richelle-goodrich

A gentleman willNever allow a ladyTo feel less than grand.

Laughter can deflate almost any problem down to its proper size.

To believe in yourself is to light a spark with the potential to start a fire.

I never knew what Mother knowed,Like how a thread and needle sewed,And how a kiss healed boo-boos fast.Why family knots were made to last.I never knew how Mother sawA caring man in angry pa,A smile beneath the teary gloom,A game inside a messy room.I never knowed what Mother knew,Like how to smile when days were blue,And how to laugh for laughter__ sake,While giving up her slice of cake.I never saw what Mother see__Like honor pulling garden weeds,Or deep confessions in a look,And hope alive in storybooks.I never knew how Mother knowedTo hand out carrots when it snowed,And why hot cocoa liked the rain,While naptime kept a person sane.For mother knowed and see__ it all.A winner in a strike-out ball.A 'yes, please' in a shoulder shrug.A 'love you mostest' in a hug.Perhaps, someday, I__l come to knowWhat Mother saw and knowed as so.Like how 'I__ right' can be all wrong,And why the night requires a song.But of the things I learned and knewI never doubted one thing true.My mother made it crystal clear,she knowed and loved me ever dear.

The best fathers have the softest, sweetest hearts. In other words, great dads are real marshmallows.

Every birthday celebrates a life because every life is important.

To look in the mirror and smile is a challenge for many people. Those who do so without the slightest scowl are indeed fortunate.

Easter

Gavin stood within the trees, observing her from the shadows. He watched the basket rise to her nose as she closed her eyes to sniff at its contents. A smile told him it smelled delicious, but she didn__ open the container to pinch off a sample. Instead, the basket lowered to swing at her side as it had previously done. All at once the air was filled with soft singing--a sweet, merry tune comprised of ludicrous lyrics. It was impossible not to grin at the

The description of Huck__ father grabbed my full attention, and I glanced up at the book in my teacher__ hand as if to double check. My eyes bulged reflexively. Huck__ father was an abusive drunk just like mine. The boy was hopeful that a corpse found near the river was actually his dad, but it turned out not to be. It was spooky how high my hopes rose for the boy, and then sank so utterly low when the body was discovered to be a female in disguise. I should__e mourned for the woman, but it was the boy I felt bad for.

I squinted at the western sky behind Thaddeus, a blood-red smear melting into blackness. Twisting my neck, I glanced the opposite direction. My teeth clenched at a magnified, round moon nearly as scarlet as the portending sunset, its luminous face half masked by hazy cloud cover. Hatred, vengeance, anger_such emotions coursed through my veins in a poisonous concoction that muddied my mind, impelling me to grip my sword tighter and fight with every ounce of strength I possessed against those who threatened my family - my kind. Currently, Thaddeus was behaving as such a threat, using his powers of persuasion to condone human sacrifice for some outrageously perceived good. He wanted an offering for the monsters; a desperate, futile offering of human flesh that would in no way protect the other villagers from being mauled as he promised.

Just say ____ sorry._ It__ not a tongue twister. It does not need repeating multiple times. The phrase is simple and short, easy to articulate. And the last time I checked, it sounded just as good__f not better__n a whisper. So just say it; say ____ sorry.

A pang of guilt, like a blaring siren, should never be ignored.

The fact is, the man who__ begotten me didn__ want me. In his eyes I should never have been born. And perhaps that would__e been best. As it was, my existence had proven to be nothing more than a nuisance for everyone. I angered my father, brought strife upon my mother, irritated my teachers, and annoyed the other children who were forced to interact with me in school. All by simply being. When you aren__ loved, you aren__ real. Life is cold, like the stone against my palm.

Perhaps, if you weren't so busy regarding my shortcomings, you'd find that I do possess redeeming qualities, discreet as they may be. _I notice when the sky is blue. _I smile down at children. _I laugh at any innocent attempt at humor. _I quietly carry the burdens of others as though they were my own. _And I say 'I'm sorry' when you don't. _I am not without fault, but I am not without goodness either.

It's okay to be absurd, ridiculous, and downright irrational at times; silliness is sweet syrup that helps us swallow the bitter pills of life.

While you judge me by my outward appearance I am silently doing the same to you, even though there's a ninety-percent chance that in both cases our assumptions are wrong.

It isn__ always true that a critical end justifies desperate means.