Bob Hope

"You haven't failed until you've given up"

I've been watching tons of films with an elderly man who calls himself Bob Hope. He's become my new friend and I guess I've become his new friend too according to his words this morning. Bob is a very special person, I don't know him as well as my mother does, but I sure admire him. Sometime's I wish I could be more like him, he holds what he loves with such vigor that it can sometimes drive others crazy.

His love/words are in constant "repeat" and maybe that's what love should be.

My mother does private care and I've been able to watch him for a few hours a day for her. It's funny how much just a few words, a few hours, and even a stare of a smile can change your life. He was in an accident in his youth and it has affected him in his sixties with this condition to repeat a lot of the same words as an elderly man, but surely he has not forgotten the most important things in his life to him.

His parents, "West Side Story" the movie, and Pizza.

For it's not so much what we're given, but what we do with with what we have. To love those who have been given to us on a daily basis.

As far as I know I think with him watching "West Side Story" over and over again I could never get tired of it like the time we shared with our beloved Maria. His voice shimers lyric and melody over characters parts as the television plays on. His tears fall exactly when my own heart breaks during the film and we can both agree we had a good time sharing in this story together.

Bob asked me to come visit him next week. He told me he had a great time hanging out with me. I told him I did too and that I'd be there.

He may be in constant repeat, but I'm beyond honored to have been included in his life. I guess I haven't felt so welcomed by another human being in a long time that it changed something in me.

Bob changed his last name himself and I'm starting to think why can't I do the same. Why can't I do the same about my life, the people I love, and the things I care about so much. Why not?

Why can't I be... Mani Hope.