There’s an elephant in the room.            
It is large and squatting, so it is hard to get around it.          
Yet, we squeeze by with, “How are you?” and “I’m fine”. . .
And a thousand other forms of trivial chatter.          

We talk about the weather.         
We talk about work.         
We talk about everything else —           
Except the elephant in the room.         

We all know it is there.         
We are thinking about the elephant as we talk.         
It is constantly on our minds,         
For you see, it is a very big elephant.         

But we do not talk about the elephant in the room.         
Oh, please, say her name.         
Oh, please, say ‘Michelle’ again.         
Oh, please, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.         

For if we talk about her death,         
Perhaps we can talk about her life.         
Can I say ‘Michelle’ and not have you look away?         
For if I cannot, then you are leaving me

Alone. . . in a room . . .With an elephant.


To all of us who have had to experience the "Elephant" in the room....

Boundless Playgrounds?
Category: Life

As some of you may know, this week I purchased the domain name
www.darrelsplayground.com , and the site is now officially online!!!  Between the Facebook
issues when the Group Formats recently switched  over, the fate of MySpace (with or without
Justin Timberlake) being still up in the air, and the crash of our home computer's hard-drive, I decided that I needed another fallback in case something else unexpected were to occur.  A friend on mine (Hi Tanya) introduced me to Weebly "Build Your Own Website", and I have used it as a launching pad to create a stand alone (or so I thought) Darrel's Playground.

Whether searching on Google, or even just on Facebook, it isn't that hard to see that very few personal names are entirely unique.  I've come across different individuals with the same first, last and middle initial as  myself, but know of others who have found people with the same middle name as their own too.  However, it did surprise me that even the title Darrel's  Playground had more than one match!  I came up with the "Darrel's Playground" one day after returning from the school park with Darrel and the girls.  Little did I know
that it wasn't so original in the greater scope of things. 

A few hours after purchasing the domain name, I went on Google to see if, how and/or where my new website was listed on the database.  The majority of those entries were from sites I had posted something in the past, or a reference made to my Darrel by other person I was in contact with.  Four of the more interesting other Darrel's Playgrounds I found were:

Darrell's Dream Boundless Playground -  Located in Kingsport, Tennessee (Hi Lori), this park is one of over 200  ( www.boundlessplaygrounds.org )  creations scattered throughout North America (there is actually one in Orangeville, not far from where we live).  Boundless
Playgrounds hope "to build truly inclusive playgrounds where children — and adults — of all abilities can play and learn together in a fun and welcoming environment....[and to] create a world where ALL children have the opportunity to gain the developmental and health benefits 
derived from unstructured play in an inclusive environment."  Darrell's Dream opened in
2002, and was named after Darrell Rice, a past local  Kiwanis President, who was a driving force behind the structure in Warriors Path State Park.        

http://www.kingsportkiwanis.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=41

Darrel's Math Playground -  There was several connected webpages that comprise the Math
Playground Network, and Darrel Duenas has one of these sites.

http://darrelduenas.multiply.com/links/item/2
 
Darrell Brown's Playground - Brown, an acclaimed songwriter and producer released his
"Playground" CD in 2010.  In the past he has worked with Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes, Bon Jovi and Faith Hill.  Much of "Playground" has featured in EA's The Sims 3 video game.

Deanna and Darrell's Playground - As this exists only on MySpace (where I first set up
Darrel's webpage), it's kind of odd I have not come across this one before.  I know little about
this page, as it is a private account, and only shows a scantily clad couple (Deanna and
Darrell I would assume) in an embrace. Considering MySpace usually monitors such things it probably isn't too risque, but I'll never know regradless.

Since I know that there perhaps could be web-surfers looking for those other sites coming my way, I have relabelled my site "Darrel's Memorial Playground" to hopefully avoid any
confusion.  One would hope that this would suggest to such people that it might not be what they were searching for.  For now both the Facebook and MySpace accounts will remain open, but I have closed Darrel's 'Believe For Boey' and CarePages webpages.  Now that I have
established  a more independent base, I should not need to stretch myself out as much.

P.S. On another note, in keeping with tradition, we went to see Transformers 3: Dark of the
Moon during its opening weekend a few days ago.  The first movie will always have a special place for me and my time with Darrel.  Unfortunately, this film, much like Revenge of the
Fallen, was a disappointment for me.  I've always been more about a strong storyline than
the kind of 'Bay'hem and destruction Michael Bay is famous for.  The addition of 3D was
a nice touch, but it just wasn't enough to impress me.  It was Less 'than meets the eye".

I don't think I've mentioned on here yet, but Darrel's dog Lady is currently very pregnant, and should be having puppies by the end of the month.  Even though I never was a 'dog person', Darrel asked for one after he was diagnosed back in the Fall 2005, and Lady arrived shortly after that. I'm sure he would have loved to have seen this moment...and all the others leading up to it and afterwards as well.

Poem: No Word
Category:

A child that loses a parent is an orphan ...

A man who loses his wife is a widower ...

A woman who loses her husband is a widow ...

There is no name for a parent that loses a Child ...

For there is no word to describe the pain.

Author Unknown

Please read comments below about the controversy surrounding this poem.

*************************

S L O W  D A N C E:

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Do you run through each day on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time to call and say "Hi"?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away...

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

*************************
 
This poem originally was sent as a chain email saying there was a little girl who has six
months to live. People are asked to forward the email about her to as many people as
possible because the American Cancer Society will give 3 cents per email to support her 
treatment. It starts with a poem titled SLOW DANCE. The email is signed with the name of  professor at Yeshiva University in New York.
 
The Truth: 

According to  the American Cancer Society, the email is a hoax. The girl in the story is never
identified (though often said to be called 'Amy Bruce'), the American Cancer  Society has not
made any such commitment, there is no way for forwarded emails to be accounted for even if
someone wanted to make a donation for each one, and  the professor named at Yeshiva
University, Dr. Dennis Shields, says he never  had anything to do with any such story. If you
dial his number, you get a recording saying the story is not true. 

There are several versions of this email making the rounds of the Net. Some simply say this
is a poem written by a dying girl. Others say the little girl gave it to a medical student.
Others say the poem is being circulated by a doctor.

The poem is actually from  the pen of psychologist and writer David L. Weatherford

*************************

Though ironic, the Guelph based band Blind Colour has written and recorded a song based on this very poem.  Though labelled as a hoax because of its sorted history, the message it
sends is mostly accurate and worthy of repeating.  Blind Colour has partnered with the Canadaian Cancer Society, and will donate 50 cents from every 99 cent download of the song from iTunes.  I went to high school with the band's Paul Cook, so I am sure that this time
Slow Dance is legitimate.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150675092850018
 
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/slow-dance-single/id447212076?ign-mpt=uo%3D4