Pay Now, Play Later

“This won’t be a walk in the park.”

My parents said this to me countless times.

You can either make a dime working your butt off

or be the deciding factor to save someone.

You can either pay or play.

Your future is up to you, Ashley.

Four years of high school

will decide what college you get into.

Make sure you take multiple languages.

Make sure you play sports and participate in clubs.

Make sure there is nothing stupid on social media.

Make sure you GPA is outstanding.

Make sure you succeed.

Education is key.

You have to start from the bottom

to realize how hard everyone works.

You might just be a nursing assistant,

but you mean the world to your residents.

Learn to listen to their stories,

their stories will open your eyes to what

the world once was.

Learn that you can truly make a difference

in someone’s life.

Experience is Key.

Being a nurse isn’t just a job.

It’s a life long career that requires

hard work, determination, and most

importantly compassion.

Pay Now, Play Later.

One day, you may be the deciding factor.  

Silly poem about my mother

Ultimate Fan

Deep blue acrylic nails. The sign of passion
… or obsession depending on perspective.
Blue handbag, the same shade. Coated with
silver signatures, numbers, and
that one lone star.

Her woman cave, the walls of course,
adorned with blue. And random blue artifacts
scattered about the room.

On top the fireplace mantle, a crazy woman with
Blue shirt, blue shoes, blue hat, and beaming smile,
standing next to the white sign with blue letters,
“We Hate The Redskins”.

Next to that, a proud—still crazy—woman
with another blue shirt and blue shoes. Hands
with blue acrylic nails holding up five fingers
blessed with five Superbowl rings.

Soon the sounds her screaming and shouting. Clapping
her hands and rumbling the floor with her feet.
“Goooo Babyy Goooo!! Run Run Run!! TOUCHHDOWNNN!”
Pretty sure even with the windows closed, you could hear her
half way down the damn street.

Larger than life surround sound thundering through the house.
Shaking the walls. Rocking the small blue salt and pepper shakers,
(never been used). On display with cups, oven mitts, and pot holders
That all have that same blue hue.

“Mom, you’re never not wearin’ blue”
“That’s right baby! Gotta represent my Cowboy pride 365!”

In our house, it’s football season all year round.

Oh The Ground

The ground changes more than you and I

It can be painted with delicate dandelions and sightly sunflowers

Even with tons of towering trees

It can be veiled with sand or large lawns of grass

Or hidden by concrete

It supports us silently, so discrete

The ground can be drenched from the falling showers

Or masked with mud

The ground is wrecked and battered by human imprints

It’s unrecognizable and concealed by construction

But it can still grow those delicate dandelions and sightly sunflowers-

without mankind’s instruction

The ground

Oh the ground

It’s magical how it works

Abandoned

It’s a baby crying in the van.

What happened to the young child?

No one knows.

Will it live?

Will it ever give?

Oh the poor child-

left in the van.

The parents ran away

said they’d be back some day

- but lied

Now the baby's crying in the van.

How can it grow?

How will it know?

Never protected

it should be assumed

that the parents…

the parents

should be arrested-

but instead they were set free

and the baby’s in the van- a black Cherokee.

Will it live?

Will it ever give?

Oh the poor child-

left in the van --- It gave.

Just a short little poem I wrote in PHIL (nurs. major should understand) about my brother who just enlisted in the army :( And I can't help but to rhyme in a poem.. sorry 

If only you knew

If only you knew

That taking on that Red, White, and Blue

Would cause such sadness and sorrow

You’re forever gone til tomorrow

We were always together

Because you’re my baby brother

If only you knew

Your dark skin and tall stature

Brought comfort to mom and me

But now that you’re gone

We miss you a ton

If only you knew

That our sadness is actually happiness,

You left life with a grand plan

To become a fine man

Now do what you do

And return so I can say

“I love you”

They Said

“They Said”

They said Time heals everything.

They said people my age

should never experience this once,

let alone 4 times.

They said be understanding, God

wanted to take them for his own reason.

They Were Wrong.

Time never got easier,

It never got any easier with each

funeral seeing someone

the same age as you, lie

in a casket, it was something I shouldn’t have

seen til I was much much older, but by the time of 19.

I seen it 4 times.

3 DUI related car crashes, and one

his father shot him.

4 candle lightings, 4 different anniversary dates

1 simple neck tattoo

to keep my boys always with me,

They were wrong.

Time didn’t heal a thing.

Mystery Woman

I found a photo of a woman I have never seen before. The woman caught my interest right away, because she looked somewhat like myself.  This photo was buried my grandpa’s chest, so it had to have some importance to him. She had light blonde hair with curls that were down to her waist; her hair was the same strawberry blonde as mine. The picture was taken when she played high school softball, because under the playing year, which was 1992, it said “Lady Warriors” in big bold red letters. The back of the photo was smudged, so at one point, there was more information that could’ve told my nosey self more. I was confused because the bottom of the picture looked like it had been torn where her name would be printed on the photo. This sparked my interest even more. I needed to know whom she was, why she was in my grandpa’s chest where he kept all of his old cards and letters from the air force when he was deployed, and I wanted to know why she looked like me. Was it an aunt that I never saw? I just needed to know who this woman was.

I asked both of my parents who she was, and they just looked at each other then back at me while shrugging their shoulders saying, “We don’t know sweetie.”

             

 

“We should have told her, I knew we should have. I knew Samantha would’ve eventually found out about her someway. Mark, why didn’t we just tell her? We stress honesty, but we haven’t been honest to our own daughter.. I’m an awful mother..”

“It’s okay Tina, she wont know how to find her, we just couldn’t do it back then.. Our secret will still be just our secret.”