Friday, March 23, 2012
Jessica Wrote this. Personally I think this is awesome and it gives me alot of hope for the future generations. That she has taken the time to be introspective enough to see how awesome these people are. She loves going to see Charlie(my dad's best friend) and I never really understood why until I heard this story from her. Pretty awesome I think.
Bored? Don’t deny it, we both know you are. All that social networking has left you a bit- well, antisocial-hasn’t it? Or maybe, you’re just bored of that screen, because let’s face it, the reality contained there is entirely superficial. Maybe a good old-fashioned book would do you well. Allow me to suggest a solution? A less.... well, boring one? Well, here it is: go to bed early tonight. Then, in the morning, wake early and find the place where the older gentlemen meet. You know where it is. Maybe you usually avoid it at all costs. It could be a gas station, a nearby family-owned cafe, or even a McDonald’s. They’ll be wherever the coffee refills are free and the food is decent. Extra points if one of the gentlemen is a relative or friend of your family. Once you get there, it is imperative that you do not speak unless spoken to: not because they look down on this, but because there’s so much to learn. If they ask for your opinion on something, answer honestly. Even if it conflicts with their opinion. In fact, almost better if it conflicts- they love to argue about anything and everything: from politics to current events- even the weather is debatable! Is it sleeting or snowing? Raining or sprinkling? They’ll pick your argument apart though, so you had better be well-examined morally. Their logic is (usually) reasonable, and if you don’t have logic behind your argument, you should better be prepared to get shot down. However, this makes for some interesting contemplation. In addition to arguing, these men know how to tell stories. Stories of laughter- weddings gone right (or wrong), births, those- darned-kids, and they might ask you what the heck does this button do to my computer anyways? They’ll tell you stories of young foolishness: their first time with a woman, running away from home, enlisting too young, and drunk Friday nights (yes, they did that too.). Should you heed the advice of those older and wiser than you or pursue you own path- which may or may not be exactly the same as theirs turned out to be?
But there will also be stories of pain. War. Death- of children, lovers, spouses. You might cry with-or for-them. And these are the things from which they never fully recover. These people know that. They know that all they can do is soldier on, and try to find hope again. They just have to live with it- have to live with the pain of missing that person. Have to deal with what they’ve seen, and cannot unsee. Have to deal with losing a part of themselves along with each experience along the road. They will teach you, if you listen. They will tell you that life is worth living. They will tell you that your story is important- no matter who you are or what you’ve done. And how do they know that? Because they are confident that they are important. They’re confident that somewhere out there, they’ve changed someone’s life. And they’re proud of it. Go visit them. Hear their stories. And when you’re old enough, contribute your own.


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