Wisdom of A Six Year Old

"Kids say the darndest things". You've probably heard this said many times and you yourself have heard kids say the darndest things. But sometimes, if you stop and think about what kids say, sometimes they say the wisest things.

Think about this.

My six year old granddaughter lives in South Carolina. A few weeks ago her dad had a job interview in New Hamspire. He and my daughter decided it would be nice to make the trip a week long family affair. So, they packed my four gradchildren in their Ford F-150 supercab pick-up and drove to New Hampshire.

After a very long and very cramped two days on the road my son-in-law announced that they were about to cross the state line into New Hamshire. Everyone looked out the window and, finally, there was the interstate sign that said "Welcome to New Hampshire". There was a loud collective cheer from the four road weary kids. Then my son-in-law pointed to another sign on the side of the road and informed his children that it was New Hampshire's state motto, "Live Free or Die". There was a long period of silence inside the cramped pick-up and then my six year old granddaughter, knowing that she perhaps would be living in New Hampshire, declared,
"I guess I'll live free".

Think about the history and the true meaning of "Live Free or Die" and the person who first spoke those words. Think about all of the brave patriots who fought and died for our country. Now think about how easy it was for my six year old granddaughter to declare..."I Guess I'll Live Free".

»»  read more

Why "Think About It"?

Long, long ago way up north in the woods of the great state of Maine there lived an insurance man (a very successful insurance man, I might add) who determined he wanted to be governor. The year was 1974. If you don't remember the year, or were yet to be born, it was when McDonald's gave you back change from a dollar when you bought a cheeseburger, fries and a drink. If you don't remember the man his name was James B. Longley, Jr. He was fed up with the Republican and Democrat politicians in his state and decided to run for governor as an Independent.

I, on the other hand, was recently out of the military, had been laid off due to the bad economy, and was in training to become an insurance salesman (I had to support my new family somehow). Part of my training required attending a seminar which included a luncheon featuring Mr. Longley as the guest speaker. There was about a dozen trainees at the seminar. We had our lunch and then listened to Mr. Longley give a somewhat atypical political stump speech in that he kept repeating over and over; "I am not a professional politician"..."I am not a professional politician"..."I am not a professional politician". And if you looked at his resume he wasn't a "professional" politician. He was an insurance man who was also a lawyer running for political office for the first time as an Independent.

When Mr. Longley finished we were instructed to form a line to say hello to him and then pay for our lunch. I will never forget what happened next. The guy in front of me took a ten dollar bill out of his wallet to pay for the lunch and put it in his left hand. He walked up to Mr. Longley and as they were shaking hands Mr. Longley, without hesitation, took the ten dollar bill, said "thank you for your your support", and stiffed the ten dollars in his pocket. He then turned and greeted me. I then looked at the guy in front of me. He was just standing there staring at his left hand with his mouth wide open.

The luncheon was the end of the seminar and as I was walking to my car I noticed in the far corner of the parking lot Mr. Longley's big motor home that he used for his campaign tours around the state. Painted all along both sides of the motor home was his campaign slogan "Think About It". And, you guessed it. All I could "think about" was the guy's ten dollar bill going into Mr. (I'm not a professional politician) Longley's pocket in the blink of an eye. I thought about it so much that I did not vote for him on election day. Election day came and, you guessed it again, James B. Longley, Jr. became the first Independent governor of the State of Maine. But, I have to admit, Mr. Longley was not a professioanl politician in one respect. Most of the promises he made during his campaign, he kept. His most repeated promise was, if elected, he would serve only one term...and he did!

Thus, the origin of the name of this blog. I hope that whatever I say here will cause you to pause and................. "Think About It".

»»  read more

Think About It

This is my first attempt at blogging. Just feeling my way around. Next blog post will explain "Think About It".

»»  read more