Hey, Clay!
I have young kids who I am trying to raise to be compassionate and friendly to people they cross paths with, no matter their nationality or physicality.
When our oldest daughter was still alive and we would take her places in her wheelchair, I was always happy to answer people’s questions about her, the device she used to communicate, and her ability to understand.
Hey, Clay.
As every family has it’s dysfunction, mine was pretty far on the dysfunctional spectrum, bordering chaotic. My parents had five children and they divorced when I was young. All five children had different relationships with my mom, varying from ones with firm boundaries to a rather enmeshed one my mom had with one sibling I’ll call Golden Child.
Hey, Clay.
I’m sending this letter to you in the hopes that you can give me some help with a situation I am currently in. I have a very good friend that has a serious medical condition. He has been told that he may not have long to live. This friend is a real optimistic type and is fighting this battle with everything he has. My problem is that I don’t what to say because I might say the wrong thing to him. Any advice that you might give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for your consideration of this letter!
Sincerely,
A Concerned Friend
If you’re like me, when I go to my friendly, neighborhood multiplex to enjoy a film I am committed to the process of taking in as much of the movie as I can. I tend to only go to see movies that will speak to me, hold my interest by delivering an experience that appeals to me based on genre or actor, or that I’m curious about. So, in a sense, I have a vested interest in what happens on the silver screen. I also have a vested financial interest, the money I paid to see the film. And I also invest time sitting in a darkened room with the expectation of being entertained.
If you have a situation that you’re currently dealing with that you’d like me to address, send an email (with a clever pen name instead of your real name) to me at heyclay@clayrivers.com, and tell me all about it. I’ll read through the submissions, pick one, and on Thursdays I’ll post the chosen letter along with my response here on my blog, my Facebook author page, and on my Twitter account. Rest assured, I will not publish email addresses. Ever.
I’m just a guy who is forty-eight inches tall. I speak only for myself and no other short-statured or average-sized individuals. Here are a few things I’d like the world to know about living with dwarfism.
It’s not so much that I, as a black man, am chomping at the bit to talk about racism with white people, but if asked about it, I’m eager to share my thoughts. I recently posted a couple of articles to my Facebook page on race relations in America and racism to offer a different point of view and several thoughtful discussions took place on my page.
Like so many opportunities of late, the invitation to participate in the Gratitude and Trust Summit rose from the ashes of failed plans for another project two months earlier. The masterminds and hosts of the event—my friend, screenwriter, and New York Times bestselling author Tracey Jackson; Academy Award winner and Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Paul Williams; and internet pioneer, Jeff Pulver—booked New York City’s historic 92nd Street YMCA and billed it as a conference about shedding old, worn out habits and replacing them with new, healthy, productive ones. It was a day filled with motivational speakers and panels who all shared their experiences and ways of moving forward through life’s challenges.
How can “I” as a Christian be happy about Friday’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage? Grab a seat and I’ll tell you.
Fathers Day is always an emotional day for me. Some years the day brims with fond memories of my father, his ebullience, strength, and character. Other years, those remembrances take a backseat to my own sense of loss. Given the murders of nine people in a Bible study at Charleston’s historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church four days ago, I’m still a cauldron of mixed emotions. And probably will be for some time.
