Thanksgiving

It's that time of year again, where we saddle up to the rarely used dining room table and stuff our faces with traditional Thanksgiving victuals as we chat it up with relatives we sometimes don't see too often. This happens to be my favorite holiday, followed very closely by Christmas. Thanksgiving just has a certain warmth to it, a certain feel to it that just makes you feel good. But this Thanksgiving had a different feel to it; not a bad one, just different.
I was at a Thanksgiving eve service at my church, sitting in the choir loft listening to the pastor give his Thanksgiving message. We at our church are blessed with a pastor who has a gift of storytelling and speaking, making his messages interesting and easy to stay with. During the message however, something he said sparked memories of a Thanksgiving not long past. Back in 2001, I lived in California for a while, and had some really difficult but interesting and growing experiences during my time there. I started thinking about that Thanksgiving, how my brother and I, in the middle of our normal 16 or 17 hour work day, went to some cheap "restaurant" Denny's type place for a lavish Thanksgiving feast. Now that's what I call sarcasm, volume 20. (C'mon people, you won't get this humor anywhere. Just ask and I'll explain that one if you don't get it.) With probably around 20 bucks, we had a feast fit for a king. Well, his dog maybe. No no, the servant's dog. Yeah, that's about right. There were so many other things going completely wrong as well which I won't completely get into, but very little if any was going right at that point. And as I sat there in my chair, in the choir loft of my church, thinking about how crappy it was 4 years ago, I thought about how much had changed and how far I had come, and how much I truly had to be thankful for; not only in crappy times, but a thousand fold now.
I became overwhelmed with joy as the pastor wrapped up his message. Later on in the night, someone asked me why I was smiling so much, and I started to tell them that I was thinking about my Thanksgiving when I was in California, and I was thinking about Thanksgiving now and I was just filled with so much joy and I... That's when I started to cry and had to walk away. She followed me and I finished my sentence:

"I just have so much to be thankful for." And I started to tear up again as she gave me a comforting hug there in the warm church.

I finished crying on my way home, laughing nearly half the drive because I just had so much to thank God for, so much to appreciate, and it hit me all at once. What a joy it was though! I have a place to live, I have a job that pays pretty well. I have parents who love me. I have a dog who is all better now. I have my life that has nearly slipped from my hands a few times. I have things I love to do, and talents I have been blessed with (one of which isn't writing obviously. Haha.) I have a church that appreciates what I do. I have life, I have love! I have Thanksgiving my friends, and overwhelming amount of it.

Please leave a comment and be thankful for something, it shouldn't be hard.

More than 24

25 is more than 24. That's all I have. Ok, really.

24 is a great number. There are 24 hours in a day, there's a tv show that is called 24. There are 24 months in 2 years. Umm...it takes some people 24 licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop. Oh, and I'm 24. Whoopdie frickin doo. If that's all you knew about me, you would most likely assume certain things about me. 24 year old male. I can hear you thinking already. And that's the problem. If all you knew about me was that I am 24, you don't know me at all. You don't know that I don't party at all, that I don't smoke or do any drugs, I can use words that are 3 syllables or more, I actually think about my decisions before I make rash ones. I am Darrell. I am The D. Yes I am 24, but that is not some box in which I am placed and not allowed to venture out of. I'm probably going to get more and more annoyed as I write.
Being 24, certain things I do may seem a little out of the ordinary. They aren't necessarily bad, and usually aren't, but people will question me, my motives, my intentions and who I am simply because I don't fit into their convenient little mold. Screw your damn mold. From this day forth, The D is banning age. I will not tell anyone my age anymore because I'm tired of being looked at a certain way because of it. It's ageism!! If everyone but white people can have racism, then dammit I'm taking ageism. I'll be the politically correct JACKASS who pioneers the term. You heard it here first folks, Ageism. (November 16th) Don't tell me that it's odd for me to do something because I'm 24. That's ignorant, it's lazy. Take some time to get to know me and stop seeing me as a 24 year old and see me as Darrell. I hate that! I am more than 24. I am a person who has shedded his labelled age and gone my own path, regardless of my place on the board of life at spot 24. You can hang out there at your own age, but as for me and myself, I'm leaving to be me, leaving to be more. More than 24.

Sorry, I've been prepping!

So I haven't written anything in a while, I know, I know. I've been prepping to start a series on here entitled "The End of Life as We Knew It" and it's all about how much the American culture has changed over the past few decades and why it has done so. With every change, there is a reason behind that change, and I'm examining the reasons why this culture has changed so incredibley much, and not all for the better. Not much for the better in fact. I have outlines and ideas and notes galore on the topic and I'm going to start writing it on here very soon in hopes of eventually turning it into a book in the near future. If you have any ideas you'd like to throw in, by all means leave a note or comment, as long as it has nothing to do with hair loss. What's with all those hair loss comments, am I getting bald or something?? Of course not, The D has a full head of hair even Adonis would envy. So there you have it, this is why I have been absent for so long and I was foolish to not keep you informed, all three readers left.

On a good note, my mom has been wearing her seatbelt when I'm in the car, so I'm really happy about that. Our mission has succeeded for the time being! She's still really touchy about it though so I can't even talk to her about it, but at least she's wearing it. Way to go mom! I'm so proud. So sometime near the end of this week, I will see all of you back here with a whole new series that's sure to last a while. I have a lot to say and I hope you all will too. See you then!