What’s In Your Future?

The greatest danger to our future is apathy.
—   Jane Goodall
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On This Day In:
2023	Two Brown Miracles
2022	I Learn The Hard Way
2021	I Ask For Two Minutes…
	Always (Always Something There To Remind Me)
2020	At Least A Lot More Gray
2019	Walking The Lonely Path
2018	The Ultimate Trial
2017	Vain Expectations
2016	Or Of One Thought
2015	What’s In Your Future?
2014	Light In Darkness
2013	How ‘Bout Just Obeying The Law?
2012	Or Maybe Not
2011	My Interval Is Too Short!

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A Handful Of Reviews

I had a few days off last week, so I relaxed by watching a few films: Cash McCall, StarTrek Into Darkness, Fist of Legend, Interstellar, Annapolis and Atlas Shrugged 1, 2 and 3.  Because there are so many, I’ll apologize in advance for the length of this posting.  I hope some of you make it all the way through, though…
Cash McCall (1960)
Wealthy “youngish” industrialist Cash McCall (starring James Garner) makes his money by purchasing unsuccessful businesses, whipping them into shape and then selling them for a profit.  (Shades of Richard Gere in “Pretty Woman“.)  When Cash comes across a small corporation which manufactures plastics, he realizes it might be a gamble to buy the company, but the company’s owner, Grant Austin (played by Dean Jagger – better known as the General in the holiday favorite “White Christmas“), is the father of an old love interest, Lory Austin (played by a young Natalie Wood), he buys the business just to get a second chance at romance.
Well, that’s pretty much the “love story” aspects of the film.  Very predictable and, to be honest, not as funny / humorous as I thought it might be.  Be that as it may, there are a few interesting things about this movie.  First, Woods is absolutely gorgeous in this film.  She plays a “wealthy” daughter and nails the “acts very entitled” role.  The camera loves her.   Strangely, although Garner is only 10yrs older than Woods in this film – in real life that is – he “looks” much older.  Granted he’s still a sexy Hollywood male lead, but to me, the couple didn’t really gel because he “felt” so much older than her.
Perhaps the most interesting thing in the movie actually has very little to do with romantic comedy and everything to do with predicting economic reality.  Bear with me on this…  At the end of his second term as President of the U.S. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the military / industrial complex.  There is a scene where Cash is explaining his view for the companies he’s consolidating (in the movie) – a plastics and an electronics firm.  The one he already owns is a financial conglomerate – which by the way owns a private security / detective agency and a credit / business checking business.  Anytime someone investigates him, Cash gets a report from both companies.  The second company is interesting because it’s a plastic firm.  If anyone knows anything about films from the mid to late 60’s, you almost certainly know the famous line “One word, son: Plastics”, from “The Graduate“.   Well, in this film, the star is saying (six years before “The Graduate”) you have patents on manufacturing plastics and the patents are worth more than your company because plastics are the future of manufacturing.  He then goes on to say, but that is only a bridge because the long term future is selling electronics (mounted on plastic) to the military and he doesn’t want the electronics company as much as he wants the retired general who is running the company, because he (Cash) wants an inside track with the officers in the Pentagon the retired general can provide access to (because he knows them all personally).  Who knew Hollywood could be so prescient about the future of industry in the U.S. (and the world).
Bottom line:  a fairly typical rom-com with a very attractive couple.  If that’s all you’re looking for, this will be okay.  If you make the effort to look at the movie more deeply, there is a whole lot more going on…  Highly recommended!!  (By the way, I am a Jim Garner fan from his “Maverick” TV series days and I make no bones about my lack of objectivity.)
StarTrek Into Darkness (2013)
This is the sequel to the hit reboot of the movie franchise from 2009.  As with the second movie in the original StarTrek movies, this is about one of the series most popular villains: “Khan!!!” – or more accurately:  Khan Noonien Singh.  Khan is a product of biological enhancement, essentially a superior man – physically stronger and a genius mentally.  The problem (well, one of them) is that Khan has little to no regard for “normal” humans.  Blah, blah, blah…  Long story, lots of special effects and a very good addition to the StarTrek legend.  This is a second review and you can read my original (and more detailed review) here.   This movie has “legs” and can definitely be re-watched again and again.  (Still) Highly recommended.
Fist of Legend (1994)
This movie is kind of a “classic” in the martial arts genre.  A Chinese martial arts student Chen Zhen (Jet Li) returns home to China to investigate the death of his Sifu.  Chen discovers his master was poisoned and goes about seeking revenge.  If you’ve spent any time watching movie fights on YouTube, you’ve probably seen at least one of the five (yes, count them 5!!) set piece fight scenes in this movie.  Hence my opinion that the film is a classic.  To be honest, although the movie is 20+ years old – and I’d never seen it before (!!!) – I felt as if I’d already seen the entire movie just based on the fights – which I have seen multiple times.  I would rate this movie right up with any of the early Bruce Lee movies (“The Big Boss”, “The Chinese Connection” or “Fist of Fury”) and definitely with any of the more recent Ip Man series.  Jet Li may not have the cinematic charisma of Bruce Lee, but he (Jet Li) certainly plays the part of acrobatic martial artist just as well.
Final recommendation:  Highly recommended!!  Come for the fights, stay for the interesting social commentary about national bigotry (from both the Chinese and the Japanese).
Interstellar (2014)
Now I never saw this movie at the theater, which is probably my loss, but I did not find the cinematic effects in this movie as awesome as everyone else seems to have found them.  Having said this, I feel the movie was a “real” attempt to bring some of modern science to the big screen.  So, kudos for that effort.
In Earth’s not to distant future, a global, unexplained, biological agent produces a crop blight and second Dust Bowl which together are slowly rendering the planet uninhabitable – nitrogen is being released and oxygen is not.  A brilliant NASA physicist – Professor Brand (played by Michael Caine), is working on plans to save mankind by transporting Earth’s population to a new home via a wormhole. First, Brand must send former NASA pilot Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and a team of researchers (one of which is his daughter Amelia Brand played by Anne Hathaway) through a recently discovered wormhole near Saturn and across the galaxy to find out which of three planets could be mankind’s new home.  One of the movie’s tag-lines is:  “Humanity was born on Earth.  It was never meant to die here.”
Of course there is a “conspiracy” and bad guys.  Hey this is Science Fiction, you know…  No, actually this is less a science fiction movie than it is a cinematic battle of ethics and morality.  In the end, time is malleable and family is everything, so the hero saves the day…  The movie works in a lot of different ways: as science, science fiction, special effects, acting.  The movie was nominated for multiple Oscars and deservedly so.  Final recommendation:  highly recommended, but see it on as big a screen as you can find.
Annapolis (2006)
A cross between “An Officer And A Gentleman” and “Rocky“, this movie is about a fish out of water who goes to the U.S. Naval Military Academy at Annapolis.  (And, yes, that’s a bad pun.) The three main characters are:  Jake Huard (the “fish” – I mean star –  played well by James Franco),  Ali (the love interest played well by Jordana Brewster) and Cole (the antagonist played well by Tyrese Gibson).  Basically, Jake is only marginally qualified to be at the Academy and Cole is trying to force him to leave by quitting.  Ali agrees to help coach Jake in boxing for the brigade tournament and life ends happily ever after.
Just a few comments:  I am not a big James Franco fan.  I thought he almost personally ruined a couple of the Spiderman movies.  Well, close anyway.  I have never heard of Jordana Brewster, but the camera loved her in this movie.  I had to check the Wiki-background on this actress because I could hardly believe she has done nothing I’ve seen in the eleven years since this movie came out.  She reminds me of a (Latin and younger) Jennifer Connelly.  Anyway, Brewster has worked, but I’ve just not seen any of it (TV or movies).  Finally, I like Tyrese Gibson!  I liked him in the Transformers movie series and I liked him in this role.  He and Brewster have both been in the Fast And Furious movie series, but I haven’t seen any of them so I can’t really comment on them in those roles.  Tyrese is multi-talented, but I wish he was able to focus more on acting.  I think he could be another Denzel Washington – and that’s saying quite a bit.
Final recommendation:  better than most movies in this genre – moderate to strong recommendation.
Atlas Shrugged (1, 2 and 3) – (2011, 2012, 2013)
Back in 2012 I reviewed the first movie in this trilogy (see review here).  If anything, each movie in the series got worse.  I picked up I and II on sale for $5 each.  #1 was probably worth it.  #2 was not.  I saw #3 on YouTube.  The quality of the film was not high, but it was still better than anything else about the movie.   Terrible acting, terrible actors, terrible writing and absolutely no explanation of the reasons behind Ayn Rand’s popularity (objectivism or libertarianism).  Use the six hours of your life to do something productive and don’t watch these films.
Final recommendation:  not recommended movie(s).  You’ll get more from reading the book, than you’ll EVER get from watching these three movies.
Again, apologies for the length of this post but that’s four highly recommended, one moderate to strong recommendation and three not recommended.
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On This Day In:
2023	Or You Practice Guitar (It Works For Me)
2022	Three Treasures
	Memorial Day 2022
2021	How Trump Won The Fringe Right
	Hold My Hand (Little Darlin’)
2020	I’d Include Health Care
2019	Accustomed To It
2018	Booking My Trip Into The Expanding Universe
2017	Fear Instead Of Convictions
2016	Memorial Day – 2016
2015	A Handful Of Reviews
	And You Can Quote Me
2014	Get Wisdom
2013	Enjoying The View?
2012	Adam’s Rib
2011	I’m Sure I Remember That…
	Memorial Day, 2011

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And You Can Quote Me

Most people are other people.  Their thoughts are someone Else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
––    Oscar Wilde
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On This Day In:
2023	Or You Practice Guitar (It Works For Me)
2022	Three Treasures
	Memorial Day 2022
2021	How Trump Won The Fringe Right
	Hold My Hand (Little Darlin’)
2020	I’d Include Health Care
2019	Accustomed To It
2018	Booking My Trip Into The Expanding Universe
2017	Fear Instead Of Convictions
2016	Memorial Day – 2016
2015	A Handful Of Reviews
	And You Can Quote Me
2014	Get Wisdom
2013	Enjoying The View?
2012	Adam’s Rib
2011	I’m Sure I Remember That…
	Memorial Day, 2011

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Dawn Is Coming

Yes:  I am a dreamer.  For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
––    Oscar Wilde
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On This Day In:
2023	Still Trying To Learn The Syntax
	Memorial Day 2023
2022	Stumbled On This Memory (Of High Notes) (Memory Lane)
2021	A Chance Meeting Finds A Way
	Over 50 Years Ago! (Soul Sacrifice)
2020	The Magnitude Of The Challenge
2019	Still Tearing, Still Being Rewarded
2018	Nothing More, Nothing Less
2017	Memorial Day – 2017
	No Wonder I’m Smiling
2016	Thinking Science Fictional
2015	Dawn Is Coming
2014	Back When I Was A Firebrand
2013	Pen In Hand
	Word Up!
2012	Disturbing
	Trying To Keep Up
2011	Unreliable And Selective
2010	Adult-Onset Athlete

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I Resemble That Remark… (5!)

A person is always startled when he hears himself seriously called an old man for the first time.
—    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
[Who’s that old man in your selfie?  LOL!!    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2023	But Try To Finish Some Thing (At Least One)
2022	Smoldering Or Burning?
	I’m Not Okay Either
2021	Make A Difference
	What’s That Sound? (For What It’s Worth)
2020	Promise Her In Music (Never My Love)
2019	But I’m Well Past 100 By Now
2018	Learn
	Land Of The Free, Because Of The Brave
	4 Appearances In A Row, 4 Wins To Go
2017	And Yet I’m Still Having Fun
2016	I See Coincidence Everywhere
	CA3: Civil War
2015	I Resemble That Remark… (5!)
2014	The Writer’s Dilemma
2013	Just Paying The Rent
2012	Remembering…
2011	A Little Farther

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The Critical State

But if chaos teaches physicists that the truly simple can nevertheless look complicated, the critical state teaches them that the truly complicated can behave in ways that are remarkably simple.  … The basic organization of any substance poised in the critical state between two phases depends very little on the precise nature of the elements involved.  There is a profound universality at work, which makes it possible to understand literally thousands of utterly different collectives in terms of simple mathematical games that share the same skeletal logic.
… One of the deepest discoveries in physics of the past two decades is that in nonequilibrium systems the critical state often arises on its own.
… It does not seem normal and lawlike for long periods of calm to be suddenly and sporadically shattered by cataclysm, and yet it is.  This is, it seems, the ubiquitous character of the world.
—    Mark Buchanan
From his book:  “Ubiquity“
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On This Day In:
2023	Some Things
2022	Vision Test
2021	Or These Days, On The Internet
	There Goes My Heart (Only The Lonely)
2020	Find An Antidote
2019	Take A Few Minutes To Remember
	Start By Doubting
2018	You Cannot Pretend
2017	A Long Shadow
2016	Learning, Experience, Chances or Money
2015	The Critical State
2014	Dawn, n.
2013	Ouch!
2012	Just Lookin’ Around
	Still Growing
2011	But Do You Want To?

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Either / Or

In this world, a man must either be an anvil or a hammer.
—    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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On This Day In:
2023	Images Are Everywhere
2022	An Honorable Preference
2021	Very Young Or Very New
	Feelin’ It (Happy Feelin’)
2020	Or To Destroy Democracy
2019	A Defense Of Liberty
2018	And Blog To Word Up To The Universe
	The Irony Of Greed
2017	Or Revisiting A Blog Site
2016	Alas, Too Often The Latter
2015	Either / Or
2014	Memorial Day – 2014
	Perfection
2013	Memorial Day Video
	Equal = Equal
2012	Congrats, Nephew!!
	Doggie Vision Networks
	The Flash: Omnibus
	JLI: vol 1
	Flash: Rebirth
	Burning Images
	What Do You Believe?
2011	Are We Still At War With The Poor?

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Memorial Day – 2015

[Two quotes and a poem for Memorial Day 2015.  Please say a prayer of thanks for the sacrifice of those we’ve lost and for their families.  One side note:  the poem was found on one of the blogs I follow and is presented as it appeared there.  In researching the poem, I found there are multiple versions and an “original”.  As a matter of curiosity and for comparison, I am also presenting that version.   —   kmab]
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.
—    Joseph Campbell
American Writer / Lecturer
Let us never forget the heroes who saw beyond themselves and the families they left behind to pledge and deliver all they had to uphold the liberties we all cherish.
—    Carolyn W. Colvin
Acting Commissioner
Social Security Administration
A Thousand Winds
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there;  I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
Written by:  Mary Elizabeth Frye
[This (above) was the version used by the newspapers for Mrs. Frye’s obituary.    —    kmab]
[Found at:  http://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/
The specific blog post is at:  http://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/tribute-2/ ]
[Original version:
A Thousand Winds
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am in a thousand winds that blow
I am the softly falling snow
I am the gentle showers of rain
I am the fields of ripening grain
I am in the morning hush
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight
I am the starshine of the night
I am in the flowers that bloom
I am in a quiet room
I am the birds that sing
I am in each lovely thing
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there I do not die
Written by:   Mary Elizabeth Frye
End of “original” version]
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On This Day In:
2023	Everybody Has One…
2022	Dozing In The Backyard Hammock
	10 (40)
2021	Still Learning (And Practicing) Guitar
	Still Ain’t Quite Right (What Is Hip?)
	More Changes…
2020	Remembering…
	You KNEW That Man Was Trippin’
2019	Kingslanding
2018	I’d Bet On Taxes
	Ooops! I Spoke Too Soon
2017	A Cautionary Wish
2016	Slogging
	It’s About…
	Man / Man
2015	Memorial Day – 2015
	Content People Love To Share
2014	I Resemble That Remark
2013	Long Range Exploration
2012	UBI
2011	Opportunity

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Content People Love To Share

We have a very long-term view, and the only way to succeed in the long-run is to make content people love to share with their friends, tell stories that are meaningful to people’s lives, and break news stories that have an impact on the world.
—    Jonah Peretti
CEO, BuzzFeed News
Quoted in the article:  “The Future Of Media“
Written by:  Mat Honan
Appearing in the Jan 2015 issue of:  Wired Magazine
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On This Day In:
2023	Everybody Has One…
2022	Dozing In The Backyard Hammock
	10 (40)
2021	Still Learning (And Practicing) Guitar
	Still Ain’t Quite Right (What Is Hip?)
	More Changes…
2020	Remembering…
	You KNEW That Man Was Trippin’
2019	Kingslanding
2018	I’d Bet On Taxes
	Ooops! I Spoke Too Soon
2017	A Cautionary Wish
2016	Slogging
	It’s About…
	Man / Man
2015	Memorial Day – 2015
	Content People Love To Share
2014	I Resemble That Remark
2013	Long Range Exploration
2012	UBI
2011	Opportunity

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This We’ll Leave Them

Here I stand
Alone, unbowed
One man
Destined to be
Himself, and no other.
Sharing, caring,
Watching the pain
Others inflict
Because
They have felt pain.
I understand
But do not accept
What they think they feel
Perhaps,
It is the man in me today
Perhaps,
It is the child in the past…
I face the future
And acknowledge
The hopes of those
Like myself…
Who live alone
As themselves.
One day,
We will breach
That void
Which separates
Us
And the little people
The bitter minds
The small of soul
Will cringe…
Not because
We will try to conquer
Or rule
But because we will
Depart
And leave them
This world
They so cherish and covet.
That they might
Know the consequences
Of being more than animals
But less than men.
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On This Day In:
2023	You Choose To Be One
2022	Strumming And Changing Chords
2021	B U
	Blueprint Blue (Peg)
2019	I Struggle With One At A Time
2018	An Infectious Political Cancer
	Site Update / Poems Page Evolution
2017	Our Thirst
2016	History Favors The Victor
2015	This We’ll Leave Them
2014	Sounds Like Faux News To Me
2013	Reasons
2012	American Libertarianism
2011	The Goal

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A New Friend

The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me just as if I had gained a new friend.
––    Oliver Goldsmith
From his book:  “The Citizen of the World“
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On This Day In:
2023	1-Footers
2022	Try Walking
2021	Probably Why It Hurts So Bad
	5-0 (Tiny Bubbles)
2020	Unlike Faux News Viewers
2019	I Don’t Know Truth, Either
2018	An Approaching Disgrace
2017	Liberty, Collusion, History And The Republican Majority
2016	But I Have Too Many Questions
2015	A New Friend
2014	Do I Have To Fall In Love?
2013	More Democracy, Please
2012	Speaking Of Love
2011	Limits

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About Character

Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like.  More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.
―    Dennis Prager
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On This Day In:
2023	Sub-Contracting Only Seems Efficient
2022	One Working Future
2021	Still A Work In Progress
	An Innocent Man (Keeping The Faith)
2020	Three Stooges
2019	#Impeach45: Halt The Slide Into Tryanny
2018	Expecting Profit
2017	In Spite Of The President
2016	And Sets
	And My God For His Graces
2015	About Character
2014	Your Gain
2013	Look Up
2012	Count Me In
2011	Pirates Four, Three Songs
	Sir Charles
	Look First, Not Last
2010	Par-a-diddle

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Even If It Kills Us Slowly

Human beings are funny.  They long to be with the person they love but refuse to admit openly.  Some are afraid to show even the slightest sign of affection because of fear.  Fear that their feelings may not be recognized, or even worst, returned.  But one thing about human beings puzzles me the most is their conscious effort to be connected with the object of their affection even if it kills them slowly within.
—    Sigmund Freud
[Found at one of the blogs I follow:  http://antryump.com/
The specific post is found at:  http://antryump.com/2014/08/31/sigmund-freud-quotes/
—    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2023	Into Redemption
2022	A Little More Each Day
	Zappa-ed!!
2021	Every Time It Gets Better
	Distant! (How Do You Like Me Now?!)
2020	I’m Persuaded (Crystal Blue Persuasion)
2019	Hungry For Trust
2018	Mutual Assistance
2017	The Toughest Job
2016	Congratulations!!
	Better Yet, Read!
2015	Even If It Kills Us Slowly
2014	Fun To Play God
	Of Anything
2013	Legal (Almost)
2012	Great Scots!
2011	The GI Bill – A Simple History Lesson
	Breaking Even

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It Took Roots

But it took more than a revival of antiquity to make the Renaissance.  And first of all it took money — smelly bourgeois money:  … of careful calculations, investments and loans, of interest and dividends accumulated until surplus could be spared from the pleasures of the flesh, from the purchase of senates, signories, and mistresses, to pay a Michelangelo or a Titian to transmute wealth into beauty, and perfume a fortune with the breath of art.  Money is the root of all civilization.
—    Will Durant
From his book:  “The History of Civilization:  The Renaissance“
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On This Day In:
2023	Enjoying Being A Serious Blogger
2022	We Are Seeing The Future
2021	The Correct Answer Will Be In The Form Of A Question
	Listen Up (The Shoop Shoop Song)
2020	Testing To Open The Economy Safely
2019	Or Thought I’d Thought
2018	Go And Dare
2017	And Wealth A Poor Substitute For Ability
2016	Neither Darkness Nor Shadows
2015	It Took Roots
2014	Hard Evidence
2013	Full Participation
2012	Roving (Again)
	Ooops, Again
2011	Why Not?

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Life Showed Compassion

In a funny way, although it has been over thirty years now, it seems like just yesterday I met my wife.
I was a lonely man with empty arms to fill.
Then I found a piece of happiness to call my own.
And life is worth living again.
For to love you to me is to live.
A one in a million, chance of a lifetime.
And life showed compassion.
And sent to me
A stroke of love called you.
I love you Hil.  You are my “one in a million chance of a lifetime“…    —    kmab
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On This Day In:
2023	Happy Meeting Day 39 (And Counting)
2022	Happy Meeting Day 38 (And Counting)
	9 (40) – Done
2021	Happy Meeting Day 37 (And Counting) (A Long And Winding Road)
2020	Happy Meeting Day 36 (And Counting) (I Want To Hold Your Hand)
2019	Happy Meeting Day 35 (And Counting) (Could It Be I’m Falling In Love)
2018	Happy Meeting Day 34 (And Counting)
	Storytelling
2017	Happy Meeting Day 33 (And Counting) (A Little More Time On You)
2016	Picture Perfect (The Colour Of Love)
2015	Life Showed Compassion (One In A Million You)
2014	And Then I Met Her (God Only Knows)
2013	Defining Maleness
	The Run Continues
2012	All Set
2011	Not Always

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