Are We All Lost Stars Trying To Light Up The Dark?

 

Are We All Lost Stars Trying To Light Up The Dark?:

 It was 1973, attending Michigan University for my first year. I grew my hair out, studied hard. But partied Friday Nights. Believed in Peace & Love. Started to help fight for equal rights and a different kind of world. Tv was black & white, Music was giant boxes which weighed tons LoL 🙂 . Clothes were tied dye, bell bottoms were in. Concerts were massive. Jobs were good and paid well. Slowly over time women by the millions started to enter the work force. Blacks were slowly given more equality in larger cities. Love was focused on more in many places. Though things always change slowly & with deliberation. They did change some. Millions voiced their opposition to World Wars and the industrial military complex. Electronics took a giant turn with the development of the micro-circuit. Housing started to grow by leaps and bounds. The economy grew at the fastest pace ever in history. The United States grew to be the largest economy in the world. And recognized as a world leader, with morality and honesty at it's core. Ships went from tiny vessels to almost mammoth cities crossing the oceans around the world. Man landed on the moon. Jets started to traverse the skies at super sonic speeds. The world itself grew by leaps and bounds. Every year fewer went hungry and more had homes. And though this seems long ago. The reality is that for many the world is a better place. And though nothing can grow for ever. The dreams of that time are not dead, just different. Hope is eternal, Love still matters. Peace can still be the way. And the world can still be a better place. Never feel like a lost star. You can still make a difference in the world we live in. ❤ -Gary

Hey Mister !

 

Hey Mister? : I have a neighbor, she is just 19. Still a teenager really. She found herself as an adult early. She got pregnant with a little boy. Never went to college. And is working as a manager of sorts at a local Taco Bell. She is making a tiny wage really. Less money by two thirds than I made working out of college at part time jobs in the auto industry. But she is managing. Sometimes I try to help her out with a secret grass cut. She had a boyfriend, who I think was the father of her child. He also was a quite young man. And truthfully as a Dad to 18 kids over 35 years not very responsible. They split up, and she came over one day to "check on me". Which I thought was sweet. But what she really wanted was affirmation, that she was still pretty & desirable. I am old enough to be her great grandpa really. But I gave her verbally what she needed to hear. That she still was a beautiful young women and that things would improve with effort, and one man is never the end. I tried to get across the need to improve her work skills and find something better for herself in life. Teens being what they are I think it kinda missed the mark. They always "Know Better", LoL. While we were talking her very young son, maybe 4. Kept trying to talk. But we kinda ignored him and just kept talking. Finally in supreme aggravation he looked at me directly and said very loudly Hey Mister Can I Talk To You?. I looked at him and smiled. I said Yes You Can Sir 🙂 . He told me a few things about his life, and suddenly was content that "He Had Been Heard" and was acknowledged as a sentient human being. It made me realize that young or old all we really want in life is for someone to say, yes I see you. Yes I understand that you have feelings and emotions, and YES YOU MATTER. You have value and are as important in life as I am. It was a simple equation that sometimes most of us miss. It's a function of Love. That I am real and have a need to be heard. Though far removed from being 4 years old. I was handed a wise lesson, even from a child. ❤ -Gary

MeMe By Gary Graefen July 2021

Good Morning

If you are a gifted person it doesn't mean that you gained something. It means you have something to give back.

More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.

I Believe In Life After Love

I looked in the mirror today, slowly a tear came my way, I remembered what I used to be, and silence enveloped me, the tear is a regret for what once was, but the silence is knowing that even though different, I still am really me.

I Am The Rain

 

I give you this one thought to keep: 

I am with you still – I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush,

I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight. 

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

              Do not think of me as gone

 — I am with you still — in each new dawn!