I am "One Gather Month Old Today!!!"

My One Month Anniversary.

I am "One Gather Month Old Today!!!"

                        Happy Gather day to me….

                                    Happy Gather day to me….

                                                Happy, Happy, Gather day to me…

            Ok, ok enough with my silliness.  I am glad to be here and I am so glad I have made so many new friends. I am Glad I have met you, you, and yes even you, even if I don't agree with you all the time I am glad you're here because if everyone agreed with me life would be boring.  As of Now I have 84 contacts, some of you I know from conversations' via e-mail or comment box and some of you just from your articles and you don't yet know me… I hope you get to know me, and even like some of what I have to say, to share in picture, or feel in my poems.

What have I learned about the folks of Gather?

Well were not all alike… gee I am surprised NOT!

We come from many very different sets of experiences and yet share many experiences in common. For example: 9-11 we share in common, the pain, the shock, the inner turmoil, and some even share the personal loss of people who died that day. Also the war on Terrorism, we share that even if we don't agree on how it should be waged or even if it should be, we share in it's existence and it effects our lives daily.  We share the cost of Katrina, first it emotional cost knowing so many lives were and are disrupted in our fair country, and we share in the upset and confusion of wanting someone to blames for the storm (there can be no blame), or for the way we tried to help maybe there can be blame but hopefully we will do more learning then blame, because frankly no one has ever had that level of storm disaster problem in the US before, thus it has to teach us all something… We share the confusion of foreign affairs where we know generally we as Americans all mean well in all our political points of view, and yet many in the world seem to think we mean ill… We share in our collective self view as Americans and are confused as each day some of our own media seems to want us to hate America.

            We share that and so much more, we all share (most of us enough to say all) want to do and share things for the betterment of all. Thus we have come together here on Gather.Com to write to comment to commiserate and to lend a shoulder. We look for acceptance and try to give it as well, and for positive criticism and we try to give that as well.  We try to make this new community a place worth existing in even virtually… We get angry when people are mean and we strive to correct the damage made by some few. Sometimes we feel like quitting, but others are quick to remind us that for Evil to win good people only have to do nothing… Thus we strive even in the face of problems to do something hoping to do the right thing.

            We are human and we are many thousands and we share fun, pain, points, views and pictures and poems and essay's and our hearts… And in the giving we are richly rewarded and receive far more then we give.

(This poem I dedicate to all of you, all of us, and to the future)

We are one person alone at a keyboard

We are one women,

 one man,

 one college student,

 one grandfather,

 one wife,

 one daughter…

We have gathered

One friend

One connection,

One Poem,

One story,

One picture

One at a time…

We have become

One group,

One network,

One community,

One gallery,

One story

And together

We gather…

© Sept 3, 2006 M. Emmett Townsend

(Copies may be printed by Gather.com members

 for personal incidental use, all other rights reserved.)

---End of my article---The rest are your comments you posted before I cleaned it up.---

 I like your poem.  

Leigh V. commented Sep 4, 2006 

 this is excellent and written very well and from the heart.  

Shaunee Carter commented Sep 4, 2006 

 Very nice poem. Congratulations on your one month anniversary. :-)  

Marsha B. commented Sep 4, 2006 

 Thanks for publishing to Famous Firsts and Not So Famous Firsts.  

Kathryn Esplin-Oleski commented Sep 4, 2006 

 Thanks for publishing to Unoffiical Gatherholics.  

Kathryn Esplin-Oleski commented Sep 4, 2006 

 Thank you.  

Matthew T. commented Sep 4, 2006 |delete 

 Congrats on your one month anniversary. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and lovely poem too.  

Val G. commented Sep 5, 2006 

 ((((Matthew)))) Happy Gatherversary! No one could ask for or receive a better brother and friend, than you.

Your lovely poem illustrates perfectly what we are about here on Gather. We gather together to light up the dark corners, ease someones hurts and share in the joy of just being together. Well done my brother!  

Candida Bohnne-Eittreim commented Sep 5, 2006 

 yes this is a wonderful global community  

Carol Roach commented Sep 5, 2006 

 Beautiful, Matthew! Congrats on your one month gatherversary! May you celebrate many more with fine articles such as this!  

Birdie Jaworski commented Sep 5, 2006 

 Happy Gather-day! You are right, the good far outweights the bad. And I love your poem!

(by the way, it's 'college', not 'collage' - unless you meant a piece of artwork.....)  

Goddess Nancy Spivey commented Sep 5, 2006 

 Thank you Nancy I think I had a typo and the spell check fooled me.  

Matthew T. commented Sep 5, 2006 |delete 

 Matthew, nice poem and also like the writing. I would love to hear a talk that you would give on a Sunday morning, I bet you would have them all sitting on the edge of their seats.

Happy Gather-Day by the way!!!!  

Shel B. commented Sep 5, 2006 

 I still can tell you exactly what I was doing when 9-11 happened as well as the Oklahoma City bombing.

I believe that there are both events that although they did not affect me directly, they did affect us all on how are daily lives are lead to a degree and how they have had to change forever.

Is it for the good or for the bad? I guess that is left up to each individual.

I personally feel that we can not longer feel like we are a country that is indistructable.  

Shel B. commented Sep 5, 2006