tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post8915065430186934984..comments2023-04-03T06:16:16.077-07:00Comments on Expressions of Talking Leaves: If We Forgive...Shelton Keys Dunninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10551666631783476472noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-53504565178437408462012-02-12T13:59:08.408-08:002012-02-12T13:59:08.408-08:00Thank you so much for such kind words. I appreciat...Thank you so much for such kind words. I appreciate you stopping by and sharing your thoughts. It means more to me than you can realize.Shelton Keys Dunninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10551666631783476472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-17966879737795852612012-02-12T13:42:23.235-08:002012-02-12T13:42:23.235-08:00"And we, who are descended from them, are shr..."And we, who are descended from them, are shrouded in the echo of their pain." Your words resonate with power and truth. I wish for you, too, that willingness to survive forgiveness, but I want to tell you something. You mention that your grandfather could, by your mother's accounting, draw the listener into a story and hold that person spellbound.<br /><br />I have never met you, Shelton. But that seems a lot like what you just did. Well done. Perhaps you have grasped something beautiful to carry forward alongside the pain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-80913417657078294952012-02-12T10:30:48.617-08:002012-02-12T10:30:48.617-08:00Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You would thi...Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You would think that being second generation removed from this, it wouldn't affect me as much as it does. I think it's because I didn't know them growing up when all my peers knew their grandparents. I'm looking for a connection and like learning dirty words first with a new language, I'm learning the dark secrets first. <br /><br />Here's to clinging to the love and the good, and the hope of letting the pain go. Thanks for stopping by!Shelton Keys Dunninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10551666631783476472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-57887842658787870882012-02-12T10:07:44.865-08:002012-02-12T10:07:44.865-08:00My mother is just like your grandmother. Wow, when...My mother is just like your grandmother. Wow, when you think of the strength they had, and how they had to make decisions that were not always pleasant, but which they knew was for the best, you feel weak at the face of such courage and fortitude, and hope that maybe one day, our children, grand-chidren and great-grand-children can say the same about us.<br />In answer to how to let go of the past, what I've done so far is to vow not to repeat their mistakes and on the rare days when the rage clouds my senses, I do something I love, whether reading, writing, watching movies and animes or even listening to music. I will not claim that I've forgiven my father, but I live each day as it comes, and hope that someday soon, I can think of him without the hurt.Sandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16781097392547603525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-22323570401480374212012-02-12T09:46:49.075-08:002012-02-12T09:46:49.075-08:00Thanks for stopping and sharing your thoughts. It&...Thanks for stopping and sharing your thoughts. It's hard enough to raise a family nowadays when there are fewer social restrictions and stigmas. Your great-grandmother and my grandmother had so many additional daily situations to overcome that we just don't have to face.<br /><br />Again, thanks for the comment. Happy Sunday!Shelton Keys Dunninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10551666631783476472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-74309268451375154282012-02-12T09:40:48.014-08:002012-02-12T09:40:48.014-08:00Thanks for stopping by! Heroes can come from anywh...Thanks for stopping by! Heroes can come from anywhere, mine tend to come from blood. I never thought about writing a novel on her life. Thanks for letting me know that there would be an interest. Cheers!Shelton Keys Dunninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10551666631783476472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-79312387457347860392012-02-12T09:36:21.360-08:002012-02-12T09:36:21.360-08:00"I never knew her. How I wish I had. She died..."I never knew her. How I wish I had. She died well before I was born. To have been through so much, to have such inner-strength in the face of unrelenting adversity, she was a rare and remarkable woman, with so much to teach me."<br /><br />I feel like this about my great grandmother, whose philandering husband ran off and left her to raise seven children on her own.<br /><br />I always find it sad how common a story that is. Women left to struggle and survive both life and loved ones. <br /><br />Nicely written.L. M. Leffewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03622710354642535249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-74012652365485272352012-02-11T17:04:30.535-08:002012-02-11T17:04:30.535-08:00The older I get the more this eats at me. A pictur...The older I get the more this eats at me. A picture sparked this: they were happy once. I see the hurt in my mother's eyes and I cannot bear the thought of those I love in pain that I cannot fix with two chocolate chip cookies or a fudge sundae. <br /><br />Well, writing is cheaper than therapy right? Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!Shelton Keys Dunninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10551666631783476472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8156955729401188147.post-65998490393354615402012-02-11T16:46:53.621-08:002012-02-11T16:46:53.621-08:00What amazing times and experiences your grandmothe...What amazing times and experiences your grandmother must have lived through, although not necessarily always positive. It's a difficult question, can you forgive the actions of a previous generation without building resentment and hate? I wonder if it may just be better to love and be grateful for your own chance to do something different, even better. Thought provoking! :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com