2/20/2003..We will never forget 💜

The Station Night Club Fire 2003

West Warwick, RI

Tina Ayer was a childhood friend. I can remember playing hide n seek, waiting for the ice cream truck to come by, on one of those hot summer nights, and just playing like neighborhood kids do.

Jason Morton was a co-worker and friend. It was hard not to be Jason's friend. He was truly a nice guy. He was always happy, a hard worker and could make anyone laugh within seconds of meeting him.

It hardly seems like 14 years has in fact passed since that horrific night.

I know a lot of lives changed in that one night.

I  remember reading the obituaries and Jason's has always stayed with me. It was not surprising what I read. Jason was with Tom, his best friend, and they were inseparable:

The news is filled with extraordinary heroic deeds these days. I believe Jason and Tom, were your simple honest heroes, who did not think of themselves in that way.

They just did what was natural for them and gave a helping hand to those in need.

No, you, will never be forgotten.



Until next time,
~It is what it is~


https://www.facebook.com/Jackiesview

Sail away.....

This song came on the radio and it was fitting for the moment.

Setting--I was out with my son running errands. He was driving. We were talking about his plans for his future.

He is very passionate about becoming a police officer. As we were discussing his decision, this song comes on the radio.

It is an amazing feeling to see your child's eyes fill with passion for a career.  I could not be more proud of him.

He gives me credit for my part in molding him. I see it as planting seeds along his life, to do with as he chooses.

I get nostalgic when I think of how quickly the years have passed. People tell you life goes by with a blink of an eye when you have kids but you don't believe it until it happens to you.

We think, as parents, that we know our kids inside and out. We do but I didn't see this coming when he was a child. I envisioned him being an artist of some type, just going along with life. As he grew, I saw the changes in him.

Did I imagine him taking on a role that, in today's world, is seen less heroic daily? No. I am proud of his convictions and his will to stand by them.

I will support his decision. I will worry. I know God has a plan for his life and it brings me comfort.

So, my young son, Sail away and be the best that you can be. Life if just beginning for you.

I will always be here for you, just going along with life, in a blink of an eye.



Until next time,
~It is what it is~

https://www.facebook.com/Jackiesview

Leave me standing in the STORM please!!!!

"From dark clouds we

get precious water...

From dark mines we

get valuable jewels...

And

From our darkest

trials comes our

best."

Doesn't it just annoy you when your going through a tough time and someone says, "Look on the bright side, it will get better."  Blah blah blah

I think we need to be left to experience the trials of life that we go through.

We need to know what it is like to have nothing.

To be alone.

To have a broken heart.

To be betrayed.

Life does not come with any guarantees.  People leave us.  Nobody is perfect.

Simply stated,

"Life can suck."

And when it does, it is when we learn.  We learn who will stand by us, hold our hand, give us a hug and not lecture us. What choices we are willing to make or what we will go without.

It helps us to know what we need to get rid of in our lives and what to keep.

We know there will be a rainbow at the end but we need to experience the storm too.

Until next time,

~It is what it is~

https://www.facebook.com/Jackiesview

It was in fact my FATE.....

Part of being who we are, is learning how to navigate the life we are given. Making choices, or having choices made for us, that may take us to a place we hadn't imagined we could go. Let alone stay there indefinitely.

When we go through something traumatic, we go on auto-pilot and become a different person completely. Forgetting who we truly are.

If you do not stand up and fight, you will lose yourself forever.


There comes a moment when you have to make a choice. This current you is not working anymore. More importantly, the real you is struggling to be free. It wants to live and be happy again. It is why you are torn inside. It is the voice you are trying to suffocate. Running away will only satisfy the scared you for a short time.

What do you really have to lose here?

Wouldn't it be nice to have a quiet mind? To survive the day without rethinking each and every thought you have? The anger will be gone. The short fuse. The numbness. Wouldn't it be nice to finally be free to feel again without being terrified at the same time? What about love? Wouldn't it be nice to fall in love and believe you are good enough to be loved?



Embarrassment. Foolishness. Risks. Lies. Depravity. Utter Darkness. Lost. Used.
Pain. Shame. Fear.


Are just words you are using as an excuse to convince yourself you are not worth it. The real reason you don't want to let go, is because, you don't know how to live any other way.

That is simply not true.

We learn how to lie to ourselves to justify who we have become.

Read that sentence again.

Now deny it. You can't, can you?

I am telling you what I know. I have been through things no human should of had to suffer through, but I did.

All of it, made me who I am today. I decided to let go. I decided to no longer live in a prison that I built. I decided I was worth fighting for.

Now it's your turn.



Until next time,
~It is what it is~



https://www.facebook.com/Jackiesview

I'm going to March without my Vagina.......

I am bringing Common Sense instead.

Yes, I am going there. Haters you have the right to hate.

The Vagina defines a woman, as being a woman. Just as a penis defines a man.

I have been bombarded with many questions recently.  This is why I believe women have vagina's and men have penis'.  The reasoning of creating male and females, was for procreation of humans. The bonus being pleasure with bearing pain for childbirth. Let's face it, it hurts giving birth. Hopefully, you understand how this is done

The Vagina and Penis are to be used solely by the owner as they wish. The owners are the ones who give sole permission to others of its use. Period!

The recent Women's March was an embarrassing moment in history for all women.

The president elect made a derogatory statement to all women. Allegations of misconduct followed.

This created the recent women's march. Women spoke/picketed/marched against him. Some wearing vagina's and using the word pussy, to get their point across.

Proud yet?

So, in Trump's comment, he used the word pussy in a derogatory way. Then some women spoke and held signs using the word pussy. Common sense tells me it was still being used in a derogatory way.

I'm confused as to why so many women supported this March? What was your goal here?  Dressing as vagina's and using the word pussy, you took women back 100 years. We are more than our genitals. We have hearts and brains. You tried to use the Vagina as an off limit thing but wore it proudly claiming you are more than a pussy?

Proud yet?

I'm wondering why your not Marching at the courthouse when there is a rape/molestation trial, wearing the Vagina costume?

I'm wondering why The Vagina Costume is not used to picket prisons, when prisoners arrive after being found guilty of such a crime?

Hmmm.....

Anyways, common sense tells me it would not convey the sincerity of my viewpoint, while wearing the Vagina costume.

Common sense tells me to use my brains to get people to understand that the vagina is not to be used in a derogatory way. Ever.

But hey, that's just my brain, using common sense.....



Until next time,
~It is what it is~

https://www.facebook.com/Jackiesview

I almost made it through the Looking Glass.......

I saw this picture, my first thought was:

"I almost made it through but I am still trapped within myself."

Have you ever felt this way? I have and sometimes still do.  

The more I looked at this picture, the more I saw.

The sand states, that no matter how hard you try to let go, you cannot become the person that you are meant to be.  Each time that you start to let go, you see a barren land. The lush green promised land with it's white fluffy clouds, that you so desperately want to be a part of, is still so very far away. You will have to climb that mountain. It is, an impossible task. You ask yourself, why even try?  Then you give up. Leaving yourself stuck between two worlds. A place, that you have become, all too familiar with.

I noticed that you have landed in the barren spot on the sand. You placed the white fluffy clouds, behind you and out of reach. Leaving you to be scorched by the sun and heat. You are used to being burned though aren't you?

The Looking Glass, that you are trying to escape from, is it own paradox. It is a place that you are most comfortable with, yet it traps you and keeps you safe at the same time.

I like how you took the time to prepare yourself for this journey. Applied make-up, wearing a nice blouse, and getting your nails painted. You expect it to be a fight and have prepared yourself to be able to defend or claw yourself out of the looking glass. Nice touch with the razor sharp nails btw.

I have to ask myself if you were in fact dressing for a performance? A costume to make you feel "normal." A small act to convince yourself, you are, in fact, worthy.  

Am I to presume that you are left for dead? That you are unable to make the rest of the journey?

No. I think you like the paradox of the Looking Glass. It keeps you safe. A mirror will only show you how ugly you truly feel. How, by choosing the white blouse, it screams innocence of my own paradox for you know no other way.  That the white fluffy clouds are against a bright blue, sun filled sky, that screams Happiness!!

No, the Looking Glass is keeping you from a life you deserve.

It cannot possibly show you the reality of the life the promise land will give you. 

A life of utter happiness. 

It scares you to leave the Looking Glass.

But then, that is the purpose of The Looking Glass, isn't it?

Until Next Time,

~It is what it is~

https://www.facebook.com/Jackiesview

I wouldn't be me without you.....

Maybe it's the lack of sleep or being up so early, but this song was playing on the radio, on my way to work this dark, rainy morning.

It got me thinking and put me in a grateful mood.

My kids. They are the center of my world. I take the responsibility of being their mom seriously. I neva imagined they could bring me such joy and fill me with a love so grand.

It made me think how fortunate I truly am. How my life would be so vastly different without them in it.

I started thinking about, how it just isn't my kids that have changed my life. There are certain people that have impacted my life and changed it for the better. I am certain my life would of taken a different direction completely. I am a better person for knowing them.

Who do you think of when you hear this song?

How have they changed your life?


Until next time,
~ It is what what it is~

https://www.facebook.com/Jackiesview