A Found Treasure

Last week a group of us from church went to an elderly woman’s home to help pack up her belongs to be sent off to Goodwill. This woman had lived in the same apartment for some 50 years and now she had to move into a small care facility because of health reasons.

Essentially, we were carrying all of the woman’s belongings to the curb for an early morning Goodwill pick-up. Her great-granddaughter made a point to let us know that if there was anything we wanted, to feel free to take it and so as we gathered things, I discovered a few treasures and kept them.

One of which was a beautiful delicate vintage lamp I pictured sitting on my desk, another an ornate tin can I planned on converting into a pinhole camera, a knitting book I thought a friend would appreciate and lastly, a book of inspirational verses.



As we were traveling up and down the elevator, transporting all of the woman’s belongings, of which I imagine she had gathered and accumulated over her lifetime of more than 90 years, I couldn’t help but be saddened at the thought of her life being placed on a street curb. It felt more natural that everything should have a home because these things she cared for, she was given them as gifts, she saw them in a boutique window and saved her money to buy, she used them to raise her family, they graced her home for many years and now they littered a dimly lit street curb on a quiet culdesac.

The following day, I was thumbing through the Inspirational Verse book and discovered in the front page a handwritten message. It reads:



In reading these words, I understood more about life than I had known the moment before. I’ve always been aware of the fact that we never take any of our belongings with us once we leave this earth but at that moment, I was reminded of all the things we do take.

The love and admiration between Jeda and Elick is a tender one and truly is everything one could want. I imagine when both Jeda and Elick come to the moment of departing from this life, all that matters to them will be safe in their hearts.

The love, the friendships, the kindness, the loving sacrifices, the faith and hopes in ones spirit, the bonds forged, the beautiful moments are forever intertwined within. And so maybe, when we do depart from this life, it's not that we take nothing with us but that we take everything with us.

A verse dedicated to Jeda from Elick:

Learning To Love You More #69

Climb a tree and take a picture of the view.

Learning to Love You More #50

Take a flash photo under your bed.

Home Sweet Home

I'm visiting my family in Vegas this week. I always love coming home to my parents place... my mom is an impeccable housekeeper, she cooks amazing meals, breakfast to dinner and now days, we get along soooo much better then past years.

My father is always working on an exciting project, this time it happens to be his memoirs. He shared with me the first few chapters, it brought me to tears, happy ones, I can't wait to read it in its entirety. I'm spoiled and will gain 5 lbs while I'm here.

I sleep in my old room that is now under redesign, I don't recognize it as mine... I've been rummaging through my stuff packed away in the closest and drawers... the things one finds.


I went through my old photography stuff, images that I want so much to burn but am told, "don't you dare". Among my stuff, I found a picture my alternative photography teacher, Mr. Gomez, took of me a few years ago. I'd been hiding it away, tucked away with a number of other memories... I think I've been hiding away with them.

Recently, I've been finding myself wishing I had no possesions, wishing I had nothing holding me or reminding me of things long forgotten. I want to live off the things that stir within me now, the sounds around me, words spoken, a pretty color, music playing, limbs moving to the music, I want nothing and yet everything I suppose.

Just Passing Through

An elderly man at work in his garden with denim overalls and hands resting upon his shovel, he is taking a break, admiring his progress. He turns to me and says hello, he then cautions me to watch my speed as he gestures to the speed limit sign of 25mph... I walking, assure him I will. He has kind eyes and a gentle way about him. As I continue on my way, I notice he then continues conversing with, most likely, the love of his life, she standing on the upstairs balcony looking over their backyard and upon this kind man and his garden. They together, in the early afternoon sun, he her Romeo and she his Juliet.

I soon come upon a small home with a small porch. A young girl, a teenager, sways on the patio bench swing. She looks peaceful, with dark hair and fair skin, her eyes drawn down and hands caressing her belly, she is somewhere far away that I cannot see. I think to myself, this is a precious moment, she facing a new chapter in her life and the life of this small child, safe in her belly. I wonder if worry or uncertainty runs through her mind and I want to tell her all is beautiful, all is well and she especially. I stroll on with her memory, vivid and sweet.

Soon enough, a big yellow school bus goes zooming pass me, down the long stretch of homes lining the old paved road. It is the last day of school and the beginning of summer. I begin to notice the crowd of young kids, on street corners, crossing at street lights, embracing their new long anticipated freedom. Their excitement is obvious and contagious, to be young again. Seeing them causes me to recall the moments of my youth when the world and it's possibilities were endless. I can so easily taste of their excitement.

Across the street I see a young girl and boy, hand in hand, in love, I'm sure with thoughts of splendor and kisses. Young love, special in it's own right. Love without much thought and experience, naive and temperamental but oh so wonderful in a young persons heart and stomach, it'll never be like this again. She likes his taste in music and he likes how she does her hair, they're inseparable, trying to figure this strange world they walk in together. They'll probably break up in the next few months if not weeks but they'll remember each other an entire lifetime, with sweetness and an enduring innocence. Before expectations, judgements and monumental decisions, two young persons embrace each other for what they swear could be forever.

Coming up on Wendy's, with splattered frosty's melting on hot pavement and kids uproars of laughter and dyed hair of wild colors, they fill their bellies. The lyrics 'Schools Out for Summer, Schools Out Forever' rambles on in my mind. With 2010 yearbooks in hand and signed t-shirts on their backs, this scene has graced these same streets many summers before them and will for many summers after but to them, they're the first, they're the center, center of the universe. They wave to random passing cars with a brave giddiness, their way of perhaps connecting to a bigger unknown and yet to be explored part of the world. Soon enough, they'll be jaded by their world but for now, their spirits roam freely and bring with them, my memories of my time at the center of the universe. Inside, I thank them.

I walk, I drive, I cry, I laugh, I sing, I eat, I run, I pray, I sleep, I dream, I see, I amidst a great big world and in these small moments am laced and forever intertwined with those who I unanimously walk along side. They share with me their heartbreaks and joys, their monumental moments and moments of quiet. Their memory is impressed in my mind and are now apart of me.

This thing we call life is truly perfect in all things, particularly in those things that are seemingly imperfect. During the course of my journey I am approaching, going through or passing the moments someone once walked and as I do, I share in it with those whom I quietly walk beside. I am more alike than different with my strangers, we secretly know one another.

Learning to Love You More # 53

Give advice to yourself in the past.

(age 10) - don't push Jere down the stairs on his Ninja Turtles bean-bag chair, he'll never forgive you.

(age 15) - be warned when you watch Romeo and Juliet for the first time, love will be unobtainable in your eyes hence forth and needn't be tragic to be real.

visit your Grandmother before you leave for Germany, you won't see her again before she passes away.

pay no mind to the people who comment on your day dreaming and quiet nature, this behaviour will be a great source of inspiration for you.

(age 16) - don't make your mom cry... ever, you'll feel terrible about it for years to come.

don't be discouraged your first day of soccer try-outs, return the next day and give it your all, you love how you feel when you're on the soccer field.

don't come home from school and cry in the bathroom everyday, you're beautiful.

(age 17) - don't kiss Christopher on his 18th birthday, will lead to over 10 years of great confusion.

(age 19) - don't move to Las Vegas, will be 8 years of heartache and unbearable heat.

(age 23) - be a better example for your younger brother Jere, you'll feel guilty for his mistakes in the future.

(age 24) - don't leave the ky jelly on the kitchen table, will lead to extreme embarrassment.

(age 26) - don't eat at the asian fusion restaurant in London with Toni, you'll get the worst food poisoning ever.

(age 27) - after your break-up, don't move back to America immediatley but instead, move to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, write your children's book and make a life for yourself in Paris.

do realize you can and will love again.

(age 28) - be you, mistakes and all.