It's Sunday morning, and I had planned to start writing about my travel stories today, but since I plan to link today's post over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage's
Favorite Things, I wanted to share something that I've been thinking about a lot the past few days. My favorite thing? Hands down, my family.
My family? A group of wonderful, loving, expressive, creative, joyful individuals who all are finding their own paths to happiness, but bonded together by love and sincere affection for each other.
Oh, and did I mention my family is bi-racial? Do I need to? Is that what defines my family? I never thought so, but evidently it still matters to a whole lot of people out in cyber-space. People who are willing to make anonymous comments and hide behind blogger nicknames and actually force a company to disable the comments section on a you-tube video because of all the hateful and racist comments that were being posted.
My new favorite thing? General Mills and Cheerios. Actually, I've always loved Cheerios and there is usually a box of Honey Nut Cheerios in my pantry for those mornings when I just don't have the time or energy to fix a 'real' breakfast. Maybe you haven't had the chance to see the new Cheerios commercial that is causing such a stir, and in that case, here it is: Cheerios commercial.
And the adorable little girl who just wants to help protect her dad's heart? She looks a lot like my precious daughter...
 |
| Protecting her daddy's heart... |
 |
| My little girl |
 |
| my daughter and my husband...she stole his heart the moment she was born! |
In Sunday School we used to sing "Jesus loves the little children...all the children of the world." How sad that even now, in 2013, a commercial about an interracial family who eats Cheerios, of all things, can create such a stir. I thank God that my family never bought into the silly notion that the color of your skin has anything to do with the character and content of your heart. My youngest brother? He shares his heritage with the Ogalala Sioux Nation. One of my nieces started her life in Guatemala. My children? They share a fascinating heritage of English, Welsh, African, Cherokee and Creole backgrounds...all combined to give them an interesting background. But does the color of their skin define them? Of course not! We all have the ability to choose who we become, based not on what the world sees but what we know is right in our hearts. We choose goodness, and love, and friendship. We choose not to hate or scorn or belittle.
And, from now on, we choose Cheerios.
Please check out other Favorite Things here and I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
Amen. Cheerios actually aren't my favorite cereal, but they are my favorite company. I cannot believe that in 2013 we are still dealing with this prejudice. Why does it matter to these ignorant, fearful, bigoted people? Why is it an issue? I say to them: "Get a life. Expand your horizons. Cleanse your heart and soul."
ReplyDeleteGod created all of us. We are all brothers and sisters. We are all children of God. End of story.
Bless you and your family, my friend.
xo
Claudia
That should be 'isn't my favorite cereal."
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about 8 years old, my best friend was Helen, an older woman who worked with Dad. She was from Trinidad/Tobago. Her husband was a medical doctor. She had a fur coat that I loved to stroke. We spoke French together and shared silly jokes. She had an elegant dog too. She took me on rides in her car in the countryside. Their house, in a very nice neighborhood, was sprayed one day in graffiti. Why would anyone be mean to my friends? Years later she died. To my surprise, her obituary revealed to me the fact that she was "black". Somehow I never knew that. I guess it really didn't matter to us, only to those who read about her after her life had ended. She treated me like a special person, had me over for dinner too. She never had children. She was a French literature professor. She was beautiful. Those things didn't show up in the obituary. Her husband was kind, quiet and good. I have a small piece of paper with her signature on it in my desk. That and fond memories are all I have.
ReplyDeleteThese days so many of my friends are from foreign lands and certainly don't look like me. I like it that way. Friends of all ages from all sorts of places...so interesting! Oh, and I have a box of Cheerios down in the kitchen...No, I hadn't heard about the controversy.