The Four Corners of My Heart
When you’re with people that care about you and show
you that they love you, it’s the best feeling in the
world. Well when I was growing up, my family provided
that love and support and it was all I needed to be
entirely happy. Every year our tradition would be going
to Florida for Christmas and spending it with my aunts,
uncles, cousins and grandparents. I always looked
forward to seeing them every year and that’s what kept
me going inside. We all shared the same ethnicity,
culture and heritage. We would all come together from
the four corners of the country, Texas, Florida,
Washington and Michigan and stay at the same beautiful
resort in Florida. My favorite parts of the trip were
swimming in the ocean with my brother, the long talks I
would have with him and everyone else in my family. I
felt so needed and loved and I also felt like nothing
could ever change that. We all shared common interests
such as the horses my uncle has on his farm, school, the
beach and alcohol, at least my family members did,
except for my mother. I really didn’t think much of it
at the time, but today it has split my family apart and
we don’t visit Florida anymore. Things didn’t only
change between my family, but also between my brother
and I and how I view relationships in general. Every
time we went I could feel the bonds disintegrate slowly
and slowly until finally we just stopped talking all
together and I haven’t been back since I was 10 years
old. The reasons for our distance is because of our
differences, our culture changed over years and the
different actions we took and choices we made right down
to the clothes we wear. I can remember the first time I
felt the love my family gav...
... middle of paper ...
...bout my brother and other family
members. I don’t want to become what they became, I
don’t want to look death in the eye and that is why I
choose not to become an alcoholic, that is why I cherish
the time I have with the family I do have. I lost a
tradition because of an addiction, an addiction that
couldn’t be controlled. I lost a part of me, I lost my
heritage, because I don’t want to remember my relatives
and what they were and are today. Maybe they have picked
up some of the pieces they left behind so many years
ago. Sober memories enriched with life and laughter. I
know I can never remove the imprints they left on my
heart, heartbreaking imprints and life breathing
memories that can only give me hope for my own family
that I will have one day, a family in which I can have
meaningful traditions that last and never fade into the
Florida sunset.
Carter, David. Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York: St. Martin's, 2004. Print
The media considers the1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City the spark of the modern gay rights movement. This occurred after the police raided the Stonewall bar, a popular gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Allyn argues that the new energy and militancy generated by the riot played a crucial role in creating the gay liberation movement. Arguably, the Stonewall Riots have come to resemble the pivotal moment in gay rights history largely because it provided ways for the gay community to resist the social norms. In fact, the riots increased public awareness of gay rights activism (Allyn 157). Gay life after the Stonewall riots, however, was just as varied and complex as it was before. In the following era, ho...
...dentity. Only 17 states allow gay couples to adopt. LGBTQ youth face many struggles. Many LGBTQ students do not have the support they need and are four times more likely to commit suicide than heterosexual youth according to a survey done in 2006. Organizations have been created to support LGBTQ youth and the struggles they face. Since the Stonewall riots in 1969, the gay community has come a long way since, but there are still many obstacles to overcome.
I’ve found that most students are passing on the fruits and veggies the school provides because it doesn’t look appetizing; chemicals can do that to a food item. With the school garden program the foods will be nothing but organically grown, providing a more appetizing taste and look. This program will save money for the school because of the major reason being not having to pay transportation fees. This future program is just a ripple in a big world of nutrition, but with people coming together to make it happen, the future looks bright and healthy. Don’t be the reason why so many people are suffering from
Romeo and Juliet is known as one of the greatest love stories, but it has its fair share of tragedy as well. The story riddles with themes throughout. Love is the first theme and there is no greater love than the love Romeo and Juliet share. Shakespeare offers his audiences just as much hate as love in Romeo and Juliet. The families of both Romeo and Juliet involve themselves in centuries of feuding. The ongoing feud between the Montagues and Capulets drives Romeo and Juliet into a life of secrecy, which ultimately causes their deaths. Youth is another theme and ties directly to how young both Romeo and Juliet are both in their age and their relationship. The story of Romeo and Juliet uses sex as a theme as well although not in the intimate details of more modern stories. The two lovers concerns are not with the wishes of their warring families, they just want to be together “Deny thy father and refuse thy name / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn by my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.34-36). Love is the first theme Shakespeare displays in this play.
...protest movements throughout America and the world.” Among the gay community Stonewall has become the word for freedom, for fighting, for equality. It became a turning point in Gay history, so much so that most books on the subject refer to “pre-Stonewall” and “post-Stonewall” as the lines of demarcation. Of course the journey is still long and fight has not been won. At the turn of the century there were still 20 states that made homosexual sex illegal , any only a few states would recognize the love and companionship of gays through marriage or civil unions. The military policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is still active and prejudices continue to exist. But, as exemplified by any other civil rights movement, it is through the constant grind of activists and lay-people constantly protesting and educating, that change occurs, even if only one person at a time.
In this short, poetic essay Joyas Voladores by Brian Doyle the paradox of the heart is widely recognizable. He explains love, and how the matter of the heart inflicts joy, but also a deep pain that roots in fear and vulnerability. Doyle begins by contrasting the hummingbird and the blue whale, providing two separate ironies of each creature’s heart, and eventually relates the heart of different animals to that of a human, suggesting that the heart is the driving force behind all living beings, but is also what fails us all.
The Stonewall Riots marked the start of the gay rights movement, and inspired members of the gay community to fight for their rights instead of being condemned for their sexuality. Even today, gay people in the US use the incident at Stonewall to educate younger members of the gay community. "The younger generation should know about Stonewall so that they will realize it is possible to make change. It is possible to overcome entrenched, institutionalized prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry. And that they can live full equal lives." (Frank Kameny, aarp.org) This is the message that many members of the gay community continue to spread after the incident at the Stonewall Inn.
The book I read was call When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke, it has 220 pages, and the genre is Western Drama. The book is about a woman named Elizabeth she had gone through school to become a teacher. She had lived in the big city, but then moved to a small coal mining town in Canada to teach their children. Elizabeth was a very beautiful woman. When she had got to the town she had decided that all her focus would be on teaching school. Then she meets the town's Mounted Police. It tells about her everyday teachings and the hard things she would have to go through to teach them. Helping students after school to make sure that they understood what was happening in their studies. “Thomas needs special help with his lessons.
...not covered by the media, and the Stonewall Riots were the first large-scale movement for LGBT rights. Despite this, it still took some time for the movement to gain proper attention. An example of this is The New York Times newspaper, which did not allow its journalists to use the word “gay” until after 1987, almost twenty years after the riots, and it only covered the riots in an article consisting of three short paragraphs.
This all happened when I was very little, as soon as I learned how to talk and understand things. At the time, all I knew was that my older brother Tyler had a very bad heart. He would come home with a stethoscope and a cool balloon device which I figured out was used to open up his heart. I remember reading stories about Curious George going to the doctor so Tyler would get used to the fact he was going to have another heart procedure. I mean, I was just five years old. How does a five year old even comprehend what the heart is let alone what’s happening to her brother? So much of this was beyond my comprehension, yet it all seemed so normal. My side of normal was doctor visits, procedures every year in Miami that I couldn’t go to, and seeing a ton of pictures of his procedures! I remember him eating a lot of food to have him gain weight so he could have the procedure. He hated it so much. Even the scar on his chest seems so normal. I don’t even look twice when I see it. Yet if I see another person with a scar, my eyes are drawn to it.
All companies that are connected with the healthcare system encounter multiple problems that are not being resolved. Queens of Bringing Hearts Together is a company that deals with several heart issues and it is open to the public to provide the best care plans, knowledge and heart transplants at affordable prices for patients. The reason why we decided to construct a company based on heart related issues is because this chronic issue is not taken seriously, as it should be. At the moment it is being stated that, “Heart failure is a progressive and disabling medical condition estimated to affect 5.7 million Americans and consumes an estimated total of $27 billion dollars in annual treatment expenditures” (Gellis 2012). The heart related issues
Around the time of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Europe was a place in need of inspiration. Marco Polo, a merchant, and still a simple man, was this source of inspiration. He was an ordinary boy during his childhood, living a similar life to the other boys his age. Although his intentions might not have been as significant as his impact, he was very influential. Marco Polo served as an influence to many later explorers. Whether it was through his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, which focused mainly on descriptions of spices and commercial goods and many other interesting trade items he encountered in his travels, he sparked an interest and desire of not only Europe, but later explorers as well . Marco Polo was viewed to have had definite charm and also having much capability. He has also proven that he was a tough man. This is evident because of the many voyages he survived, which included occurrences of bandit ambushes, disease, and not to mention the fatigue of the travel. There have been many who believe that Marco Polo was not intellectually equipped, meaning that he was not a very educated man, as no European probably was at the time . But as always, there is of course some speculation on the many aspects of the life of Marco Polo. Many people have their own beliefs of whom the real Marco Polo was and what he accomplished. There will be mention on some of the alleged negative, yet also positive aspects of his life. Despite all the accusations or assumptions of Marco Polo, history was affected as a result of his existence. He still remains an important figure in history.