SureThing said:

Thank you Dani

Mach said:

madartista said:

Chris, you have been such a godsend to me. Thank you for helping me on my journey

ThreadBare said:

Thank you thready

onenitealone said:

Alun,

I'm happy that you recognize the greatest part of me. You always have and I thank you for that

mdiver said:

thank you Phil

applekisses said:

As you can tell, I'm not a huge U2 Fan That is amazing though. Can't wait to actually hear the song.

madartista said:

I left the very first page of this in the flower holder for anyone who visits to read

Another thing that I'm thankful for in all this is that this has brought me closer to my family. The day of her funeral I took the opportunity to tell my dad that I didn't hold any resentment towards him for leaving us. It's a long story between my father and I and the long story short is that he betrayed me (us) most of my life and I haven't actually had "the talk" with him yet, which will be my true final confronting of my issues with him, but I did let him know I didn't hold resentment against him for the past. That was very important for me. I've gotten very close with my grandmother as well. This is something else I am thankful for.

Thank you so much for sharing your story Richard. You are very brave to share something so deeply personal. It could save other people's lives. Love you!

UCantHavaDaMango said:

Thank you baby If my story could help someone like you to decide in the future to become a foster parent, that would bring honor and sense to something completely senseless and bitter. When my cousin surrendered parental rights on her children, she made sure that her mom could not adopt the kids. My aunt later became a foster parent to 2 kids, who have been in our family for quite some time now but she was not able to adopt my cousins children because of the bad blood between them.

Well, if the time comes for you to become a foster mom, just keep in mind you will be taking someone like one of the kids in my tribe that really through no fault of their own is cut off from their bloodline and you will be giving them something they deserve, a mom and a home. I'm very proud to call you my friend and I wish you all the best in your future plans with this.

I love you baby.

Stymie said:

Love you too honey

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Thank you so much for the encouraging words. Your story has most definitely been an inspiration to me. A few years ago, I realized that my purpose in life is to make music, and to love people. I can think of no people more deserving of love than children from troubled homes.

I'm proud to have you as a friend also, and I pray that you and your family will continue to heal.

Oh Richard (Dickie my boy!) what a wonderful tribute to your cousin Lisa, you had me in tears again. I can never tell you this enough but you are truly an inspiration to me. I get on this site just to read what you have to say. It's like therapy. It's always wonderful. I'm so grateful that we became friends. I still remember the day I first saw you. I was, maybe, about ten people behind you in line for the soundcheck for one of the "One Night Alone" shows, and I remember thinking that's that Supa fellow from the Org. And I remember just watching you interact with everyone around you (for we were in line for quite a long time...lol...) and I remember telling myself, I want to know that guy. This may sound totally cliche but you had this aura about you that day that just infected me. I value our friendship so much, I hope you know that.

Much Love!

I had come to realize that the act of forgiveness is not only about what you give that person you forgive, but what you give yourself.

This you told me in an orgnote a lot of months ago, and it changed my life Richard. It was like a veil was lifted, I saw everything from an entirely new perspective - MINE and MINE alone. Before, it was always the forgiveness in relation to my parents but now it was just about ME, asking new questions like "have you forgiven YOURSELF for forgiving them?" and of course the answer was HELL NO. I'm still not completely there but I'm working on it, I no longer feel like I'm betraying myself by forgiving them.

I owe this to you Richard, this and so much more when it comes to this issue we both share. I love you for it and the love you show through your tribute to Lisa and Anthony. Now they will always be a part of all of us too.

Your story is humbling. I applaud you for being so couragous! It is not easy to pour your heart out and let everyone read it! I have resentment issues with my father and have been thinking about seeing him for only the secon time in my entire life and you have been a insiration for me to actully do it.

Thank you for sharing a part of you to make a better me...

TheResistor said:

I am so flattered! I have always found it amazing, talk about humbling, that people have actually gone out of their way to meet me. I am so thankful that you were bold enough to approach me because I have one of the best friends in the world because you did that

One of the biggest reasons I have been able to find my healing is because I have been able to see myself in a different way. I relied on and talked to many of my friends since posting that domestic abuse thread and especially after Lisa's death and the one thing that all of these friends have in common is that they helped me to see my worth.

Not long after I had left Greg we went to dinner with some of your girlfriends and you said one of the most amazing and nicest things that anyone has ever said to me. I cannot remember the exact term you used but you said in Budhism there is a kind of person that puts other's healing , growth and wellbeing above their own. It has taken me a lot of work to finally be in the position where I could put myself first, just long enough to be able to heal in a real way so that I can put others ahead of myself going forward without hurting myself. Because of friends like you, I have been able to grow in amazing ways. In ways that will allow me to be that kind of person you referred to, in a pure and healthy way.

Thank you so much for everything

Richard you are fucking beautiful and i love you

eraclito said:

Thank you

Something really interesting happened the day after I paid my respects at her grave. I printed this out to share with a friend of mine who I met the next day in Hollywood. So we are meeting at a restaurant/bar and when I walked in I had this article with me. There were a bunch of tables where people were sitting and I went up to one to use it to fold this article. So I said excuse me to the 2 that were sitting there. The girl looks at the printout Is that a book?! I told her no it was an article that I wrote in honor of my cousin Lisa who was killed 1 year earlier.

Awwww.... I'm sorry to hear that


*turning to her friend*

Oh my god. I have had this nagging feeling all day like I was forgetting something. you know what today is?? Today is the anniversary of Mark's death.

My cousin wanted them to remember their friend I could have picked any table and really there was space on many of the tables I passed by. I just felt that was the right table, and it was

Teacher said:

Teach, this makes me so happy to hear. I remember this all those months ago

I have been wanting to write about forgiveness for some time When I wrote my domestic abuse thread, this issue came up time and time again. I wanted to share my experience with it in hopes to help others to think about what it could mean for them.

First of all, forgiveness is not forgetting. I will never forget the things that happened to me and how much they hurt me. Never. And to be honest, I'm not sure that some things deserve forgiveness. I think it's something that each person needs to figure out. Personally, I'm not into the whole turning the other cheek to be slapped again kind of thing. That is the idea that people have when thinking about forgiveness. That is not what I'm advocating.

In certain instances, there won't be the opportunity to confront the person who wronged you. If someone is continuing in their violence towards you, not engaging them is the best thing. If approaching this person will bring more harm into your life, then I don't suggest that. In my case I had 10 years to absord what had happened to me and to process it. Writing about my experience helped me to confront this thing that tried to destroy me. Writing about it helped me to figure out the role that my family life played in my dysfunction.

Forgiveness is all about letting go so that you can grow. So that you can move on. So that you aren't stagnant and poisoned by your own hate. I have found that even though I have forgiven I still feel some pain. But it no longer consumes me and instead of controlling me, I control it.

I hope that the people who expressed themselves regarding forgiveness find what they are looking for. If any of you want to talk about it, I'm here

Geritzla said:

Wow.....

It's humbling that something I shared would affect you in this way. Thank you for sharing that with me. I have issues with my father too but I'm working on our relationship. Isn't that something? The child working to make things better. Well, it's the same kind of thing. I need to move on from the past. I don't want to be enslaved to it. If you want to talk about your situation, I have an open ear. I'm proud of you for even thinking about taking charge of this issue in your life. That is amazing

I so hope I get to meet you some day Richard.

Shorty said:

Silly, we've met. Here on the org!

Yes baby, I hope to meet you someday too. When I get out to the east coast, we'll see if we can work something out

I saw the baby!!!! He is so sweet! Thank you for your friendship, little miss dynamite

Blessings, bruv

Wow, that is a truly compelling story. You have overcome so much pain, agoany and tragedy and you're still a beautiful person.
It would be so easy to be bitter, withdrawn and full of anger. How you put that all aside and came to be the beautiful human being that you are is amazing and a real inspiration.
:rose:

1sexymf said:

Thank you for your kind kind words. Orgnotes baby

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

OK you just made me cry!

You are sweet as pie!!

Geritzla said:

I LOVE your signature!!!!