Yesterday, after spending time with a wise girl in her 70s who just won’t quit and who recently received a new diagnosis of a chronic illness, I saw this:
The girl writing this blog will never quit
appreciating others,
observing,
stopping to smell the flowers,
healing,
hoping,
loving,
connecting,
renewing,
revealing,
looking for the beauty in every moment,
knowing that life is good,
putting herself out there,
believing in the power of groups, and
taking pictures.
Those last three photos show my boyfriend who won’t quit until he dismantles and gets rid of that hot tub.
Yesterday morning, my son Aaron, Aaron’s aunt Deborah, and I were very happy to meet Christina.
Christina owns a lovely tea room near our hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Christina not only served us a delicious breakfast, she also shared photos of herself when she was younger, as well as some important thoughts about life:
When Christina showed us “Never Give Up,” I got pretty teary-eyed. I guess it struck a chord.
Throughout our wonderful day at the Festival Fringe, whenever I felt tired navigating the ups and downs of Edinburgh, I remembered “Never Give Up.” And, like Christina, I kept pushing on.
And when we encountered talented, funny, and soulful people, it was obvious they had never given up, either. They were still sharing their creativity and vision with others, despite inevitable ups and downs.
Those last two photos are from Dr. Professor Neal Portanza’s incredibly inventive and hilarious show — “Catchy Show Title.”
If you never gave up reading my blogs from the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, you might remember the good Dr. Professor putting Aaron on stage in his brilliant performance piece from last year — “Dr. Professor Neal Portenza Performs His Own Autopsy.”
Aaron hasn’t made it on stage at the Fringe. so far, in 2015. Yesterday, however, he did win this:
… from the amazing Improvisational Group “Men with Coconuts.” My son — who never gives up having great ideas — came up with the name for yesterday’s musical extravaganza
“I Have No Spine.”
Because I have given up trying to capture everything here at the Fringe, I have no video of the many improvised songs from “I Have No Spine” — including the stirring and inspirational title tune.
Here’s what came up on YouTube when I searched for “Never Give Up.”
Finally, as I give up trying to make today’s post perfect, here’s free stuff some of the Fringe performers, pictured above, gave us yesterday:
I never give up loving those kinds of encounters.
Non-spineless thanks to everybody in this never-give-up post and to you — of course! — for never giving up, too.
