(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Itzl Alert Network: Tuesday, 24th of September, 2024: Tender Loving Care [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-09-23 (That picture looks like a meal getting served at Tonia’s and her family’s church, where we often attended, and where her funeral took place.) What do I mean by tender loving care? I mean giving, and also graciously receiving, the following: Material things, money, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and even entertainment. Emotional things, hugs, handshakes, and conversation. That is what we give each other here at the Itzl group, lots of conversation, warm conversation, funny conversation, educational conversation, lots of conversation. The little dog is named Itzl. As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at, to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off Daily Kos. If you're not here, or anywhere else on Daily Kos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care! IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news! This is our current schedule of regular IAN diary writers: Monday: Youffraita Tuesday: bigjacbigjacbigjac Wednesday: Pam from Calif Thursday: art ah zen Friday: FloridaSNMOM Saturday: FloridaSNDad Sunday: loggersbrat Seems to me, the wisdom of the ages can be summed up this way: Always give that tender loving care, as defined above, to: Yourself Your family Your friends Your neighbors I could end the diary right there, and let you fill the comment thread. However. That wisdom of the ages has been expressed, often by way of stories, all through the ages. For example: I am an atheist, but I was a Christian for about 30 years, and I know many Bible stories. One of my favorite Bible stories is the story Jesus told, that is called the story of the prodigal son. The Story of the Prodigal Son This is not a fairy tale, but a fictional story, that I suppose could have happened, back in the time when Jesus told the story. A young man was giving tender loving care to his family, friends, and neighbors, for all his life so far. Then he asked his father for the money that would represent what he would inherit after his father died. His father gave him the money, which would have been a bag of coins, back in those days. The son went out and had grand adventures, but soon ran out of money. He took a job as hired help at the farm of some other family, but he was not well fed at that farm. He knew that at his father’s farm, everyone was well fed, even the hired help. So, he went back to his father’s farm. His father greeted him with open arms, and the son soon went back to giving his tender loving care to himself, his family, his friends, and his neighbors. (I wrote that all from memory, so feel free to check the Bible, and correct me, if you feel I messed up the story.) A Christmas Carol That story is a fairy tale, involving ghosts who educate the protagonist. The protagonist was giving tender loving care to family, friends, and neighbors, when he was young. But later in life, he essentially stopped doing so. Then the ghosts educated him, and he went back to giving that tender loving care and getting so much of that himself. It’s a Wonderful Life This is another fairy tale, with an angel educating the protagonist. In this story, the good guy was doing well, then he was afraid that he had failed his people, and he tried to kill himself. The angel rescued him and educated him. Groundhog Day This protagonist has no positive history in this story. He seemed to fail, in every way, to give anyone tender loving care. Then, in this supernatural fairy tale, he got stuck living the same day, over and over. He tried living that day in many different ways. Finally, he tried giving everyone in that small town lots of tender loving care. Then the supernatural trap was opened, and he was let out, to live his life, giving out that tender loving care, to himself, his family, friends, and neighbors. A Man Called Otto In this story, the protagonist tried to kill himself, like the situation in A Wonderful Life. But this story is fiction, not a fairy tale, so nobody supernatural had to educate him. His neighbors educated him. So, he finally went back to giving tender loving care to himself, family, friends, and neighbors. His wife had died, and he had spent so many years with her at the center of his attention. Similar to me, Uncle Mark. A Man Called Uncle Mark See, I am making the movie about me, in the form of lots of YouTube videos! Ha! After my wife, Tonia, died, on the 10th of March, 2022, I realized that I need to give tender loving care to myself, and to my family, my friends (such as you, my Itzl friends) and my neighbors. Well, hugs, to you, my friends. Warm hugs. 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