I am filled up with a couple of things tonight.

The first thing on my little head.

It just feels good to be in the presence of certain people. Not ALL people.  No way, no how.

If we are lucky…. we have the true ones.  Those certain ones.    They are the individuals who know YOU….. and they still like you anyway. And. Every time you come together, the conversations simply picks up right where it left off.

Laughing with them is easy.  Crying with them is easy.  There is trust.  And kindness.  There are hopes, and worries. There is understanding.   But it is all wrapped up.  Just so.  In those certain ones.

For me, in my life…. those people number a very few.  I am fortunate enough to have those connections with some of m siblings.  And my parents.   And of course, a handful of friends.

And the second thing…  that I have been thinking about is who I am.

You know, we ask our children:  “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  The What.

A ball player?  A doctor?  An engineer?  A preacher?  What?  So kids start dreaming about that “WHAT” in their lives.  Yet, a lot of times, it never happens, or it changes.

I think… quite honestly… the question our parents should have asked us… and now… the question we should ask our children, is this:

WHO do you want to be when you grow up?    Do you want to be kind?  Do you want to be someone who laughs a lot?  Who sings?  Who is compassionate?  Or maybe you would rather be cynical?  Or angry… or someone who doubts everything?    Perhaps.. you want to be someone who is simply glad to be standing exactly where you are standing?   The who.

This whole world is so full of complexities.
Today we celebrated my Mom’s 91st birthday party at our house.  We enjoyed the entire day together… the all of us.    I was really WITH some of those “certain ones” in my life today.  And.  Most of all… I am very thankful that we all are WHO we are.

We may not be rocket scientists, or brain surgeons, or  ball players.  We are all very different. That is for certain.  But mostly, we are all very much the same.  We have love in our hearts for each other.  That is what matters.   That is WHO we are.

Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.  —  Dennis Prager