I get if from my dadddyy....

"...So your grandfather told this man, 'When you are alone, you are always free to pass through my land. But today you cannot pass, because your goat will eat my plants'. Well, this man would not listen. He argued for a long time with your grandfather, saying that he would be careful and that the goat would do no harm. This man talked so much your grandfather finally called me over and said 'Go bring me Alegoa'. That's what he called his panga, you see - "His machete".

"..he had two that he kept very, very sharp. He would rub them on a stone all day. One panga he called Alego. The other he called Kogelo. So I ran back to the hut and brought him the one he called Alego. And now your grandfather tells this man, 'See here. I have already told you that you should not pass, but you are too stubborn to listen. So now I will make a bargain with you. You can pass with your goat. But if even one leaf is harmed - if even one half of a one leaf of my plants is harmed - then I will cut your goat also'.

' Well, even though I was very young at the time, I knew that this man must be so stupid, because he accepted my father's offer. We began to walk, the man and his goat in front, me and your grandfather walking closely behind. We had walked maybe twenty steps when the goat stuck out its neck and started nibbling at a leaf. Then - Whoosh!!!! My dad cut one side of the goat's head clean through. The goat owner was shocked, and started to cry out 'Aalieey! Aalieey! What have you done now, Hussein Onyango' and your grandfather just wiped off his panga and said, 'If I say I will do something, I must do it. Otherwise how will people know that my word is true'.

This wonderful story I tell is not of my own, nor was I referring to my own grandaddy, but this story was the story Barack Obama's Aunt Zeituni from Kenya told him when he went to visit his family some years ago.

I opened this morning's blog with this wonderful excerpt from his book "Dreams from my father...because after watching his outstanding, inspiring and heartfelt infomercial last night, all I could do was think back to his life and the message I received when I read that in his book.

This man COMES from a very powerful African heritage. The same way in which is grandfather kept his word and his word was his honor and bond is the same man we see today.

Many of us watched last night and we cried, we felt a sense of pride, hope, encouragement, fulfillment, excitement, and greatness to see a man who represents something we have never ever seen in this country, in our time.

I can only speak for myself, but I BELIEVE in him and what he is to do. I am not naive by any means! I know that once he wins (which he will...I PROMISE) he will be faced with a tremendous amount of scrutiny, hardship and many in CONGRESS and the SENATE will not BACK him on his proposals and ideas. This will then cause Americans to question this man and what he promises us for change. But keep in mind, we are electing him as president, we still have the Senate, and legislation that at the end of the day that really makes it happen...they pass the laws...he jus either signs off, or VETO'S.

So remember it wont be easy for him and for the first 4 years as my godfather told me last night, he will try his best to TRY to implement all these great things...but it will be hard because to say it blatantly there are haters and there will be hate, especially within government, making it hard for him to do what he has planned, but he is a man of his word and he will fight to the deaths to get us to a better tomorrow, and future.

I believe in his word, and I believe that even if he cannot achieve many things quickly as President, I know what he comes from, I know what he is made of and I know that is is of some of the best damn stuff on earth!

He will make it happen not only because he said it and he believes it but because I truly know in my heart that he knows its bigger than him, he has always made it a priority to help those who needed it and tried to encourage those who wanted it. He did it before he was a big shot senator in Chicago and he has continued to do it throughout this campaign.

How I love thee let me count the ways.....BARACK OBAMA you are something special!!!!

XOXOXOXO!!!

I wont speak to you guys till TUESDAY NOV 4th and I know a lot of you will be VOTING!!!!

SO HAPPY VOTING!!!!!!

BARACK THE VOTE!!!!

A DEMON IS ON THE LOOSE! J HUD -- CONDOLENSENCES

I think I was one of the very first people with in my network to learn of the tragedy that occurred this past Friday with Jennifer Hudson's family and I was in utter shock! I can only imagine what it must feel like for her to be in the midst of all these blessings, an anticipated CD (that is doing well), A FAB movie that she is in and all the other magnificent accolades she is receiving and to then be hit with a blow that only GOD could give you strength to begin to wrap your mind around the idea ... YOUR MOTHER AND BROTHER WERE SHOT AND KILLED IN THEIR HOME!

Jennifer's Mother and brother were shot 9 AM Friday morning by an unidentified person, her 7 year old nephew, ( her sister , Julia Hudson's son) was then kidnapped by that person and his body has since been found. I am just bewildered as to how this woman Julia Hudson who is the boy' mother has it in her to come on television and actually speak as if she is "ok". Something seems extremely off to me.

I watched Saturday as she made her plea for her son, but she seemed to me that she was well-rested and not that emotional..God knows if I would have seen a tragedy to this magnitude..finding my mom and brother dead in the house...there is no way in hell I am speaking to any reporters and holding a press conference without me being a shaken up beyond belief and disarrayed. Everyone is different though.

I am in no way accusing this woman, his mother, of such a horrible, devastating crime but it just seems weird. In addition, Julia is a bus driver for the Chicago school system and the school's were closed in Chicago Friday due to teacher-work day, so why was she out all day and came home late.

Something is wrong here, what really promoted me to feel this way as well is once Julia found out her son was in fact the young body in the SUV she was still online accepting friend requests on her Myspace and updating her moods, again ..maybe someone else is logging under her but I just can't call it.

Check her page out yourself: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=95546805

You can make your own assessments.

Read some of the things she writes and notice how the guy who was in custody William Baulfour, her ex...is all over her pictures.

She recently says in a picture he sold her car with his "bitch ass", I dunno...very strange. She said her brother had been dropping her to and from work since the ex sold her car without her permission. This is the "Missing" white SUV that they were looking for when the story hit the press. So where was this car and who had the keys to the car if the brother was dead??? This is bewildering to me and I pray that whoever is behind this heinous hurtful crime is captured.

I don't want to even begin to think that this woman has anything to do with this but a lot of things are sketchy on her part and just does not add up. We hear everyday on the news these same type of stories but since it is a celebrity involved we should not look deeper into this?
An Innocent child is now murdered, a mother and bother gone for no reason!!!! I am concerned! Nobody deserves this.

My prayers go out to Jennifer Hudson who now has to bury most of her immediate family at the same time. God give her strength!

This is horrible! I truly believe there is a demon on the loose possessing the minds and spirits of people EVERYWHERE, Don't matter who you are, where you live, you must be in tuned with your spirit because it can snap at any moment and you can loose it.

There is no doubt in my mind that anyone in their right mind would not do something like this but when you are possessed by evil you can't see or think straight, it is real...count your blessings! and keep a close tie with the most high!

Life is a PRESENT, live it positively, give off good energy and that way you can at least do your part to assist in attracting it back to you. This goes back to the company we keep in our lives.

I love you all!!!!

Stay safe and PRAY!

XOXOXO

NO CUSHIONS!

How time flies....it was just yesterday when I was sitting in a class in my JHS (circa 1994) and the highlight of my day was going to the gym for cheerleader practice, hanging out with my crew laughing, being in young love and thinking I knew it all. I would HATE to have to leave my friends and I just wanted to be within our little cipher all day and night if I could.

Something about when you are age 11-14,(JHS era) nothing else matters but your best friend and if you have a boyfriend him too. What is so funny is we forget the feeling we had during this age. We felt like the smallest things were the end of the world. We looked at everything literally, and we wanted to please our friends and do whatever we could to prove ourselves.

We did not care if Micheal was not the cutest guy in the school but if he could play basketball and he was tall then that was enough. We were not as judgemental. We had our little click and we stuck to them. We loved them. We became a brand with our clicks and it was nothing we would not do for our fellow click mate if something jumped off, even if an hour before you was gossiping about her to the next person. This did not matter because there was a forgivable innocence about being on the brink of teenage life and you knew life would go on.

I am currently pursuing my Master's degree in Childhood Education as I have mentioned before, and a couple days out the week I go into some school's in my area and student teach. Today I had a class of 5th graders. They were soooo awesome!!!

Now I know many of you are saying, "the kids of today are nothing like we used to be", and you are 100% right! They are NOTHING like we used to be, because they are exposed to way more then what we used to dream of.

They have every electronic device under the sun, their attention span is a minute in a half tops, and they are living in a world that is 10x's more advanced than what is was. Even though all of these factors make them different they still share the same young innocent spirit we all had. That spirit of intrigue, passion and energy to accept new things and embrace sincerity when its given.

When I was there with the 5th graders today they just lit up and they wanted to know more about who I was, and why I was there. Some of the girls came, stroked my hair, rubbed my hands, begged to come with me and if I would come back. They were excited because they saw something NEW and I brought something new to them.

I brought energy, enthusiasm, I gave them much needed EXTRA attention and made them feel soo important that they could not resist but smile, raise their hands in excitement, be respectful and eager to learn more.

This felt sooo good and you could feel it! These are the same children that we hear about every single day. "These kids today are disrespectful, horrible, unruly..." the list goes on, and in reality they do posseses these traits, BUT they just need to feel human, they need some of us to just look into their eyes and say "You are so pretty", " You are soo smart"! even IF they are not acting at their best. They are so NOT USED to hearing and feeling like they are worth something that when they do hear it, that even becomes a mental adjustment.

Many of you may not be interested in teaching or working with kids but I promise that the state of the young people today, it is in ALL OF OUR best interest to get involved on some level. These kids WILL be the ones to uphold our society in about 20-30 years, and if none of us care enough to jump in and show some interest in them now then we might as well lay down and accept the fate of our failure as a collective.

There is so much to be done. I decided I wanted to teach because it is just who I am anyway everyday. I am constantly trying to school, motivate and get people through situations and problems on any level that is presented to me.

My daughter is part of the future and I must be involved and present to it now. Many of you may not have children yet but one day you will and you will feel responsible.

I ask that all of you try to volunteer in your local communities, Church's, and schools (PTA). Even if you are on the train or out in public and you see two young people acting in ways that are less than who they really are (because no child is really as disgusting as they appear) pull them aside and say something!

SPEAK UP and shame on you if you are"Scared". This is why these young people are running rampid now, because in the damn school system they now tell administrators "do not touch or break up any fight if it breaks out...you risk being sued"..WHAT! So as a responsible adult you are expected to watch children break each other's faces? NO! You would not do that if it was your own child and you should not watch someone else's child be harmed either.

Step up and speak out and reclaim order within our humanness. As I always say this is not a race thing. We are humans first and must reach a level of consciousness that promotes positive humanness amongst each other.

I know this blog went on long today but it is so important for us to not let FEAR keep us stifled and weak. Fear was your worst enemy yesterday, it will be your worst enemy today and tomorrow!

Do not give in, break through it! MAKE IT HAPPEN! Whatever it is you want to do -- DO IT!

I don't care if you wake up and decide you want to start an online business collecting boogers...DO IT! DO whatever moves you...and let money be the last reason you do ANYTHING! If that was the case we would not have 85% of the famous successful people of today. They all started what they have without a fortune to fall back on.

I will finally end with this; many people justify going to school saying " I just wanna have something to fall back on if things never work out..a plan B" NEVER go to school or do anything if this is your only premise.

If you have a dream and you know there is a cushion behind you, it will be easy for you to fall BACKWARDS then going through the struggle and strife, BUT if you know there is no cushion behind your backside if you fall then I know and you know you will hold on for dear life until you see your way through WHATEVER it is you want...Live life with no CUSHIONS!

Love you all!!!

XOXOXO

Is it time to Re-Assess your conversation?

Every time a new year comes into place folks like to start making "resolutions" and analyzing their lives and what they want to change. Ever since I was a young, this has been the time when people choose to do these things, but what I am now realizing as an adult is that you do not need any NEW YEAR to welcome change. Actually it is 10x's healthier for you to be constantly re-evaluating your life, who you are and your current situation no matter what month, day, time of day or year we are in!

I know many of us move so fast all the time. We say what we think, we have our opinions about what every body else is doing, and who they are seeing and who they SHOULD be seeing, and why they wore that and why she didn't come to this and the list can go on and on and on! After all is said and done, what significance does this play? Does it add on to anything important that you gossip about 75% of your day away?

I speak on this because I, like everyone else can and have find myself in the gossip web, and once there it can be hard to come out. We are only humans and many of us need to say what is on our minds..believe me I am known for that, but we do have the power to control what we say and where we say it. I am a recovering gossiper! I can speak on it.

Gossip by Webster's terms means:
1:a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others
2 a: rumor or report of an intimate nature b: a chatty talk c: the subject matter of gossip

And this is true, but after partaking in this sort of activity for years, not one gossip participant is ever thinking about the feelings, affects and outcome of the subject being discussed. All the gossiper wants is their own personal satisfaction and gratification. It is almost like a high that is needed for some people to socialize effectively.

I started to re-evaluate my conversation after I became friends with a Young lady , who I love to death. She is sweet, loving and very generous, but literally 90% of the thoughts that come out of her head are of slander, hear say and judgment.

When we first became cool and we would be in each other's company I did not pay much attention to it and I would laugh it off, but then I realized DAMN...this girl just never stops and she constantly goes in! It became annoying to me and I found myself actually feeling bad for the people she was talking about, because in actuality these people thought they were her friends as well. They had no clue she was dragging their name, business and character through the dirt.

After much time a light bulb went off in my head. Even though this woman treats me like the word, openly shows so much affection for me, there is something within me that must be attracting this type of person into my life. Even if I don't nearly carry on as much as she does, I still do it to a certain affect and now the universe is showing me a mirror of the effects it can have by placing her in my life.

If most of us paid attention to just half of the lessons the higher powers that be try to show us, we would avoid sooo much and live life a tad bit easier, but we rarely pay attention, and how can we when we are the generation of distraction.

Our elders did not have ipods, iphones, music videos, TV's, DVD, Mac's, PC's, Pagers, Cellphones, US weekly, INSTYLE and the list can go on for another paragraph, but you get my drift. All the lessons that were taught down to us came from them and now that we hold the pillars of knowledge to carry down to our youth (who clearly are the most misguided and in a desperate need of attention generation to date) what will we pass on?

Have we taken time to re-evaluate the way we think, what we say. Do we practice control over our words and thoughts and habits. A couple months ago I started to pay attention to what I chose to say to people and how I carried myself in public.

I was prompted to do this through the reading of a very powerful book by Eckhart Tolle. It is called "A New Earth". I highly recommend this book! I have had some read it and they did not like it, and I can't promise you will. This is the type of text that if you are not already in a space where you are trying to awaken the inner giant in you and trying to reach new levels of spiritual and mental awareness you will not be moved, touched or inspired. BUT if you are there then you will forever remember the lessons that are taught by the author.

I will end with this quote that I learned from when I was young girl and just now does it hold sincere meaning to me:

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Be mindful of your conversation with others and try to spread the GOOD NEWS rather than the slander!

Enjoy your Tuesday!

XOXOXO

KILLA B! Go on with your bad self! ....

Last night was one of the best debates I ever saw in my life!!!! Barack Obama was the best! McCain as usual looked like a wet dog drowning trying to breathe and just pitiful. To have that man sit next to Obama in a debate is an insult to Obamas's intellect!

Was it me or did you notice how McCain tried to use his jokes, and so called wit and charm when he could not come up with any "factual and intelligent statement to make", and if you watch CNN every time Obama opened his mouth to respond McCain was batting his eyes like he was being pinched by the "I'm not good enough for this" wizard.

I also want to acknowledged Bob Shaffer who did an amazing job as moderator, asking the greatest questions I have heard from all the debates thus far. I learned more in that 96 minutes then I did from the other 2 debates put together and I felt my personal questions were answered.

I am so very happy and proud that Obama was able to give specific DETAILED examples of how and what he was going to do, instead of pointing the fingers at McCain as McCain did to him. McCain did not once answer one question directly and clearly..rather he talked in circles and repeated a lot of the same old verbiage that we have been hearing from him the entire campaign trail.

He laughed when things were not funny and Obama kept his cool and remained serious. The media has mistaken that for Obama being "flat" and "dead" but this is the media for you. They will side with McCain now since this was his last chance to prove himself and many pundits are saying he did GREAT and Well! DO NOT FALL FOR THIS! They are trying to sway your votes last minutes and actually tell you to believe that McCain should be given a shot. We know in actuality he was LACKLUSTER for a third time!

Some of my favorite highlights form Obama came when he spoke about the attacks that were made against him and what he has said about McCain over the course of the campaign, health care plans and how to make our education system better in this country. He gave clear precise direct responses, something I searched and listened extra hard to try to hear from McCain and it just never happened!

It was also beautiful how Obama brought his conversations and meetings with average Americans such as "JOE THE PLUMBER" as a point in the debate to discuss why he is doing what he is doing. He is telling us he is paying attention, he is meeting people and he is trying his best to address the needs of so many. Can McCain think off the top of his head who he has met and what is affecting them? Probably not because he can't remember.

The VOTE is clear here!!!! NOV. 4th is 19 days away people!!!!!! Let's make history!!!!

P.S. Something's to remember when you go vote:
1- Do not wear any Obama paraphernalia at the voting polls
2- Make sure you vote STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC
3- Make sure his name is spelled correctly for crying out loud! There have been reports in which his name was spelled Barack OSAMA at a poll in the Midwest.

Have a great day!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

XOXOXO

She got her own.....DO YOU?

All the ladies who independent..throw your hands up family!!!!

I can think of about 4 to 5 songs made by artists that were hits basically bigging up the lady who can hold down her own. One of my favorite is most recent and it is by Ne-yo, but I prefer the remix with Mr. Jamie Foxx and FAB, because they just know how to lay a track down on its back and provide the business like no one else.

I think all this independent woman talk is definitely encouraging and inspiring for woman to hold it down and achieve success on their own, but at the same time are we trying to forget our men all together?

So many women I meet are PROUD to say " I don't need no man to do nothing for me", but I BEG to differ. There are too many woman out here tricking themselves into believing they do not want or need a man for anything.

I love the idea of a woman having her own but at the same time having that balance from a man to provide you with love, intimacy and support is crucial for a healthy mind, spirit and soul. A man can remind a woman of her delicateness and provide her that safe feeling that every woman loves to receive.

I think it is an epidemic with all these woman walking around talking rough, acting like men and being a tad bit tooo masculine for their own good. I am not blaming it just on the songs either. I blame it on the fact that many of these men don't have their own and they are not holding it down the way they should, so woman get fed up and they either keep it moving or they accept this from men and take care of them, enabling them further, and the cycle continues and woman are holding up the entire community on its back, and its OK?

Well no I think its not!

Seems to me that Ne-yo and some of these other artists should have made a record basically praising how men hold down the fort and take care of what's theirs. Matter of fact when was the last time you heard a song that was even remotely close to promoting how a man is such a good man and takes care of his woman, home and business...I don't know about you but not sense Salt-n-Pepa's "What a man" have I heard such perfection.

I think maybe if more of these Young men heard messages likes that, they would not be checking to "get with a shawty who got her own, because maybe she can take care of me too" type language. Yes I heard a 19 year old boy say this to me recently. Or they might say " Yo, that's wasssup, I need me a career driven woman with her own ride, if my boo got a car so do I"! PLEASE!!!

News flash...last time I checked it was never attractive to have these mentalities and to carry on like this. These young men need to RECLAIM their role and position in this society, especially within the black communities.

We can have our own but as a woman we like to ENJOY our own, not feed you, clothe you, and entertain you and everyone else.We love the male species but we love it when you HAVE YOUR OWN as well!!!

We do need you, we need to nurture you and love you, but in return we need you guys to be stand up men and balance us out and provide a foundation to build on. To help us be better and to make us better together!

I feel like the scales are slightly tipped these days across the board.

This is for you NIXX. :)


Have a great Tuesday!!!!

XOXOXO

Take a note...

When I was 13 I attempted to keep a diary of all the things that happened in my life. One of the main reasons I started this diary was because my Auntie gave me one of the cutest little diaries with a lock. I felt important and it looked important so I said I might as well use it.

I would write in it from day to day and then after awhile I just stopped, because as I became more socially busy, I let the distractions of life take me off my course. I wish I would have kept that diary and documented the milestones and adventures that I experienced from then.

Soooo much has happened and even though I remember it in my mind, I don't quite know the exact dates, or the facial expressions I had, or the emotions that ran so deep at that time when certain things happened or what I was wearing. If I had kept the diary going I would have wrote these details down. I have recently just started last year to keep a memoir and diary of my life, and reading back now, events from last year still remain fresh for me when I read it. I can almost feel like I am there again.

I recently received an email from a friend of mine, of a "scrapbook" that I think is absolutely GREAT! It is just marvelous and whomever took time to put it together should be proud that it is being viewed by so many and the person it's about is probably one of the most influential people of our day!

I don't know if Obama himself put this scrapbook together but it is beautiful and I wanted to share it amongst the Fam, so you can get the same warm feeling so many of us got when we read it and went through it. As I have said in the past...When you read his books, you have even more of an appreciation for the pictures and timeline within the scrapbook.

Check out the scrapbook and learn who "THAT ONE" is.... That One is the Center of our progression, our movement, our new day!

http://obamascrapbook.com/index.htm

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

XOXOXO

POV

Is it me or when it gets cold like this you don't want to do ANYTHING!

Since Sunday night when it started to get really brisk, I have been sluggish, don't wanna get out the warm bed, running a tad bit later for work, feeling like I have a scratchy throat and not wanting to even speak to people in the mornings. This is horrible.

I guess I am so affected because we went from nice warm breeze to OD Arctic chill. I need to ease into this, this weather is basically slapping me on my backside and duffing me out the door. I am really trying to cope but it takes adjusting to.

On another note, I caught a clip of the view from yesterday 9-6-08. If you missed it its worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WGCzCma-NY

That damn Elisabeth HEFFABECK as I like to call her, showed her ignorant conservative a** again! She really is starting to detest me more than watching Sarah Palin speak. Actually, Palin might be a little bit more like able than her. This woman actually sat on this stage and defended McCain and his involvement with the Keating 5. In addition she had the nerve to insinuate that Obama did have a close relationship with a "terrorist" of the United States (referring to Bill Ayers).

If you do your research on Bill Ayers, he basically wad a radical from the 60's who was pissed off with the way the United States were treating its citizens civilly, and as Whoopi stated " there were a lot of people pissed off {black people} and others who did not like the way the United States treated them".

It appears to me that Elisabeth is so out of touch with reality and other people's strife in this country that she forces herself to look ridiculous. She always appears ignorant when anything comes out of her mouth! I really do not know why she even is on this show, what makes a reality TV star {Survivior season 2} qualified to speak to millions of people everyday I have no IDEA! I think she is the shallowest, ditsiest, idiot on television and I mean it.

It actually gives me great pleasure to watch when guests come to the show and walk right pass her as if she is invisible. She is pitiful with the outrageous, prejudice things that she comes up with, and to think all this time I thought Sherry Sheppard was the dumbest of the crew, arguing a couple of weeks ago that the world was FLAT! (Where do they get these people).

Thank God Whoopi is up there to provide a well rounded, intellectually stimulating conversation and actually bring facts to discussions. I would think the producers would know that, that is important for a host to possess, Barbara Walters is just as bad by inviting Elisabeth to be a part of the show! UGH! Just makes me crinch!

In other news, If you have not registered to vote you only have until this Friday October 10th, to get that done, PLEASE go out and get it done!!! I spoke with some folks who said unfortunately they could not vote because they are not citizens of this country, and they are devastated.

If you are a citizen and you are just lazy to get down to register than shame on you!!! I was one of those people who felt like " my vote does not matter because they will miscount anyway" but there is something about being pro-active and doing something with passion that resonates well. Even if there is a miscount, the message will get across that we want this man to win and they will see us coming out in record numbers for change!

It made the news in Atalanta how 30% of early voters came out and voted. It was their record high. So we must do the same, give back some of the love we have felt watching him throughout his campaign.

In addition, I am doing this blog on Tuesdays and Thursdays now as I have said before. I hope you will continue to support.

Love you all!!!

Have a great TUESDAY!

XOXOXO

"This world is a Place".... - Barack Obama

Before I moved out on my own, I rarely knew what it felt like to "speak to your neighbors" or what is was to have a special relationship with someone who you see maybe 5 x's a week, on your way in and on your way out of your home.

Growing up my in Bed Stuy, it just seemed as everyone knew everyone and it many cases you just saw everyone as family. I grew up seeing and knowing these people all my life so it really was second nature to say "Hey Mr. Sunny"...but when you move in a new area and you inhabitant a space for the 1st time, starting over and making new "acquaintances" can sometimes be difficulty and many people shy from doing it.

I have spoken to so many people who say "I don't know my neighbor, I don't even know their name", SHAME ON YOU! I say all this to say, since moving 3 years ago into my own living space, I have came to know some of my neighbors and I have spoken to many of them on different occasions briefly. There was one lady who it took us awhile to "make the 1st move" but we got there.

She always left in the mornings to go to work the same time as I, and we would get in the elevator and I would admire her scent and her knack for fashion. She was one of those ladies who was just ALWAYS impeccable. Hair done, Makeup flawless, nails right, toes right, She had it going on and she was about 43.

I guess she admired me as well because she stopped me one day and said after many times we saw each other " I like your Bag". "Thank you", I said in shock because damn this lady was FLY! lol..but anyway..that one compliment paved the way to a nice "hello/goodbye/hows the little one/ damn its Hott out here/ love that color on you" sort of a relationship that we both took some joy in.

Some weeks went by and I noticed I had not seen Miss Lovely for a while. I had seen her husband but I did not run into her. I did not really wanna ask him about her because he was already always busy (hardworking man) and I just figured maybe she has a new schedule.

One afternoon in July I was coming in from picking up some groceries and I bumped into her coming out my complex. "Heyyy"! The words just ran out my mouth loudly and uncontrollable and after catching myself I felt a tad bit embarrassed. I guess the main reason for my shock was 1: Where have you been? and 2: The lady with the fly cuts and colors was now rocking a short fade.

She looked at me and smiled, as she walked with her youngest son ( she has two boys) and she said Hi...How are you? She also demonstrated some excitement and I felt a little better. I went on to explain how I thought she may have moved but I still saw her husband so I figured maybe we were just missing each other. All the while I was talking to her I noticed she kept taking her now non-manicured fingers and rubbing her now short cropped hair.

"Well.. she said to me "Can you keep a secret?", I said "Sure" She went on to explain to me that she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer a month or so before that and she had underwent a double mastectomy. She said she was taking chemo and it took her hair out but they caught it and she seems to be hoping for the best. As she said this I was in total disbelief! WOW! I had the most heartfelt feelings and apathy for her but I couldn't show it. I just wanted to keep the mood upbeat.

"Wow! "well God is good because you look FABULOUS as always" I love your new do it really goes with you", you look well"..is all I could say and in honesty she's such a beautiful woman that she did look well and the short curls did fit her but it still wasn't the same in a sense.

So I know you all are thinking why are you sharing this and she asked you to keep a secret ..well ..1: none of you know the lady I speak of and 2: a part of me is unsure if she is still here with us or not. I have not seen her in 3 months now nor her family. I don't know where she is and no one in the building seems to know either.

I was moved to speak on this today because I was watching the news last night and saw that a 16 year old girl was stabbed to death in her apartment in Crown Heights and her mother found her when she came from work. All I remember was watching her mother WAIL and CRY out for her daughter who was now gone and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

This can be ANYONE of us. The same way my neighbor woke up one morning and her life was changed because of a disease eating at her cells, is the same way the mother comes home from work to see her child who she birthed stabbed up in a pool of blood on her living room floor ...Unexpected, Unpredictable ...LIFE is this way.

Living and living COMFORTABLY is something we all take for granted! My neighbor, even though she looked like she was in good spirits I saw right through her. I saw her pain, her despair and her worries for her sons. She even said to me "my youngest son was so scared..he does not understand". She was not comfortable in that situation.

The mother who lost her daughter will probably not sleep for months, and won't be mentally sane for a while before she comes to terms that her innocent child was killed in the spirit if hate.

I just write these words to say EACH DAY YOU ARE ALIVE & HEALTHY..YOU ARE BLESSED.

Forget all this economic crap! It means nothing. You can get up and walk, you can smell the roses, you can use your ligaments and hug someone. You can plan to take a vacation because at this time you are able. LIVE your LIFE!!! BE HAPPY and Be GRATEFUL for what you have at this moment. Tomorrow might bear some bad news or Next year might not be as comfortable..the point is we only know about this moment right now and as long as you own it make the very best of it!!!!!

P.S. I titled this blog from a quote Obama made in his book "Dreams from my father - A story of race and inheritance", I highly recommend this book to all of you! Its FANTASTIC!!! The book really shows you how this man is destined for where he is right now. It was published in 1994.

Go out and read it! Purchase it. Understand the life of the great man you see on the screen who runs for our presidency, and how he has ALWAYS believed in Change from when he was a young'un in Hawaii to a young community advocate with no money. He was always rich in Love, change, hope and the aspiration of people making this world a better place on their own".

When he said in his speech

"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real

change in Washington . . . I'm asking you to believe in yours."

I believed him and I know that is everything he stands for.

I love you have a TERRIFIC day!!!!

XOXOXO