Enjoy Lisa Gradess-Weinstein's Blog..."Life is Bluetiful When..."
Life is “Bluetiful” When…
With these words I accepted a challenge from my friend Allison, who invited me to become a guest writer on her new blog, Top Notch Teams. The play on the word “beautiful” is a tribute to Crayola’s new crayon color – “Bluetiful”.
The task seemed fairly straight forward. Write a blog post about anything, as long as it starts with the words “Life is Bluetiful When…”
Only problem is, I’ve been having a difficult time finding beauty in life of late, and that difficulty has caused me to search deep within to find meaningful, insightful words to fill the page.
Last summer’s heat ignited disasters both natural and man-made, which gave way to a firestorm of ideological differences that saw loved ones sever relationships in the debate over the NFL, the National Anthem, and the flag.
It became a debate that only a mad man in Las Vegas could silence, as a nation paused briefly to mourn 58 lives.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the shouting, the anger, and the insults to resume in full force.
Today’s topic? Gun control.
Tomorrow’s topic? Does it really matter?
For the shouting, the anger, and the insults will go on, as our nation remains forever divided and hope for conciliation seems like a childhood fantasy.
But still, I believe beauty can be found in the world around me, where ordinary moments shared with family and friends provide a source of comfort….and hope.
For life is truly “bluetiful” when…
My daughter Melissa returns home from college for the summer, and we while away those treasured, humid evenings walking the tree-lined streets of my new neighborhood, reconnecting through deep conversation about school, work, friendships, and love.
My husband Bob has dinner waiting for me when I come home from the gym, or when he drives by my office to drop off a cup of my favorite coffee.
My two-year-old grandson Miles takes delight in the simple act of throwing a ball, the sound of his laughter warming my heart.
My daughter Jessica bridges the three-hour distance between us through Facetime, giving Bob and me the chance to see her beautiful smile.
I spend a Sunday afternoon at a local deli, laughing over coffee with dear friends whose love and warmth have been a precious part of my life for decades.
These ordinary moments are, perhaps, not ordinary at all, but just the opposite. For they are extraordinary in their ability to take me away, to make me forget, to remind me that when the world seems to have lost all sense of sensibility, when irrational behavior becomes the norm….that all I need to do is to think of the cherished family and friends who hold a permanent place in my heart…and I know that life can, indeed, be bluetiful.
About Lisa Weinstein...
Lisa Weinstein is a southern New Jersey based blogger who write poignant and humorous stories about 20+ years of marriage, parenting a college student, and the joys of middle age. Visit her blog at www.themixedupbrains.com. When she is not blogging, she works as a communications manager for BAYADA Home Health Care.
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