By now you have probably heard the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey is disbanding the Circus in May. I know people have feelings about the animal acts but to me the Circus will always be a special place and the news makes me sad.
Most but not all of you know my first wedding took place during a performance of the Ringling Brothers Circus. I won an essay contest on "Why I Want my Wedding to be the Greatest Show on Earth. Over 300 people entered the contest. We were the second non circus couple in history to be married under the big top....the first just a week before us - same contest, different part of the country.
Before the wedding I was back in Clown Alley and one of the clowns played Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman on his guitar as I walked by. My ex and his best man rode in on elephants and I had a horse drawn carriage. The calliope played the wedding march and 15 clowns and 15 showgirls were our attendants. The ringmaster escorted my mom in. Our first act as a married couple was to blow the whistles that start the Circus. The lights went out and we were quickly escorted to our seats. When the lights came on I was face to face with an elephant. I ate sno cones and popcorn in my wedding dress while sitting front row center.
It's a part of my life I will never forget. Thanks for the memories Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. May all your Days be Circus Days!
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Sunday, January 15, 2017
MLK and me
I was born in 1971. Segregation was over and I grew up with friends of all races. My generation is the first where we could go to school together, drink from the same water fountains, date freely, and even just ride a bus together. This week I've been thinking about all of the times race has been a factor in my life. I remember when I was in elementary school and didn't know any better we were so angry about the busing. Some of the kids changed the words of Pink Floyds "Brick in the Wall" to "We don't need no blacks at our school". I was naive enough to join in and actually wrote about it in my diary along with my feelings about Dr. Willie Herenton. (Hey, Willie, leave us kids alone!). Keep in mind I was 10 at the time.
I vividly remember the disdain of my next door neighbor when she found out a black family was moving into the house on the corner. I remember bringing black friends to my house and my dad making comments that I won't repeat here. I also remember him saying that word that makes me cringe when talking about why he couldn't get a job at FedEx. We were in the car and he was ranting and I calmly looked at him and asked him to never say that word in my presence again. He hasn't.
Its hard for me to fathom that people I'm friends with currently went through such discrimination. It really hurts my heart. Every one of my elementary / high school friends' parents lived through the 50's and 60's. I cannot even fathom living in world like that. To be taught to act that way towards another human being... or to teach my children that kind of attitude. I guess that's what hurts my heart the most... none of us are born realizing our differences. Its all taught. Nobody is born a bigot. I still see it in some of the posts on my feed which means they are teaching their children the same attitudes. I see my best friend endure it in the workplace and in her struggle to raise her three children - to teach them we are equal even though the world still disagrees. I went to see the movie Hidden Figures yesterday and cried at the things "the coloreds" endured. We have come a long way thankfully but we still have miles to go.
"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." - Martin Luther King, Jr and Betsey Harwood Bogen#kindnessmatters
I vividly remember the disdain of my next door neighbor when she found out a black family was moving into the house on the corner. I remember bringing black friends to my house and my dad making comments that I won't repeat here. I also remember him saying that word that makes me cringe when talking about why he couldn't get a job at FedEx. We were in the car and he was ranting and I calmly looked at him and asked him to never say that word in my presence again. He hasn't.
Its hard for me to fathom that people I'm friends with currently went through such discrimination. It really hurts my heart. Every one of my elementary / high school friends' parents lived through the 50's and 60's. I cannot even fathom living in world like that. To be taught to act that way towards another human being... or to teach my children that kind of attitude. I guess that's what hurts my heart the most... none of us are born realizing our differences. Its all taught. Nobody is born a bigot. I still see it in some of the posts on my feed which means they are teaching their children the same attitudes. I see my best friend endure it in the workplace and in her struggle to raise her three children - to teach them we are equal even though the world still disagrees. I went to see the movie Hidden Figures yesterday and cried at the things "the coloreds" endured. We have come a long way thankfully but we still have miles to go.
"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." - Martin Luther King, Jr and Betsey Harwood Bogen#kindnessmatters
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