Five Friday Happy Bringers 5/27/22

Last night, in the midst of some uninvited anxiety (Hello, Truffles!), I told Robert that I was thinking about not doing my weekly Five Friday Happy Bringers today. That there’s just too much Sadness and Horror in the world to post about Happiness. After giving me a lengthy and incredulous stare … something like this …

… HR helped me see that my rationale made NO sense. “Everything is not negative. And doesn’t positive help to counteract negative?”

He’s right. Happiness continues to come our way, if we see and embrace it.

1. Curly haired courage. Florida high school class president Zander Moricz, speaking at his graduation, brilliantly referencing his being gay (and Florida’s new restrictive anti-gay laws) without ever using the word (as he was told not to do so).

If you haven’t read about or seen videos of Zander’s speech, here are a few excerpts.

“I must discuss a very public part of my identity…As you know, I have curly hair,” he continued while taking off his graduation cap.

He went on to discuss the challenges faced by curly-haired people. “While having curly hair in Florida is difficult — due to the humidity — I decided to be proud of who I was and started coming to school as my authentic self,” after unsuccessful attempts at straightening, he said. And he found support from teachers who discussed the topic and discovered others with curly hair.

“It’s because of the love I’d drawn from this community that I came out to my family,” he said. “Now I’m happy. Now I’m happy. And that is what is at stake. There are going to be so many kids with curly hair who need a community like Pine View, and they won’t have one. They too will try to straighten that part of themselves.” (The Advocate)

2. HR prepping for his spectacular Baked Ziti Thursday night.

4. Grandson Gabriel receiving a year-long honor roll award at his school’s ceremony.

4. The classic simplicity of lettuce and tomato.

5. Life. LIFE!

Have a lovely last weekend of May.