Movement outside the window of a palace of hope and love

 Sometimes we sit down at a table and never look out the window,

Sometimes we bury our faces in our phones and don´t show and appreciation to what is around us or what we have,

Drinking a coffee in a familiar place for the last 23 years when times have been challenging I have learned to enjoy the true television that is looking out the window,

When I am here I have a whirlwind of thoughts and talk to very few people, maybe a couple friends, work related peeps, and family that know me,

People are quick to pass up the beauty of nature for something that dings or buzzes on their phone or computer,

So as I get back to the place I sit and admire the beauty and all the action beyond the window payne I start to notice even the smallest of things,

First a blue jay jumping from limb to limb looking around everywhere for a chance to fatten his belly for winter,

Then a Cardinal that has a specific agenda and that was to avoid being gulped down by a stray Tomcat prancing around the house grounds,

Behind all of this is the Erie Canal, something that ever since I could remember I have been extremely fascinated with,

The history in front of me through the glass window and right behind that the busy highway where people are trying to get to work and drivers are maneuvering through the puzzle of cars to deliver a package,

This time I see something bigger moving and its a huge fox, probably top three of the biggest I have ever seen in my life!  Its just trotting down an old barely used trail between the house and the Erie Canal trail right in the middle of all the city chaos on a mid Thursday morning in December,

Oddly enough it is more normal to see wildlife on the outskirts of the city than you would ever think.  There have been fox, deer, raccoons, fat squirrels red and gray, chubby chipmunks, a huge variety of birds and probably even some fish in the canal swimming by undetected like a submarine on a mission, oh yeah, and the occasional cyclist and walker oblivious to the animals merely feet away!

For over 23 years my family and I have been walking through the doors of this amazing place and for that same amount of time there have been the worst memories and some of the best regarding my children´s health, tense and sleepless nights the day before a surgery or another round of chemotherapy, tears of uncertainty and smiles only to make others around you have hope.  The many families and staff that have graced this place have all left a little bit of energy and for some the worst days of their lives when they show up as a family of three and crushingly go back home out the doors as a family of Two physically.  Mentally family is forever, but the hugs and kisses and the smiles you will be short of is the worst part of places like these.

As a young 20 year old I came here and now I´m 44, so in a sense I have spent over half of my adult life here on and off.  This is truly a home away from home and the friendships and bonds that you make while talking about your children over a family meal that has been prepared by caring volunteers is something that makes this place so special.  Even right now in the grand room near the entrance there is a beautiful lit Christmas tree with presents underneath for the children of the families that stay.  If there is a smile to be made, you can bet that the staff and families at the Ronald McDonald House in Rochester New York and the many volunteers will find that smile.

Be thankful everyday for what you have and the experiences you have had.  Good or bad these experiences build who you will be for the rest of your life.  I hope you take the good even from the bad and pay it forward to a family in need or a family that is unsure about the incredibly long and difficult path they are going to go through, sometimes multiple times down multiple paths.  I am proud of my children for always putting up the fight and so very happy that this wonderful place has been here for us and so many others.

My hope is that it will last forever, because we always need love in our lives, and hugs to secure our thoughts.

Thank you Ronald McDonald House Charities (everywhere) for being a safe island for your families in need.

looking for the reason

I´m looking for a season,

to have a reason to begin,

There´s everything after and things before me,

There´s things I have seen and heard,

Couldn't quite make out all the words,

I stand here staring at the birds in the morning,

Red sky take warning to the seas,

I keep on saying what I wanted  and what I thought about everything,

Sometimes I wake up in a sweat and my heart beating,

Time has passed me by, I´m almost 45 and still have dreams,

Am I still living life like I wanted to or am I still searching for whats true,

Into the skies I see the perfect blue to me and the clouds go by to lead my way...

Decided

 The decision to divide may come as a surprise,

but every single day its what the media tries to do,

they think we are dumb and will follow the junk that we hear and see on the screen of the media machine,

Republican or Democrat, Right Wing or Left, he said or she said, reality is dead,

What ever happened to United We Stand Divided We Fall,

What has happened to the United as we are all now divided and have decided to hate anyone that doesn't think like us,

Is it how we are raised or the things we hear our parents say,

is it the teachers that try to indoctrinate,

is it the universities that push the hate,

Don´t you dare speak up and say what you feel because the last thing today's society wants is something that is real,

Pronouns and sticks and stones, whatever happened to the strengthening of the soul,

Do I care about your business if it doesn't have an effect on me or my family or my small circle of friends that care about me?

Billions of people and everyone is different but at some point we will all have to meet in the middle and quit with all this negative pit me against you bullshit!