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When You Know Love is Right

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When you know love is right. The summer of 1981 was a turning point in my life. I had just graduated from high school. I was attending a going away party, for a foreign exchange student, at a local pizza shop. My high school was rather large, there were more than 2500 students. It was difficult to know everyone, but at that party I met “The One”. The one who would change my life for the better. She was a petite brunette with a beautiful smile and an energy that could power a city. She was soon to be a senior at our high school. I thought to myself, “how could I have missed this incredible female these last three years of school?” As we started to talk I fell hard. She was charmingly funny. She removed a paper mustache from her nose and handed it to me. The mustache was an advertisement for the pizza shop. As quickly as she had entered my life she was gone. I sat stunned just thinking about her. Six months passed before I got up the nerve to ask her out. We went out a few time...
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Answer Hate with Love

I am daily reminded about kindness and love from my friends on Twitter. This love is a driving force for me. It has given me the opportunity to revisit the principles I have learned in dealing with negative people. Verbal abuse is never OK, but answering with love can change people and their views. 1.        Don’t stoop down to their level. If they are shouting and screaming, don’t do the same. Personally I shut down and don’t listen when someone is yelling at me. 2.       Talk in slow clam voice. Usually the person yelling wants to get into a verbal battle to prove their point. If you talk slowly and quietly you can bring them to your level. 3.       Ask questions. Don’t just accept “because that’s what I believe.” Follow it with “Why do you believe that…” Make them verbalize exactly why they believe that particular way. When a person is challenged in this fashion they start to question themselves as to their beliefs. 4. ...
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A long distance love affair

It has been 19 days since my return from Newfoundland. I am over 4800 km from St. John's. I'm in a climate that is much different. My native accent has a much thicker twang when I'm in Texas. I have returned to a job that I love, working with grade 9-12 students that have emotional/behavioral challenges.  I have a wonderful life. My holiday this summer has opened my eyes to a different perspective. My thoughts and dreams are more focused in a new realization, that I have a second home that I love and she loves me. While relaxing last night Wezie asked me, "how is everyone in Newfoundland?' I just smiled and said "well" she then asked, "when are we going back?" All I could think about were the lines from "When Harry Met Sally", "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." Today we had meet the teacher at ...
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A Daughter's Love and a Blind Date

January 2019 Wezie and I made a conscience decision that we were going to focus our lives and energy on making memories. In the preceding 18 months I had been in the hospital 6 times, either for testing, surgery, or visiting the ER. Currently, I am doing well. Wezie and I talked about simplifying our lives. We started planning fun adventures. We planned a spring break trip to New Orleans. We spent our 33rd wedding anniversary driving to Dallas to see Alan Doyle and Cory Tetford. We were on the right path. March 2019 I received a text from my oldest daughter, Rebekah, that said "check your email." Rebekah was a first year teacher. She had a great deal of college debt. She was working on her teacher's certification for New Mexico. Needless to say she was overworked, underpaid, and she owed a great deal of money. Rebekah had spent the last nine years listening to my stories about the kindness and beauty of Newfoundland. She knew this was my dream holiday. The email was...
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Why Newfoundland

I hope to share my story for my love of Newfoundland and it's people. The story is ongoing and dates back to December 2010. This first post is the beginning, a snap shot of "Why Newfoundland." As Drew Brees states about New Orleans I too feel the same about Newfoundland: "If you love Newfoundland, she'll love you back." Here's my story.   Why Newfoundland? People ask me “Why is Newfoundland your dream vacation spot?” It starts back in December 2010, it was Christmas Break and I was exploring something to learn. I love the sea, especially the North Atlantic. I saw Newfoundland on a map. I knew nothing about the place. Was it a country? Was it a part of someplace, what was it? I first found some pictures that blew me away. I thought to myself, this place is special. The raw natural beauty of the landscape was something that I had never seen. I read a brief history from a Wikipedia page. I was hooked, but how to learn about Newfoundland was my next ...
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