Is there anything more beautiful in life?

The question is asked "Is there anything more beautiful in life than a boy and a girl clasping clean hands, and pure hearts, in the path of marriage? Can there be anything more beautiful then young love?"

And the answer is given. "Yes, there is a more beautiful thing. It is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey together on that path. Their hands are gnarled, but still clasped; their faces are seamed, but still radiant; their hearts are physically bowed and tired, but still strong with love and devotion for one another. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love. Old love."

Grow old with me!

The best is yet to be,

the last of life for which the first was made.

- Robert Browning

I would rather have had …

I would rather have had

One breath of her hair,

One kiss from her mouth,

One touch of her hand,

Than eternity without it. One!

- 'City of Angels'

What's life about? …

Life isn't about keeping score.

It's not about how many people call you and it's not about who you've dated, are dating, or haven't dated at all.

It isn't about who you've kissed, what sport you play, or which guy or girl likes you.

It's not about your shoes or your hair or the color of your skin or where you live or go to school.

In fact, it's not about grades, money, clothes, or colleges that accept you or not.

Life isn't about if you have lots of friends, or if you are alone, and it's not about how accepted or unaccepted you are.

Life just isn't about that.

But life is about who you love and who you hurt.

It's about how you feel about yourself.

It's about trust, happiness, and compassion.

It's about sticking up for your friends and replacing inner hate with love.

Life is about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance, and building confidence.

It's about what you say and what you mean.

It's about seeing people for who they are and not what they have.

Most of all, it is about choosing to use your life to touch someone else's in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise.

These choices are what life's about."

(from a Nike ad)

Think about it …

• It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

• The best gift you can give somebody is a hug: one size fits all, and no one ever minds if you return it.

• And when someone hugs you, let them be the first to let go.

• The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've every had.

• Sometimes I wish I were little again, skinned knees are easier to heal than broken hearts.

• Time goes by fast, and people go in and out of your life so quickly, so you should never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you.

• That it shall never come again is what makes life so sweet. -Emily Dickinson

• "You ask me 'how could someone as beautiful and sweet love me?' Well, it's easy. I don't see how anyone couldn't love you. I look into your eyes and I am happy, I feel your arms around me and I feel peace, I hear your voice and everything is perfect. I think of the next time I get to see you and I immediately smile, You say "I love you" and my heart skips a beat, But I just kiss you on the cheek and simply reply 'how could I not?'" (NoLeSy11200 )

• We all want to fall in love. Why? Because that experience makes us feel completely alive. Where every sense is heightened, every emotion is magnified, our everyday reality is shattered and we are flying into the heavens. It may only last a moment, an hour, an afternoon. But that doesn't diminish its value. Because we are left with memories that we treasure for the rest of our lives.

Things to ponder …

• Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it. - Nabokov

• Beginings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts. Just give hope a chance to float up, and it will, too

• And now, I'm glad I didn't know the way it would all end, the way it would all go. Our lives are better left to chance, I could have missed the pain, but then I'd have to miss the dance too.

• I don't want to wake up and realize that what I was dreaming was right in front of my shut eyes. I don't want to stop saying hellos for fear of saying good-byes.

• Once in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.

• It's really painful to say goodbye to someone that you don't want to let go, but it's even more painful to ask someone to stay if you know that they can't.

• If I made you feel second best, I'm sorry, I was blind.. you were always on my mind. -Elvis Presley

• Maybe some people just aren't meant to stay in our lives forever. Maybe some people are just passing through. It's like some people just come through our lives to bring us something, a lesson we need to learn, and that's why they're there.

11 Things In Life

1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, But what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let that person know how you feel.

2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was never meant to be and you just have to let go.

3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone- but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

6. Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.

7. Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

8. Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the person too.

9. A careless word may kindle strife; a cruel word may wreck a life; a timely word may level stress; a loving word may heal and bless.

10. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

I went to a party, Mom …

I went to a party, Mom

and remembered what you said.

You told me not to drink, Mom

so I had a sprite instead.

I felt proud of myself, Mom

the way you said I would,

that I didn't drink and drive, Mom

though some friends said I should.

I made a healthy choice, Mom

and your advice to me was right

as the party finally ended, Mom

and the kids drove out of sight.

I got into my car, Mom

sure to get home in one piece,

I never knew what was coming, Mom

something I expected least.

Now I'm lying on the pavement, Mom

And I hear the policeman say,

"The kid that caused this wreck was drunk,"

Mom, His voice seems far away.

My own blood's all around me, Mom

as I try hard not to cry.

I can hear the paramedic say, Mom

"This girl is going to die."

I'm sure the guy had no idea, Mom

while he was flying high,

because he chose to drink and drive, Mom

now I would have to die.

So why do people do it, Mom

Knowing that it ruins lives?

And now the pain is cutting me, Mom

like a hundred stabbing knives.

Tell sister not to be afraid, Mom

tell daddy to be brave,

and when I go to heaven, Mom

put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave.

Someone should have taught him, Mom

that its wrong to drink and drive.

Maybe if his parents had, Mom

I'd still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter, Mom

I'm getting really scared.

These are my final moments, Mom

and I'm so unprepared.

I wish that you could hold me Mom,

as I lie here and die.

I wish that I could say I love you, Mom

So I love you and good-bye.

Together Once Again …

Red roses were her favorites, her name was also Rose.

And every year her husband had sent them, tied with pretty bows.

The year he died, the roses were delivered to her door.

The card said, "Be my Valentine," like all the years before.

Each year he'd sent her roses, and the note would always say,

"I love you even more this year, than last year on this day."

"My love for you will always grow, with every passing year."

She knew this was the last time that the roses would appear.

She thought, "He'd ordered roses in advance before this day."

Her husband could not have known, that he would pass away.

He always liked to do things early; way before the time.

Then, if he got too busy, everything would work out fine.

She trimmed the stems, and placed them in a very special vase.

Then, sat the vase beside the portrait of his smiling face.

And then she sat for hours, in her husband's favorite chair;

While staring at his picture, and the roses sitting there.

A year went by, and it was hard to live without her mate.

With loneliness and solitude, that had become her fate.

Then, the very hour, as on Valentines before,

The doorbell rang, and there were roses, sitting by her door.

She brought the roses in, and then just looked at them in shock.

Then, went to get the telephone, to call the florist shop.

The owner answered, and she asked him, if he would explain,

Why would someone do this to her, causing her such pain?

"I know your husband passed away, more than a year ago,"

The owner said, "I knew you'd call, and you would want to know."

"The flowers you received today, were paid for in advance."

"Your husband always planned ahead, he left nothing to chance."

"There is a standing order, that I have on file down here,

And he has paid, well in advance, you'll get them every year.

There also is another thing, that I think you should know,

He wrote a special little card...he did this years ago."

"Then, should ever, I find out that he's no longer here,

That's the card...that should be sent, to you the following year."

She thanked him and hung up the phone, her tears now flowing hard.

Her fingers shaking, as she slowly reached to get the card.

Inside the card, she saw that he had written her a note.

Then, as she stared in total silence, this is what he wrote...

"Hello my love, I know it's been a year since I've been gone,

I hope it hasn't been too hard for you to overcome."

"I know it must be lonely, and the pain is very real.

For if it was the other way, I know how I would feel.

The love we shared made everything so beautiful in life.

I loved you more than words can say, you were the perfect wife."

"You were my friend and lover, you fulfilled my every need.

I know it's only been a year, but please try not to grieve.

I want you to be happy, even when you shed your tears.

That is why the roses will be sent to you for years."

"When you get these roses, think of all the happiness,

That we had together, and how both of us were blessed.

I have always loved you and I know I always will.

But, my love, you must go on, you have some living still."

"Please... try to find happiness, while living out your days.

I know it is not easy, but I hope you find some ways.

The roses will come every year, and they will only stop,

When your door's not answered, when the florist stops to knock."

"He will come five times that day, in case you have gone out.

But after his last visit, he will know without a doubt,

To take the roses to the place, where I've instructed him,

And place the roses where we are, together once again."

He wishes for the cloths of heaven …

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

(W B Yeats)

I simply love this verse...I cannot think of any other lines that better express my deepest thoughts about the question one so often searches for the

answers to: 'what is love?'

I first came across these lines in a book called "The Charmed Circle", when I was all of 14 years old... To my young and (as yet) unimpressioned mind,

it spoke of a love so deep, so earnest and so 'giving' that it stayed with me through the years in the quiet recesses of my mind, echoing gentle

reminders in soft undertones... "Tread softly because you tread on my dreams"...

The years may have flown by since then and my impressions of love washed in the many colours of experience... but the spirit of this verse remains.

Tina

(excerpted from The Wondering Minstrels)

The Road Less Travelled …

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

Many more to come …

Please mail me at sumeshj@rocketmail.com if you have any suggestions or comments. Thanks for visiting!