By Neal Lemery (12/28/2018) “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. “ –Neil Gaiman I will love myself. I…
Category: Words of Wisdom
The Gift of Sobriety
By Neal Lemery (12/24/2018) “I know my limit,” one young man kept saying, his bloodshot eyes and pale complexion seemingly at odds with his statement, as he held his energy drink, hands trembling. We were both in line at a store, he and his friends rehashing last night’s alcohol-soaked party. They boasted to each other about last night’s consumption, getting…
Befriending
–Neal Lemery (11/29/2018) Kindness Comes in so many forms, so many ways A smile, a cup of tea, Reaching out, giving a hand Listening Accepting. Together We honor ourselves and each other Gifts to share, building community Bonds, interactions, communion Union, reciprocity Strengthening, a weaving together The whole greater than the parts. Compassion Understanding the Other, each other By opening…
The Extra Chair
By Neal Lemery One year at Thanksgiving, Mom told me to set an extra place setting. We’d counted up all the relatives who would be coming, and I was curious as to who she was adding. By my count, we hadn’t forgotten anyone and the place settings matched the numbers of who was coming. “Oh, it’s nice to have an…
Remembering Grandpa Henry
By Neal Lemery November 11, 2018 World War I, the “Great War”, the “War to End All Wars”, ended one hundred years ago today. That day, my grandfather was a prisoner of war in a Russian prison camp. He was drafted into the German Army and sent to the eastern front, a foot soldier in a war where nerve gas,…
