MEMORIES
I added this page because many people have some great memories of others that made a difference in their lives or of an especially great time in their life. There were too many good stories to pass up!
My two older children Brittany and Ethan lost Grandma Harris the last of December to cancer. She was quite a lady and a great role model for them. A kind soul that never claimed to be anything other than the simple woman that she was, she left behind fond memories that my children will remember always as nothing can take that from them. We will miss her greatly.
I remember two scenes from my Grandmother's funeral that were vivid scenes that I think of from time to time. We had the funeral and buried her in Denver as it was the "old neighborhood". My Grandfather had been part of a large Italian family there and we had a small but formal funeral and burial. It was all quite proper. We took two limosines with the pallbearers in the first car and the family in the second, from the church to the masoleum where she was to be buried. As we were coming to a stoplight, a young woman in a car was stalled in the intersection. Doors flew open as the car in front came to a stop and all of the pallbearers in one fell swoop ran to the car and told the woman to drive as they hurriedly pushed the car out of the intersection and took her to safety on the side of the busy road. Just as quickly they all got back in the car as the light turned green and we proceeded. They were all very big men in dark suits coming out of a limosine running toward her and I can only imagine what must have gone through her mind and then the reaction of surprise when she realized their kindness. As we moved across town we passed through a poor neighborhood and as I looked out the window I saw a man in rags take off his hat, kneel down and bow his head as we drove by him. It touched me deeply that a man that had never even known her would pay her such respect. All of the people that attended that day even though their comments were genuine, paled in comparison to his grace. He was not obligated in any way to her, he had compassion with no apparent reward. I can hear Grandma giggling at the first scene and being quietly taken aback and touched with the second.
Death is always a reminder that this world is not permanent and to live every waking moment with generosity, kindness, compassion and love, for these are our only true legacy.
Spend time with your loved ones. Stay safe but be kind to a stranger. Recognize the smallest of acts of kindness. You will never be sorry.
With compassion always,
Miri
Miri owns Compassionchanges.com, is foremost a wife and mother, and works full time in a Emergency/Trauma Center in Montana. You can see other articles written by Miri on the "Creating Peace" page and at: http://www.ehow.com/members/miri.html?view=3rd
"I live on a Horse Ranch in Hancock County, thirty minutes too close to Indy. My father asked me if I would always look after my mother if something ever happened to him. That 'Something' happened, as he thought it would and he passed away two months after our one and only conversation about "what if". My Mom has had to put up with me ever since. Out here in the flatlands, if you have three acres, a warm barn, a good horse and you spend more time in the barn than the house... then you own a Ranch and you can be a Cowboy too! My parents lived here for forty years after they quit the Rodeo circuit. Bill and Verna Waits owned the "Tack Room" and sold Western Wear etc, just down the road from here in Greenfield. They also did the Rodeo and old style "Wild West" shows! One of my best friends from childhood, D H Byron and I are the Last of the offspring of those modern day Cowboys. In the 1970's I was sent off to South East Asia. There wasn't much of an option from where I was standing at the time. When I returned from foreign soil I was filled with culture shock and a lust for the Big City. Not missing the opportunity, the Big City came to me like room service. Soon I was was playing music in Clubs and fighting all the authority figures I could find. Growing up in the Seventies wasn't as romantic as some might think. I always loved the Ranch that never went away... it seemed as though it was always waiting for me to come home. That connection wasn't so obvious at the time though, I might add. Before Dad passed away, I moved them to a "Ranch" style home with all the artifacts we could put in it, from the old "Ranch." Now, driving by the old Ranch always makes me sad, never happy. Dad and Bill Waits, (Wild Blly Lee) rest on a hill at a little cemetery, not four feet away from each other! It was never even planned that way, it's just where they ended up together. Seems more like "Lonesome Dove" than one might think. Mom is doing well and is not far away from Dad, even now. Bill's wife Verna, one of the first women Bull riders and Trick Riders extrordinaire, takes my mom to lunch once or twice a month. Most of the time they visit the 20th century cowboys, who tried not to let that proud tradition be forgotten! They wanted to make sure they passed it on to us boys. They did! So when you see me with my boots and hat on it's for real.
To my Dad and Wild Billy Lee... it's winter time again, water buckets are freezin', the horses are kickin' and playin' in the snow covered fields and Mom and Verna wait patiently to be with you again."
Carson Bailey
Carson Bailey is educating inner city school children in Indianapolis, IN. He also researched pharmaceutical annomalies as a behavioral scientist for many years. Carson can be found training Appaloosa horses and embracing the rural lifestyle as a 21st century cowboy singer and songwriter You may find other articles by Carson here: http://www.ehow.com/members/sixstring2slim.html