Who would have thought...

... that I would be reminded of such a blessing of mine while watching the ESPY awards with David tonight. During the awards show, hosted by ESPN, Tommie Smith and John Carlos were honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for their stand against racism in the 196os. These two men competed in the 1968 Summer Olympic games and "won" the gold and bronze metals in the 200 meter dash. These two athletes were dismissed and stripped of their metals by the U.S. Olympic Committee for their display of dignity and pride for their race... putting their fists in the air during the metal ceremony was their "mistake".
Photo taken from Tommie Smith's webpage.

I bring this up because Sundays for me, like many others, is a day that I am particularly reminded of my many blessings. The blessing of my freedom is a blessing of mine that I forget about daily.

I take advantage of the fact that I can walk in the front door of any business establishment, swim in a public pool and sip from any public drinking fountain. I am blessed to even be married to my husband because at one time it would have been illegal for him to marry me and honor me as his wife. I am blessed that my future sons along with a strong black man like my Father can hold the Priesthood and spread God's word.

I think that so many people that are biracial, like myself, have been told that "... we don't count" as being "black". The only response that I have to that is that maybe you are right. Maybe we aren't "black", but we are something all of our own. We are part of a history so rich that colleges teach classes for the public to learn the sacrifices, struggles and triumphs of our people. Maybe we are not "black", but we know well the sting of being called a "n!gg$r" on the grade school playground. Without these experiences we would easily be able to forget where we have come from and what a rich heritage we are included in. I am so thankful for this blessing and the reminder of how lucky my family, friends and I are to live free. Freedom... something so many others are struggling to feel in so many parts of the world.

Okay. Wow. I really didn't plan to share that in my post tonight. I just started typing and that is what emerged. I would just like to say thanks to ESPN for the inspiration.

Anyway on to something completely trivial. All of you know I am completely obsessed with photography and digital scrapbooking. The new loves of my life (Shhhh... don't tell David). Here are a few of the layouts that I did tonight:

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Fasten your seatbelts... another Monday is upon us!

I also added a hit counter on the bottom of my blog so I can see how many people don't read it. By the way you can start your blog counter at any number you would like. So, when you go to blogs that say that it has been viewed 50,135 times... you know they just made that up. I on the other hand started mine at zero. Visit and read often to make me feel good.