MY SUNSHINE

                                                           

When I was little boy I used to listen to my mom sing as she went about her housework. I wasn’t sure where all her happiness came from, for in my eyes we had so little. But each day she would just seem to be so content there in her own little corner of the world. She died of cancer at the early age of 57 but I never heard her complain about it or anything else for that matter. In my entire life I never met anyone who was so much at peace with her life and the world around her, even when it was coming to an end. Most of her songs were hymns and old favorites like “You are my sunshine.” I too liked to sing and still do.  Now I didn’t say I was a good singer --I just said I liked to sing. Fifty years later when I was told my wife was going to die I remember coming home from the hospital and sitting on my back steps crying and singing softly but out loud, “You are my Sunshine.” But that day when I got to the line that said, “Please don’t take my sunshine away,” I became like a stuck needle in the record player and I just kept singing it over and over again. At that moment that lyric had become my prayer.

I’m writing this three days before Christmas. Much has transpired in the last year and a half. I’ve healed so much from last year. Last year I think I just went through the motions of enjoying Christmas, to please all of those who were trying to help me. This year I have the holiday spirit in me once again. To those of you who know me more closely, you know I have a new friend, a special friend. I’m sure it has a lot to do with my new outlook. For once again, my life isn’t just about me anymore and believe me, I love that kind of responsibility.

I think about the friends I have that lost someone close this past year, like I did the year before. I think how can I help them find their way out of that valley of grief? How can I help them find peace and happiness again? As a writer I’m constantly giving my views and advice. Not to interfere in others lives but just to say this was what worked for me. It is surprising how in a world of seven billion people; one lone soul can feel so alienated and lonely. But to those of you that are there right now, I’ve been in that spot too and I feel your pain.

It’s a new year for all of us and with that new year can come new hope that maybe we can get it all together this year. That maybe we have finally learned some hard lessons about life, both in a personal basis and in the ills of this country. Life will never be perfect because too many outside things beyond our control influence our lives. My father always said. “Most men are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” There is lot of truth to that my friends. A year and a half ago when I lost my sunshine I questioned it. But the sun shines for all of us from many different places. From another old song mom sang came the line, “Open up your hearts and let the sunshine in.” That’s right because we make too many of our own clouds. We put them there without really knowing it but we can take them away, if we really try.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND MAY GOD BLESS US ALL----------MIKE