"Just another town"

 

Just Another Town

Johnny Dunhan

The old spinster is going insane
Her next door neighbour is in church again
Two drunks are fighting down in the lane
While little children are playing a game

Dogs are barking, little girl sing,
And the chapel bell begins to ring
Someone deals Bobby a King;
On the pavement many starts to run

Chorus:
And the street is drifting into evening
While the sun is going down.
I'm just back there capturing the feeling
Though it's just another town,
Just another town.

The cripple crawls up the avenue
Someone else says, "How do you do?"
Someone kicks a ball over to you
While the sky begins to lose its hue

A group of old stevedores from the ships
Come up the street bent from the hips;
One takes a cigarette from his lips
Someone else drops the coin he flips.

And the street is drifting into evening….

And in the band-room up on the hill
A brass band's playing, I can hear it still –
The slide trombone is softly blown.

The old nurse is on her way to the shops.
The epileptic suddenly drops.
Down the hill my father's in the docks.
In the bar the drinking never stops.

Bobby throws down a pair of queens.
The church bell interrupts someone's dreams.
Someone's talking of football teams.
Some girl is straightening her nylon seams.

And the street is drifting into evening……

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVWQYcTZ8_Q&ab_channel=JohnnyDuhan0

" I am Sorry"

 

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“I AM SORRY”

Once there was a man who had 3 daughters and was a single parent to his children. One morning he asked his oldest daughter, Sonia, to do the breakfast dishes before going to school. Not realizing that she was already running late and facing too many tardy notices, he was stunned by her reaction. She burst into profuse tears. Again, misinterpreting the motive behind the outburst, assuming that she was merely trying to get out of an unpleasant chore, he demanded that she dry her tears and get back to work immediately. She reluctantly obeyed him, but her anger could be clearly heard in the careless clanking of the dishes in the sink, she turned back to her father and stared sullenly out the window.

 Usually the man used to take advantage of the uninterrupted time to spend with his children while driving them to school by teaching poetry or religious verses. However that morning there was no songs- only deathly, stubborn silence. The man dropped his daughter, mumbled a good bye and moved to office. He tried to work but couldn’t concentrate all he could see was his daughter’s scared, tear-stained face as she hesitantly climbed out of the car to face her teachers and classmates. The man began to realize that his timing had gone wrong and with the passage of the day he began to feel remorseful. So he decided to say SORRY to his daughter and couldn’t wait till suppertime to apologize. So he took permission from the school to take his daughter for lunch and was astonished to see the surprise on her face. He led her by her arm through the corridor and as the doors banged behind them, he turned towards his daughter and said, “Sonia I am sorry. I am so very sorry! It’s not that I shouldn’t have asked you to help out at home, but I had no right on it this morning without any previous warning. I upset you at a time when you most needed my love and support- just before you went to school. And I let you go without saying ‘I love you’. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

Sonia put her arms around her father’s neck and hugged him and said “Oh, Dad, of course I forgive you. I love you too.”

The power of these restorative words, “I am Sorry!” is such that they heal relationships – between us and our friends and loved ones, and between us and God….. or whatever your belief is.

"Spend time with your Family"

 

 SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY

 A man narrating his date with his mother after 21 yrs.....

.After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked. 

My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late-night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, “she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Halfway through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favour,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her.  Sometime later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.” 

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve.  

"Nutrition" from Pope Francis

 

Pope Francis shared this speech recently "

 

“You can have flaws, be anxious and even be angry, but just remember that your life is the world’s biggest contest.” Only you can stop it from failing. You are appreciated, admired, and loved by so many. Remember that happiness is not having a sky without storms, a road without accidents, a job without effort, a relationship without disappointments.

“Being happy means finding strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in fear, love in discord.” It's not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness. It’s not just about celebrating success it’s about learning from failure It's not just about feeling happy with applause, it's about being happy anonymously. Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel on their own.

“Being happy is to stop feeling victimized and become the author of your own destiny.” "It is to walk through deserts, but to be able to find an oasis deep in one's soul. It's thanking God every morning for the miracle of life. To be happy is not to be afraid of your feelings and to be able to talk about yourself. Have the courage to hear a "no" and trust the criticism, even when it's unwarranted. It's about hugging your kids, hugging your parents, spending poetic moments with your friends, even when they hurt us.

"To be happy is to let the creature that lives in us live, free, joyful and simple." You are mature enough to say "I made mistakes". Having the courage to say I'm sorry. It's the sense of saying "I need you". It's having the ability to say "I love you". May your life become a garden of blissful opportunities.. that in spring he is a lover of joy and in winter a lover of wisdom.

"And when you make a mistake, start over." Because only then will you be in love with life. You will find out that being happy isn't about having a perfect life. But use tears to irrigate the tolerance. Use your defeats to train your patience.

"Use your mistakes with serenity of the sculptor." Use the pain to connect to pleasure. Use obstacles to open the windows of intelligence. Never give up... Above all, never abandon the people who love you. Never stop being happy because life is an amazing show. ".

( POPE FRANCIS )

May you always be Blessed

Parenting Wisdom

 

WISDOM FOR PARENTING

1- Avoid Giving your child everything he asks for. He will grow up believing that he has the right to get everything he wants.

2-Avoid laughing when your child speaks insulting words. She will grow up thinking that disrespect is entertainment.

3-Avoid remaining insensitive to bad behaviour that he can display without scolding him for his bad behaviour. He will grow up thinking that there are no rules in society.

4- Avoid picking up anything that your child messes up. She will grow up believing that others must take responsibility for her mess.

5- Avoid letting him watch any program on TV. He will grow up thinking that there is no difference between being a child and being an adult.

6- Avoid giving your child all the money she asks for. She will grow up thinking that getting money is easy and will not hesitate to steal for it.

7- Always avoid putting yourself on his side when he is wrong against the neighbours, his teachers,  the police. He will grow up thinking that everything he does is right, it is the others who are wrong and he can always get away with everything.

8- Avoid leaving her alone at home when you go to the place of worship, otherwise she will grow up thinking that God does not exist.

May our labour over our children not be in vain