I am a silent, sad, sad little bird....

A moment of silence...
LOS ANGELES -- Chick Hearn, who made ''slam dunk'' and ''air ball'' common basketball expressions during his 42-year broadcasting career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died Monday night. He was 85. -courtesy of ESPN

Strength
It's pretty funny how we measure strength, whether it's physical strength, emotional, or psychological. Physical strength is measured by how much weight someone, anyone can put up...there's milestone weights like plates. But rarely do people take into account the proportion of the weight lifted to the weight lifter. But two people who lift the same weight, but one is smaller than the other, then the smaller is stronger pound for pound. Meatheads get all the credit...but they SHOULD be lifting all that weight, they're bigger! Now the emotional and mental... from experience, it seems as though we measure strength by someone's ability NOT to cry. That's just sad. So being stoic is a form of strength? Or not crying when you're sad? That means you're strong? Bullshit...strength is the ability to DEAL with things, and be able to carry on, through thick and thin. My friend Marlene? She is truly strong...yes, she did not cry today at her father's funeral (at least I didn't see her cry), but that's not why. She was able to take care of him up to the day he died in their house, and to let him have his final wishes granted, which was to pass on while at home. She was ready to say goodbye. And she spend his final days w/ him, by his bedside. I'm sure she cried... a lot...but she really has dealt with it in a way in which I could never imagine myself doing. That, ladies and gentlemen, is STRENGTH...

"Pain is only weakness leaving the body..."