...With Love

It’s been quite some time since I have done a post on here, but I feel it is time. The month of June was a rough one for me – I feel like life just snatched me up into a cyclone and just spit me out. June 2011 will be a month that I will never forget. I experienced one of my highest highs and one of my lowest lows within weeks of each other – the purchase of my 1^st home and the passing of my heart!  I have written on here before about me caring for my grandmother while she battled stage IV endometrial cancer -- my grandmother lost that battle on June 4^th. As I sit here and try to fight the tears from falling from my eyes, I must say that I dreaded the day my grandmother would physically leave me all my life.

I had been itching to get my 2^nd tattoo for quite some time now and I knew I wanted it to be something dedicated to my grandmother. I tossed back ideas of combining her favorite thing in the world the butterfly with a cancer ribbon, yet it seemed so contrived and generic – not special enough to capture the essence of my grandmother or our connection.  As I was unpacking boxes, I found a card my granny had sent to me freshman year in college. The handwritten message was a simple note of her sending me some cash to last me until I came home for Thanksgiving and random hellos from the older ladies at church. It was signed Love, Granny.

My new tat!

The word love just jumped off the card and there it was -- Love….Love…Love!!! So simple, yet beautiful and exactly what our relationship was – a true example of pure unconditional love. As long as I can remember my grandmother was my foundation, she gave of herself so freely to afford me with my every want and need. She financed my entire education, and when I say entire I mean entire. She paid every tuition bill from Kindergarten until I crossed the stage with my bachelor’s degree from Temple University. She afforded me opportunities to travel and experience a life outside of the streets of West Baltimore.

Every single blessing my grandmother gave to me was out of love and with love. It only made sense for me to tattoo ‘Love’ on my inner wrist in my grandmother’s handwriting.  I was created from good stock and reared with love… Every time I look at the ‘Love’ sitting on my veins, it will just be a reminder that everything I do in life needs to draw from that feeling, that passion, that pureness of emotion. 

So to my Granny, I say…

“Thank You! I miss you terribly. I promise to make you proud!

Love,

Adriene  

No Love for Cupid

It’s the first day February--a month full of holidays. This month is dedicated to Black History, Parent Leadership, and National Bird Feeding (Hey, this is what Google is for. lol). In February, we celebrate Groundhog’s Day, President’s Day, and sometimes even a leap year. However, the granddaddy of all February holidays is Valentine’s Day. For the next 14 days lovers will be wracking their brains trying to come up with clever gifts, and ideas for romantic gestures to show their love for one another. WOMP!

When I was younger, I loved Valentine’s Day. You would go to school and make V-day cards; and all your classmates would give out lollipops, Lifesaver’s cards, candy necklaces, and those nasty chalky heart-shaped candies with the sayings on them.  Ahh, those were the good ole days. By the time I got to high school, it was all about who received a singing valentine from Route 87, or who received carnations from a guy at the boys’ school. No longer was everyone included in the “celebration of love”. :(

This post is not coming from a bitter single girl, but from someone who longs for more. Romance, love and affection are great, but Valentine’s Day is not! I would rather not impose the pressure of Valentine’s Day on whoever I am in love with. The actions associated with February 14th have become more ritualistic than genuine expressions of love. Why not engage in a random act of love on July 23rd or September 16th and without spending hundreds of dollars on dinner, flowers, and perfume? That would be a much more thoughtful gesture to show your mate that he or she is appreciated. Valentine’s Day is only one day; what about the other 364 days?!

Just a thought…

A

All of the Lights

I am in training class, with my iPod in…days like this I thank God for big hair to cover my ears! :) One of my favorite Yeezy songs came on…as I listened to my girl Rihanna “sing” the chorus, the words struck a chord.

“Turn up the lights in here baby extra bright, I want y’all to see this turn up the lights in here, baby…want you to see everything Want you to see all of the lights…”

It appears that this has become the mantra of a few of my close friends. Recently K, KJ, and A have all been turning the lights on extra bright for me. They all have recently been offering their perspectives on a current situation. I am not discounting anything that they are saying. In fact, I believe and already know everything that they are saying to be true, I was just ignoring it. I am not ready to walk away, even though I know I should and need to. Being the true Sag girl that I am, when I am ready I will do it and it will be over! That simple.

I am truly grateful and appreciative that I have friends who are not afraid to “turn up the lights” on me when I need it. Their actions highlighted something I wasn’t ready to admit or walk away from. I am still not ready to…not sure when I will be. But it is nice to know that when I am walking a path with my eyes wide shut, my friends are right behind me “turning on all of the lights.”

A