Happy Monday! Nope.. it’s Tueday!!

nov15

Hello everybody! It’s taking me a little bit of time to gather myself and sit down and write after our current election. I was truly devastated and shocked and really had to take time to fully process what happened. One thing that’s very important that I have learned from the past is that I have to stay engaged and not allow what I believe is a setback to push me out of the arena.  It’s the time to for me to educate myself further with regards to our country and our politics. Rather than take a passive stance and complain, I will aim to be more active moving forward.  No that doesn’t mean I’m going to run for a political office, but I would like to push my activism more to the forefront and to increase my knowledge especially in areas that are important to me. Part of being a citizen in this country is to be a part of the democratic process and the only way that we can do that is through active education and an engagement. So as I learn things I will share some things on here with you all and I hope that everybody feels inspired after this election to take action and to be involved. Now enough of that, and onto my meanderings.

As for my work, I managed to miss my launch date twice: first with house guests and this last week, I lost all motivation to do anything after the election results. But I am going to push on and get this latest release out. The timing is off but can’t be helped. The beauty of cards is that some people buy seasonal cards for use next year, so it isn’t a total loss for me. I will be sure to let you know when my new products finally make it on the shelf.

nov15b

Friday was Veteran’s Day so the boys and I headed out to catch the parade. Apollo brought his iPad so he could record the parade.

nov15cI love seeing the old cars in the parade. The owners are always so proud and friendly. It adds to the charm of the parade.

nov15dThe boys wanted to walk down to where the memorial is in the town center to hear the talk. So off we went and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of our shadows as we walked. I love the sprinkling of leaves.

nov15fAs we got there we managed to find a spot that was unfortunately closer to the back of the crowd so I could barely see the speakers. But I could hear them when they approached the microphone. So while I was listening, a part of me was peekint to see the people standing behind the speaker and noticing not one person of color or female for that matter. So I drifted off into thought and complained about the lack of diversity.  When all of the sudden the crowd shifted and I couldn’t see the speaker anymore and he began to introduce his keynote speaker. Well what do you know, he introduced Lieutenant Colonel Gayle-Bennett as the keynote speaker and as he began to talk, I was thrilled to find the speaker was a female and African American. Below is a little bit I pulled off the internet about her:

Lieutenant Colonel Gayle-Bennett has been an officer in the U.S. Army National Guard for more than 20 years and has completed several active duty tours.  During her employment to Iraq, she worked as a Physician Assistant providing medical care for soldiers. She currently serves as the Deputy Commander of Medical Command for the Army National Guard and is now the most senior ranking African-American woman in the Massachusetts National Guard.  LTC Gayle-Bennett is also a pediatric Physician Assistant with the Harvard Vanguard Medical Group.

In 2010, LTC Gayle-Bennett led the Massachusetts National Guard Command Resiliency Team in organizational support for soldiers at mobilization and demobilization sites.  She also facilitated the identification of wounded soldiers and served as an advocate for them during the wounded warrior process. The daughter of Jamaican immigrants, LTC Gayle-Bennett is also a wife and mother of five children.

As soon as the ceremony was over, I rushed over to meet her, shake hands and thank her for her service for our country. The boys seemed excited too and I was so happy we decided to attend this year’s parade. After our photos with the Lieutenant, Apollo grabbed a seat on a bench to see the parade re-assemble to complete the second half of their march through town. Despite my feelings of despair from the election, I found the parade and the speeches including Colonel Gayle-Bennet’s moved me towards a place of hope.

nov15e

I hope you all have a blessed week and I plan to resume my posts with a new series starting tomorrow.

Belinda

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