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Debbie, you mean I am coming to FL this weekend, and the freakin' weather ain't gonna be any better than it is in GA??? DAMN!! If I wasn't going to see my dad and dad-in-law, I'd cancel my trip.
I am glad for Lefty it is over and the healing time is at hand. The "ordeal" of the end can be as hard as the loss. Arrangements, a million phone calls, all a rehash of the sadness, plane reservations, having to think financial matters when you can't even think, meeting relatives you haven't seen in ages, dealing with a constantly ringing phone (now that is a stress reliever), on and on. And when a loved one is suffering it can be a relief to say goodbye. It's the thing everyone feels guilty to say, and says, "it was for the best".....
The other thing I have seen is Lefty is a strong, smart, compassionate person whose compass points north with precision and he will be fine. Don't wish him strength, he has that. Someone in these losses has to "take charge" and that was probably him. Now is the time to wish him serenity and inner peace.
Lefty, sit down, meditate on the bittersweet, look ahead with pride, then pick up that darn guitar boy!
Wishing for strength for Lefty and all of his family.
The RS with Derek/Mayer/Frusciante on the cover arrived yesterday. My issue had a subscription offer on the outside, so the magazine itself was clean with no address label on the front. There's an entire page devoted to Derek, along with smaller pictures of Duane, Aubrey Ghent, and Ali Akbar Khan at the bottom of the page. Nice! 🙂
Lefty, thinking of you today.
So much going on for a Valentine's Day..........praying for the people in NO who, once again have a battle to win.........those in the path of that terrible winter storm...hope y'all are safe.
Ca, you are an inspiration....you lARE the sister I have always wanted........God Bless you and Kevin...I can smell those cookies from here
Going to get to the freezing mark here in So. Fla this weekend..praying for the farmers here..........we all have lost so much in the past 2 years......time for us to live again.
I thank God everyday this website..NEVER in my life did I think I would come to know some of THE BEST people in the world...........always believed that music would infulence peoples lives. You have been my rock for the past 7 years.
This website has proven that to me........thank y'all from the bottom of my heart for becoming a very important part of my life...don't know how I would have made thru the hard times without all of you.
Bless you, Lana & Rowland for giving me a real since of belonging to a family..........some of you I have not met, but most of you............I thank God for bringing y'all into my life.
May God Bless & watch over this extrodinary family!!!!!!
See y'all the end of March.......God I can't wait!!!!!
My Friends,
I spent the morning and part of the afternoon with Lefty at his mother's funeral service. I am grateful to have shared this grief with our one, Mr. Lefty, our friend. The experience was overwhelming, and it turned into a celebration of Mrs. Collins' life...from what I've learned, it was just as she had wanted it to be.
We all need to hold each other up and close to our hearts.
...it's all about the love.
I would like to share with you all a story of mine from awhile back. Many of you may have already read this story at another time, and if you already have, I hope you will be open to once again find peace within the words.
It's for our friend Lefty, and all of you...
I love you...
THE BUTTERFLY
Lately, I have been witness, to loved ones within in my life, who have been experiencing great pain and grief, as they make their way through the movement of their days. It's not good, and it’s not bad, it's just the way that it is. Often times, our compassion becomes misguided, allowing us to become absorbed within the energy of their pain or our own pain, creating questions within ourselves of why the universe will not devote itself to making us happy.
Some of the loved ones, of which I speak, are grieving the loss of a loved one. It is normal that the compassion we have for someone experiencing the loss of another is of deep sorrow and concern for their well being. It is compassionate for us to grieve the loss through our emotions and our tears. In my opinion, it is a blessing, through the process of grieving, to see the experience from the perspective of enlightenment. Throughout this process, may God bless you to view the loss with joy and happiness in your heart for your loved one, who is now continuing on to the next step of their journey? The next step, which is the journey home. On the journey to a place we all aspire to go to at some level of consciousness throughout our lives. Much of the pain experienced during the loss of a loved one is created out of selfish justifications of what that persons life meant to our own lives. Often times forgetting that we are all on our own journeys and that through our loved one’s passing, has allowed for them to continue on with their journey home. In time, be happy for them and work hard not to hold on to their spirit. They will always be here to guide you.
There is much compassion; understanding and love in seeing ones experience from the point of view of the Butterfly. I choose to see the joy and happiness one will endure on the journey of growth and healing, as they work their way through the pain and anguish within their hearts, to reach the other side of the experience, of which awaits them, the rewards of their labors. It is necessary to acknowledge the pain, which harbors sadness, in order to understand and embrace one’s happiness. It is necessary to not resist the pain of our experience. It would be very difficult to see the happiness in our lives, if it were only surrounded by happiness. At times, one must cry, to truly own the joy and jubilation of laughter on the other side of sadness.
Many choose to move through the forest of their lives looking back down the path from where they have come. Moving through the forest with their heads turned away from the direction in which they are walking, clinging tightly to their past experiences of pain and sadness, only to wallow within the wake of their own destruction. Traveling through the forest in this manner leads one to bump into the many trees within the forest, creating obstacles along the way, that only assist in the result of holding you back from continuing down the path of your journey. Walking through the forest as if you were wearing blinders, as a thoroughbred racehorse does in the event of a race. Choosing to walk through the forest, without seeing all that is around you, does not enable you to make the decisions and adjustments necessary to get out of the way of the trees and obstacles that are down the path of your journey.
Choosing to live within the moment of now, and acknowledging the experiences of your past, through forgiveness, allows you to move down the path of your journey, with both eyes looking forward, as you walk through the forest of your life. To continue walking through the forest without having to rest often, one must begin to forgive your self, and begin to acknowledge and love all that it is about your self, that up until this point along the journey, you have chosen not too. The baggage we carry only becomes heavier and harder to carry as time goes on. And as time goes on, it only becomes later. It’s okay, your okay and you are loved. You and I, which is one and everything, which is God.
Often times, as we continue along the path of our journey, we travel in the way of the Caterpillar. We move slowly through the forest only able to see and experience that which, is directly in front of us. The journey then becomes difficult creating fears and obstacles that only slow us down from continuing down the paths of our lives. We struggle to reach the top of a hill, only to travel down the other side of the hill, and begin to climb and make our way up to the top of the next hill. Never knowing or understanding what awaits us around the next bend of the river.
As we continue to overcome our fears, forgive others and struggle to get past our obstacles of pain and sadness, we grow. We grow to acknowledge our journey, as a journey of spirituality. Spiritually, we will eventually transcend and grow to become a beautiful Butterfly. Now, after much struggle and trials of tribulation, we have the ability to fly above the forest and see our journey through the eyes of a Butterfly. We can now see beyond the hills and past the river bends to the beautiful, pristine pastures and placid lakes at the end of the rivers and over the hills. Of course, on the other side of the lake, our journey continues. The river starts up again and there are more hills to climb and obstacles to overcome. This time as we continue on with our journey, we are much stronger and wiser, and with the help of God, we are strong enough to fly above the tops of the trees in the forest below us.
To live in the moment of now, requires much work to experience life and the world around us from the perspective of a Butterfly over the experience of the Caterpillar. It is for this reason, through compassion, that I choose to see the joy and happiness one will experience through the pain and sadness along the journey of their growth and healing. During times of sadness, we need to grieve and have compassion. To assist our selves and others along our journeys, it is essential to create love and have forgiveness within our hearts. May God bless us, and guide us, as we travel along the paths of our lives, with the ability to see through the eyes of a Butterfly?
Carry on my friend, to the other side
I’ll see you once again my friend, but for now I cry
Your love will always shine through me
And that’s the reason why
I’ll carry on for you my friend, Carry on good-bye
Peace
Billy Hollems
thesweetriver@earthlink.net
Lefty,
Thinking of you, from the heart. I was called to get on a plane last year and race to my mom because her nursing home thought she was on her way out of this world, but then she hung on. I'll never forget that plane ride. So I have some idea of what it is to face that finality, from the constricting pain of the personal loss to the release and expansion into the eternity of the soul.
Peace to you brother.
Love,
Janet
Wishing everyone much love and romance on Valentine's Day!
Mitch
On my way to work this morning, I went back into my saved messages on my cell phone and replayed the great, inspiring, and now more meaningful than ever message from Pat Collins, Lefty's mom, from about 3 weeks or so ago. She was an incredibly strong, kind woman, and I know today that Lefty and his siblings are sending her to rest with lots of memories of the love she shared with them during her life. May God bless and keep her spirit always, and keep those whose lives were touched by her, too. Lefty, there are a lot of people on here who love you, my brother. Count me in that bunch, and at the top of the list.
Willie Howard (from Mayberryetta, a suburb of Hot'lanta)
Sorry Lefty.....God bless....W
Beautiful day here in Florida. Mid 70's with a high near 78 for today. Fished Lake Pierce this morning. We caught 20 bass and I lost the biggest one, which was around 4lb. No hawgs, just good keeper sized fish. Winds picked up to around 15mph and we came off the lake. Tight lines.
Mr. and Mrs. Haynes on her midday show today on Sirius Jam 17 channel.
Noon to six.
Carol, I think I smell those cookies you were baking. I wish you could email one to me. Did you put your recipe in Vol. 2 cookbook?
We seem to have a lot of CORN LOVERS here. In Nicaragua, my husband's birthplace, when the corn crop comes in, they have a Corn Festival. Probably of Indian origin. All the food is made from corn and most from sweet corn. We had tortillas home made from fresh corn. Sublime. One of the best foods I've tasted, ever.
My husband went to college in Mississippi so he loves grits. We made him into a Southerner. He has been a citizen for more than 25 years but still loves to go back home to see family and friends every year.
Well, our brother Lefty has laid his Mom to rest this morning, may she rest in peace. Blessings of peace on the entire Collins family. Lousy way to spend Valentine's Day.
EAPFP
Luke you are about two weeks late with that nomination, but thanks, play again next year!
go vote. links on the home page of the ABB site.
Someone needs to bring some cracklin' cornbread to Wanee...
ps..to Linnie, North South Treaty? that hysterical..Thanks for the hearty laugh..You rock.....
Ge...pix, we want pix ! Ca
What do ya'll think about this one...??
Do you think SlickPuppyBubbleButt (aka skyponydogboy) bought his inflatable doll chick (the one he keeps under his bed in a box) a Valentine's Lovers Gift ???
If so, he should have
:bash:
Happy Valentines Day Peachies
Get well wishes Clay..hope you are on the mend ..
grits, polenta..I can take em or leave'em, with cheese please..but I do love hot from the oven buttermilk cornbread with fresh sliced NY Apples, Pears and creamery butter baked right in...
graduated from a few more state classes yesterday and earned additional certification on my title and registration work, which made Kevin very proud...
He's had the Grandbabies with him at work all week, and they surprised me by planting 3 beautiful Sweet Bay Magnolias trees in the green area of our car lot...God love my good man...
Baked up a fresh batch of oatmeal cookies with very dark choco chips, dryed cherries and pecans this morning to surprise the family at work this afternoon...
Warren Haynes lovers..go check out the Gibson site,there is a great video interview with Warren playing his new Gibson Sunburst, though I gotta tell you, even while I watched and could see Warren's hands picking on the gee-tar..my ears were hearing Dickey-boy....
Harvey et all on the other side of the pond....Check out the Gibson EU tour bus and EU tour schedule also at the Gibson site....Make you smile....Ca
Lana :inlove:
I LOOOOOVE that song! Right on Sister!! :flower2:
I used to love that commercial a couple of years ago with that guy flipping the light switch on and off in sync with that song, affecting the whole city!
LOVE,
Janet
Happy Valentines Day to all of you!
:thewave:
also, a gentle reminder that the Peachy awards are JUST FOR FUN, and should NOT BE TAKEN TOO SERIOUSLY. i'm getting a rash of PM's from a few people that are trying to turn things into a real P.I.T.A.......Get over it! sheesh.