Casa DelaRosa and the Four Elements

06/02/2025

06/02/2025

This starts my 22nd year of teaching middle school. Yesterday was quite possibly one of the most impactful days I have ever had.
I tried a new activity called “The Baggage Activity”. I asked the kids what it meant to have baggage and they mostly said it was hurtful stuff you carry around on your shoulders.
I asked them to write down on a piece of paper what was bothering them, what was heavy on their heart, what was hurting them, etc. No names were to be on a paper. They wadded the paper up, and threw it across the room.
They picked up a piece of paper and took turns reading out loud what their classmate wrote. After a student read a paper, I asked who wrote that, and if they cared to share.
I’m here to tell you, I have never been so moved to tears as what these kids opened up and about and shared with the class.
Things like su***de, parents in prison, drugs in their family, being left by their parents, death, cancer, losing pets (one said their gerbil died cause it was fat, we giggled😁) and on and on.
The kids who read the papers would cry because what they were reading was tough. The person who shared (if they chose to tell us it was them) would cry sometimes too. It was an emotionally draining day, but I firmly believe my kids will judge a little less, love a little more, and forgive a little faster.
This bag hangs by my door to remind them that we all have baggage. We will leave it at the door. As they left I told them, they are not alone, they are loved, and we have each other’s back.
I am honored to be their teacher.
Credit: Karen Wunderlich Loewe

06/02/2025

"While I was walking out of North Adams Massachusetts, I decided to swing into the Subway to get one last meal before getting back to the trail. I was in line ordering my meal after setting my pack down by a table. Another patron saw my pack and asked if I was hiking the trail. I said I was. He asked how it was going and in which direction I was going. I told him cold and wet and that I was heading south. Then he went back to his meal with the gentleman his was sitting with. Just before I was about to pay for my meal, he came up to the cashier and said that he would be paying for my meal. And despite my repeated attempts to thank him but defer the gesture, he won out and I allowed him to pay. As he was about to walk away we shook hands and exchanged names and I thanked him and he said "Semper Fi". This of course sparked a conversation about where we served and when. He then asked me if I had ever heard of . I informed him that I had hiked with Warrior Hike in 2013 on the AT and he said that he was the Quartermaster at the local VFW Post. He hosted me and the other Warrior Hikers that year!! We had met before and it all immediately came back to me!! Just simply amazing. I could go on out about our interaction but there is more to this story.
After thanking him and saying goodbye I went over to my food and began to eat the meal, his gift to a supposed complete stranger. While sitting there eating, on older woman walked in. She looked cold and appeared as though maybe she could use a little magic herself. She was alone but ordering for two. I thought how nice it would be for her to receive a gift much like I had. I walked up behind her and told her the story of what had just happened to me and then went on to say that I would like to do the same for her. She nearly collapsed and proclaimed "There IS a God!! Man, I really needed this one today!! I can't even tell you. Thank you. Thank you!!" She said. I could tell she wanted to hug me but I just put my arm around her and said, "I'm glad I was able to help you today ma'am."
I can only imagine how excited she will be to give the other meal to her friend or child or whoever it was that it was for. She might have been homeless or just down on her luck that day, I don't know. It doesn't even matter, she was happy in that moment. Small acts of kindness add up. Restores your soul sometimes. Restores your faith in others. Restores your faith in this world.
After the woman left I went back to my meal and one of the Subway workers came out and told me that I made both of their days as well. She thanked me and I thought the very least I could do was to ask them if they wanted to help me inspire others with this story. So I got them together for this picture
I don't have a picture of either of the people that were involved in this story but I've got to share it anyways. Not because I want praise but because I want you all to go out and do the same. Even if I only get a handful of you to do it, that's a handful of people that might have their days made by YOU!! Pay it forward people. It can matter. It can matter more than you know.
Share it. Share your time. Share your food. Share your money. Share your love. Share your stuff. Be the inspiration and change you want to see in this world. It starts with you and me."
Credit: The Real Hiking Viking

05/02/2025

ThoughtS

05/02/2025

Many of the other electric vehicles have better dependability and are less expensive. Your monthly payment will probably go down and you'll be driving a better vehicle. 🤷‍♂️

05/02/2025

Jane Fonda once said: "Appearances do not sustain a life, for arrogance is merely a mask that hides empty hearts. Money can provide luxuries, but it will never buy sincere hugs or true love. Pretending to be happy does not make happiness real, and behind forced smiles, the shadow of greed always lurks. Those who believe they have everything because of their wealth may actually lack the most important thing: a soul. Because, in the end, what truly matters has never been for sale."

Credits: Ankor inclan

05/02/2025

Robert De Niro’s statement on Donald is perfect. Please read it:

“I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men. I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty. Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump.

When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly.

I see an evil one.

Over the years, I’ve met gangsters here and there. This guy tries to be one, but he can’t quite pull it off. There’s such a thing as “honor among thieves.”

Yes, even criminals usually have a sense of right and wrong. Whether they do the right thing or not is a different story — but — they have a moral code, however warped.

Donald Trump does not. He’s a wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself — not the people he was supposed to lead and protect, not the people he does business with, not the people who follow him, blindly and loyally, not even the people who consider themselves his “friends.”

He has contempt for all of them.

We New Yorkers got to know him over the years that he poisoned the atmosphere and littered our city with monuments to his ego. We knew first hand that this was someone who should never be considered for leadership.

We tried to warn the world in 2016.

The repercussions of his turbulent presidency divided America and rattled New York City beyond imagination. Remember how we were jolted by crisis in early 2020, as a virus swept the world. We lived with Donald Trump’s bombastic behavior every day on the national stage, and we suffered as we saw our neighbors piling up in body bags.

The man who was supposed to protect this country put it in peril, because of his recklessness and impulsiveness. It was like an abusive father ruling the family by fear and violent behavior. That was the consequence of New York’s warning getting ignored. Next time, we know it will be worse.

Make no mistake: the twice-impeached, 4-time indicted Donald Trump is still a fool. But we can’t let our fellow Americans write him off like one. Evil thrives in the shadow of dismissive mockery, which is why we must take the danger of Donald Trump very seriously.

So today we issue another warning. From this place where Abraham Lincoln spoke — right here in the beating heart of New York — to the rest of America:

This is our last chance.

Democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator.

And it won’t overcome evil if we are divided.

So what do we do about it? I know I’m preaching to the choir here. What we’re doing today is valuable, but we have to take today into tomorrow – take it outside these walls.

We have to reach out to the half of our country who have ignored the hazards of Trump and, for whatever reason, support elevating him back into the White House. They’re not stupid, and we must not condemn them for making a stupid choice. Our future doesn’t just depend on us. It depends on them.

Let’s reach out to Trump’s followers with respect.

Let’s not talk about “democracy.” “Democracy” may be our holy grail, but to others it is just a word, a concept, and in their embrace of Trump, they’ve already turned their backs on it.

Let’s talk about right and wrong. Let’s talk about humanity.

Let’s talk about kindness. Security for our world. Safety for our families. Decency.

Let’s welcome them back.

We won’t get them all, but we can get enough to end the nightmare of Trump, and fulfill the mission of this “Stop Trump Summit.””

05/02/2025

Say It…

04/02/2025

At 18, Elizabeth Cochrane lived in Pittsburgh when she read an article titled What Are Girls Good For, which claimed their only purpose was to have children and manage the home. Outraged, she wrote an anonymous rebuttal that impressed the local newspaper editor so much that he hired her. Following the custom of the time, he gave her a pen name taken from a Stephen Foster song: Nellie Bly.

Passionate about investigative journalism, Bly was assigned to "women’s topics" like fashion and society. However, after exposing the harsh conditions of factory workers, she traveled to Mexico at just 21 to report on the working-class population. Her writings got her into trouble with the authorities, forcing her to flee.

At 23, she was hired by Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and undertook the investigation that made her famous: she posed as a patient in the Women’s Lunatic Asylum in New York. Her shocking report led to reforms in the treatment of the mentally ill.

In 1889, inspired by Around the World in 80 Days, she embarked on a solo journey around the globe. Her return after 72 days set a record and made her an international celebrity.

At 31, she married industrialist Robert Seaman and left journalism, helping run his business and patenting two inventions. During World War I, she returned to reporting, becoming one of the first women to cover an active war zone.

She passed away on January 27, 1922, at the age of 57, leaving behind a groundbreaking legacy in journalism.

credits: Edi libedinsky