Dear Friends, Loved Ones, Acquaintances and Everyone Else,
I am happy to announce that today, Jan. 2, I am celebrating my birthday and another year above the ground. I usually do not make anything special of this day that will go down in the lower halls of infamy, at least for me, but as the legendary Minnie Pearl used to say, "Howdy. I'm just so proud to be here."
My health is decent for someone born in (year of birth redacted by me), and my memory banks swirl with all the wonderful people and good times I've known over the years. You rank among them.
I'd like to write that I have been the perfect person my parents strictly strove for me to be, but alas, I fell off that pedestal a long, long time ago. Borrowing and altering Frank Sinatra's hit, "Regrets. I've had more than a few, but on top of that, more than I care to mention."
I regret the pain and disappointments that I may have brought to others and I would go back and erase those mistakes if it were possible.
I have tried to live a life filled as much as possible with love, peace and integrity. I have received very few material rewards or acknowledgements in my careers. but if I have influenced only one person to learn something important or to turn his or her life around and start the walk toward the light instead of into the darkness, then my living has not been in vain, and that, in itself, is a wonderful prize. What often seems to be a catastrophic failure can quickly reverse itself into a blaze of success, achievement and even glory.
I have experienced the bad times as well as the good, and I chalk them all up as learning experiences, and my fortunes, though not monetary, have been better than those of far too many people who are trapped in their circumstances or never took even the safest, though unpredictable, chances. But if they are happy with their lives, I give them praise for sticking to the choices they have made. They may not have money in the bank, but they are rich.
I regret the pain and disappointments that I may have brought to others and I would go back and erase those mistakes if it were possible.
I have tried to live a life filled as much as possible with love, peace and integrity. I have received very few material rewards or acknowledgements in my careers. but if I have influenced only one person to learn something important or to turn his or her life around and start the walk toward the light instead of into the darkness, then my living has not been in vain, and that, in itself, is a wonderful prize. What often seems to be a catastrophic failure can quickly reverse itself into a blaze of success, achievement and even glory.
I have experienced the bad times as well as the good, and I chalk them all up as learning experiences, and my fortunes, though not monetary, have been better than those of far too many people who are trapped in their circumstances or never took even the safest, though unpredictable, chances. But if they are happy with their lives, I give them praise for sticking to the choices they have made. They may not have money in the bank, but they are rich.
I thank God, in Whom I believe, for dreams come true. A writer, a lover of the written word, music and people, I have been blessed with the opportunities of being a school teacher, a preacher for a few years (believe it or not), a newspaper writer and editor, a part time department and record store employee. a bleachery-cotton mill factory laborer and climaxing with the unexpected chance to entertain as a disc jockey and karaoke host ... experiences which have given me the opportunity to meet the famous and the infamous, the wealthy and the downtrodden, the sick and the healthy, the good-the bad-the beautiful-and-the-ugly (although no one is truly ugly) and many people, young and old, whose influences I treasure and will never forget.
I thank you for being among the special people in my life, and I pray only the best of all things for you and yours in the coming year and those years and decades that follow.
I love you all.
Toney Atkins
POSTSCRIPT: The original email in this post was slightly edited with some added and honest elaboration for my terrific blog readers around the nation and the world..
************
SPREAD LOVE AND PEACE!
TONEY's BLOGS:
http://toneyatkins.blogspot.com/
http://toneyatkins.blogger.com/
Toney Atkins
POSTSCRIPT: The original email in this post was slightly edited with some added and honest elaboration for my terrific blog readers around the nation and the world..
************
SPREAD LOVE AND PEACE!
TONEY's BLOGS:
http://toneyatkins.blogspot.com/
http://toneyatkins.blogger.com/
http://toneyatkins2.blogger.com/
********** So, then, to every man his chance -- to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity -- to every man his right to live, to work, to be himself, to become whatever his manhood and his vision can combine to make him -- this, seeker, is the promise of America. -- Thomas Wolfe
********** So, then, to every man his chance -- to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity -- to every man his right to live, to work, to be himself, to become whatever his manhood and his vision can combine to make him -- this, seeker, is the promise of America. -- Thomas Wolfe
SPREAD LOVE AND PEACE ALL YEAR LONG!!! Tell someone you love them. They'll feel good, and you will, too!
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