"This Thing Called Beauty"

One of the most beautiful sights that I have ever seen, has to be ,when the morning starts turning from dark to light. This is something ,that I would like every man, woman, and child to experience once in thier life. Make plans to take one night, to stay up and spend outside, and at about three oclock, start watching the sky. Eventually, you will start seeing the change of darkness to light. It doesn't happen too fast, so you have time to see in slow motion, all the changes. The different colors, that come forth to you ,are just wonderful. The sun, that starts peeking over the horizon, just makes you want to see more, and you start really watching, as the light starts getting brighter.

My daughter Patricia ,and I did this every morning ,when I was there in the hospital, with her as she was being treated for cancer. She understood what I was trying to show her, and she told me one morning that she knew. She said that, no matter how dark it may seem to be, that soon it will be a brighter day. That is what I call one of the most beautiful sights in this world.

Also another beautiful sight happened during that little girls sickness, and it started out between she and I,in a pact that if either one of us would pass away first, that if just before death, we would seethe "Light", that one would smile, so that the other would know that it was there. On the day of death of Patricia, while she was in her deep sleep, I saw the prettiest smile coming from her, and I knew that she had seen the "Light'.

  Four years later , almost to the day, I had to go through heart sugery, to keep alive, and when I came back to the room, from recovery, my wife told me that all I wanted to talk about was ,that I had seen the "Light" with shadows on the horizon. So this old man will go on with life, knowing that one day, I will see my little one, and that the Great Father in Heaven, not only has placed beauty in our world, but in his too.

As we go into the spring , we see the popping up of all the spring flowers, and we see the sky changing from a cold cloudy look, to one of bright sun, which will wake up the sleeping growth in the soil ,and it will spring forward into our sights, and we will enjoy more of the pretty things, that God gives us. As we look at those flowers as they grow, we wonder just what colors they will be, and how big they will grow.

And if you want to see more beauty, that is untouched by humans, take a look at a woods ,where the only changes that are done there, are by nature alone. You would be surprised by the many colors and the many different kinds of plants ,that we would think of as weeds. There is much beauty there for all to see.

Also in the woods, you have the chance to see one of the prettiest animals around, and that is the deer. If you look into the eyes of a deer, you would see fear, that they might not make it through the night, because of hunger and hunters. I understand the need for some hunters, who have to go out so that they might be able to feed thier family, but I have never understood the killing of them as a sport. To each thier own, I guess.

Our children that we raise, are always beautiful to see and to love. There is not a more beautiful sound in this world, as the one from your child with the words,"I love you Mommy and Daddy". And as they are growing up, and they start to school , you start seeing the change in them as they mature, and they eventually grow up in mind and body. Your memories of them as children ,will never go away, and those memories are just so beautiful.  How many of us will go back into the scrap books and the report cards , and remember those good times that only come around in the earlier part of your life.

The American flag has always been one of the most beautiful things, man-made, to show that men and women wanted to be free, and that they fought hard to make us free, when they fought one of the most important wars of all time. As I stand at attention to this flag, I have a wanting, to holler out a thank you to all those people who have fought, to keep us free. I feel butterflies in my stomach, as I watch this beautiful flag displayed everywhere. And  I  try to place small flags at the gravesites of all my family, because they were also lovers of the American flag.

I like to do my gardening each year and this is the time that I use, to try and place plants into the soil that the "Great Father" has given us , so that we might grow our food, to feed us and others that do not have the room for growing.  Back in the old days, there were gardens in most households, because that was how they survived.  Now in the present time, the garden lots have given way to more housing, and in order to get the vegetables, you go to the store or to the fruit stands out in the county. Let me say this about a garden. When you grow your own, the taste is the greatest, and the plants in the soil are very beautiful to watch as they grow. There is a very wonderful feeling that you did this yourself.

Take a look at some of the buildings that have stood in our city and county, such as the "old city building" that once was our city building, police dept., and fire dept.. That one building in my mind should never fall to the wrecking ball. It holds a lot of history for this great city.  Take a drive through Kokomo, and look for the old places that hold so much history about how this city came about. There are many historical buildings and homes that have withstood the times and they are very beautiful to see.

A new born baby is very beautiful sight to see, and when you get that little smile out of them, it tells you that all is good. When I see a little baby, I see an angel sent by GOD to two parents that are given a trust to nurture that child, and to raise with all thier love. Can you think of a more beautiful thing to do in life?

Someone that goes to the gravesite of a loved one and places flowers there, or to just say a few words, ranks very high on my list of beautiful things to do. 

The volunteers that use thier own time to help others, also rank high on my list.

The great people who at Christmas time, who work so hard with "We Care", all are beautiful people , who make the Christmas holidays a little easier on the ones that need some help.

How about the old friends from our childhood?  Isn't it great to see them after all these years?  I was very fortunate to have many friends when I was young, that still come in to my workplace to say hello.

So now you know that all the things beautiful in life, are not just what you see. You can hear beautiful things. You can think beautiful things. And you can remember beautiful things. All of this is a part of life. Call me a sentimental old fool, if you want, but I take life one day at a time, and to me, "LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL"