certain unhealthy changes have already altered our lives. The price we have had to pay for them is staggering! 

“Suddenly, you realize that power, beauty, and money are worthless and can't get you the oxygen you're fighting for.” This makes me wonder why greedy, wealthy individuals believe that their money and power will sustain their health and well-being like some magical, golden cloak slipped over their sleazy shoulders. 

MOTHER EARTH WEEPS

And, the message that Mother Earth is sending us is profound and clear: The Earth will get along just fine without the presence of humans. In fact, the Earth, with her clean water and unpolluted sky, existed much better before we arrived. If humans are shutdown for a while either by their own stupidity or a worldwide pandemic, and are fortunate enough to return to this nurturing planet we called our home...she will be there for us with opened arms but, on her own terms this time around.

So, when we sit down with plenty of time on our hands and the opportunity to ponder the future, let us recognize that life has changed dramatically from even a few weeks ago. The changes are not lost on any of us, including the young children we depend on to help make the future a better place to live, thank goodness. I want their voices to be heard; shouted out loud and clear from every soapbox across the world! And, I want us all to listen intently and with open minds. After all, the poor marks issued to the last several generations should contribute to our willingness to accept their changes.

What has to change? EVERYTHING! The message is out there loud and clear. We must learn to respect. This means to respect everything and everyone around us. Without respect we are nothing. We need to love more and give love to others in order to receive love in return. We must embrace joy, be joyful ourselves, and ignite joy in others by taking great pleasure from life and the world we live in. These are not the simplest things to do. This may not provide a yield of wealth for us with golden coins filling our pockets, however, in and of itself, life will become greatly enriched.

As the new song entitled No Time For Love Like Now by singer and songwriter Michael Stipe implies, there is “No time for love like now. The lockdown memories still remain. When did this all begin to change? I am waiting for you. Whatever waiting means in this new place. I am waiting for you.” 

Loving and being loved doesn’t mean we can’t get angry, loud, or shout from the rooftops!! For me, allowing the anger we feel to fire us up helps to create needed change. In these difficult times, there are no grounds for complacency. We’ve been complacent, fearful of, and tolerant of a man and his presidency that has only served him, one way or another, for far too long!

Fueled by the abhorrent stupidity, greed, and selfishness of so many, we grow weary of extending messages of hope and love fearing that through the death of so many good people, hope itself is fleeting; love is unattainable. But, isn’t the sacrifice for and the pure joy of helping others the ultimate forms of hope and love? Let us learn by example. Learn that by being vulnerable we become stronger and wiser. We must understand that our ‘hugs and kisses’ will soon be needed in abundance and visiting parents and friends should and will always be a great act of love.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and be strong! Get angry and help create positive change.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

BITS AND PIECES WITH THREADS INTO OUR IMAGINATION

A series of essays....

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO TESTED THE BUBBLE HELMET IN 2016
TO TREAT CRITICALLY-ILL PATIENTS IN NEED OF BREATHING ASSISTANCE

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Leaving this world without having the opportunity of a loved one holding your hand, is frightening...very sad. It is happening every day as COVID-19 sweeps through all fifty states. The virus is indiscriminate, lethal to many, and odorless...that is, if the smell of fear is undetectable. 

One doctor likened the Emergency Room of his New York City hospital to an elaborate game of Tetris; hospital beds positioned side-by-side and end-to-end with patients awaiting medical attention while others sit outside in the waiting room, incapable of adhering to a safe distance apart, anticipating their own turn in this topsy-turvy game of life and breath (death).

Nurses, categorized as one of our most ‘essential variety’ of workers and must wear protective gowns, masks, gloves, and deal with the lack of ventilator machines, are not immune to this invisible disease. I envision them, along with the doctors, EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians), ambulance drivers and attendants (and a long list of others) lining up to receive a Purple Heart in every town across the United States. They will say, "It is our duty to help others."      

The remainder of us MUST live in our sterile, individually disciplined worlds...for now. 

EVEN THOUGH IT MAY SOMETIMES FEEL
LIKE IT -- WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS!!

Serious times demand serious thoughts and reflections. Regrets in our lives can stand out and loom largely in our hearts during this coronavirus disease pandemic. It’s human nature. For the most part, we are kind but frail creatures, susceptible to a bit of ego boosting, but light-up like the brightest star when told we are or assume we are needed by others whether they be loved ones or strangers. Just ask any parent of an adult child.

Life is not perfect. Living through these harrowing times is no exception. However, the picture of relearning the loving  fundamentals of family time such as preparing and eating meals together, playing cards, board games, or putting puzzles together on the dining room table, baking bread or resurrecting long neglected family recipes, would bring a bold and modern flourish to the likes of a Norman Rockwell painting!

How many of us are sitting back in our inside world, safely catching-up on the outside news, while secretly admiring the home library of a particular news anchor, as well as  their contributing experts who have chosen books rather than paintings or reflective windows and mirrors as their home backdrops? I feel like a literary voyeur hoping the camera stays on them long enough to be able to read as many book titles as possible. You can tell a lot about a person via their home library. Evidently, a lot about ourselves, as well.

Courtesy of Amanda Patterson

Our natural creativity and talents come pouring out when we have the time to concentrate on the things we love to do and organize the imagination and originality trapped inside of us. The British family who performed a song from Les Miserable after changing the lyrics to conform with their newly sequestered lifestyle was a social media treat. Free concerts offered by well known musicians and books read by authors and various celebrities have boosted our morale and placed smiles on our faces and in our hearts.

Ironically, our sequestered imaginations have been brought to life due to the fact that we have been sequestered within our homes by social distancing!! It is our time to shine; accelerate innovative ideas whenever possible. 

Kudos to the Texan family whose company is manufacturing ‘bubble helmets’ as swiftly as possible in the hopes that their product can assist doctors fighting on the coronavirus frontline to treat critically-ill patients in need of breathing assistance. The expertise and imaginative progression of the researchers working on a vaccine for the coronavirus is illuminating our hopes for a source of prevention from this detestable disease and worldwide pandemic. Given all of the great scientific minds being pooled together on this one, we can only hope that a vaccine is close due to all of the tremendous talent working to make it happen.

Recently I saw a post on social media that read, “Today is March 97th.” It gave me a chuckle and made me realize it was kind of true. Things I did at the beginning of March seem like they happened a very long time ago. Coincidentally, writing this today, on what the calendar is telling me is April 1st, adds an element of humor to this feeling of elongated spaces in time. 

I wish this was simply an elaborate April Fools’ Day prank. Alas, it is not. It is real. We must never forget that these days are borrowed but the memories of cooperation, camaraderie, and compassion for others will always be ours to keep; forged into our thoughts long after the COVID-19 Pandemic is written into the annals of history and before we face yet another life or death challenge in our lives.

Remember to stay safe and healthy and take care of you.

Always sending love and energy your way.

In loving memory of my beautiful

Aunt Joyce who passed away 

earlier this week. Love to her entire

family. What a very Special Lady!!

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

COMING OF AGE AT FOURTEEN IN CHICAGO

A series of essays....

CHICAGO -- MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THIS CITY BEGAN LONG AGO

Photograph: Jaclyn Rivas



....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

These past several days, now running into weeks, have given many of us time for reflection...

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a classic. Have you read this time-honored novel? It was my introduction to Russian authors and literature when I was fourteen years old. My uncle, John Moshak, was a Russian Language and Russian History professor in Chicago at the time and I was staying with him and my Aunt Helen as the nanny for their twin daughters while Helen gave birth to their son, Damien...many years ago. This is when I fell in love with Chicago, two beautiful little girls, a sophisticated lifestyle, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and Russian literature.

It wasn’t the theme of The Brothers Karamazov, the conflict between faith and doubt, that intrigued me the most. Rather, it was the opportunity to learn about a brand new world filled with mysterious characters and mature plots that my uncle handed to me that afternoon while standing in the living room of their three-story brownstone walk-up. I recall him saying that this would be my ticket to another world; the beginning to my education into a new life. He was right. That summer of my fourteenth year shaped my future and introduced me to the mature women I was to become. 

FIRST EDITION OF THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV.
DOSTOEVSKY DIED LESS THAN FOUR
MONTHS AFTER ITS PUBLICATION,
FEBRUARY 9, 1881

During that same summer I was introduced to soft boiled eggs placed in a small cup, cracked in half, and eaten from the shell. Helen took me downtown via the “L” (nickname for Chicago's elevated subway system) to see the Chicago movie premier of Doctor Zhivago. One evening, I babysat for the young daughter of one of their friends and sat, most of the evening, on a window ledge watching the twinkling city lights and listening to the cacophony of honking horns in the streets below me. Uncle Johnny initiated me into the fast-paced world of the stock market and we visited the Chicago Stock Exchange on a sunny morning when he asked me to do my own research and come up with a business I thought would make quick gains in the near future. Later that summer, he purchased, in my name (cosigned by my Mother), one share of Boeing stock and wisely told me how to watch it move, divide, and, hopefully, prosper. 

I came of age that summer. 

After that summer, it was difficult to return to the mundane life I believed I had in Michigan. But, I was determined to thrive and grow by adding new books to my reading list while always remembering what my uncle taught me about expanding my horizons and using what the world had to offer in order to do so. 

After feasting on Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, I moved on to Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy during the school year which led me to War and Peace by Tolstoy the following summer. My uncle had gotten me hooked on Russian literature and I was beginning to embrace other worldly authors who expertly enticed me into the flavors of France, Italy, Spain, and Ireland. I began to surround myself with other cultures just waiting to open my mind to worldly marvels, exotic people, and future destinations of travel. 

TOLSTOY SITTING ON BENCH
AT HIS HOME IN
YASNAYA POLYANA IN 1897

TOLSTOY AT HIS HOME
IN MAY OF 1908  AT AGE 79...
TAKEN BY PROKUDIN-GORSKY,
THIS WAS THE FIRST COLOR PHOTO
PORTRAIT MADE IN RUSSIA

While doing research yesterday, I came across a quote which read, "All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow,” by Leo Tolstoy, and my love affair with the writings of Mr. Tolstoy was unleashed, once again. To say that we’re all living through a destabilizing time of ‘shadow’ is certainly an understatement. But, one thing is abundantly clear: Whatever may come, love, hope, and community will be the ‘light.’ This simple quote by one of the greatest writers the world has ever known begs me to offer hope to all and encourage the belief that you and your loved ones are doing well.

Our world is changing with every breath we take as we stay home and reintroduce ourselves to those we are close to and love so much. We might be learning to embrace our cooking and baking skills once again or healing old wounds of the heart and spirit. Being closer and more in-tune with our own glowing spirit is one of the best habits we can aspire to as it makes us think about, trust in, and make good decisions for ourselves and others.

Our neighbor wrote this morning asking how we were doing and seeing if we needed anything. Now, knowing Ginny, she would be looking out for all of her neighbors anyway but, it always feels good to know someone is there for you when you need them the most. And, by texting back and forth, I found out how our other neighbors were coping during our isolation period.

If I am being honest, I can hardly wait to see what the future holds for mankind. As most ‘near death’ experiences seem to prove, precious life becomes more cherished and appreciated after experiencing trauma. If this holds true, the coronavirus is creating millions of people who may see our world in a much different light. While working together to bring our Earth back to her healthy state of being, we will treasure how clean our waters are becoming, how breathing fresh air (even in and around our large, industrial cities) is a privilege, and create worldwide decisions about how to keep it this way. 

Even though we have much to overcome in the next few months and a major election to exercise our right to vote in come November, we are becoming acutely aware of what it takes to move ahead and prosper. “All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.” Let us paint a new portrait of sharing life with others by utilizing the method of understanding shadow and light: Shadows may disable us temporarily, but the Light will always be there to guide us in the right direction. Trust in one another, abide by the best interests of those around you, and believe that others will always be there to help get us through difficult times. Together....we are the light!

Stay safe, healthy, joyful, kind, and hopeful and we will be there as a global community to pick-up the pieces and make this world a better place for everyone.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

ACTIONS THAT INSPIRE JOY AND COMPREHENDING SACRIFICES MADE

A series of essays....

WELL-WORN COPIES OF THE JOY OF COOKING
FROM THE LIBRARY OF JULIA CHILD

                         National Museum of American History

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Now, more than ever, it’s so important to uplift our spirits and learn to create innocent joy and happiness within our daily lives. It may be through the simplest of actions and most innocent thoughts that this feeling is conjured up and held dear. The most important thing to remember is that we all have experienced joy at one time or another and to extract it now from the depths of our very being could be our personal saving grace.

Triggers to finding our underlying joy may be found in many places. Certain colors can remind us of places we’ve enjoyed visiting. Forty shades of green -- indeed! The simplicity of identifying colorful birds we’ve captured in pictures, or visiting our local Farmer’s Market on a warm, sunny morning to purchase richly colored vegetables for an evening meal may trigger special occasions with friends or certain events.

Now might be an excellent time to pull-out family albums or release those stacks of pictures living in a box for years. Memories are meant to be tickled awake by faded photographs of time nearly forgotten while reinventing the pure joy felt while cooking dinner with grandma, seeing a loved one graduate from college twenty years ago, or recognizing a much younger friend photobombing in some of your forty-seven-year-old wedding photos. 

Our daughter purchased an Ancestry DNA Test Kit for her father for Christmas. Dan has been conducting family history research for years and was happy to possibly include his geographic origins and identify potential relatives through DNA matching with others. Well, I’ve always known that I fell in love with an Irishman but, can you imagine the joy I felt in discovering that he has twenty percent deep-seeded roots located in Normandy, France? I often wondered how he would pick-up the accent and meaning of words so easily with each trip we made there. It’s slightly crazy but, it appears that I married my Frenchman after all!

Perhaps you own a well-worn copy of “The Joy of Cooking,” the sixth edition (1975), living happily on a kitchen shelf. Having married around this time period, I certainly do, and this may be the only thing that Julia Child and I ever had in common! However I acquired it, this book has brought me such joy and satisfaction through all phases of being ‘Chief Chef’ in my own kitchen. Do you think I’ve earned at least one Michelin star towards all of the years of quality home cooking service?

While I’m on the subject of cooking, having good friends over to our home right before St. Patrick’s Day required a special menu for our dinner together. Deciding on Shepherd’s Pie made with ground turkey, kale salad, fresh fruit, and soda bread, we were doing well -- until dessert! That’s when I served Baileys Irish Cream brownies topped with vanilla frosting laced with Baileys. Now, the pure joy on all of our faces shined through with each bite of brownie that was consumed!

ST. PATRICK'S DAY FEAST WITH
GOOD FRIENDS AND ALL OF THE TRIMMINGS

Joy is rediscovered by having a beloved neighbor across the street from our Orlando home give me a call out of the blue and proceed to talk ‘catch-up’ for a couple of hours! Janice and I go way back at around 'eighteen years of friendship ago' as we were building our homes across from one another in Florida. Some friendships grow gradually. Ours made a deep impression upon one another right from the start. Thousands of hugs, tears, stories, and smiles later...we’ve discovered that distance means nothing when it comes to being true friends. Love you, Beautiful!

I can’t sugar coat it — the next few weeks, months, will not be easy for any of us. I have grandchildren who will, most likely, have to sacrifice the rest of their school year. Graduating seniors will be deprived of future prom memories, senior class trips, as well as the completion of many of their winter/spring sports, with graduation day consisting of mailed diplomas and the loss of pride and joy not being able to walk across that stage to honor all of the academic achievements they’d worked so long and hard for.

Our oldest granddaughter will be turning thirteen in May. She has been diligently studying her Hebrew lessons in anticipation of sharing her bat mitzvah celebration with family and friends at the end of May. Most likely, her celebration will be moved to another date along with many wedding celebrations planned for and scheduled within the next few months. 

Yes, sacrifices will have to be made by all of us, including the small shop owner who could lose his or her business due to long lasting closures. The hourly employees who helped these establishments run smoothly will lose the income that paid their bills and placed food on the table for their families. At this very moment, the coronavirus layoffs surge across America, overwhelming unemployment offices and causing unemployment percentages to rise exponentially.

Ultimately, those individuals who have already, as well as those who will, relinquish their lives due to the coronavirus pandemic, are the people who, albeit unwittingly, have made the ultimate sacrifice. As the virus spreads, the human toll grows. This virus spreads so quickly and never discriminates against a person on the basis of race, sex, class distinction, or religious beliefs. Consequently, we’re all in this fight together. 

Let’s place a virtual sign ‘taped’ to our brains and hearts, just as the small shops have had to actually do, stating, ‘Temporarily Closed Due to the Current Health Crisis. Hope to Re-Open Soon!’ Hopefully this will remind us that social distancing and self-quarantine is such a minor sacrifice in order to save more lives in the future and reinforce the fact that we all have so much to live for; all of the small sacrifices on our part hold significant repercussions for everyone. Consider the challenges faced by our health care workers, all first responders, and civic leaders right now. Our cooperation with them at this critical time is essential.

SOUND ADVICE FOR ALL OF US

I believe that creating space around us can inspire joy, set us apart from the crowd and allow our imaginations to thrive. It will be interesting to discover, after all is said and done, how priorities will change, dependencies will alter, and art, literature (libraries), and all forms of creative imagination will become the focal point of and defining outline for our future. Italy has already been proving that sharing music with one another via one balcony to another has helped to soothe their very souls.

My wish is that we do not continue to fear one another during our healing process. May we never forget the natural order of social evolution where loving thy neighbor, the social niceties and kindnesses we shared before, such as greeting one another with hand shakes, hugs and kisses, are not lost. And, we must continue to create the joy that extends from human interaction and make certain it remains a valuable asset for all of us.

We must make everyone whole once again.

Take a deep breath....we’re going to get through this, as long as we all work together.

Stay safe and never forget to love one another. 

As my friend, Janice, in Orlando told me, “For now, just wave and keep it movin’!!”

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

BREAKING GLASS CEILINGS WITH PINKY PROMISES

A series of essays....

ELIZABETH WARREN AND YOUNG FRIEND SWEARING
TO BALANCE THE SCALES OF THE FUTURE

        Courtesy of Twitter

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

“Do things to take care of yourselves, gather up your energy, because I know you are coming back. I know you — and I know that you aren’t ready to leave this fight. Our work continues, the fight goes on, and big dreams never die.” — Senator Elizabeth Warren, March 5, 2020

Sitting there on Tuesday morning in voting Precinct No. 25, surrounded by short, plastic walls made to protect my privacy, my personal space, and contemplating the large piece of paper before me, I felt cheated. This time, as opposed to November of 2016, I felt sad and deprived of being able to darken the little bubble adjacent to her name. My spirit was broken. I was a little girl once again being told that my older brother was the ‘golden boy’ and I’d better get used to being just a -- girl. 

Of course, the appropriate bubble was darkened, my next choice for president, and the pen replaced on the little table supporting my three-sided cocoon. This was not the first time we felt demeaned for being women and, I knew, it would not be the last. 

PROUD TO HAVE JUST VOTED

This lady is the real deal and there isn’t a single emotion she doesn’t understand and cover within her plans to make this nation a better place. Through healing, strengthening, and being as capable as any person I know, Elizabeth is unwavering. And, she trusts that her supporters will do the right thing and turn Washington D.C. blue in November.

That alone, overturning 45’s regime, bounced back at me when making my final decision on Tuesday. By the time we walked out of our precinct in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a feeling of kindness and hope washed over me along with the bountiful spirit of Elizabeth Warren herself. 

She writes that she knows we’ll be coming back and that none of us are ready to leave this fight — how could we? There’s too much at stake to be lost and forgotten about: Health care, the manipulation of Wall Street, canceling student loan debt, universal child care, consumer financial protection, creating a wealth tax (only 2 percent, sir, just 2 percent), and dealing with the current (orange?) elephant in the room, 45 and all of his minions. She has a plan already established to handle each one of these. Her knowledge and expertise would be too much to ignore. We’ll be hearing a lot from her in the months and years to come!

The true ‘elephant in the room’ right now is gender equality. 

Why must we continue to push aside strong women and their nurturing, insightful ideas in order to accommodate old, white men? This is far more than a political fight; women in every aspect of life and time have been fighting this gritty battle. We only hear about it collectively when the spotlight centers on the media attention of women running for president or women seeking equal pay for the same jobs performed by both women and men. How long will it take to have the scales balance out? 

Sadly, I believe that it can be women themselves who tend to sabotage other women and I’ve written about this before. Whether we believe what men have been telling us all along...that we are inferior creatures, or that women are not strong or capable enough to be good leaders, I continue to be amazed by how many women believe these weak theories and, actually, abide by them. 

I believe that if all women voters truly saw females in positions of leadership and decided to persist, dream big, and fight hard, presidential candidates by the names of Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren would still be in the running; one may even have become the Primary winner! Girl power really isn’t a promise fulfilled unless more and more girls are on the same page together and join the ultimate fight to win. Hence, pinky swearing! We must never allow society to dictate our beliefs and take away our free thinking.

THIS SAYS IT ALL....!

As long as women feel crushed by the intimidation of men, we may never see a good, strong women in the White House. We are all stronger and better than this...and we know it. The day must come when the sheer value of all human beings is recognized and highly appreciated by everyone. Stay tuned for the general fight for gender equality. If there must be a revolution, Mr. Sanders, let it be with gender equality as the winning prize!

We will always acknowledge and appreciate the love and support offered by the strong men out there who have our backs and believe in us, as well.

If we, as women, can recognize the power we own to move ahead and beat all odds stacked against us by the haters and naysayers, then we have a shot at making life better for ourselves, our daughters, and our granddaughters. So, if four-hour selfie lines and hundreds of ‘pinky promises’ made with little girls sounds endearing to you, quite simply, they are. They offer us hope for the future and transfer the love and self esteem we need to move on into a brighter, better world to live in. 

Thank you Senator Warren for everything you have done and continue to do to help us realize the power within each and every one of us.

Note from the author: 

Sending all of you soft elbow bumps and, slightly distant waves, and gifting you the strength to stay calm and carry on....! Even if you are not at high risk yourself, please know we ALL have a health obligation to every soul around us, as well as the moral requirement to prevent the spread of this virus. God bless all of us in the weeks and months to come.

Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes

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