Hi Rio,

What a nice and uplifting message. I like a good morning quote! 

In addition to being a good memory some day, sometimes we can be a good example and useful to others right now

I ran across this today and it struck a note with me and I felt compelled to share.

Thank you for sharing .. 'we' often talk about the history books, but forget that 'we' are making our own history as we go through life .. I have such great memories of those I have lost .. the special things they did to always make me feel welcome and a part of something far bigger than just me...

I can only hope I can touch a couple of lives enough to think of me when I am gone  … growing up my family passed a cemetery daily (still do) on the way home, or heading to town - there were funerals that cars overflowed out into the rural highway road side ... my mom would marvel over what kind of person it was that so many people attended their funeral....

In 2009 I found out what kind of person has that many people attend their funeral … my mom packed more cars into that cemetery than I had seen before or since the day we laid her to rest... I smiled and cried that day .. knowing that my mom had touched that many lives....

Colour Me Free

Thanks for the perspective

I got a little of that same feeling when I returned to my hometown for my 45th class reunion (the first I had every attended) and reconnected with folks as if I had been gone only a couple of weeks.  We talked of our parents (many of whom are gone) and rehashed the good and the bad of our childhoods growing up in a poor mill and mine town and you know what we figured out that it was mostly good because it made us all what we are today.

rehashed the good and the bad of our childhoods growing up in a poor mill and mine town and you know what we figured out that it was mostly good because it made us all what we are today.

Growing up in rural Montana I hear you .. had no clue my parents were so poor.  I got my first horse when I was 4 - was encouraged to be an independent minded young person - hand me down clothes and patched jeans that my mom extended and flared at the bottom in a rainbow of colours as I grew … would not trade those memories for anything … as you said "made us all what we are today"

My grandpa used to tell us "we are where and who we came from, family, friends and places mold us every day"

Sounds like you may have grown up with the same kind of support system that I grew up with .. I was older, but still in grade school when I realized that other families did not live like we did .. friends of mine could not go to their mom or dad and tell them anything like I could ..

I was blessed to have my family .. my great grandfather was second gen Montana territory born and raised, 2 years older than the state of Montana - every summer when I went to the farm in Eastern Montana, great grandad took me to the Pryor Mountains to see the wild horses ..  this past June we took my Uncle's ashes to the Pryor Mountains - he has a great view of the Absarokee Mountain range, along a nice creek with wild roses on the bank to rest in...

My sons were with me, and they got to for the first time see the things that I took for granted as a young person .. I also discovered that my relationship is stronger with my sons than I knew it was - we have had struggles, but are still family....

My dads side of the family is a different story.... : )

Very nice Robert, I like:

What kind of person would not try to make the world a better place?

luther

I did as well

A positive discussion …

How refreshing … thanks, RIO.

Pixie dust and unicorns!!  Glad you're still your blissful self Robert.  How's your flower garden doing?

The problem is that different people have very different ideas on how to make the world a better place.  When I read this it reminded me one something an acquaintance said one day.  I have spoke of this individual several times on NT.  His wife is a dear friend of ours, and while we also consider him a friend of sorts, he is that friend whose overt political opinions are 180 degrees from ours.  We go to great lengths to avoid the subject of politics when we get together (they live in another state), but his FOX fed opinions eventually spill out so we now limit our visits to no more than two days.

We were relaxing at a winery one day, and he went there in conversation.  We rolled our eyes as a cue to change the topic of conversation and he capitulated, but not without a tone deaf closing remark.  He said “I know that you have reasons to hate Donald Trump, but I just want to say that the only reason I support the guy is because I want the country to be a better place for our kids.”  I thought to myself “wow, doesn’t this blockhead understand that’s what we all want?”  By making that statement he insinuated that those who don’t share his political opinions literally don’t want to leave their kids a better country than they grew up in.  It is mind boggling how anyone could make that comment about this administration, considering its stance on the environment, social security, healthcare, etc.

I feel better about having taught Chinese kids English than I did practising law.  I may have helped people by providing legal advice to them, but I feel I improved the lives of the kids I taught, and that made a difference.

Bob, I love the quote. I have a hunch that it was inspired by a famous quote that I can't seem to place or find. I heard it delivered perfectly at a college graduation. An influential critic of his day, (Possibly George Bernard Shaw) was once asked about all the important men of the age passing away. He was asked "which man will you miss most?"...He answered "The man I will miss most is the man I could have been".  I don't know about the graduates that day, but I never forgot it.