LOL

Sometimes my ignorance comes right up and slaps me in the face. This time it concerned email stuff. I attempt to write as I think, in other words I seldom use abbreviations or symbols. In my opinion it muddles the true intent of the communication. At least when I read someone else's email to me and it's chock full of single letter, abbreviated words or initials it brings me pause until I decipher it. Occasionally I miss it completely.

Ever since I entered the world of electronic messaging I have been confident in the meaning of three simple letters, LOL. It seemed that everyone used them and not wanting to appear as if I came from the dark ages I used them frequently. Sprinkling them here and there like a fine seasoning. Once in a while I'd get a reply to an email asking me to explain exactly what I meant. Then I would skip the initials and use complete words and everything would turn out just fine. But until yesterday no one explained to me just how ridiculous some of my emails must have looked.

Today I am a new man. Today I know that LOL does not mean "Lots of Love." Some of the things I wrote must have been LOL to a lot of people over the years but to those to whom I was writing about serious matters I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Today is a huge "DUH!" day for me. LOL to many of you.............................Joe

Hope springs eternal

Hope flows/springs eternal. I can't remember how old I was when I first heard that phrase. I do know I didn't understand the full meaning. As a kid what I hoped for was a pony, as a teenager it was a drivers license, as a new husband and father the ability to provide a home for my family, as a businessman keeping all my loyal employees working, as a man in a world of contradictions doing the right thing and as I age sometimes I hope for a day without pain. Hope covers a lot of territory doesn't it? Hope represents our dream of a better day no matter our personal opinion of what constitutes a better day. To keep hope alive sometimes we need the help of another. We want to be there when that happens. That's what these little comments about hope have been all about. As we wind it down and move on to other things I'd like to leave you with some ideas I read in Liguorian magazine.

"Lord, today, make my words strong when someone needs some strength, funny when someone needs a smile, careful when someone needs prudence, wise when someone needs wisdom, practical when someone needs to make a decision, and, Lord, help me to shut up and listen when someone needs someone to listen to them."

"May our presence always be a blessing when we walk into any room, even when we trip on the threshold as we make our grand entrance."

"May our sadness be overwhelmed by our gladness; and our gladness be so contagious that the mad and the sad become glad because they ran into us."

Thousands of people have viewed onto this blog about hope. We didn't reach a million but a million starts with 5000 first. We've done that. We can remember that when the days are dark. We can remember the hope that spread around the world because of us...................Joe