I HATE that I love U

TJ Barr
Sep 28
2 min read

When I was about 4, I was barely able to speak let alone understand what came out of my mouth, but I remember telling my mom "I hate you." She cried.

Someone who bestows so much unconditional love on her young son, and I blatantly disregarded her efforts to give me a good life. I love you mom.

If you want to see an Irish man's pride, look at the tears in his eyes

The man wrote 7 novels on Irish-American history, and the only financial compensation he ever got was $57.90

That pride seemed to vanish in his last days of living.

In 2020, our world was reeling from a pandemic, enough said. He was in the hospital for a different reason. Calling to check on him to see if he was ok, he had 2 words... Martin Shackleford.

Poppop had just completed his final book on JFK and had become an enthusiast that was borderline obsession. He always had a confident perspective of himself, his intelligence and knowledge, especially on the topic of the assassination.

To promote his book, he took to Facebook JFK conspiracy groups. This "contributor" seemed to pick on Poppop and attack his credibility. After years of research and passion, he took it to heart.

The last words my grandfather were filled with malice, and that was how he died.

Words have weight... and I think it is almost weird that we wait to say "I LOVE YOU." It is not a requirement, but its a gift.

Some people believe in destiny... or make your own... or whatever. Are we forever destined to hate each other? Everyone who has sat at a high school lunch table is prone to some jabs or quiffs but I can feel the despair of parents as their child is derided on social media. Helpless is one of the worst feelings in the world. How bout we help each other.

That is what we should strive for in our lives. Make each others' lives better. Are we in this to win it? No. We are here to get through this together. WE should bring ourselves to the other side.

Imagine working for the weekend to cry on Sundays