Category Archives: heart

change of heart.

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A 9-year-old girl’s plea to save a sidewalk slab with a heart-shaped cavity has tugged at the heartstrings of Ann Arbor officials, who have agreed to let it stay. The inspector also spray-painted an X over the R that previously marked the slab for replacement, while writing “Save!” and giving the heart a fresh touch of color.
Where Dahlia left a note along the sidewalk last week making the case for keeping the slab, the city’s inspector on Monday left a response letter complete with the city seal on it. “Thank you for your wonderful letter, and for bringing this to our attention!” it reads. “Your note is very well written, and after further considerations, we feel this sidewalk slab can be saved. We’re so glad you let us know, and that we can save your ‘heart.’”
Seventh Street heart sidewalk

“Thank you for being so passionate and proactive about your community!” the response letter states. “When you’re old enough, you should consider working for the city to continue making it a great place to live. Sincerely, City Sidewalk Repair Program.”

Dahlia, the daughter of Kelly and Matt,  said in her note to the ‘Sidewalk People” last week that she was devastated when she saw the slab was marked for replacement.

“You see, the heart is not just a heart,” she wrote. “Ever since I was little, I said hi to the heart. Don’t you see how much it means to me? Every time I pass the heart, I say hi and it brings me joy.”

Anyone else who wants to say hi to the heart now can find it along the east side of Seventh Street across from Waterworks Park between Murray Court and Washington Street.

“kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much.”

-blaise pascal

 

 

 

source credit: ryan stanton, mlive, ann arbor news

bueno come il pane.

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“buono come il pane.”

this Italian idiom refers to someone who is “as good as bread.”

that is, someone who is caring and loving and a person of the heart.

i really, really love this phrase and am definitely going to start using it. such the perfect words.

feeling the beat.

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on the very next day

after i punched an aggressive clown in a haunted house

and my heartbeat had resumed its normal pace

i found this heart on a sidewalk

made of old gum weathered with time

yet the message was still clear.

“i would rather live with a tender heart, because that it the key to feeling the beat of all other hearts.”

-jenny slate

dung.

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all i see is a heart

and i know 

that i have crossed paths

with a sweet and amazing

canine artist.

 

 

“to fashion stars out of dog dung,

that is the great work.

to take a negative experience and,

by comparing it to something worse,

make it feel good, is a great skill. “

-alexandra david- neel

 

growing.

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as we watched 

the big kids perform

‘a christmas carol’

the kinder 

kept whispering

and asking 

‘why is that man so mean?’

‘why is he so crabby?’ 

‘how can he be that mean?’

I told them that later in the play

mr. scrooge’s heart will grow

and he will learn to be nice 

just like what happened to the grinch

 it made my own heart grow

 to think about

their innocence 

their naturally kind and compassionate state of being

how they could not even begin to imagine

why someone would choose to be mean.

‘i think being nice is more important than being clever.’

-ricky gervais

 

who’s the boss?

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I find it simply impossible

to sit through

one single episode of

‘undercover boss’

without tears rolling down my face

or to watch 

one rerun of

‘the office’

without laughing out loud. 

my daughters have said

that most of my own stories

end with me

either crying or laughing.

apparently 

my heart is the real boss of me. 

 

“Sometimes you have to take a break from being the kind of boss

that’s always trying to teach people things.

Sometimes you just have to be the boss of dancing.”

(Season 2, Episode 11) The Office – Michael Scott (Steve Carrell)

 

 

 

 

image credit: nbc tv/comedy central – the office

falling.

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it was a quiet, simple act

a couple walking in my direction

 stopped

 the man bent down

to tie his companion’s shoe

and in this tiny moment

revealed his heart. 

 

“let me tie your shoes. i don’t want you tripping and falling for someone else.”

-author unknown

fence.

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while the kinders

happily watch and cheer them on

from their side

of the playground fence

the big kids play soccer 

on their side of the fence

made happier by 

 the enthusiastic audience.

“throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.”

-norman vincent peale