BWStanding Strong

I love it when a man knows how to make you smile. I thank you baby for trying to keep a smile on my face even when I’m  worried. 🩷🩷🩷

I got my seafood. I got my wine and I got my iced tea girlfriends, family and bros. It is time for me to enjoy my birthday some more. Hugs and love to all.

I grew up in West Philadelphia and never once questioned my parents income, it was never a discussion. We didn't eat a lot of fast food because it was considered a treat, not a food group. We drank Kool-Aid made from water that came from our kitchen sink with real sugar. We ate bologna sandwiches, or even tuna (which was in a can not a pouch), PB&J & grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, but mostly homemade meals consisting of meat, potatoes, and vegetables.

We grew up during a time when we swept and mopped the porch and the steps, cleaned the street, babysat, and helped neighbors with chores to be able to earn our own money. We by no means were given everything we wanted.

We went outside a lot to play, ride bikes, roller skate with our metal skates, run with friends, play hide and seek, or went swimming. We rarely just sat inside.

We drank tap water from the sink, bottled water was unheard of. If we had a coke, it was in a glass bottle, and we didn’t break the bottle when finished. We saved it and cashed it back in at the store for a refund.

We watched TV shows like Leave It To Beaver, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Sanford and Son, Disney on Sunday night, McHales Navy, Andy Griffith, and I Love Lucy. Mom and dad decided everything we watched or didn’t watch. After school, we came home and did homework and chores, before going outside or having friends over. We would ride our bikes for hours. We had to tell our parents where we were going, who we were going with, and be home when the street lights came on! There were no cell phones!

You LEARNED from your parents instead of disrespecting them, we weren’t raised by social media and we didn’t treat them as if they knew absolutely nothing. What they said was LAW, and you did not question it, and you had better know it!

We watched what we said around our elders because we knew if we DISRESPECTED any grown-up we would get our behinds whipped, it wasn't called abuse, it was called discipline! We held doors, carried groceries, and gave up our seat for an older person without being asked. You didn't hear curse words on the radio in songs or TV, and if you cursed and got caught you had a bar of soap stuck in your mouth.

“Please, Thank you, yes please, no thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am yes sir, and no sir were part of our daily vocabulary!
The world we live in now is just so full of crooked people, hate and disrespect for others

Consider Re-posting if you're thankful for your childhood. I will never forget where I came from and only wish children now days had half the chance at the fun and respect for real life we grew up with! And we were never bored!

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When people kept showing you, you mean nothing to them. Let it go!!!

Whatever your decision in life may be. It should not cause friction within a friendship. If they are a real friend they will stand there with you One of the things I’ve learned in life is by time you reach the age between 45 and 50. You realize what a true friend is. A real friend it’s not only going to be there for you, with you, by you, for you and against you at times. But they’re not going to hold a judgement met on you.  just look at your mother’s best friend. We’ve been friends since before I had a kid. And you know how long that has been. We’ve been through UPS downs, merry, go round, friends, husbands, boyfriends, kids, life. And we still friends. And that friendship works because we love Each other and respect each other.

Just said to myself. We are four months in to the new year already. Wow.