A Jacky Dory Story

When we were kids, our mom would tell us "Jacky Dory stories" at bedtime. They were always about a mischievous young boy who got into little bits of trouble because he didn't listen to his parents, and they were the stories I begged for at night. They didn't rhyme. This one just came out this way today. (Dr. Seuess-ette I am not). This Jacky Dory story is for you, Mom. Thanks for the memories. Hope you approve.


There once was a boy named Jacky Dory,
who lived with his parents and his sister Lori,
and a bird named Lulu and a dog named Rory,
in a big old house- it was a brown three story.

Jacky always listened, but he seldom heard.
He smiled and nodded, like he'd heard every word,
but his mom might as well just have chirped like a bird.
His actions were always just shy of absurd.

One hot summer day, Jacky climbed up a tree
while holding a button and counting to three,
as many times as he could in a row,
just climbing and counting as high as he'd go.

Mom came outside to look for her boy,
She had thought of something that he would enjoy,
She wanted to take him to buy him a new toy.
But the sight of him high in the tree took her joy.

“You climbed this high when I told you you shouldn’t?
Jacky you smiled and said that you wouldn't!
I thought I could trust you, now I see that I couldn't."
He would never forget Mom’s sad face, he just wouldn’t.

And just like always, Jacky felt bad,
for not listening to Mom again like he had,
for making her face get all scrunchy and mad.
He always intended to be a good lad.

What was worse was that when he looked around,
he saw just how high he was off the ground,
and that his button was not to be found.
Scared little Jacky could not make a sound.

Jacky Dory couldn't get down on his own,
Mom called up Dad. She was mad on the phone.
Dad thought to just leave things alone,
Jacky would get down before he was grown.

Jacky tried to move high, and he tried to move low,
He wanted to move but his feet wouldn't go.
His brain said "Get going!",his legs wouldn't though.
Jacky cried and he shouted so his mom would know.

Soon came a siren, and then he saw the red truck!
Mom had called the brave fire fighter, Miss Buck,
Who was sorry to hear Jacky Dory was stuck
Oh, her truck had a ladder on it -what luck!!

Back on the ground Jacky got quite an earful,
but his Mom wasn't wrong, and his face was quite tearful.
She pointed out that his climb had made them both fearful,
and climbing is better when the ground stays more nearful.

Next time, he vowed that he would do good.
He would think and then act like a good child should.
When mom told him to listen to something he would.
That is, he worried, if he even could.

Mom helped him walk home, for his knees were still weak.
His voice was still shaky, so they just didn't speak.
He felt too sorry to look up, or even to peek,
but when he did, Mom just smiled, and kissed his wet cheek.

“Jacky Dory”, Mom said. I’ll never not love you.
I’ll never not smile at every thought of you.
Sometimes I’ll be mad. Sometimes you’ll be mad too.
If we choose love in our anger, we will always get through.

Everybody's Broken In This Life

I think the difference between amazing people who live quietly inspiring lives, and everybody else is not that they live in absence of pain, but that they have given purpose to their pain.
When we embrace our pain, as still being part of us, we can use it to make a difference. Maybe we can mentor someone facing a similar situation, and help them overcome where we failed. Or maybe we can lead someone down the path to healing who is also dealing with the same crippling circumstances we once faced. The pain doesn't define you, but it does deepen you. It makes you compassionate in a way that you could not be if you had not lived through that hurt. The pain is an opportunity to use your experience to impact the world in a way that only you can, or at least in a way that only people who have walked in your shoes can. It is often said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", but we all know that's wishful thinking. Sometimes what doesn't kill you may as well have. Sometimes what doesn't kill you just kills your spirit. It kills your will, and your passion, and your hope for tomorrow, and I think that is probably worse.

I'm not a psychologist, and I don't know the secret to giving purpose to your pain, but in my limited experience I think it has to do with focus and faith. Faith that everything happens for a reason, and that even when we don't understand it, or see it, that there still is one. Faith that we do not know everything, and that while we would not wish this path for ourselves, that good can come of it. And focus, not on ourselves, but on others. If we think of pouring our experience into a greater understanding of others, and maybe even reaching out to pull someone up from the pit they feel trapped in, then we can see beyond our despair. It doesn't mean the hurt stops. It doesn't mean that it sucks any less. Some things absolutely suck, and if you ask me in 50 years I will still tell you that they suck. As I see it, we can stay there, "stuck in the suck", or we can say, "This is the worst thing ever, and it's not fair, and I hate it, but I refuse to hate the rest of my life because of it."

There are hurts I haven't faced, and when I meet people or hear about people who are facing them, I feel like I would crumble under the weight of the pain. I know that the process of giving purpose to the pain might take years, or even decades. Some hurts are so deep that to even think about sharing them knocks the breath out of a person. I don't know how to get there, or who to turn to, but I know that people who are transparent about their pain, who determine to find a way to bring good out of bad, that those are the people who go on to inspire me, and the world along with me. If you are going through something painful. I am deeply, legitimately sorry. I hope it doesn't kill you, and I hope that little by little, it makes you stronger. Maybe right now burying it is the only way that you can get out of bed, but I hope that someday you can share it. Give it purpose, and use it to bring hope to our little painful planet.

"It's okay to be a little broken, everybody's broken in this life. It's okay, to feel a little broken, everybody's broken. You're alright. It's just life."
-Bon Jovi

The Wheel, The Inclined Plane, and Being Nice.

I'm a teacher, so all summer long I pretty much have no idea what day it is. Monday? Friday? That's really neither here nor there. Because of my very untethered lifestyle in the summertime, I sometimes get a version of lost. I have very little schedule confining (or guiding) me, and my free mind runs off to daydreaming about things that represent "freedom" to me- like jumping in the car and driving anywhere in the contiguous United Sates tomorrow. It's always tomorrow. I have so many possibilities for my days, that sometimes I just end up in this mental loop of all of what I COULD do, and before I know it I have done little more than dream the day away. Since I go through this same freedom-dilemma every summer, I made the decision to take action this year. My summer is going to be FREE, but I am also setting goals for each day so that I can live purposeful moments.

I decided early on, that my summer had to have a theme. It could be anything, but I had a few criteria. I wanted it to bring good to my world, to be meaningful, and to help me become more like Pope Francis. Perhaps that's an interesting choice for me, since I am not Catholic. I say Pope Francis instead of saying "be more like Jesus" for a few reasons. First, because Pope Francis is really "cool" right now, second, because when people hear "Jesus" they just stop listening, and third, because the "cool" things that the world loves about Pope Francis are the just big fat JESUS things. The Pope embraces the scarred, he sneaks out at night to feed the hungry, he tells us to take care of this beautiful planet, he washes the feet of juvenile offenders, he condemns the love of money, and his actions back up his words. I'm glad the world finds it all so refreshing and cool. It would be awesome if they knew it's been done before, and even more awesome if all Christians did it so well. But hey, baby steps. Pope Francis is showing the world Jesus, and they like what they see. So, yeah, my theme for the summer has to help me be more like him. I'm not very complicated, and my theme has to reflect that as well.

Here's what I came up with. Every day I am going to make someone's day better. That's it. It's so simple, it just might work! I might be the car in crazy Orlando traffic that lets that pour soul trying to merge get in front of me. I might be the person at the grocery store (always)with the overflowing cart that lets the guy with the eleven items go first. Maybe I will be the mom who plays Superman instead of mopping the floor, or the wife who scrubs the patio doors with Comet to get the muddy dog paw prints off because, after all, they have been there for way too long. I don't know how it will manifest, and I don't want to PLAN it too much because it IS summer. I'm just approaching every day searching for a simple way to make another person have a better day. So far, I have to tell you. It's making my days a lot better too.

I believe simple things can change the world. For example, the wheel, the inclined plane...and being nice.