Willie Page ... my son

It was one of those days when everything was going perfect.

Bright sunshine on a warm cloudless morning made Savannah especially lovely.

Wandering out of The Savannah Bank towards moss draped Johnson Square, I pause to notice the political rally taking place.

"ELLIOTT," Congressman Jack Kingston screams, "I NEED TO TALK TO YOU NOW!"

"Shit," I mutter but it's part of the job so I meander across the street.

All the Republicans in charge of everything are there and, after Jack greets me warmly, it seems as every one of them are glad I'm there, appreciative of something I'd done for them and needed something now.

Completely surrounded I'm the center of attention and enjoying every second of it!

"DADDY," I hear from the familiar voice. "DADDY!"

And Willie Page shuffles his uncooperative legs towards me.

The Republicans part like the Red Sea as the little black man with yellow teeth, flaky skin and a child's brown eyes strolls in and hugs me.

"HEY DADDY," he says in his raspy voice while keeping an arm around me.

"You're his Daddy?" Kingston asks.

"It's a long story," I reply ready to kill Willie on the one hand but absolutely loving him for coloring the rally something other than red on the other.

Then again, I love the red and black ... Go Dawgs!"

The Republicans are done with me though so Willie and I make our way to the Ice Cream shop beside the Barber Shop on Bull Street where he likes to hang out.

I buy him Ice Cream  and ask, "What do you want?"

"Daddy, can I come home?" he explains giving me his sad child face and licking the Ice Cream.

He means Grace House, the homeless shelter I ran. He'd lived there twice and loved it both times.

The first time he was a "success story" because we got him on disability and found him "permanent housing" in a boarding house but ... Willie missed us ... so he got himself kicked out and moved back into the shelter.

"Willie," I yell, "you cannot live in a frigging homeless shelter for the rest of you life!"

"I love you Daddy," he sheepishly replies.

"Listen," I fire back, "you get yourself kicked out of your next home then we're not going to be friends anymore. I'm not giving you any more birthday money either."

Horrified, Willie suddenly became the perfect client and a few weeks later we find him his new home.

A decade later he stumbles into the Republican Party and me.

I love him.

"Daddy, come see me play," he begs so one day I go to City Market and watch him play a string less guitar with Bucky and Barry, happy and in love with the people who love him.

It was the last time I saw my son.

He died today after a long stay at Hospice having stamped himself on the hearts of many.

So hey Willie, on behalf of a lot of us ... Thank you.

You were incredible making more lemonade out of the worst lemons ever!

And I can only imagine how long it's going to take the Angels to drag you from the Heavenly Banquet because ... God you love to eat!

Thank you most for teaching me by being you.

Because you were incredible!

Half Truths or Happiness?

"You're crazy," he said pointing a television camera in my face, "you're one of those people who can talk about anything for 5 minutes."

I laughed and shrugged my shoulders.

"Seriously," he pressed, "I could say ... I don't know ... nuclear fusion ... and you'd talk for 5 minutes before I'd realize you're just making shit up."

Jodee Sadowsky stifles a laugh.

We were in Jodee's popular restaurant The Breakfast Club, after hours as I was being interviewed for a PBS documentary on lighthouses and he'd agreed to host it to promote his business. He and his brother Nick were busy prepping for the next day.

"When I make love," I reply without cracking a smile, "I like to split the photons from my neutrons creating a nuclear explosion."

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Even my neighbors are blown away," I continue though the camera is laying on the table as the crew wipe tears of laughter from his eyes.

I've always had a good rapport with the Press.

I speak their language ... half truths and made up shit occasionally dressed in absolute truth.

I learned how to do it in Seminary, somewhere between Hebrew and Greek was "Bullshit."

These days I shy away from such things. "Politics is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings," said Samuel Johnson and I concur.

"The people want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats and Government officials," says Pope Frances I and I agree with him too.

"Whoever controls the media, controls the mind," proclaimed the Prophet Jim Morrison and I think he's right too because there's some crazy people in charge of the news ... any News!!

Politics, "Professional Christianity" and the Media was my life for decades, and though I can still do it all with the best of them, I've ended up in a quieter world.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," is pretty much how I go about things now.

"The world will be saved one neighbor at a time," is how it's put in the Talmud and that's what Sarah and I do for a living.

I like where I am now much more than before. It's a happy place where nothing's made up anymore. Even when sad things happen, they're accepted in love and truth. It is what it is. We love you. And that's the truth.

It's better that way.

Besides, the great interview I did about the Lighthouse ended up on the cutting room floor, though The Breakfast Club was mentioned.
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Summer's gone

The Government has shut down because the idiots we've elected are self serving ideologues.

It says as much about us as it does them.

Having said that ... the skies an incredible deep blue. A brilliant yellow sun blazes on a glassy ocean reflecting white light in every direction. My toes dig in the cool sand and a crisp breeze blows from the north which I don't care for yet it's a pleasant morning. Seagulls squawk Hymns of praise, sand crabs dart into holes and a pod of Dolphins smile as they glide by me. I smile back.

Summer's gone ...

I've read somewhere that your favorite season is when you were born.

It's true for me.

My birthday is July and I love summer with everything in me!

September is a mixed bag full of college football and airplanes crashing into buildings. October is a cozy fire in the Chiminea and ghosts wandering the streets. Thanksgiving bleeds into Christmas, Chanukah or Ramadan throwing us into the New Year which is cold and dark. In the dead of winter we go searching for our hearts again.

My dear friend Mitch Wesley is a Celtic at heart and believes things take root in the cold hard ground. Growth begins in the dark times. Light burst out of emptiness, stones are rolled away and new lives are embraced. It starts when we embrace the darkness and you go from there.

I like the idea but hate the experience.

Give me miles and miles of clear blue skies, rum on ice, lazy days in a Paradise of white sand, aqua water and laundry neatly folded and put away. Days linger into warm nights with blazing stars and a moon dancing across the sky. Fireflies, Dragonflies and Butterflies are Angels spreading happiness and hope.

The Government has initiated the beginning of the dark period ... again. The Church will follow suit. Those who haven't taken sides yet will. Wars and the rumor of wars will increase. Hell will come on earth as it is in ... Hell. Heaven's just a wish for a warm heart on Valentine's Day when the world is cold and bitter.

 But ... today the sun shines down on me, the house is full of love as I work on things I love in bare feet. Dark things are happening but I refuse to be part of them. I love the Sun dancing on green leaves and casting white diamonds on the Sea. I love Home, the cicada songs, squirrels playing in Palm Trees and Pelicans diving into the ocean.

These are the things I will dwell on today.

The Government, the Church and the Powers that be can dwell on other things because I'm not going to be part of that world.

I'm staying where it's always summer.

How Did I End Up Here?

How in the hell did I end up here?

Let me be clear about where "Here" is.

I'm sitting under an umbrella, on the beloved back deck of a house I love on an island I cherish filled with people I love and who love me.

Living with me is a beautiful, smart and sexy woman who would knock my socks off if I ever wore socks which I don't.

It is a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky, and the sun is playing a game of hide-and-seek between the lush subtropical wall of foliage that I call Fran's Thousand Shades of Green. A lovely breeze is blowing off the ocean and the leaves are dancing in celebration.

It's the day after a holiday and I don't have to physically go anywhere other than take Goddess for a walk beside the Back River where the pungent aroma of the Marsh is as intoxicating as sex on a hot summer's day.

I've got lots to do but this is the "Here" that I have to do it.

Back to the question at hand ... just how in the hell did I end up here?

My life's been a broken jigsaw puzzle full of holes where pieces used to be. Yet it somehow paints a beautiful, poignant portrait of a happy and content man whose heart is full of love and lust for the future. Behind his head is a rich tapestry of a wonderful life with some crazy made-for-the-movies action scenes!

If I were to plot it out on a graph, it would be one confusing chart. In Port Wentworth, Georgia Mom and Dad launched my life and I've been around the world only to land half an hour away from where I was born.

That's just the geography! If it were a relationship graph ... Holy Shit! ... it would like the angry drawing of a child with a red pen scratching back and forth across the lines, mostly outside of them. Through the end result has been three wonderful children, a wife I adore and her three little "blessings" who daily bring home confusion and laughter at the same time which is no small feat.

Yet here I am.

Which naturally makes me think of something Steve Jobs once said.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And, most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

To which I add ... yep.

Is it scary sometimes? Hells Yeah!

Do I want more security than I've got? Hells Yeah!

Do things still go wrong? Hells Yeah!

Would I trade?

No way in hell!

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October 2013 ♦ Embracing peace in your life! “You are one of the most tormented people I know,” she said. I was at the height of success, living at the beach, working in a beautiful city, having everything I thought I wanted…but she was right. I was miserable and didn’t know why. Then I decided to take a journey inside of myself. Life is too short and I deserved to happily celebrate my life. As much as I wanted to lay the blame at the feet of others, it was my own fault and I needed to know why I prevented myself from enjoying my life. I needed to find peace. And I did. You can find yours.

Interested? There's still time to enroll at http://www.meellc.com/wordpress/indepthclasses/

We Did Good

A smile burst across his leathered face as he sees me enter The Breakfast Club. We were to have met at 8:15 but he'd arrived 20 minutes early.

"Why do make an old man wait?" Val says from behind the cash register as I rush pass ignoring her.

Frank stands and we embrace in the crowded back dining room.

He's frail and his body has shrunk since I last saw him four years ago. Instantly I fill with emotions ... my eyes grow moist, the throat is dry as my arms completely engulf him.

"You look great!" he says, stepping back with his arms still on my shoulders.

His face absolutely beams. Glistening eyes and the crooked smile lets me know he how much he loves me.

A moment is suddenly a thousand years.

Once he was a force in Savannah. Owner of a chemical distribution company that he started from scratch, Frank rose to be President of the Downtown Rotary Club, served on numerous Boards and was a behind-the-scenes Kingmaker. He'd helped orchestrate the Savannah Music Festival, the Paul Anderson Youth Home and was the first big time member of my Board at Union Mission.

We'd met when he'd asked me to speak at the Rotary Club. He stood immaculately dressed in a dark suit, black hair greying at the temples, and bounced nervously as he waited on me to show.

"Mr. Stanton?" I asked.

Confused, he stared at me wearing blue jeans with a blue blazer and a tie. My hair was tied in a pony tail and I was carrying copies of my first book.

"Rev. Elliott?" he asked completely perplexed. "You don't look like a minister."

"Thanks," I said as we shook hands and he led me into the Ballroom.

The speech went well, there was applause and in appreciation Frank bought a book.

Late the next afternoon he burst into my office demanding to know, "Who wrote this?" as he held the book in front of my face.

"Ummmm," I smartly replied at his unexpected intrusion into an already too long day, "that is my name on the cover."

"That doesn't mean anything," he shot back which made me burst into laughter and in turn, he burst into laughter too.

We went on to accomplish great things together: The city's first shelter for women and children, first response to people with HIV/AIDS,  first drug treatment center for women, and health care clinics sprinkled throughout the County for people without heath care which was half the population.

Throughout the decade, Frank smiled and brought countless investors to meet me, gave wise advise and lavished me with the gift of time away from it all. He forever surprised me with trips somewhere so I could relax then be at full strength when he introduced me to the city's decision makers.

I may have been successful without Frank but he certainly made everything happen faster.

He's retired now, living in another town and misses the things that used to be. Life is spent alone with his wife who is ill, he reads old books and every time he watches television he's reminded that life has passed him by.

We spent an hour reminiscing as everyone who works at The Breakfast Club recognized this was a special reunion. They thrust sweetness on us. There was lots of noise but we didn't hear it. The staff patted his shoulder as they refilled his coffee then they rubbed my back to share in the holiness of the moment.

Frank seemed to grow as we  talked then he placed his hand on top of mine ... in front of a very crowded restaurant that suddenly seemed to grow quiet ... in front of the long line waiting on the other side of the window to come inside ... in front of God herself.

"We did good didn't we Parson?" he said softly.

Nodded my head up and down, my voice cracked as I agreed. "We did."

I walked him to his car and we embrace again.

"I love you Frank," I said in his ear.

"I love you Parson," he whispered before lifting one leg with his hand to climb inside his car.

And I watched him wipe tears from his eyes as he drove away.

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An eccentric life dotted with eclectic characters pop from the pages of award winning author Micheal Elliott’s newest book Sandy Bottoms & Duct Taped Hearts. Over 200 pages of his musings immerse you in a world of headshaking wonder, gut wrenching laughter, heart touched tenderness and empathetic tears.
Never letting the truth stand in the way of a good story, Elliott’s ninth book takes you on a wild journey of “Wow! Really! I can’t believe that!” every day moments. Sandy Bottoms & Duct Taped Hearts exemplifies his gift of capturing common thoughts and painting them perfectly into words. Release date (pre-order books ship) is September 23, 2013.
Just click http://www.meellc.com/wordpress/newbook/

C'est La Vie

It has been brought to my attention that I am remarkably consistent in my inconsistency.

I don't deny it.

Most people believe in absolutes. Things are black or white. You're liberal or conservative. There are believers and non-believers, lovers and haters, the good and the bad.

I believe life's more grey.

Like piano keys, black and white mixed together can make beautiful sounds. If just one set of keys are played it's pretty one dimensional.

Politics is for extremists though the truth is most often in the middle.

Believers are filled with doubt while non-believers long for something to fill empty places.

Lovers absentmindedly fall into apathy and haters sometimes overcome above their indifference.

Good people occasionally do bad things and bad people surprise everyone when they rise to the occasion.

You can never quite be sure.

There's always more than one side to a story.

It's not to say I don't have convictions because I certainly do!

I hate cold weather with everything in me. I love my kids, the girls, Goddess, Winston, the little gay dog, summer, the beach, St. Martin and the University of Georgia football team with everything inside of me.

I simply adore my beloved Sarah and emotionally fall apart when we're not on the same page. I just shut down.

The older I get, the more I think it's all C'est la vie.

That's life!

Clarity often slips into ambiguity and then slides back to crystal clear visions but with nagging wonderment if it's the right way or not?

We're all working our way through the best we can.

Some of us do better than others though each of us struggle.

I have both the blessing and the curse of being an extremely empathetic person. I feel what others share deeply and in real time.  A friend is hurting, feels taken advantage of, hates life or wants something different shares with me and I share it back. I live the moment with them even though I often think they've made their own bed and are now laying in it.

I don't tell them that though.

I encourage instead.

Life's hard enough to get through.

We can all use more encouragement.

I overdo it and I know I do.

Sometimes at my own expense.

Certainly at the expense of others.

Sitting here pondering these things, I say the same prayer that I say every single day.  It's one of my absolutes.

"Hey God! Help me to be the best me I can be today. I'm sure I'll fuck some things up but I really am doing my best. If I can help anyone else along the way then that's good too. Bless the things I love and let me love them like you do. And if you can find a use for the things I hate ... well that's great. You being God and all made it for a reason. Oh ... and thanks for this life. Thank you for Sarah, the kids the girls, Goddess, Winston, the little gay dog, warm weather, the here and the now."

It's my life.

C'est la vie!
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An eccentric life dotted with eclectic characters pop from the pages of award winning author Micheal Elliott’s newest book Sandy Bottoms & Duct Taped Hearts. Over 200 pages of his musings immerse you in a world of headshaking wonder, gut wrenching laughter, heart touched tenderness and empathetic tears.

Never letting the truth stand in the way of a good story, Elliott’s ninth book takes you on a wild journey of “Wow! Really! I can’t believe that!” every day moments. Sandy Bottoms & Duct Taped Hearts exemplifies his gift of capturing common thoughts and painting them perfectly into words. Release date (pre-order books ship) is September 23, 2013.

Pre-order your copy for $10.95, plus $4 S&H now! Offer ends August 31st.

(Regular price $14.95, plus $4 S&H takes effect 9/1)

Surviving Dark Times

I have to admit that I'm pretty excited.

Anytime I start something new I'm excited though I think I'm more excited about this than anything I've done.

And I've done a lot!

As a "Professional Christian" I got to travel the nation because we had successfully transformed a rinky-dink inner city Church into a diverse, vibrant and action oriented community.

As the first ever Director of the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless we opened one of the nation's first Day Center's so homeless people would have a place to go during the day where they could focus on overcoming the issues that led to their homelessness.

As the President of Union Mission, Inc. I oversaw the transformation of a $40,000/year homeless shelter into a $13 Million/year diverse management corporation. We also reduced the city's homeless population by more than half!

Then the shit hit the fan.

It happened in this order. My Dad died. A project I'd spent years working on blew up and made me look like an idiot in the press. The Head of our Finance Department misused $1 Million. My wife decided that was a perfect time to leave. Then I left a career which had already left me.

It was pretty rough for a while.

NOW I'M HAPPIER THAN I'VE EVER BEEN!

Everybody lives through dark times. Hell, some of us barely see the light of day. But there are ways to get through them. I did. You can too!

Check out the things we're doing at www.meellc.com where our first session is "Surviving Dark Times."

I want to tell you, life is a lot better in the sunshine.