TAKE ‘THE PAUSE’ TO SHOW RESPECT

‘The Pause’ in this post is the moment a medical team takes after a patient dies.

Whoever is in the bed deserves a moment of quiet for the life they led.

I’m a fan of people understanding the idea of respect and how it’s shown.

But why wait until the last moment?

“Could we take a moment just to Pause and honor this person in the bed. This was someone who was alive and now has passed away. They were someone who loved and was loved. They were someone’s friend and family member. In our own way and in silence let us stand and take a moment to honor both this person in the bed and all the valiant efforts that were made on their behalf.”

45 seconds to a minute of silence.

“Thank you everyone.”

The Pause Less Taken

If you’ve ever lived in an extended family home then you know things happen.

But this isn’t about dying, though the elderly in my home have passed on.

It’s more about the pause of appreciating what you’ve got, what you’ve done, who you’ve helped.

For this I take the pause for my wife.

Without her we would not have hosted foreign exchange students when out kids were younger.

We wouldn’t have hosted them after our kids had grown and started a life of their own.

Most of all, we wouldn’t be talking about hosting another student this summer.

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Me: Think of the kid. We’re as old as their grandparents. How would you remember a big trip when you were young spent with grandparents?

Wife: I’d remember it for the fun it is with grandparents.

Me: Honey, we’re not their grandparents.

Wife: How would you remember the same trip?

Me: Have I ever told you about my foreign exchange wrestling trip?

Wife: I don’t remember.

Me: Before I qualified for the trip by winning the Oregon Greco-Roman state championship people went on trips to South Africa, New Zealand, and Japan.

Wife: Sounds exciting.

Me: We hosted wrestlers from Japan when they came through town on their trips.

Wife: Yes, and the point is . . . ?

Me: I took a cultural exchange trip.

Wife: To where?

Me: Iowa.

Wife: Iowa?

Me: At least the language barrier wasn’t such a problem for communicating with the locals.

Wife: Iowa?

We took the pause for Iowa.

Taking The Pause For You

No matter who you are or what you’ve done, it hasn’t been easy.

But you think you haven’t struggled as much as others?

So what.

But you haven’t succeeded as much as other expected?

So what. Again.

If you’re living your life in the best way you know, take the pause for yourself.

You’re living your best life and dragging others along who don’t know any better?

Take the pause.

If you’ve met the biological imperative of being born, reproducing, and your kids have done the same?

Congratulations. Take a moment.

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Start out with a good breakfast.

Whether you make it, or it’s made for you, eat up.

With a full stomach, try to remember what it means to you to be a father.

You did your best?

When your kids needed you, you were there?

Maybe you were there when they didn’t need you because you needed them more?

This is where men playing hard-ass get lost.

Big strong men only need themselves. That’s what they say when they hide their feelings behind their macho bullshit.

And maybe this is where things take a wrong turn.

If you tune into some jackass’s version of Fathers’ Day, tune out as soon as possible.

Anyone who has not held a newborn baby created with a loved one has no voice today.

Those of you, of us, who have can sing the song loud and proud on this day.

To do it right, start rearranging the house, the apartment, the tent, for the Fathers’ Day Choir.

Get everyone in the music room, or just yourself, and sing a Daddy Song.

“But Big Dave, we don’t have a music room.”

To which I say, “Yes you do. You just don’t know it. Follow these plans for a Happy Fathers’ Day for four fathers.”

Take The American Pause

If you’re one of my visitors who’ve gotten his far into a post I have one thing to say:

“THANK YOU.”

It’s incredible that anyone does anything, let along read a blog post from an obscure writer.

If this is your first visit rest assured that nothing else you may read here comes with a dose of conspiracy, hatefulness, or spite.

This is not the place for flame throwers to reload with a new case of outrage to spew into the void.

Instead, think of boomerpdx as a place on the internet to feel something close to a welcome.

It’s not reddit, or Facebook, or twitter, or instagram, or TikTok.

Come in for a read and go. If you feel moved, go ahead and subscribe. I’ve got room for a few more.

My readers are informed and motivated and want to know more than they’re finding.

This isn’t the place to find more, but it is a place to find a new approach to old problems.

Maybe you’re writing, you’re thinking, or you’re thinking about writing?

This is a link to around 510 posts about writing on this blog.

The truth is, I write, I think about writing, do some reading, and write more.

No sales pitch here. Not going to find a post that accuses you of being stupid if you don’t do what I say.

That’s all on another blog, not this one.

A man recently asked me about boomerpdx.

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“It’s a big blog covering topics common to us all with a little extra.

I call it hope, direction, ambition. Every post comes with a subliminal message of love and hope and caring. It’s not discussed, or broken down, but it’s in there in case some poor soul in Singapore, Spain, or India needs it.

If a lonely reader in Washington, Oregon, or California stops here for The Pause, I want them to feel welcomed.

I write for the bots in Moses Lake, Boardman, and the people in Portland and Seattle.

The work I do is for the people who’ve exhausted their search for online decency.

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Me? I lift my pen. The work continues for us all.