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Home is important. Very important, but home is all of what you make it. Appreciate everything. Love your friends, love your family. But…make sure you find someone to love.

The Presidential Election

The Presidential Election was huge in 2012. It was close, interesting and at times…not very interesting. I learned a lot from the 2012 Election as I saw a country have absolutely no idea what to do. It was like you voted for a candidate because…because..because! After seeing the results, I realized that the country really had no idea what to do. There were so many factors that had to be taken into consideration that meant a lot to some people and absolutely nothing to others. As my wife and I stood in line to vote, regardless of who you were voting for, I was so happy to see people from all different walks of life feel the need to voice their opinion. Whether you stood in line for  15 minutes or 7 hours, you had to vote. YOU HAD TO VOTE! I am proud of American Citizens for getting out and voting for whatever you believed in. Obviously, someone wins, someone loses, people get mad and people celebrate but regardless, be happy you were able to stand in that line and voice your opinion. I am proud to live in a wonderful country that allows every individual to vote regardless of your sex, age, race, etc. I think that we all must stand together and figure things out as an American family and not as a “me verse you” view of the world. I just want to say that I today was Election Day and obviously as close as the election was, the country will move on and continue to be the great USA that we are. My hope is that we, as one, can work together to make this country the best it can possibly be. Last, Romney was solid, Obama won, the facts are the facts. Congratulations to our 44th President and I hope people understand the importance of supporting our Commander and Chief as YOU cannot change that. What you can change is how you can help us succeed in our daily lives…

A Special Reflection…

This weekend was a weekend that I found to be a special one, though it came to be with sadness as Anna’s grandmother, MawMaw Ellen was laid to rest after a life that brought LOVE to so many. On Thursday, September 13th at 6:08am, Anna received the news that her grandmother had passed away after a hard fault battle with Alzheimer’s and the disease that it was/is. Yes, it was sad, but Anna and I both knew that this was her time to be in peace. We both felt a sense of comfort knowing that she was no longer suffering and can rest now. The weekend was sad but the stories I have heard in the past along with the new stories told this weekend, the themes were all the same. This beautiful lady positively affected so many people’s lives. Ms. Ellen always touched people with her willingness to put everyone else’s needs, especially her families, in front of hers. It was amazing to here all of this and I enjoyed being a part of it. After all, I am in the Cauthen/Player family now which brings me to the reason I am writing right now. With all the sad death brings, I feel that refelection of what great things Ms. Ellen brought to this world must be recognized and so I wanted to just share my viewpoint. This may be strange, different and probably not what most people in my shoes would first think about but Ms. Ellen not only brought the peace and love that she spent on her family but she is responsible for bringing my wife and the love of my life into this world. I know not directly, but without MawMaw Ellen, there would be no Renee and without Renee Player, there would be no Anna Player Reed. I know this may be selfish but I thought about this today and realized that peoples lives are sometimes valued by what they do and who they touch, but not about who they brought into this world and how their sons and daughters affect people like me. So…I Thank Ms. Ellen for raising a beautiful family but for also bringing my beautiful Anna into my life. Until this weekend, I didn’t think of things this way; the fact that I am so Thankful for this women who lived a long awesome life because she is a direct contributor to myself finding love, finding my best friend and finding the special person to call Mrs. Reed. I just thought I could pay my respects to her through this small unknown blog, that to me, means a lot, and if Ms. Ellen could read this right now, I would share my love and gratitude to her. So here’s to my Anna, her mother and Ms. Maw Maw Ellen, as today we laid her to rest in a celebration of all she did to positively affect others in an amazing way and….I could not be more grateful of her contribution to my life by bringing Anna into it.

-NR

And so it begins…

As I write this blog I question why am I writing. Why should I waste this time? Why should I feel the need? Why? Why? There are a few facts I do know…Jimmy Eat World’s “Coffee and Cigaetters’ is playing throughout the room, my hoodie is on, and it is Summer.  Hoodies are fine with me, why are you asking? Since this is my first, I refuse to edit, read, replay, or try too hard. Oh man, “Artist and the Ambulance” is on now”. I feel that I should type faster. Have I mentioned Thrice is my favorite band? Oh man, this is fun. Ok. I’m back. “Late night bright lights…” shit. Ok. For real. I’m back now. I really enjoy this blogging thing. On a serious note, I am feeling a few things right now. My wife sits in the other room and I miss her terribly. I feel great emotion that I can walk and kiss her forehead and tell her “I Love You.” This is something that we as human beings should never take for granted. Love is like nothing else. You can’t buy it, steal it or fake it. It is something that whether it is your wife, family, or belief, it is a feeling in your heart that is irreplaceable and priceless. Over the past month life has hit me with challenges that I never thought I would face but in reality, they are miniscule compared to the problems our world faces today, but….to me….they are important. I have realized that in life there are priorities and love. The difference is sometimes mistaken but when you sit back and ponder, you realize…love is much larger than you think. I have so many special people in my life that mean the world to me and I am so happy that I can say that. I sit back and smile. I just smile as “towers” by Bon Iver plays through the speakers. So here’s to my wife, brother, parents, family, and friends…I have so much to Love. So much to Love….Damn it……So much to LOVE!!!