GB2 (Subject : Laughter) "Happiness & Laughter" a Parable

 Many (30) years ago I wrote this and inserted it an anniversary card for my parents. Recently my elderly Mom was cleaning out her drawers and came across this well intended anniversary message. I was only too happy, knowing it could make her laugh once again.

                                HAPPINESS & LAUGHTER

   Once upon a time Happiness and Laughter crossed each others paths. Laughter exclaimed "Oh, so we meet again! Is it really a coincidence that we meet so often? I am beginning to believe that we are actually one in the same! I cannot recall a time when I was present and you were not near."
    Happiness smiled and replied "while it is true that we are often found together,and your presence brings the very best out of me,  one can have Happiness without Laughter. Just the gathering of loved ones, recalling fond memories, sharing special moments and achievements can evoke great levels of Happiness and not need one laugh. So my good friend, one does not have to laugh in order to find Happiness.
    Laughter looked down, the air taken from it, a frown covered its face. Happiness reached out for Laughters hand and said "come, lets go for a walk toghter and see who we may find and be with them for awhile." ...and off they ran hand in hand leaving only the sound of laughter in their path.

    And that is the way it has been ever since. There are times when Happiness and Laughter are experienced hand in hand, and the sound of laughter paves the way for Happiness to be, and then there are times when just Happiness appears,savoring the subtle warmth of life that doesn't require laughter.

By the way....Have a Happy Anniversary (may it be accompanied with the sound of Laughter)

Marc :)

GB-2 (Subject: Surprise) " Venus Law of Gravity"

I have always considered myself very attentive to both the emotional and physical needs of the opposite sex. With a mix of taught and intuitive knowledge I have managed to keep the distance between Mars and Venus , comfortable.  Yet, nothing prepared me for this:

     I was online at the supermarket  with a bag of frozen peas, 2 containers of yogurt, a French bread and cantelope. While waiting on this "express line" I happen to glance at the magazine rack. Catching the cover of the current  Marie Claire, my eyes widen,my jaw drops, and my grip on the frozen peas,loosens! I bend down to quickly retrieve them and get another chance to read the cover again. Yes, I read it correctly...."NEW REPORT ON SEX....TWO MORE G-SPOTS REVEALED!".........."how can that be?" I whisper to myself, I thought I had it all figured out!  Blood began rushing to my brain, only to be intercepted by words in my ear..."Hi Marc", I turn....it's my neighbor Gina, that 30 something hottie, that parades around in short shorts and a halter top! (I was grinning and blushing) "Oh!" she continues....."seems like I have caught you with your mind ...wandering.....huh?"

I threw my eyes in the direction of the magazine....."Gina.....read the cover of Marie Claire.....and tell me......it isn't so"......She looked and in an instant caught the headline.....she lifts the magazine up and says...."well, this seems interesting...lets have a look here"....she thumbs through the pages.....the cashier calls my attention..."NEXT IN LINE PLEASE"........I am studying the expressions on Ginas face...for any evidence of truth, her eyes fixed upon the page."Well, it appears there are 3 separate places"...a loud voice interrupts her,   "THAT WILL BE 5 DOLLARS AND 49 CENTS PLEASE" prompts the cashier. I yank my wallet out of my back pocket and hand her several bills.....I turn and stare at Gina as if she is the all knowing supreme being on this topic....."Gee, according to  this article, I can see where I have a few places"...."SIR" called the cashier...."YOUR CHANGE...and HAVE A NICE DAY"

"Nice Day?" I mutter between my breath," just when you think you have them figured out........"

The more advanced the level of intuitive thinking, the more profound is the element of Surprise!

I confess, I never did find those other G-Spots (not for the lack of trying) but as my partner always says "Honey, batting 1 out of 3 isn't bad!"

Marc :) :) :)

GB-2 (Subject- Nature vs. Nuture) "The Shopping List"

The Shopping List

   It was the end of a long day and all I needed before going to bed was a glass of milk. I opened the refrigerator and reached in for the milk conatiner which had just enough to lighten a cup of coffee. This reminded me to check the can of coffee, which had enough grinds to make a "two sips" worth! I began taking attendance, Juice also low, bread, two slices of which one was the end slice. I glanced at the clock, 10:30 PM, just enough time to make it to the supermarket!
I pulled in the parking lot, opened the car door and barely had the energy to get out of the car. "I should be crawling into bed" I muttered to myself. I pulled a shopping cart from the rack, and slowly made my way down the aisle. As I placed the carton of milk into the wagon I noticed a neatly folded piece of paper resting at the bottom. I lfted it up and unfolded it to its original 8 1/2"X 11" size. It was a shopping a list and the handwriting with its soft curves was undeniably, feminine. The list read, ....ground beef, bread crumbs, ketchup, milk, cookies, ice cream. Then in another column, away from this list, on the lower right hand side of the page was another short list,....Tampons, panty liners,douche, pamprin. In an instant, I could feel a tingling run down my spine. My mouth dropped and my eyes widened, and I stared at this list as if I had uncovered a map leading to a buried treasure. I whispered to myself, "I can't believe it, the answer was in front of me all the time,and I never noticed!"

Woman....Nourisher, sustainter, healer. Since the dawn of time she has placed  the needs of others ahead of her own.
 Of the two genders, she is more empathetic,has more sensitivity and cries more tears. 
  How was our Creator to know that he could trust one of genders to have such a power? In order to feel someone elses pain,one must feel it for themselves first. In order to comfort another before you even think of comforting yourself, one must feel its own discomfort first. In order to willingly give life to others, one must feel the preciousness of life from within. So, our Creator, with his subtle ways, created a time clock of discomfort and pain,which would serve as a reminder that one of the species would always be attentive, caring, loving to others. To provoke a person in such a way they would INSTINCTIVELY always place the needs of others ahead of her own....and so, Woman was created!
I folded the list and placed it back in the wagon. I had come for a carton of milk , juice and coffee and came away with a new persepective, another piece of the puzzle of the nature of humankind.

"She's got a way about her
I don't know what it is
But I know that I can't live without her
She's got a way of pleasin'
I don't know why it is
But there doesn't have to be a reason anywhere

She's got a smile that heals me
I don't know what it is
But I have to laugh when she reveals me
She's got a way of talkin'
I don't know why it is
But it lifts me up when we are walkin' anywhere

She comes to me when I'm feelin' down
Inspires me without a sound
She touches me and I get turned around
She's got a way of showin'
How I make her feel
And I find the strength to keep on goin'
She's got a light around her
And ev'rywhere she goes a million
Dreams of love surround her ev'rewhere ....Billy Joel

Peace & Blessings....Marc :)

GB-2 (Popularity) "The Ugly Duckling-Revisited"

"The Ugly Duckling -Revisited"

The seventh grade coincides with an awakening to puberty that makes for a very powerful transformation for any adolescent! Physical changes throughout our body provoke    perceptual changes.

 Schoolyard conversations were migrating from who was the best ballplayer of the day to who was the prettiest girl in the school. In our school, there was no debate who the ugliest girl was. There was no one even comparable to poor “Miss M”. I even believe that “Miss M” knew that she could win that title. It was sad, and I often wondered why and how God could place a person in such a lowly position.

“Miss M” had a very light complexion that was sprinkled with thousands of red and pink freckles. We marveled at the quantity and the different shapes that had camped out on her face! Her hair was a short growth of frizz, and was a fiery orange…which of course brought out the freckle syndrome. She was topped off with a very large nose …which brings us to the opening act of this recollection.

During lunch break we would eat lunch in the schoolyard and the guys would go off and flip baseball cards, play a quick game of “flip the penny” or try to elevate their stature with intelligent conversation. Intelligence at the seventh grade level is measured by how gross a statement or insult you can make! I recall a few of those conversations regarding “Miss M”. “I swear I saw her pull a booger out of her nose that was as big as my thumb!” said one of the guys. "Yeah,, I heard that she sneezd last week and a cat came out!"   I confess, there were times I chuckled at the insane remarks, but deep in my heart, I always felt sympathetic towards the day to day plight she lived.

I am not certain of the event, but I do remember returning to class after lunch and happened to look over to “Miss M” who sat a row away from me and few seats back. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was clasping a tissue. She had been crying and was trying to hold back her tears. “Oh no” I said to myself, she must have heard the remarks that the guys were making about her. It’s funny how insults always traveled faster than the answers to Miss Goldberg’s math quiz.

The next day I told the guys that “Miss M” spent the afternoon crying, and asked if any of the insults were spread about. The guys seized the moment to turn on me, “oh so you like “Miss M”? They laughed. I defended my statement, “it’s not right, she knows she’s far from pretty, we shouldn’t get our laughs by rubbing it in her face!” I exclaimed. I startled myself; it was the first time I was sticking up for someone other than myself!

In a world where everything is “just and fair” these boys would have woke up the day with foot long noses and potatoes growing from their ears, but no, I arrived at school the next morning to find a huge, chalk drawn, heart shape with both my name and hers in it! The guys laughed, “She’s all yours”.

The chalk drawn heart had a very short life span. As we exited the school that afternoon, we were surrounded by Dominic and his gang. Dominic was the “Soprano” of the school.

The gang cornered my friends, Dominic got very close in their faces. “If you knuckle heads ever draw anything on a wall where my name is on it, I’ll bounce your heads on the ground like a Spaulding ball! His entourage removed erasers from their back pockets and threw them at us. “Get this off the wall NOW” he demanded! My friends raised their bowed heads to notice that the heart with my name and “Miss M” was on the same wall as “Dominic & Anita 4 eva”. Dominic turned and looked at me, “and you….you get some taste”. Little did he know, I had a slight crush on Anita and she always had a smile for me.

The years passed. We all moved up, grade by grade. Fortunately, that period of insults was replaced by greater conversations, “which girls were the bad ones”, and “who I’d like to spend the night with”. Nobody even cared who the best ballplayer of the day was!

Enter “The Summer Of Love, 1967” . Like a wave, it covered and transformed each and every one of us. Our hair expanded on top of our heads like yeast filled bread. Our dungarees were bell bottomed, our shirts tie-died, our language transformed with words of “groovy, peace brother, and dig it.” We all returned to school and could barely recognize each other (except me, who still dressed as if he were an ivy leaguer). However, the biggest transformation was “Miss M”. Her bright orange hair, now fully grown into a very hip perm. Her heart shaped, oversized sun glasses fit nicely on her nose,(they dwarfed it!) and the freckles were now a unique accoutrement to the large plastic “peace sign” earrings that dangled from her ears. She walked down the halls with confidence; she was now flaunting her uniqueness! She was on all accounts, “groovy”!

During that time we rarely spoke, but always acknowledged each other with a smile. I would get a chuckle when I would hear a guy mention her name with a desire of getting to know “the cute chick with the wild orange hair”.

I have often wondered about her transformation. Was this an answer to a mother’s prayer? Was Miss M’s” transformation a result of a friend taking her out for a makeover? Or, was this part of Gods plan, The Summer of Love, ushering us through a portal where we came out more loving, more compassionate and wearing flowers in our hair?

A girl, plagued at a tender age, having to carry an unbearable weight. Then being transformed so dramatically where her appearance and personality could take someone’s breath away! Imagine, one tiny insignificant person merging onto the highway of self confidence and self esteem…..flaming orange hair and all!

….To those that may be discontent with their appearance, feel like they are in a ugly relationship, or if they feel like they are facing life in the wrong direction, just remember, there is a highway up ahead ….merge on!

Hope always has a free ride!

Soulful Journies!  Marc :)