Shakerules Diaries

It was an unusually cold day for the month of May. Spring had arrived and everything was alive with color. But a cold front from the north had brought winter’s chill back to Indiana.

I sat with two friends in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town square. The food and the company were both especially good that day. As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying a well-worn sign that read, “I will work for food.”

My heart sank. I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind.

We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat half-heartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call for some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car. Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: “Don’t go back to the office until you’ve at least driven once more around the square.”

And so, with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square’s third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the stone-front church, going through his sack. I stopped and looked, feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town’s newest visitor.

“Looking for the pastor?” I asked.

“Not really,” he replied.

“Just resting.”

“Have you eaten today?”

“Oh, I ate something early this morning.”

“Would you like to have lunch with me?”

Do you have some work I could do for you?”

“No work,” I replied. “I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.”

“Sure,” he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions.
“Where you headed?”

“St. Louis.”

“Where you from?”

“Oh, all over; mostly Florida.”

“How long you been walking?”

“Fourteen years,” came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left only minutes earlier. His hair was long and straight, and he had a neatly trimmed dark beard. His skin was deeply tanned, and his face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling.

He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said,

“Jesus is The Never Ending Story.”

Then Daniel’s story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He’d made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God.

“Nothing’s been the same since,” he said. “I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.”

“Ever think of stopping?” I asked.

“Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles. That’s what’s in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.”

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: “What’s it like?”

“What?”

“To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?”

“Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn’t make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people’s concepts of other folks like me.”

My concept was changing too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door he paused. He turned to me and said, “Come ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I’ve prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.”

I felt as if we were on holy ground. “Could you use another Bible?” I asked. He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite.

“I’ve read through it 14 times,” he said.

“I’m not sure we’ve got one of those, but let’s stop by our church and see.” I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful. “Where you headed from here?” I asked.

“Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.”

“Are you hoping to hire on there for a while?”

“No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that’s where I’m going next.

“He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission.

I drove him back to the town square where we’d met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

“Would you sign my autograph book?” he asked. “I like to keep messages from folks I meet.”

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture, Jeremiah 29:11. “I know the plans I have for you,” declared the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope.”

“Thanks, man,” he said. “I know we just met and we’re really just strangers, but I love you.”

“I know,” I said. “I love you, too.”

“The Lord is good.”

“Yes. He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?” I asked.

“A long time,” he replied.

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.

He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, “See you in the New Jerusalem.”

“I’ll be there!” was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bed roll and pack of Bibles.

He stopped, turned and said, “When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?”

“You bet,” I shouted back. “God bless.”

“God bless.”

And that was the last I saw of him. Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had setted hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them-a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them. I remembered his words:

“If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?”

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in anew way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. “See you in the New Jerusalem,” he said. Yes Daniel, I know I will.

The above is a true story written and copywrited by Rev. Richard D. Ryan It has been published in Christian Reader Magazine, A Third Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Stories of the Faithful Heart. I would like to thank Rev. Ryan for granting me permission to use it here. You may contact him at Old Capitol UMC, Corydon, IN or email Rev. Ryan at onevoice_47112@yahoo.com

Somewhere before I’ve heard the saying, “The best gift parents can ever give to their children is to love each other.” I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing the truth of this statement for over 40 years. From as far back as I can remember my Mom and Dad were a team. A great partnership. They were more than just a partnership. It was as if they were one person. They could drive us kids crazy sometimes, because they were always together “against us.” (Okay, so it just seemed like that).

They were really just together in their love “for us”, making sure their brood understood the difference between right and wrong and the foundational principles of honesty, trustworthiness, and respect.) Sure, they argued (although, not that much), but there was never any doubt in our minds that any disagreements would be worked through and resolved. Most of my friends, unfortunately, didn’t feel that same sense of security when their folks argued.

Mom and Dad began their married life poor, but they worked hard and, over the years, built a very successful business. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but the way they worked together, you never saw the weaknesses, just the strengths. Dad was the outgoing, more public person with whom people met and right away fell in love. Everyone knew Dad! Then, when they got to meet Mom, they felt the exact same way about her as well. Mom, although not at all shy, was more comfortable being the person behind the scenes. More detail oriented, she ran the books and, according to Dad, was the one who “really made the business work.”

I remember one night at dinner asking Dad how much money he made. (Doesn’t every teenager want to know!) Dad simply replied, “I don’t know, Mama handles all that.” I looked at Mom and asked, “Is that true? Dad really doesn’t know how much money he makes?” She replied, “Yes, he never has known, and he never asks.” All three of us kids looked at Dad for an explanation. His approach was a simple one. “If we want to buy something and Mama says we can afford it, we can afford it.”

For my mom and dad, marriage was never a 50/50 arrangement. It was 100/100 – each totally devoted to the happiness of the other. And, because of that, they each received even more joy than they gave. Dad once told me that “true love is when you actually care more about the other person – you love that person more – than you do yourself.”

One of my greatest lessons from Mom was the time I told her, as a boy in my mid-teens, that even after I got married one day, she’d always be my favorite girl. Immediately – in a kind but definitely serious manner – she said, “No I won’t be. When you get married your wife will be the most important person in your life, and that includes Daddy and me.” The biggest lesson about love and marriage that my mom and dad taught us kids was on how to talk “about” your spouse. Have you ever heard husbands and wives, when speaking to others, make unkind remarks about their spouses? It’s one of those things people just seem to do. Sure, they’re “only kidding,” or maybe they are not. But words matter. And words teach, whether positively
and negatively.

You would never hear such a thing from my mom and dad. Dad always speaks of Mom in the most complimentary, glowing terms. As does she of him. This lesson made such an impression on me, I still remember when I was age twelve and we were getting carpet installed in our home. The crew boss was one of those stereotypical beer guzzling, hard-living guys, who would have probably belonged to Ralph Kramden’s Raccoon Lodge from the old Honeymooner’s TV show. For lunch, my folks bought pizza for the crew. Dad went to talk with the boss about the job. I was around the corner listening.

The boss said, “This is an expensive job. Women will really spend your money, won’t they?” Dad responded, “Well, I’ll tell you, when they were right there with you before you had any money, it’s a pleasure to do anything for them you possibly can.” This wasn’t the answer the carpet installer expected to hear. He was looking for negative banter about wives which, to him, was natural. He tried again: “But, gee, they’ll really play off that and spend all they can, won’t they?” Dad replied, as I knew he would, “Hey, when they’re the reason you’re successful, you want them to do the things they enjoy. There’s no greater pleasure.” Strike two. The crew boss tried one more time, “And they’ll take that as far as they can, huh?” Dad responded, “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’d do anything to make her happy.”

I was trying not to laugh. I knew he wanted Dad to give in just a little bit and say, “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” But it wouldn’t happen… not in a million years! Finally, the installer gave up and went back to work, probably shaking his head in bewilderment.

Witnessing my dad in that moment taught me more about loving and respecting your wife than anything he could ever have told me about the subject. Mom and Dad are now retired and enjoying their life together, just hanging out, reading, and visiting their children and grandchildren. They recently celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. They still hold hands, and they are more in love than ever. Throughout the years, whenever Mom would remind me that I should be looking to get married, I’d say, “Ma, I have plenty of time.” She’d jokingly reply that I don’t have “that” much time. My Dad would then look at me in that wisdom-filled, city streets bred way of his and say, “Hey, you take all the time you need. If you marry someone just half the woman your mother is, you’ll have a great life.”

I should only be so lucky.

It is by chance we met,
by choice we became friends.
Friendship is a strange thing—
we find ourselves telling each other
the deepest details of our lives,
things we don’t even share
with our families who raised us.
But what is a friend?
A confidant? A lover?
A fellow email junkie?
A shoulder to cry on?
An ear to listen?
A heart to feel?…
A friend is all these things…
and more.
No matter where we met,
I call you friend.
A word so small yet so large in feeling,
a word filled with emotion.

It is true great things
come in small packages.
Once the package of friendship
has been opened,
it can never be closed.
It is a constant book always written
waiting to be read and enjoyed.
We may have our disagreements,
we may argue,
we may concern one another,
friendship is a unique bond
that lasts through it all.

A part of me is put into my friends,
some it is my humor,
some it is my listening ear,
some it is real life experiences,
some it is my romanticism
but with all, it is friendship.

Friendships forged are a construct stronger
than steel built as a foundation,
necessary for life and necessary for love.
Friends—-you and me
You brought another friend
and then there were 3.
We started our group
Our circle of friends
and like that circle
There is no beginning or end…

Friendship is a Golden Chain,
The links are friends so dear,
And like a rare and precious jewel
It’s treasured more each year…

It’s clasped together firmly
With a love that’s deep and true,
And it’s rich with happy memories
and fond recollections, too…

Time can’t destroy its beauty
For, as long as memory lives,
Years can’t erase the pleasure
That the joy of friendship gives…

For friendship is a priceless gift
That can’t be bought or sold,
But to have an understanding friend
Is worth far more than gold…

And the Golden Chain of Friendship
Is a strong and blessed tie
Binding kindred hearts together
As the years go passing by.

~Helen Steiner Rice

• “Love can make you do things that you never thought possible”.
• “Love, an emotion so strong that you would give up everything, to just feel it once, to know that you are part of something special. To know that you can feel what love really is, to know, to feel, to love.”
• “Love is like an hour glass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties”-Jules Renord
• Love is not finding someone to live with; It’s finding someone you can’t live without -Rafael Ortiz
• Love is like a butterfly. It goes where it pleases and it pleases where it goes.
• True love doesn’t have a happy ending, because true love never ends.
• “At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.”- Plato
• There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread – Mother Teresa
• To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another – G.W. Von Leibnitz
• Love is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence – H. L. Mencken
• In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing – Mignon McLaughlin
• Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished – Og Mandino
• Love is the emblem of eternity: it confounds all notion of time: effaces all memory of a beginning, all fear of an end – Germaine De Stael

Well guys we’ve all heard people saying that it’s a case of love at first sight. But to me this term itself is very confusing and it makes me wonder whether something of that sort can really happen to anybody that the moment you see a person, you fall in love. And if something like this is true then is it really love? In my eyes it can be a mere attraction seeing someone’s physical appearance. And if not then should we conclude that love is all about physical attraction.

Love in the first sight is a cumbersome phrase which is difficult to understand but yes one thing that I’m sure about is that there is something about the other person that you cant stop yourself from glancing at him/her or to put in other words there is something so eye catchy and appealing that you cant take your eyes off that person. And if that person is not around, your eyes are looking for him. Now what is appealing depends from person to person. You might get attracted to one’s beautiful enchanting eyes or the cute smile. You never know what is it in a person that might steal your heart. Well, love is a term, which is much more than just physical attraction. It’s about compatibility, understanding, trust and respect. At the end of the day, I would like to emphasize that ‘love is a beautiful dream’ so keep yourself open to receiving love then be it the case of love at first sight.

Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
Oh no! It is an ever fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come.
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

William Shakespeare

I’ve heard the saying, “The best gift parents can ever give to their children is to love each other.”

I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing the truth of this statement for over 40 years. From as far back as I can remember my Mom and Dad were a team. A great partnership. They were more than just a partnership. It was as if they were one person.

Sure, they argued, but there was never any doubt in our minds that any disagreements would be worked through and resolved. Mom and Dad began their married life poor, but they worked hard and, over the years, built a very successful business. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but the way they worked together, you never saw the weaknesses, just the strengths.

Dad was the outgoing, more public person with whom people met and fell in love with right away. Everyone knew Dad! Then, when they got to meet Mom, they felt the exact same way about her as well. Mom, although not at all shy, was more comfortable being the person behind the scenes. More detail oriented, she ran the books and, according to Dad, was the one who really made the business work.

The biggest lesson about love and marriage that my mom and dad taught us kids was how to talk “about” your spouse. Have you ever heard husbands and wives, when speaking to others, make unkind remarks about their spouses? It’s one of those things people just seem to do. Sure, they’re “only kidding,” or maybe they are not. But words matter. And words teach, whether positively or negatively.

You would never hear such a thing from my mom and dad. Dad always speaks of Mom in the most complimentary, glowing terms. As does she of him.

This lesson made such an impression on me. I still remember when I was age 12 and we were getting carpet installed in our home. The crew boss was one of those stereotypical beer guzzling, hard-living guys, who would have probably belonged to Ralph Kramden’s Raccoon Lodge from the old Honeymooner’s TV show. For lunch, my folks bought pizza for the crew. Dad went to talk with the boss about the job. I was around the corner listening.

The boss said, “This is an expensive job. Women will really spend your money, won’t they?” Dad responded, “Well, I’ll tell you, when they were right there with you before you had any money, it’s a pleasure to do anything for them you possibly can.”

This wasn’t the answer the carpet installer expected to hear. He was looking for negative banter about wives which, to him, was natural. He tried again: “But, gee, they’ll really play off that and spend all they can, won’t they?” Dad replied, as I knew he would, “Hey, when they’re the reason you’re successful, you want them to do the things they enjoy. There’s no greater pleasure.” Strike two.

The crew boss tried one more time, “And they’ll take that as far as they can, huh?” Dad responded, “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’d do anything to make her happy.”

I was trying not to laugh. I knew he wanted Dad to give in just a little bit and say, “Yeah, I guess that’s true.” But it wouldn’t happen… not in a million years!

Finally, the installer gave up and went back to work, probably shaking his head in bewilderment. Witnessing my dad in that moment taught me more about loving and respecting your wife than anything he could ever have told me about the subject.

Mom and Dad are now retired and enjoying their life together, just hanging out, reading, and visiting their children and grandchildren. They recently celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary.

They still hold hands, and they are more in love than ever. Throughout the years, whenever Mom would remind me that I should be looking to get married, I’d say, “Ma, I have plenty of time.” She’d jokingly reply that I don’t have “that” much time. My Dad would then look at me in that wisdom-filled, city streets bred way of his and say, “Hey, you take all the time you need. If you marry someone just half the woman your mother is, you’ll have a great life.”

I should only be so lucky.

When our professor asks us to write about the memorable experience we had, at first honestly I can’t think of anything but as day passed by I remembered so many thing. One of the most memorable experiences I had was falling in love for the first time. I was 16 that time and I’ll be in a senior class.

Ron Rafael and I started as being a friend. When I met him, he is committed to someone. I didn’t really imagine of falling in love with him. But unexpectedly I fell in love with him. At first, I convinced my self that it was just a crush. But I can’t explain the feeling I have when I’m with him. Then I realized I was a love. I can’t really explain the magic of first love. All I can think is that my first love is like my heaven, which is a small room with nothing on it, but with him where I belong.

I still remember the time when he came to our house late at night just to give something. I really surprised because he didn’t inform me. I asked him “ano ginagawa mo ditto. Latena po kaya”. He just laugh and answered “may kailangan lng ako ibigay pero pikit k muna.”. so I did what he just said. I close my eyes. He hold my hands and unexpectedly he wore a very simple ring on my finger. I asked again “para saan?di ko naman birthday.wala naman occasion.” That time a question remained unanswered. A week later, a friend of mine told me that Rafeal and her girl broke up. That time all I can think is myself. I guess it’s my fault. I didn’t talk to him for a month. He kept on texting, calling and even going to our house. He went again to our house in a very late night. That night it was raining. So I’m forced to entertain him. I gave him ten minute to explain. But he just said “MAHAL KITA. Kung tatanungin mo ako kung bakit? I can’t answer it. Basta it just happned. Okay na ba yun na explanation?”. I’m speechless. Don’t know what to say. He ask me a to gave him a chance to prove his love. So I did. I gave him the chance. He’s always makes me feel that I’m not alone. He’s always there for me. He didn’t force me to answer him. He just said “pag ready ka na tsaka mo na sabihin sakin.”

One night he came to our house without any reason. He just said “wala naman pasok kaya pwede pa ako pumunta ditto. Kahit bukas n ako umuwi..hahaha”…I just laugh.. the whole night he just chatting and talking. He didn’t go home until midnight. Exaxtly 12:00 midnight of April 7, 2008, I gave him my answer. I said “ayoko na nakikita kang nahihirapan. Pano kung malaman mo na tayo na…”..Wala na ako iba nasabi..wahahaha…April 7 , 2008 was one of my happiest date.
Even though it is true that we could fall in love any number of times in our life, the memories of first love would always remain fresh and occupy a special place in our hearts. The novelty, like the first drops of dew on an untouched leaf, of the feeling makes it special and unforgettable. All I can say is that he’s my first. I didn’t think of him as my last. But I think of him as my first, my every thing and the answer to all my dreams. My sun, my moon and my guiding star that’s what he is.

(Screen) Name: ms.07seventeen

You type a letter in great urgency. You pour all your thoughts, before you forget them. But then you linger just before clicking the “send” tab. After a moment of indecision, you decide that some thoughts are better left unsaid. You slowly “delete” the words, which you have typed painstakingly.
Ours was such a “love story” dear. A love letter never meant to be sent. A “love history” always cherished by the individuals but not shared as a couple.

I remember looking at you the first time. I gawked at your person, unable to tear my eyes away, unable to look at the ball coming my way. My first impression was that you looked like my cousin. My second thought was that, “Here comes another aggrieved soul! Another guy in search of his dreams!”
You looked young for you age. I thought that you were a first year student who wanted to play ball badminton. Or even an aspirant to settle down in a foreign country. My presumption turned out to be partly correct. You WERE trying to go abroad, but was not there seeking my help.

I was pleasantly surprised, when you asked me out. Even though I turned your offer down for two consecutive days, I was secretly happy as well as ashamed of the fact that I was happy because a guy like you asked me out! I waited eagerly for you turn up on the third day too, but you never showed up. It turned that you have left the town. I was disappointed.

After that, I should have left that episode to rest. I should never have answered your mail, nor have attended your phone call. There have been moments when I rewind to that moment of longing … that moment of hesitation before I pressed the “send” button, of my first e-mail. I wish that I suddenly came to my senses and pressed “discard” instead. It was not the first had I done that. but then as history would be I “fell” for you and there was no turning back.

Our “love” grew, nursed by distant phone calls and daily mails. Driven together by “providence”, we met soon and consummated our long awaited relationship. It was a simple date, filled with delicious explorations and pure fun. True that our “love making” happened in a romantic first class train coupe. But was it? We were never relaxed and it took long for the ice to break. Our long distance relationship had taken its toll on our emotions and much time was spent in constrained silence. In our hurry to experiment what we talked “on phone”, we forgot the fact that we had not developed enough confidence or trust. The “love making” was more about the past promises than it was about living for the moment. In the end, when it was time to part, something was sorely missed. All promises were vanquished.

I miss you a lot, these days. It is almost painful. It is even palpable to those around me. Ironically I never shared those words with you. Even, when we were together I was rarely “content”. Which led me to ask myself, Do I really miss “You”?

Or is it just the “feeling of love” that I miss? One would say that we were in love with an “ideal person” who was more “virtual” than “real”. Could it be because we filled up the silences with our own perception of the significant other? We never made any new memories together, even when there were opportunities.

Once you said that you did not recognize the person you “fell in love with”. You said you were afraid, that I will turn out to to be the cold person, who was sitting with you then. It is true dear, as I now realise that we never really knew each other.

This is like a love story where you know that the hero and heroine are going to separate in the end. Where people commit to love making, well aware of the “partition” looming ahead. Or was it the “end” being so near that inspired the couple in the first place?

Now my perception is clear. What I see are two losers, who were dying to get laid. Losers who wanted to have a “Safe” relationship. The “knowing” that the other will not let you down, whatever may you do/ demand. Today despite having realized each other’s dream, we still cannot let go of this “futile relationship”. It is more of a “drag” than an “inspiration”. Our love story is a lesson to me that sometimes:- at moments of great “consternation”, it is better to press “discard” rather than downloading a malware and upsetting your whole system. Or at least one should be grown-up enough to “Love and Let go”.

(Screen) Name: KeAtS

Some days you feel so distant, and that’s when I feel the most confused; I feel as though we aren’t even together. Though you’ve talked about forever and you say you love me, what do those words really mean to you? To me there is no definition, no meaning that has value of words, and I think are you being true. Can I really rely on you? Though you’ve hurt me many times before, I’ve always found it in my heart to forgive. Forgive the pain and see through the tears. So, I wonder what is the true meaning of our love, or is there really a meaning; and I can’t help but to ask myself the same questions time and time again. So where does the line between love and hate fall in this relationship? Where’s the space between good and the bad, the truth and the lies? Sometimes I just want to give up on us. But how can I do this; give up on you, when you still have my heart in chains, when you still have your arms around me, around my soul. I plead to go, but still I love you. Sometimes I think I will always love you, and that makes me cry.

Akihiro: He was clearly trying to keep his emotions in check, but his voice was cracking as he said: “I joined Survivor because I want to believe in myself, I can just have fun. I can show myself for (the) audience, who true I am. Because people see me as having a lot of money, I have an amazing life, but nobody know about my family. When, ah, I think the hard part for me, when I see someone in my family I really respect, my brother. I ask my Mum, why? My brother cannot, don’t run, don’t walk. Because, he has a problem. I think his heart. You think it’s fun leave my family there? So hard, I really work so hard. I am best person. I don’t care about the game, I don’t care about what people would think about me right now. I care about the true (taps his hand on his heart). This is most important: heart. Control with your mind, be strong. I learned a lot about Jon, because at first time when you didn’t get me with your team, you got her. Wow, I wanted to be in your team. But I learned in matches and in the end we come together and I learned about you & Michelle. Because people see you guys, say like, Jon doesn’t care about anyone. And he proved for everyone here, the most important’s not the game, it’s love. You guys show to everyone now, in front of everyone, what’s more important is love. The game, it’s a game. Nanay Elma, did a lot. All day, each day, she was. And (had) she not (been) here in the game, for sure in her house, she do the same. Ahron, man, you give the best moment in Survivor, to realize what you did for your father. I think everyone’s here deserve. Everyone’s here, work hard. I just you know, I just tired of the game. I just tired, I just want to be done. Thank you so much, sorry, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I just thanks you guys, it’s your decision, but God bless you everyone and thank you.”

Akihiro captured the hearts of the televiewers because he excelled in the physical challenges and he did not put anyone under the bus just to advance himself.

I must say, it’s a well-deserved win!

Dear Claire,

“What” and “if” are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together side by side and they (will) have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life.

“What if? What if? What if?” I don’t know how your story ended, but if what you felt then was true love then it’s never too late. If it was true then, why wouldn’t it be true now?

You need only the courage to follow your heart. I don’t know what a love like Juliet’s feels like, a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross oceans for, but I’d like to believe if I ever were to feel it, that I’d have the courage to seize it.

And Claire, if you didn’t. I hope one day that you will.

All my love, Juliet.

♥

She’s not you – David Archuleta ♥

She’s not you when she smiles, 
Not you when she wakes,
Not you when she cries, 
Not you when she breaks.
And I don’t wanna hurt her, 
But I know that it’s true,
She’s not you.