veeeeday

Valentine's Day!

Is it a holiday for lovers?

Is it a holiday for suckers?

You be the judge...

Valentine's Day is the holiday for love. Holiday? When did it become a holiday? My first memory of Valentine's came when I was in the 3rd grade. I had to give candy to my classmates (including the dudes) and exchange cards with the girls. Ironically, I had 2 special cards that were gonna go to my 2 Valentines...Catina & Carolyn, who were best friends...LOL.

Back then, Valentine's Day was fun because you would find out the girls in your class who liked you.


Nowadays, Valentine's Day ain't the same.



I mean, there is still a girl in my life who gets a card. And my mom still gets a card.

But society has commercialized the day so much that people who don't have Valentine's are made to feel bad.

Maybe we're just too old now and things ain't what they used to be.

Or maybe...people have turned something that used to be special into a money makin' venture.

Lovers or suckaz? I dunno.

Enjoy the "holiday" folks. LOL

time2mend

I remember getting a phone call from my Dad a few years ago.

It went something like this...

Dad: "Hey...I've got some sad news...your grandfather passed away."

Me: "Really. Wow. Sorry to hear that."

And that was about it. If it sounds strange to you, that's because it was strange. It was strange to me because I didn't know him. I had only spoken with him over the phone once. I knew that he lived in Los Angeles for almost 20 yrs after leaving New Jersey. I didn't have a relationship with him because he didn't have one with my father. When my Dad gave me the news, it was almost like hearing that the old guy who lived down the street from you had passed away. I felt nothing. The fact that my grandfather's death didn't move me...bothered me. I mean, I was nearly in tears when Biggie died and I only knew him through his music. But I wasn't emotional upon learning about the death of the man who created the man who created me. Very strange...

Dad and granddad's relationship went sour when he and my grandmother split when my dad was a teenager. Granddad drank a lot and he wasn't "nice to be around" once he had that "oil" in his body. They had a bad relationship. When he died, dad wasn't mad at him. He seemed to be content with knowing that he loved his father and his father loved him. But I missed out on having a grandfather. Missed out on his wisdom. The fence was never mended. He and dad never connected again like a father/son should be. The one positive thing about their relationship is that dad vowed that if he ever had a son...he'd make sure that he'd be close to his son and be a better father than he had. And he did that for me and my brother.

Life is long...but it's also short. Tommorrow is not promised to any of us. Almost all of us have someone...parent, spouse, sibling, friend...that we should mend our fences with. We all assume that we'll be here forever but we know better. Sometimes people get relationships/friendships go awry and we don't even remember what happened. Life is too short to go around being mad at someone.

Maybe this post will move you to mend a fence with someone in your life.

Maybe...