Oftentimes, we ask life for things, beg God for things. We ask and fret, beg and fume, not realizing that we already have ot already beem given those things that we seek.

I needed groceries. Had a hankering for some oj, brats, and chicken breast. Wouldn’t you know it the oj and chicken and brats were out of stock

I figure okay and order some other thingss. Knowing I have had to cram things in the freezer and jam things in the fridge I figure I need to clean both to make room. I know. I know. I have been promising myself, cajoling myself and threatening myself to clean the fridge and freezer, Cassandra already!! You know what happened last time you waited to take out the garbage?!😡

Thinking of Percival the fly I tear over to the fridge and begin the massive clean up. After I came to after about five minutes, I cleared out oj, chocolate milk, darn it I had been wanting some chocolate milk!, found no less than 5 packages of brats!!?, AND a plump chicken breast!!!!

*SIGH*…hhhmm….*sigh *…oopps.🤔🤷‍♀️

Not only had I had plenty of what I had been wanting, I also was able to make room for fresh groceries. I had been wasting money buying things I already had, not able to buy things I wanted due to lack of space and smelling up what was left on top of that. Good yikes.

There are times that we blame life and God for some smelly things when the fault lies with our own laziness or lack of effort or belief.

Nowadays folks just don’t want to get their own act right. Folk want to be patted in the head and told they are fabulous all the time. Or, they want to point fingers at other folk fridge/freezer!

Time to clean out the fridge, folk, get some act right and acknowledge we didn’t move when life or God told us to. Or, we didn’t follow the instructions to the letter. We took a short cut, tried to use the thing without utilizing the needed instructions or just didn’t do…well, just cuz!

Time to look ourselves in the eye and get our act right and move on. No need in beating yourself up for all the food wasted and space you could have used.

Time to begin, again. It’s okay that you weren’t okay enough to clean the fridge. You are doing it now.

Look up and look ahead to the goodies that life and God can now deliver to and for you.

You got this. Keep going as will I. Be sure to let someone know they are loved. I love you, my blog fam. Love me back, wouldja?😎❤

I have/had been using Google Play Music for years. Loved it. So, imagine my immense displeasure that Google Play Music would be discontinuing. It was integrating to YouTube Music Prime. What? What?!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!…*stamps foot*…..*considers tossing around a few things then decides against as not wanting to clean up a mess*…..*angry pout/snort*….*sigh*…

I thought longingly of all of my fave playlists. Good yikes I would lose my playlists!!….*gasp*…..

Okay, I admit it. Threw a music tantrum for a few days. I did not bother reading about the benefits of switching over to YouTube Music Prime. Who cared about that! I was used to what I was used to!…..*stamps foot*…..

Pouted a few more days then wandered over to the new details about transferring my playlists over to YouTube Music Prime….hmm…only took a few minutes to transfer. The app easy to use….hhmm….wow, you can watch videos and create playlists.

I found out something amazing. The app takes note of the songs you like and create some recommended playlists. Wow, gave some recommendations on some oldies but goodies as well as many new artists I had never heard of.

I found myself listening more and more to the recommended playlists. This thing knows me. This thing KNOWS! Yasssssss!

This got me to thinking about God. Here lately, He has been pointing me to things I have absolutely adored, had NO idea existed. Things that have expanded my mind, has made life easier and more enjoyable. How good is that? How great is HE!?

God KNOWS. He knows the things you like. He knows when you hurt. He knows when you are up, late at night, fretting about this or that. Oftentimes, He has ALREADY made the way, long before you came to Him, in prayer. He loves you. He LOVES you. And, when a Parent, loves a child, they look out for him/her. They think on them, constantly, wanting to keep them from harm. They prepare the way. They fight for them, behind the scenes. They smooth out situations the child had no idea was coming or had happened.

God loves us the same way. He looks out for us. He leaves hints along our path. He allows us to live and grow and learn. He offers us relationship but does not demand it. He allows us to dismiss Him or love Him back. He waits, patiently, for us to choose fellowship with Him. Man wants folks to be afraid of God. They want to see Him as this big judge-mental and unseeing/unknowing thing that forever chastises us. He is not like that. He loves us. Loves us the way we are. Yet, loves us enough not to let us stay in hurtful/harmful places.

God wants us to try new things. He made them for us to enjoy. He also wants us to know that He knows us. Knows what we need. All we need to do is download Him into our hearts and minds and be OPEN to new things, new folks, new experiences.

Folks who supposedly love God have acted such a fool, here lately, they have turned folk away from even wanting to get to know God. I invite you to reach out and say ‘Hey, God, what’s up with You? If you up there, holla at a sista/brotha, wouldja please?’

The bible says that you WILL find God if you seek for Him with your whole heart. So many folks have opinions about this or that. Folk want to make an enemy out of anyone who disagrees. Don’t waste your time on all that. Try Him and see. Try some new things. Try listening to someone else’s playlist. Be open to new folks, new environments. You learn so much when you get out of your own way and your comfort zone. A comfort zone can turn into a casket or prison. Get outta there!

jamming with you,

Cassandra

Be at peace, this day. Fear not, you are NOT alone. You are loved. By God and prayed for by me. We got this. We all we got, but we all we need.

I admit it. I have been defeated. There is this stubborn fly that will NOT leave the television alone. I have named him Percival. Percival says hi…*sigh*.

I have decided to make Percival my muse. We have a wary truce. He can have the corner of the television. Just stay out of my…blast it, Percival, wouldja cut me some slack already and get out of the way! Tiger is fixing to putt…*pout*.

Apparently, Percival, my muse, has also decided to be a cautionary tale for me. He is a stubborn reminder that sometimes our dumbness provides us with leftovers, called consequences that we must endure/live with. Sometimes, those consequences are short lived. Others, hang around until we understand that life ain’t playing with us. Still, others can last a lifetime. They turn us into something/someone else.

Three decades ago, I had the opportunity to get married. I turned it down. Now, I lie here, in the dark, watching the golf tournament with my fly friend Percival…*sigh*. I wonder what me I would be now, if I had gotten married back then.

Would I be fulfilled? Or, would I be wishing I was alone, in the dark, watching golf with my fly friend, Percival? Who knows? God does and He’s not telling. Life has to be lived, dontcha know.

None of knows the future. We have no idea what our choices, or lack of making choices, will bring. All that we can bring to the table is our attitude and effort. The rest is up to Percival. Believe me I have tried to get rid of him. He won’t go.

Sooner or later, you are just going to have to surrender to the fact that the outcome of life does not reside with us. All we can do is either eat the bananas or take out the garbage. Life will take care of the rest.

In case no one has told you, today. I love you and am praying that you find friendship, blessings and love in this big old thing called life.❤

I am determined to enjoy my day off, flies or no! I made my bed now I have to put on my big girl pants and lay in it. Rather, had I just taken five minutes to take out the garbage I wouldn’t be in this fix…*grumble*.

Nevertheless, I am choosing to make lemonade out of these lemons. I am bound and determined to enjoy the golf tournament. Go Tiger!

Hhmm, I see the flies are enjoying the television as well. Get out of the way!!!! Seeing they are distracted by the golf, I stealthily creep to the television, with my homemade fly swatter, and vow to vanquish these blasted flies if it’s the last thing I do. Egads!!! OMG!!!!! GET OUTTA THE WAY!!…*Cassandra remembers her vow to make lemonade out of this plague, this swarm, this….move!!!*

I surrender. Am enjoying the golf tournament, in the dark, contemplating a chicken sandwich. Sounds good. Good yikes may entice the rest of the Lord of the Flies. I settle for the less of two evils and munch a chicken salad, in the dark, whilst stealthily sneaking up on my now avowed enemies. How blessed many flies can there possibly be in here already!

Have to end this blog early. Tiger fixing to putt and I have another fly in my sights. TWACK. One down, am scared to know how many left to go…*whispers Go Tiger*

To be continued…unfortunately.

O, yea, almost forgot the moral of this story. When you have been a dumbsky and have failed to take out the garbage due to laziness, no need in compounding said dumbness by wasting your day off on whining and complaining. You can either beat yourself up because of your dumb choice. Or, you can get to whacking flies and ENJOY your day. The flies will be there no matter what your choice is. Yes, you shoulda taken five minutes and taken out the garbage. Yes, you gave yourself three days of irritation and unexpected workout chasing down flies. Yes, you look like a complete moron hollering at flies and jumping around like a loon, in the dark, bathed by the light of the television. But, alas, there is ALWAYS a silver lining. You have had a good laugh. You have had flies for company. You have gotten some needed exercise and a fantastic blog post.

Life is short. Forgive yourself for present and past dumbness. ADMIT to said dumbness. Correct the mistake and move on. Since when did owning up to OUR mistakes become a bad thing? It’s okay to be a dumbsky. Perfectly okay to admit to being a dumbsky. The trick is understanding that being a dumbsky does not have to be a permanent condition. All it takes is the willingness to own mistakes, fix them the best we can and keep it moving.

That, and a good fly swatter. 😉

I love you, my bros and sis. We all we got but we all we need.❤

Corona virus has a whole world turned upside down. Nothing seems normal. Nothing feels normal. Work doesn’t feel normal. Being stuck inside doesn’t feel normal. Not being able go out to dinner with friends or see a movie doesn’t feel normal.

When the world turns on it’s head normally we all gather together to comfort one another and we can’t do that and that just isn’t normal. I have been listening to different factions and groups talking about how we all can get back to normal and no one can agree. Sadly that seems normal…*sigh*.

I was laying in bed and day dreaming how wonderful it would be to go back to a normal day of waking up and drinking coffee and enjoying the silence and wonder of the day and wishing things could go back to normal. I longed for that quiet cup of coffee. Thought back, fondly, of all the previous early mornings of coffee, quietness and hopelessness.

Thought of those things, this morning, as I arose, made coffee and enjoyed the quietness and wonders of this wonderful world/day. Ah! There is NOTHING like a quiet morning of hot coffee and warm thoughts. Drinking my coffee, I find myself hopeful, again. Joyful, again.

The world is still out there doing it’s things. Folks are still hollering at one another about…who knows what. Everyone mad about something and has been for years. All the world is raging, yet, here I sit, joyful, hopeful enjoying coffee and enjoying the freedom of living in a country that affords me the opportunity to rage, if I want to, to be at peace, if I want to, to get back to normal, if I want to.

Normal can be had at ANY moment. It just requires us to make the effort. Get up, make that coffee. Go in that jog. Call and make up with that friend. Make up your own mind of how to live your life. Get back to normal.

What is normal? Ah! Now THAT is a good question for another day. Normal is different for everyone. Do your normal, today. Lets talk about should we even want to return to OUR particular normal on another day.

Life is good, even when it’s hard. Love someone today. Love YOU today. Life is short. We all we got but we all we need. I love you, my bros and sis. Folks don’t hear that they are loved enough. Am making sure to tell as many folks as I can. I love you. Someone love me back, would you please and thanks? ❤

Life has been exhausting lately. Everything is exhausting. The news is exhausting. Corona virus is exhausting. Everything seems to be life-or-death. Going outside is dangerous. Shopping is dangerous. Being around people is dangerous. Getting up the energy to go to work as exhausting. Actually doing the job has been exhausting.

On top of all that, We have to remember to do the mundane things like taking out the garbage…*sigh*…exhausting.

Now,taking out the garbage is exhausting. Dammit! Now, I have to do the exhausting work of figuring out how much can be collected before I have to take it out. I have to be careful about what I put in the garbage can so as not to attract bugs and flies(more on flies, in just a second. Dear God, those flies!!!).

I have to limit myself to how many times I go outside so I have to do NASA like calculations on how many days I can go before taking out said garbage. Said calculations now must also take into account being fiscally prudent in limiting the amount of garbage bags being used. Just writing this paragraph is exhausting. Why? Because it suddenly occurred to me maybe I should start using the word trash, interchangeably, with the word garbage so as not to be saying the word garbage too many times in this blog post. On top of that I started obsessing about putting commas in the blog and making sure not to have too many run on sentences. Dammit, this is becoming sooooo exhausting!! Why can’t I just blog about this damn garbage already?!!! Why do I have to care about YOUR feelings in MY blog talking about my stupid garbage?! And if my paragraph is too blasted long and don’t have enough commas or don’t have enough other words like trash instead of garbage to suit your liking so as to be entertaining and insightful for you to follow me as apparently having millions of followers following you to God only knows where because apparently its now vogue to follow whomever wherever mad about the whole damn world. Exhausting!

Ehem…appears I got off on a little tangent. My apologies. These flies have about driven me mad. You would completely understand if I had stuck to the point about the garbage.

Garbage? What was I saying about the garbage? O, yea, we now return to our previously scheduled program. My bad. In my defense, though, life has been exhausting….

I had the garbage ratio figured out: appropriate amount of garbage for thr garbage bag, bag neatly tied, to be taken out, in the morning. That took two days, of arguing, with myself, over taking out the trash/garbage before or after work..*Cassandra wonders if anyone has noticed her intentional passive aggressive usage of commas and the word trash..hehe..*. I would have been home free if not for those two bananas. I stupidly convinced myself that put into bananas and the trash and leave it overnight would not be such a big deal. Huge huge mistake!

I awoke the next morning, got up to make a leisurely breakfast of boiled eggs and coffee, and began, what I thought, was a stress-free, work from home day.

Little did I know, the small band of ornery flies had taken up residence in my apartment and were just waiting for the opportune moment to make my morning/afternoon of living hell!!

One fly joined me for coffee and then invited all of it’s friends. I spent ALL days yelling/pleading/screaming/swatting flies whilst trying to act, like a professional, taking care of work issues. Do you have any idea how exhausting and maddening it is trying to remain calm and professional whilst battling The Swarm in your apartment. Speaking of The Swarm, those over 50 may remember that movie. About a bunch of bees that terrorized the world. Look it up, an entertaining show back in the day…

I could not wait for my work day to in period. I scooped up that garbage and rushed it out to the dumpster. I also fogged up the house with spray that had been sitting next to me for TWO DAYS that I had been too exhausted to use as it required fogging then leaving the apartment for 15 minutes and of course I was simply too exhausted for that…*sigh*.

I ended up sitting in the car for an hour waiting for the flogger to do its job and hoping the Lord of the Flies would be gone by the time I got back in apartment.

I thought I was home free. Went to bed in swat free bliss and dreamed of an exhausting free work from home day of competently handling work issues in a professional way whilst sipping happily on French Vanilla coffee. O, what wondrous dreams I had that night….

I woke singing happily to myself and puttered around, boiling eggs and making coffee. All was quiet. The coffee was hot in delicious. So much so that I decided to have a mini brownie with my coffee. Apparently one fly thought that was a fantastic idea and invited itself to coffee and breakfast. The fly called all of it’s friends! Day two, of the Lord of the flies commenced…exhausting…*Cassandra laments for the 20,000th time why o why didn’t you just take out the stupid garbage?! It would have taken all of five minutes!!*

After another exhausting day of coming up with new break dance moves as I fought 10 million flies, I fogged the place, AGAIN, sat in the car for two hours this time and stealthily to see if my tiny foes had been defeated. They HAD to be. The next day was my day off. I was exhausted and looking forward to a weekend of coffee, quiet and an entire day of doing absolutely nothing. The flies appeared to have either a) gotten bored b) found me intensely entertaining and were laying in wait for the perfect time to strike or c) were waiting for the eggs to be boiled and coffee to be made…*sigh*

As you have already surmised, the Lord of the Flies had selected b AND c!

Day 3, of Lord if the Flies, and on my off day, no less, has already begun…*Cassandra arms herself with coffee, a good book, her courage and heads for the car, to wait out yet another fogger bomb and pray something will be left of her leisurely do absolutely nothing day.

Sometimes, you just have to do the expedient thing and take out the garbage. I exchanged 15 minutes of lazy for 3 days of fly warfare.

The moral of this story? Who the world knows. Am too exhausted to come up with one. Let me know, what it is, if you ever reach the end of this exhausting tale…

😉

Keep your head up, peeps. We SHALL make it through this time. Yes, it is exhausting. Yes, it is scary and unknowing. By us. God knows all and sees all. God shall see us through. Hold onto your joy. Laugh through the flies. Let someone know you love them and see their exhaustion. Share yours with them. This may give them the courage to share theirs with you. Help bear someone’s burden. Life here lately is exhausting….

• 

Your day IS coming. Sure seems to be taking forever, doesn’t it? Keep going. Keep on trucking. Keep on trying.

Yes, yes, I KNOW the waiting has gotten old. I hear you. Your day IS coming. Sometimes, we just need a boot to the rear, a reminder, a kind word to ‘keep it moving already!’. So, consider boot gently applied.

You got this. You CAN do this. You SHALL do this. In the meanwhile, I pray grace as you continue to strive to be a better you.

Cassandra

I thought of the five WONDERFUL minutes, of normal, where I drank my french vanilla coffee and thought, thankfully, of not a whole lot. I thought, dreamily, of those five minutes of coffee, and….hmm….wondered if I could snatch, perhaps, perchance, maybe a full 30 minutes, of normal.

Dare I risk it? It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO nice, not to have to try, to strive, to fight. I NEEDED 30 minutes, of normal, yall. So, I peeked around, to ensure no one was looking, and stole myself 30 MINUTES OF NORMAL! If you promise, not to tell, I shall tell you, the wonderous secret. So, you can/may, find the courage to steal, 30 minutes of normal, for you.

*Cassandra peers around anxiously*…..shhh…..*Cassandra snatches a flashlight and turns out all the lights*….hmm….*Cassandra dives into the hall closet*…..YIKES!….*Cassandra makes a mental note to fold that basket of clothes already!!*….oopps…..*Cassandra begins to fold clothes then remembers she is supposed to be telling folks how to steal those 30 minutes*…..my bad, yall.

I snatched another 5 minutes of normal, by having another cup of coffee, whilst I pondered HOW I might find a full 30 minutes, of normal. I drank, and pondered. Pondered, and drank. And, then, it happened. IT HAPPENED!!

I picked up the phone. Placed an order for a pizza and Pepsi. Ham, bacon and grilled chicken. With Alfredo sauce, of course, and waited for my supper, to arrive, whist I enjoyed 5 more wonderfully delicious, mindless, free five minutes of normal.

Pizza arrived, soon there after. Plates? Check. Glass? No check. Straight outta the bottle, for me. Napkins? Check, and double check. Fully armed, I picked up, a slice of pizza, munched happily, and began to ponder, how the world I could find 30 minutes of normal.

After a few minutes, I found myself munching more, and thinking less. Drinking lustily/loudly, I found myself enjoying the quiet, enjoying the flavors, enjoying the fantastic burn, of Pepsi going down the pipe, too fast.

One slice, turned to two. Five minutes, turned into 30 minutes. 30 minutes, of quiet. 30 minutes, of peace. 30 minutes, of doing nothing more than enjoying pizza, and the world in general.

I chowed down, on that pizza, during that precious 30 minutes, and felt the pure joy, of living in this wonderful country. I thought of family, I loved, who, hopefully loved me. I thought of friends, who were there for me, through thick and thin, through ALL of my dumbness, and I have done/said/been some super dumb things in my life. Egads. Yikes.

I sat, in my apartment, where I worked hard from so that I could enjoy living in, and thought ‘man, that was a fantastic 30 minutes of normal!’ In fact, I found that an hour, had passed.

Seems like, normal had missed me, too. Normal, had been waiting, anxiously, for ME to return to it. I invited normal, to have a slice of pizza, with me, and stay, for a while. Normal agreed. We had a long talk, normal and I. We talked about how…….oppps…..I promised normal that I would not give away it’s secret. I promised to allow you to find normal, for yourself.

I will give you one hint, though. Life will ALWAYS throw you, for a loop. It will ALWAYS blindside you, from time to time. The trick is, knowing how to get some normal, back in your day, when life flips the script and does ridiculous/outrageous things. The trick lies in caring, for yourself, whilst in the chaos, through the chaos, in spite of, the chaos. Don’t wait for chaos, to end. Or, this to end, or that to change. Find, some normal, in ALL things.

What, IS normal, you ask? Great question! Alas, that is another story, for another time. In this time, in this moment, think I am gonna go have me five more minutes of normal….hmmm……may make that 30 minutes of normal….*Cassandra heads off to the kitchen for a cup of french vanilla coffee*……

Ahhhh…….

US/THEM.

MINE/YOURS.

Seems like, every four years, we find ourselves in a tug of war. Every four years, we are asked to pledge our felty/loyalty, to one side, or the other.

US/THEM.

MINE/YOURS.

Of course, the OTHER side, is ALWAYS demonized. The OTHER side, is always the BAD side, the UNINFORMED side, the UN-AMERICAN side.

US/THEM.

MINE/YOURS.

Blindly, we are told, to follow. Mindlessly, we are instructed, to follow. Loyally, we are demanded, to follow.

US/THEM.

MINE/YOURS.

Maddeningly, seems like, every four years, we find ourselves blindly, mindlessly, loyally following. Us against Them. Mine against Yours. Blindly, mindlessly, loyally.

Of course, NEITHER side, does what THEY say THEY are gonna do. THEY know THEY don’t have to. You see, as long as THEY have US, it’s a wrap, that’s the ball game, there IS no need to play, to do better, to be better. All THEY need, is US.

So, we play THEIR game. Every four years. Until.

Until….

Until!

Until, WE grow tired of blindly, mindlessly, loyally following.

WHAT are WE following?

WHAT ARE WE FOLLOWING!!?

Four years later, US decides to join THEM. Or, THEM decides to join US. Alas, the script is flipped. Or, so it appears. Yet, we are playing, the same game, still. STILL. STILL! The only difference, seems like, is that we play, this time, with more zeal, for the new team: blindly, mindlessly, loyally we follow.

Until…

Until!

Until, WE grow tired of blindly, mindlessly, loyally following.

I am tired of blindly, mindlessly, loyally following.

Blindly, following because it’s all we got, but all we need.

Mindlessly, following because we are promised things will change, this time.

Loyally, following because, well, because we are loyal.

In THIS time, at THIS time, in THIS hour, we can NOT afford to follow blindly, mindlessly, loyally. We can not afford, another four years, another four days, another four minutes, of blindly, mindlessly, loyally following. ANY Team.

WE must choose, the best way forward, the next way forward, the right way forward.

It’s time. For US to pick sides. I choose OUR side. I choose for ALL of us, to win. I choose OUR side. I root, for ALL of us, to win. I choose OUR side. I will fight, for ALL of us, to win.

WE are the UNITED States of America. 50 states. ALL one. ONE Nation. Under God. WITH Liberty. AND, JUSTICE for ALL.

There is no US/THEM in OURS. There is no MINE/YOURS in OURS. This country, belongs to ALL, of US. This country, truly belongs to WE THE PEOPLE!

The Flag, that beautiful American Flag, our brothers and sisters fought for, and dies for, covers US. This is OUR America. The Flag, is OUR Flag. It is YOUR Flag. It is MY Flag. It is OUR Flag.

If we must choose sides. And, make no mistake, we MUST choose a side. We MUST choose the right side: US+THEM/MINE+YOURS = OURS.

I proudly, loudly, loyally choose OUR side. I choose YOU.

I love you, my brothers and my sisters. I love you, America. I got you.

your big/little sis,

Cassandra

P.S. Don’t allow THEM, to divide us, yall. THEM has cost us ALL, many, many things. Many times. What’s worse, most of the time, we have NO idea who THEM even are. Let THEM tear each other down/apart.

When the landmark SCOTUS decision, came down, the other day, granting LBGTQ protective rights, I was really surprised. I had no idea that gay folks could be fired, just for being gay. They could now marry, but could be booted, from their jobs, just for being them. That had me thinking. So, I reached out, to a gay friend, and I apologized. I had no idea, what the colors in the Gay Pride flag meant. That is, until I asked a ‘dumb’ question, and someone explained. They also explained about the pink flag that used to proceed it. Was fascinating learning. I apologized, to my gay friend, that I had never supported gay folk, by walking with them, in their parade. No, I am not gay. But, I love them. Told him that I would ‘do better’. I’m sorry, my gay brothers and sisters. I love you. I got you.

That, got me to thinking of trans folks. I had NO idea how prevalent violence is, towards the Trans community. I had no idea, how many have been murdered, here lately. For no reason, other then them living their lives THEIR way. I was talking, to my gay guy friend, about a trans friend, that I have. Yet, I don’t see him as ‘trans’. To him, he is just my friend. Have always felt that way, about him. He is such a wonderful person. He has such a beautiful heart. And, yet, that heart has been broken, many times, by folks who refuse to see. Or, in seeing, have chosen to judge, and not love. I love you, my friend. I’m sorry, my trans brothers and sisters. I love you. I got you.

And, THAT, had me thinking of my guy POC friend. We have had several deep conversations, regarding living while black. He shared many things with me. How it feels, to be a black man, in THIS America. The things he has to do, how he has to walk, talk, act just to make it home safe. Every step, has been an effort. His male skin, has been considered ‘criminal’, his whole life. As a female POC, I get my horrid treatment. Yet, I think our male POC have had to bear tremendous weight/burden. In addition, they also have had to bear the weight of being the bread winner, the champion, the healer, the stud, the intellectual, the athlete, the….*sigh*….the list goes on and on. I’m sorry, my brothers. My kings/princes. I love you, my brothers. I got you.

Which leads me to my white friends. Man, they have been getting hammered. They woke up, one day, and the entire world, it seems, was mad at them. Mad at them for ‘not being woke’. And, if they HAD woken up, well, folks still mad, demanding ‘why did it take you so long!?’. They are kind of stuck, between a rock and a hard place. As, I, myself, find myself switching between compassion and anger….’dammit, what the hell took you so long to get here!?!’…sorry ’bout that. White folks, don’t know what to do with themselves, let alone angry me, angry us(POC). I tried, to imagine myself, in their shoes. Some, white friends, have let me know how truly hurt they are, how angry they have been, how hopeless they feel that they can’t change things for us. Many, have admitted, they have had no clue and wonder how we all got here. They feel ‘just awful’ they lived in privilege, with the freedom that comes with being able to look away. I can imagine how that must hurt. I’m sorry, my white brothers and sisters. I love you. I got you.

And, that, had/has me thinking of all the other races, the other groups, that have been marginalized, who have been pushed aside, shunned, discarded. I think of young folks, in particular, who have been dismissed, who have been treated as less than, whose thoughts have been thought little of, or not at all. I think of older folks, who have been put out to pasture, who have been dismissed as having lived ‘enough of life’. Who are expected to ‘step aside’ and let the young folks take over. I’m so sorry, young folks, yall matter. Yalls voices matter. Your thoughts are important. Your ideas are crucial. I’m so very sorry, older folks. Yall paved the way, for ALL OF US. Yall built this place. Yall taught us how, so that we could move on and take care of you. I’m sorry to my young/old brothers and sisters. I love you. I got you.

To my brothers and sisters. To ALL of my brothers and sisters of the USA: I’m sorry. I love you. I got you. I cover you, with the Flag, that covers me. Will you, take a corner, and cover, someone else? I got you. Will you have me?

your sister forever,

Cassandra

P.S. If you got me, hit me up, as the young folk say. I want to get to know as many of my sisters/brothers, as I can. We got this, yall. We do

ttnette37@yahoo.com

@Jaybirdforever5

http://www.whycantibeloud.wordpress.com