Yesterday was a crazy beautiful day. I started with a flash mob mission with a group of yet unnamed Chattanooga Pranksters. Although this mission was not a prank; it was about love. Loving the people of Chattanooga. We brought the worldwide FREE HUGS campaign to Chattanooga yesterday. (If you are not familiar with Free Hugs, just search for it on youtube.) We hugged people on Frazier Ave & Walnut Street Bridge for 4 hours. We hugged everybody that would let us - the natives, the tourists, the bikers, the joggers, the dogs, the hobos, everybody that needed a hug. Some people looked at us with disdain. Some were scared, annoyed, or confused. Many people were grateful, encouraged and blessed. A few hugged us with tears in their eyes that strangers would take an afternoon to love on other strangers. The most asked question of the day was "Why are you doing this?" "Just to put smiles on faces," we'd say. We all knew that the world has gone through a lot lately. Devastating earthquakes, massive tsunamis, record-high gas prices, and a brand new war our country is entering. We figured everybody could use a little love right now. It was a life changing experience for the six of us.
If you'd like to join us on future secret missions, there is a link above to our meetup group for all our other flash mob mayhem and prankery.
After the emotional & empowering afternoon, I went home & watched ABC's Secret Millionaire. Big mistake after such an afternoon. I was able to keep it together until the millionaire gave the money to the youth basketball organization. There's just something about a bunch a kids and grown men sobbing that reduce me to a soppy mess.
Then I had to make the second mistake of watching Extreme Home Makeover on my lunch today. Of course there is only one episode on the ABC site right now and it is an Army soldier and his fiancée. Staff Sergeant Zeigler has a very similar injury to my friend Mark, who is an Army captain injured in Iraq by an IED and also defied the odds and astonished all his doctors. With all that's happened with my friend Mark, myself being married to a retired Navy Petty Officer, and sister to a Marine Lance Corporal and newly enlisted Army/National Guard, I didn't have a hope or a prayer of not crying during that episode. Especially when they get married on the show! (Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away; they reveal the wedding in the previews for the episode.) Oh my goodness, I think I am totally cried out for the week, maybe the month.
I don't know about you all, but I really don't like crying. Even when they are tears of joy. But I just can't help myself lately. I think it may be because I just feel so blessed myself lately. My family is healthy for the most part. I finally have a bit more regular job, which means we are also finally caught up on our bills for the most part. I have new family in town as my sister-in-law just moved here. And the tipping point lately has been the reassurance that there are good people still in the world. This was proven to me sitting at a red light on a rainy day when the fellow Corolla owner in front of me jumped out of his car and ran over to give me free head lamps to replace the head light that was out. For no reason, other than he had gotten better ones, these were just sitting in his trunk collecting dust and he noticed one of mine was out. He literally headed the bulbs to me and drove away.
So my hope for all my friends that read this blog:
~That you may also be blessed by kind strangers.
~That your families are blessed with good health.
~That you have enough to meet your needs.
I love you all, Have a blessed day!
