It will ALWAYS be "Me before You" because I'm disabled, and you forgot my minority

In the winter, I read the book " Me before You", and I loved it.
I couldn't wait for it to come to the theatres.
I still haven't seen it, but I just read, (without giving anything away)
that people are making all kinds of a stink about it.

People with disabilities
think that they are being portrayed in a negative light,
and not all of them feel that a disability is the end of the world.

Black people have gotten angry,
feeling that there aren't enough black people being portrayed as disabled, so they started  #disabilatytoowhite

And trans people think they don't see enough trans people
with disabilities in the movies.

Well, I don't think they have enough blonde-haired women.
Recovering from a broken back,
and a mastectomy,
with disabilities in movies.

But I'm not gonna make a stink about it.

Cause I realize it's a movie.

That was made into a screenplay.

From a book.

Written by an author.

Who chose to wrote about two non-American, non-black, non trans, non-blondes, with no breast cancer, or no broken backs.

Because that was her choice.

#selfishminorities  #itsalwayswhataboutme #blamehollywood

Salty tears and Cape May diamonds

On cloudy days down the shore,
Aunt Cynthia would take us
to see the banner planes take off
or to collect Cape May diamonds.

Denise's Ralphie, is on this mission
to find quartz on beach rocks.
So last night I took him
To Sunset Beach
To find Cape May diamonds.

It ended up being a nice
coincidental tribute
To Aunt Cynthia
on her birthday.

We sat on the beach
In the dark, after sunset
And froze
Hunting for Cape May diamonds
But we did get one
At the souvenir store

So today, after Cape May
diamond hunting,
I picture her riding waves
And walking on the beach

And I raise a birthday
Margarita Toast
Covered in salty tears
To the original Jersey Girl

#JerseyGirl #Margaritaville

You're never fully dressed without a hug

Karla doesn't ever meet strangers.
Everyone is a friend
and gets a hug from her
upon introduction.

I've always admired this quality,
so I started doing it myself.
And its made me a happier,
friendlier, person.
With a wider outer circle of friends.

Yesterday I met an old man,
who is a good friend of my friend, John,
I went up to the old man, and
gave him a big hug, and said
"I'm so happy to finally meet you,
John's been talking about you forever!"

Yeah. I wore his b.o. all day.

#stinkyfriends #gagginghugs

Golden slumbers

My whole life,
sleep and I,
have had a tempestuous
relationship.

I have insomnia
And can easily go
For 3 days
Without sleeping.

or I fall asleep
And it takes
An atomic bomb
next to my face
to wake me up.

Now, when I have to wake up,
I literally have
4 iPhone alarms,
set 4 minutes apart,
my clock radio
on full blast,
and Karla,
Bless her heart,
calls me until
I answer the phone.
OR
A lot of times i
sleep through all of it.

When I had my first job,
and my parents had already
left for work,
it was up to me
to wake up on my own

My father
had one of his work buddies
call me every day,
and tell me jokes
until I was awake
enough to laugh.

I think the only times
I ever,
Ever!!!
wake up
on the first
alarm,
are when it's snowing,
or when I'm going to the beach
Priorities.

For some reason
recently,
My sleeping prowess
has risen
To Olympic gold medal levels

Sure.
I had that time
A couple of years ago
When I decided
One afternoon,
around 1:30
After working at the pre-school,
to drive up to
The Polo store
At those outlets
At Franklin Mills mall

It was nice weather
Probably 75°,
So I had my top down.
But I sat in traffic on
I95 for almost an hour.

By the time I got to the mall
I was hot,
and exhausted.
I knew I'd never
Be able to make the drive home
safely,
Because I was so tired

So, before I went into the mall,
Around 2:30,
I stayed in the car,
With the top down,
and closed my eyes.

Then I heard a bunch
of people talking loudly
To the police.
Right next to me

And I was annoyed.
Because I knew
they could see that I was
sleeping.
So I opened my eyes
To give them a dirty look

And it was almost dark out.

They were talking to the police.
because they saw me sleeping
In my car.
When they went in to the mall.
5 hours before.
And I hadn't moved.

So they thought I was dead.

"Ladies and gentlemen
It's my pleasure to announce
The Olympic winner of this year's
Golden Slumbers award goes to..."

#goldenslumbers #z

all kinds of grieving

My Aunt Cynthia died two months ago.

I'm not sobbing hysterically everyday anymore, but I still get the wobbly voice a lot.

I thought about this and it reminded me of this conversation I had.

My best friend, Denise's cat died a couple of months ago.

When I heard about it, I called the house to check up on her.

Her son, Ralphie, who's 12, answered.

I said "Oh honey, I'm so sorry about the cat, I know you loved her very much ".

He said to me "It's ok, Aunt Julie. I cried a lot about an hour ago. But I'm almost through all of the stages of grief already".

+Grief Relief Ministries #nephew #withlove

Você gostaria de comer Tea and Krumpets?

I always knew
my geography was hideous;
we weren't taught that in school.
We only had map skills.

I took geography in college,
which consisted
of knowing the capitals
of every country in the world,

which I memorized,
and promptly forgot
after every test.

I remember
going over the terrain,
because the teacher
spent a lot of time

talking about the devastation
that could occur
if a tsunami ever hit the
Bangladesh area.

Foreshadowing.
This was 1992.

And I only remember that
because she pronounced it "Bongladesh"
which sent me
into fits of hysterical laughter
every time she said it.

27 year old mature me.

Other than that
I know nothing.

My whole life
whenever I sit on the beach
and stare out at the ocean
toward England,
I've wondered
if someone in England
was sitting on their beach
staring out and looking at us.

And I thought that if I swam
straight across the ocean,
I'd meet that person
And we'd have
tea and crumpets.

Today I found out
that we're directly
across from Portugal!
I've been staring
at Portuguese people
and didn't even know it.

So, I've been staring
at someone
who doesnt speak
my language.
and would probably
serve me some Portuguese  
fish dinner

that I don't even like.

Deers, and owls, and skeletons, oh my!

My niece, Kelly is 8.
The absolute best age to teach
They love school,
They're excited to learn.
Not yet fresh-heads,
who talk back,
They're still in awe of school
and love the teacher.

So when Kelly and I were
carving a pumpkin together,
I asked her
what she was learning
In science
and she mentioned

The body.
the heart.
I got excited,
and told her
I could get a deer heart
to give to her teacher.
She said she'd
have to ask her mom.

Then she said they learned
sbout how food
went down their belly.

I got excited
told her I had a lesson
that showed the whole
digestive system,
where they could
make the first bite
all the way
to poop.

She said Yuck!
But we laughed hysterically!
50 year old,
mature aunt Julie.

Then she said this week
they were
working on the skeleton.

I got excited
told her I could get her
Owl pellets.

Which are basically
owl throw up.
of the stuff
that owls can't digest.
whole skeletons
of animals they've eaten.
you pick through the pellet,
find  the bones,
then put the skeleton
back together.

As soon as I said
throw up,
she was shaking her head.
Even when I
told her I could
get fake pellets.

Then I realized
I had the perfect
skeleton lesson
And I offered her
pictures of my vertebrae.
15 years.
Of Cds, and x-rays,
That she was really
Excited about

When I told her that
I could show her the
Broken vertebrae
all the screws
And rods
And cadaver bone
And cages
And how
every couple of years
the screws and rods
Got higher and higher
Up my back
I made it sound
Spooky

She loved it!
She said she'd
run in and call
her mom!!

"And Aunt Julie.
what were they called?"
Vertebrae

"Veldebed"
me: close, ver te brae
"veee debrel"
Me: You're getting close, vertebrae
"veertabbed" "ventaded"

Me: ok why don't you go in
and call your mom
and we'll work on
you pronouncing
it later
So she ran in
And two minutes later

And very nonchalantly,
comes out
The back door
And, over her shoulder,
I guess proud,
for finally learning
how to say the word,
Says to me
"I told my mom about your
veraBradleys".