Maria xxx xxx first posted this to Facebook on February 6 th 2020 Short as it may be, I thought it both touching and revealing; so much it has made it here, on Brilliant Blogshare Well, today didn't go as we hoped but it's in the hardest of times we learn the best lessons and feel the most gratitude. Buffy was scheduled to have her teeth cleaned and removed today but Dr. Mac had a gut feeling she needed to look at some lab work before putting her under anaesthesia.  She was right; Buffy showed signs of advanced kidney failure so anaesthesia was not an option and as a family, we decided that the kindest and most loving thing to do would be to let her go before she lost her will to live and stopped eating and drinking. I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving my son out of this decision or not allowing him to be part of the entire process so, I immediately went and picked him up from school.  On the way to the veterinary surgeons, he told me he wante...

NOTE : I wrote this back in 2015, but this year, the 100th memorial year,  I think is a good time to give it another airing. A Legacy from the Great War. (WW1) I was watching a television trailer, regarding a forthcoming documentary, examining the life of those who lived and fought from the trenches. I was struck by the number of film clips taken on the front line. That so many have survived for the past one hundred years is quite amazing, considering the ease of degradation of the materials used. I had not previously considered such an archive of moving images existed, considering movie making was still in its infancy at the time. Seeing these short monochrome ( mostly, although a few colour films were produced ), films of men going about their daily lives on the front line, brought the characters of those captured on cellulose to life in a way I did not think possible. In conjunction with this footage was often clear and exceptional commentary. ...

I generally use this blog to share posts I come across during my regular use of the web. I do not surf the digital world looking for anything in particular, or anything un-particular. If something catches my eye as I scroll, or page hop, I may, if I have time, stop and look. Mostly I find trash, repetitive rubbish, simple mind numbing lists or links to site full of virus and bullsh*t. But, occasionally, very occasionally, I find content that is outstanding. Often these are well written, but even if the grammar leaves much to be desired, those posts will find their way here, onto Brilliant Blog Share, because they are written from the heart. They are a spilling of emotion, of love, of hope, of grieving., or they are full of spirit and hope and dreams. This is what Brilliant Blog Share is all about, sharing the best of what we, the people, have in our souls, touching one another with understanding and compassion. Lord knows that in this day and age, with the ...

The words the world does not want to hear, but will inevitably do so. When people think of a contemporary royal death in Britain, they think, inescapably, of Princess Diana. The passing of the Queen will be monumental by comparison. It may not be as nakedly emotional, but its reach will be wider, and its implications more dramatic. “She is the only monarch that most of us have ever known” The royal standard will appear on the TV screen. The national anthem will play. It will be a day when you will remember where you were. For Queen Elizabeth II of England, the plan for what happens upon her demise is known as “ London Bridge .” The prime minister will be woken, if she/he is not already awake and civil servants will say “ London Bridge is down” on secure lines. From the Foreign Office’s Global Response Centre, at an undisclosed location in the capital, the news will go out to the 15 governments outside the UK where the Queen is also the head of state, an...

This is the first time I have posted a book release on Brilliant blogshare, but there is a reason. This is NOT a War story The modern day civilised world we know is little more than a fragile moment balancing on a knife-edge between the evils of avarice and the struggle for dominant authoritarian supremacy. Caught in the maelstrom between the warring factions are the innocent lives of civilians and children, the unsuspecting conscripts and misguided volunteers on all sides. Conditioned, indoctrinated and convinced by those who have only power and ultimate wealth to gain, are those whose personal stories are revealed within the pages of this book. Life in the War Zone  takes a serious, no holds barred look at the devastation and trauma of life in the battlefields of the  Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Israel, Palestine, Libya, Lebanon and El Salvador. This may well be the book they would rather you did not read. Life in ...

T his post was published by the huffington post on 14th of July by the Rev, Cindy Maddox United Church of Christ minister, poet, and parent This has made it onto Brilliant Blog Share because it is wonderfully written, I am sure you will agree. To the middle-aged woman who gestured angrily and yelled as we passed... To the 30-something man in the power suit who honked and forced his black SUV through our line... To the person who tried to pass us and then moved his car into our lane to block our progress... Perhaps you don’t know. Perhaps you didn’t recognize the hearse and the flapping flags on the first few cars. Perhaps you didn’t notice that we all had our lights on and our hazards flashing. Perhaps your mama never taught you to show respect to the dead by showing kindness to the grieving. You couldn’t know, of course, that the woman inside the hearse was only 20 years old. You couldn’t know that she leaves behind par...

I give a short introduction to many of the posts on Brilliant Blog Share, this is one of the few that does not need any introduction, none at all. We are the last generation who can hear from the survivors, those who actually and  directly  witnessed the holocaust  .  Do not take that lightly Do not forget, your freedom is not infinitely guaranteed either.    It is said  " those who forget history are condemned to repeat it" best not forget, then.

Every now and then a certain blog catches my eye, like this one INNOCENT THOUGHTS OF A GUILTY MAN written by David Anthony  http://davidanthony31.blogspot.co.uk/2015_06_01_archive.html As I read this I found I liked the narrative-cum-prose as I found it as enchanting as the story itself. It is for that reason I have re-blogged it here on BRILLIANT BLOG SHARE. So please feel free to post this onto your own contacts and spread the love! When she left me, she left me with this memory book A collection of happiness clothed in love I torture myself, and peek at how the memories look, She said she made it for me, for me to remember us. It sits in the bottom of my closet, All covered in dirt and clothes, And I wish that I could simply disregard it A simple task it should be, I know. And yet it stays, in the corner of dark places The picture of it reminds me of an Edgar Allen Poe Poem it was like her "Tell Tale Heart" was in the pages And I cou...

This wonderful story has been written by Allan Hudson It won an honorable mention in the Kyle Douglas memorial short story contest, sponsored by New Brunswick Writers Federation. Despite those accolades! I thoroughly enjoyed the factual and humane elements Allan has seemingly woven into the tale. Please do not credit me, but Allan himself  at http://allanhudson.blogspot.ca/ where you can also read more of his works. The  Neptune Giant  is a VLCC, a very large crude carrier . When it was completed in 1979, it ranked among the largest oil tankers in the world. From bow to stern, 75 Cadillacs could park bumper to bumper. The crews used bicycles to travel the elongated deck. With a beam of nearly two hundred feet, five bungalows could be placed lengthwise side by side across the deck; her keel is six stories underwater. The raw steel is covered with over fifteen hundred gallons of paint. She’d been given a lifespan of thirty years; i...