Anniversary Response 9.27.2019
On her fifth wedding anniversary recently, WREX-TV’s Kristin Crowley asked us, “What have you learned from your spouse? What advice do you have for a long, happy marriage?” Here’s how I answered her questions: Yesterday was the 53rd anniversary of the day I proposed to my childhood sweetheart and soulmate (now married 52.42 years). What have I learned from her? #1. I have learned that she is a natural life-giver and nurturer who is blessed with extraordinary wisdom and patience. #2. I have learned that she can transform any space into a beautiful, warm, welcoming home. #3. I have learned that she can do anything she decides to do, no matter how difficult. #4. I have learned that it behooves me to put my clothes away and put the toilet seat down.
What advice do I have for a long, happy marriage? #1. Recall often what you learned in high school English class (if you were paying attention): “The course of true love never did run smooth.” (William Shakespeare, Midsummer Night’s Dream) True love always encounters difficulties. Therefore, be realistic and know that love is not something we find in a relationship, it is something we bring to the relationship. We bring it to the relationship every morning or it will not be there. Love is a choice we make, not an emotion, and true love includes a lifetime commitment that endures, even through difficulties; infatuation fades. #2. Repeat #1 often.
And the rewards, like true love itself, are beyond anything we can imagine or describe.
Now booking classroom motivational programs or tutoring/consultation sessions. For more information: email us: mailbox@johngile.us or call 815.978.3071.
Shared from Why I Write– Why I write and teach is easy for me to explain: “It seems strange to me that we spend so much time and effort trying to teach unwilling children to read. If they could be made to understand what worlds open to them with that power, they would teach themselves.” (Page 77, Keeping First Things First, ISBN: 9780910941020) Not every child learns to read the same way, and disadvantaged learners may require special help, but every child can learn to read. More at https://johngile.us/programs.
Freedom Follows Reading 9.20.2019
For signed copies, visit: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JustASecondonMain
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” ― Frederick Douglass.
Failure is not an option. (https://johngile.us/programs and https://johngile.us/evaluations)
John’s notes on our Anniversary 4.15.2019
Wedding Mass 11 a.m., St. Peter Cathedral, be there at 10:30. Temperature 70 degrees and sunny. Cubs beat the Cardinals at Wrigley. Marriage blessed at end of Mass by Father Phillip E. O’Neil, Msgr.W. G. McMillan, Msgr. Arthur J. O’Neill (later Bishop), and Franciscan Father Bernard. Renie’s comment 52 years later: “We’ve needed every one of those blessings.” My response: “Those blessings have yielded 52 incredibly beautiful years of tears and laughter, two sons, four daughters, ten granddaughters, ten grandsons, and a grateful heart filled with incalculable love beyond my power to express.” And that’s just the beginning! My advice after 52 years: “If at all possible, marry an Italian.” Renie’s advice: “Never marry a writer.” (I was relieved when she smiled and added, “I don’t know about that.”) — with Renie Gile.
Posted on by John Gile
Sometimes a Picture conveys the Wrong Message
When first grade students were told to draw a picture showing what they wanted to be when they grew up, one of the girls told her teacher, “I want to be like Mommy,”and handed in this drawing. Her teacher gasped when she saw the drawing, but praised the little girl for herwork and then put the drawing into the child’s packet of papers to take home.
The next day the little girl returned to school with the drawing and a note from the teacher from her very embarrassed mother — who had instructed her daughter to make certain the teacher read Mommy’s note.
The note said,“I want to explain my daughter’s drawing. My friends say it looks like a drawing of me at a dance pole on a stage surrounded by male customers handing over cash, but it’s not. I work in a hardware store and told my daughter how much money we made during the snowstorm last week. Her drawing is a picture of me selling snow shovels.”
