Flowers and Frozen Lemonade

Flowers and Frozen Lemonade

Mama’s favorite Sunday treat

We picked the flowers fresh before church

We squeezed the lemons by hand

Lemon juice sticky on my fingers

Mama would wash them clean for me

I learned how to count with lemon seeds

Lining them up on the window sill

She let me pick the flower vase

And I always chose the one with butterflies

She held my hands steady to cut the flower stems

And she’d call me her sweet flower

We’d keep the flowers until next Sunday

They always lost a few petals

Now Mama’s gone

And I have a sweet flower of my own

But I’ll always remember

Flowers and Frozen Lemonade

"Real" Music

  It always sounds so ridiculous to me when people refer to their music selection as “real music”. Like….as opposed to what? Pretend music? People’s taste in music is such a personal thing that it's no wonder we get upset when someone talks badly about the music we love. You never know what artists or songs got a person through a breakup or the death of a loved one. I don’t really believe in the concept of “bad music”. There are songs I definitely don’t like, but the song on the radio that I hate might be someone else’s favorite song. A song or genre not being your taste doesn't necessarily doesn't mean it’s “bad music”. 

  Nothing drives me crazier than music elitists who think their playlist is superior to everyone else’s because it came from a certain decade or has a certain kind of instrument in it. You can have your musical loves and favorites, but that doesn't make it okay to trash someone else’s favorites. 

  I don’t even understand how there could be “real music” when there are so many different people in the world who all have various opinions on what “real music” is. I’m willing to bet that if you go through every person’s iTunes or Spotify account, you won’t find the same playlist twice. I see this comment on music videos on Youtube all the time and I really think we, as civilized humans, should be able to do this:
“Shut up and enjoy the music”.

I Loved You on Purpose

"I didn't need you, you idiot. I picked you. And then you picked me back.”

― John Green, Paper Towns

I love this so much. John Green is one of my favorite authors and this quote comes from his book, Paper Towns. One of the main characters, Margo Roth Spiegelman is talking to Quentin Jacobsen about their friendship/relationship and to me this says a lot about loving someone. Obviously people love their families. It’s what their born into and the only unconditional love they’ll ever find, but when someone who isn't your family loves you that’s a pretty special thing. That person chose to care about you. They volunteered to make an effort for you and to be a part of your life. I think this really relates to another one of my favorite quotes from the movie For Colored Girls. A woman is talking to her husband and she says, “I loved you on purpose. I was open on person.”  We’re so vulnerable when we love someone. We give them the power to destroy us, but trust them not to. People pick each other outside of their families to love over anyone else. It’s just a manner of picking the right person. It’s silly to say you need someone. I don’t really believe you ever need one specific person, but picking someone, that’s special. There are over seven billion people on this earth and someone chose you specifically. So cherish those who pick you and pick them back.