dailyprompt – Page 2

A Gift Like No Other!

This one makes me emotional. As gifts go this gift didn’t cost any money but it went straight to the heart and has stayed there through the years.

I remember my five-year-old son was late coming home from kindergarten. It was a short walk from there to the house but he was about an hour late and needless to say I was climbing walls! I was ready to give him a piece of my mind when he rang the doorbell. A sigh of relief rushed through me but there was anger still there or fear or both. I opened the door ready to let him know that it wasn’t ok when he looked at me with those big innocent eyes of his and handed me something he was holding in his hands. It was a small bouquet of wild flowers and they were crushed and there was no life left to be seen in them! “For you mommy,” he said. “I picked them on the way back from school.” He took the wind right out of my sails and I was left speechless which doesn’t happen often. I hugged him tightly and the smile he wore said it all. He was in love with his mommy and I was the most important person in his life at that point in time. I took those flowers carefully and put them in a small glass of water with tears in my eyes as he watched me with love in his.

It was the start of many more gifts to come. The next one came when he went on a school excursion to a zoo. I had given him some money to get an ice but instead he bought me a necklace. It was the ugliest necklace I had ever seen. Some wooden pieces were strung together and in the midst was a wooden turtle! He made me wear it for days on end and I DID. Even though I had received much more expensive gifts from others, that simple ugly piece still has a warm place in my heart and takes the place of best gift of all time, right up there with those crushed flowers.

The gifts have stopped coming , he is a young man now but once in a while he still surprises me. Sometimes it isn’t about how much money is spent on a gift to make it special, all it takes is thought and caring to show someone how much they mean to you. And those gifts did exactly that.

Daily writing prompt

Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.

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My Approach to Budgeting

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I have one simple approach, put a certain amount in savings each month first then I pay the rest of the stuff.

Most of my budgeting is done from a journal meaning no fancy computer spreadsheets like my ex used to do. He could show you down to the penny where the money went and he loved looking at the colorful graphs which showed the ups and downs for the month. He was or rather is a physicist so everything is science-based and often a headache to the less complicated mind! I have a simpler approach. Pay what is due and don’t overspend. Make no debts is my other rule. Living debt-free is liberating so I stick to that whenever possible.

So far it is working out pretty well and since I live in a village where clothes don’t rule the person, I don’t fork out money like I used to. Just a few simple pieces, stylish but more appropriate for the life I lead currently and it works out perfectly fine for me. Having control of my own budget is a great feeling versus letting someone else control it for you and that is one of the perks of not being married!

Daily writing prompt

Write about your approach to budgeting.

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Am I Patriotic?

I don’t know and I haven’t given much thought to it. I care about what happens to my country, I take pride when it strives and there are achievements made but I also sit up and take notice when someone or a group of individuals try to bring it down.

I have a deep abiding love for my country and a sense of attachment to it so you can call that being patriotic I suppose. Unlike the friend who passed away, he took it one step further. He was a “hero” in every sense of the word and a true patriot to boot. His mission was to protect and serve the country he loved at any cost even if it meant laying his life down for it. I am in no way close to that.

So I think I am patriotic in one sense and in another perhaps not so much.

Daily writing prompt

Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?

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Ever Broken the Law?

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I must say I am getting to the point that I wake up each morning wondering what the “daily writing prompt” is going to be today. It never fails to amaze me the questions you guys come up with! However, it gets my mind thinking after breakfast and it is a good start to the day.

That said, I can say with all honesty that I have never intentionally or unintentionally broken the law. I am a Ms. Goody Two Shoes type and following the rule of law is written into my DNA. However when I was 17, I met a guy and he invited me to this party. I didn’t know what kind of party it was at the time but I found out soon enough. They were passing “brownies” around. I took one thinking it was just a brownie! I had never done cigarettes, drugs or alcohol for that matter before then so I had no clue. Within minutes, I was out of my mind! I was hallucinating and got really scared. I could hear them debating if they should take me to the hospital and a few minutes later they turned the shower on me! Luckily I got home safe that night, mad as hell but none the worse for wear.

It was a scary experience but it taught me to stay away from ALL that is not good for me. Some say, I have a stick up my you know what but that’s okay I don’t mind. To answer your question I don’t think that I broke any law but according to my parents I DID!

Daily writing prompt

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?

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The Strength of a Woman

If there ever was a biography about me, that would be the title. It speaks to who I am and where I stand today. I am a petite person but as I wrote in one of my posts, I am a survivor and it took strength to stand back up and to face the world and life again.

I lost my mom to murder. The loss filled me with rage and hate and brought my life to a standstill. I wanted revenge at any cost. I learned that I could give up or I could learn to fight an unjust system through my writings. I did just that and even though it didn’t change the outcome of the verdict, I learned that there is power within and the will to survive anything. A few years later, I lost my younger brother. He is a cold case. The handsome young man was found floating in a pool of water and was too far gone for evidence of any kind. His killer or killers were never brought to justice. It took me years to let go of guilt because I was faraway at the time and couldn’t help him. I watched my long-term marriage go up in flames because of infidelity and it brought me down to my knees. Standing back up from this blow seemed like it would never happen but it did. Accompanying someone dear to me to his deathbed was the next journey I would have to take and I told myself I couldn’t do it or what was asked of me but I did and I am still standing.

I took to writing about injustice and that became my rallying cry or rather my way of dealing with the pain that was within. I have written about injustices of every kind both here and abroad and especially of the killings of black men by law enforcement. I have written about racism and racist practices and I have stood up with courage to speak out when I see injustice forgetting that this tiny frame is just that, tiny, but I have a megaphone and that I have a tool to get the word out. Strength is my powerhouse and the will to survive is built into the core of who I am as a person.

Daily writing prompt

If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?

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What a Question?

What were my parents doing at my age? I don’t know!

I left home a long time ago. Both parents are no longer here. Dad died of a heart attack even though he lived a healthy life but that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Mom as I have mentioned before died an untimely death at the hands of an immigrant who came in as a cleaning woman and who later took her life for some money and a few pieces of jewelery.

If they had been alive, I think they would have still continued a similar lifestyle. I come from a very religious family meaning Sundays at church and the rest of the time keeping close to the Bible and its teachings. I was glad to get away when I left to continue my studies because claustrophobia had started to set in but they taught me some good lessons that have stood the test of time and for that I will always be thankful.

Perhaps if life had been kind, they would be leading a quiet life carrying on their mission of spreading God’s word. Since it was not, I know they are at peace wherever they are.

Daily writing prompt

What were your parents doing at your age?

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Requirements for Presidential Candidates

Currently, candidates for president of the United States must meet basic requirements.

The U.S. Constitution states that the president must:

Be a natural born citizen of the United States

Be at least 35 years old

Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years

What would I change?

Having seen what a convicted felon can do and has done to destroy much of what makes America great, I would say let’s add a few more restrictions.

No one older than 70 years old. A president has to be cognitively all there and any one who should be enjoying his retirement years out on a porch somewhere should not have his finger on the nuclear button! Especially one who opens his mouth and inserts foot!

Natural born citizen of the United States? Fine, and good. No problems with that.

Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years? Why not? If the qualifications are there, why not?

The person running for the highest office in the land should not be painted orange! Ok, I agree that was a low blow. However, intelligence should be a prerequisite. Someone who cares for the people, ALL people and not just a select few, if you know what I mean and I bet you do. Someone with compassion, someone who has lived a stellar life with no convictions, and one who knows how to deal with allies. Last but not least, someone who is not a schoolyard bully.

There you have it. The presidency deserves a modicum of decorum but what we are seeing is “monkey business.” Oops, did I just say that? Ok, I will apologize for that comment but we’ve yet to see one from the horse’s mouth for those “ape pics” and that says it all as to why we need to change the requirements.

My Dream Home

As a young girl with my head in the clouds, I used to dream about this house with a white picket fence around it. It wasn’t anything special but that fence made it extra special. Go figure!

Fast forward to the here and now and it is the home I currently live in. It was the house we (my husband and I) bought when we were looking for a place of our own. I recall he did not want it as it wasn’t big enough but I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. It did not have a white picket fence but a wooden one and it was good enough for me. Today, it does have one, a white fence out front and a green one surrounding the house.

It is too big for one person and some of the rooms are unused but there is something comforting about it. It just feels like home and that makes it my dream home. The furnishing within is of the eclectic kind, lots of antiques mixed in with modern pieces and somehow it all blends together into a cohesive mix. Again, it exudes charm, warmth and a sense of cosiness. The nicest thing about it is that “nature” in all its rambling beauty is just minutes away!

Daily writing prompt

Write about your dream home.

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Some Great News?

If I woke up one morning and and found out that I had won the lottery, now, that would be great news! Not a chance of that happening but if it did, I think I would go silent probably out of shock! Financial independence gives a false sense of security because there are other things needed to round off that security issue but “money” does help as we all know and no matter how much we have, we always want more, human nature I supp0se. So go silent first and then jump for joy!

If that is not in the cards, a call or text from a producer saying that my book had caught his/her attention and they want to make it into a a movie would definitely make my day. Now, that would be great news indeed! How is the book doing? It is doing well but hasn’t hit best seller status. I wasn’t expecting it to but even though it hasn’t done that, there is still hope that it catches the eye of someone BIG and makes it into movie history! That would be something. One can only hope and wish.

Will it happen? I’m not holding my breath but it would be a great surprise and one to my liking. Universe do your thing and if it is at all possible, place it right in front of their noses!

Fingers, toes and everything else crossed!

Daily writing prompt

You get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?

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Lost Hobbies and Activities

Reading used to be a hobby I indulged in with a passion. I used to have my nose in books every chance I got but it is no longer the case now. I do miss the days of traveling without leaving home, of visiting faraway lands, of kissing princes who were not “frogs” and of living a fairytale existence. I reveled in “happy ever afters” and I let the imaginary world guide my existence. I loved it all. Then I discovered writing and realized that I could do the same and my world took off running and reading was put on the backburner. I still read but when I need to have my nose in a book, it is of the cookbook variety!

Jogging was an activity I thoroughly enjoyed. I remember meeting up with a group of friends at around 5:00 a.m. as we headed off for a three-mile jog. The world was still asleep while the group of us took off pounding the pavement all the time talking and laughing about nothing in particular. The joints were working fine then and “youth” kept us going. I gave it up in my 20s because I read somewhere that it (jogging) put too much stress on the joints and could cause problems later on. I decided to err on the side of caution and took to walking instead. It has been a safer choice and serves me well.

If I could, I would love to get back to reading but somehow I can’t. I don’t know why. I do miss those days but I guess time changes things and who knows at some point I might go back to it but just not right now. Jogging is done with. I can’t see myself doing that ever again. The closest I get to jogging these days is running on the spot but that too only for a few minutes at a time!

Time changes things.

Daily writing prompt

Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?

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