The Magic of Flowers and the Generosity of Forgiveness

If you are one of the 500 readers who followed the recent discussion here regarding my thoughts on   segregating us by gender, color and ethnicity, you might recall that it devolved into more than a few hurt feelings and in my creation of commenting guidelines and the banning of a commenter. Today, the ship and my sinking heart were righted by the generosity and significant graciousness of the commenter I banned.

About 30 minutes ago I received a beautiful gift of flowers and a kind note from Geoff Livingston, owner of Livingston Communications and host of the buzz bin. It came as a surprise, and I have to admit that once aware of the sender, nervousness about opening the box almost prevented me from doing so (ha, ha). Geoff once again proved that while bloggers may disagree, even vehemently, we seldom hold grudges. His gesture is one that I will treasure the rest of my life.

As I said to Geoff in an e-mail, I don't have the words to express how much his gift and note mean to me. I can only say thank you (and remove Geoff from the banned commenter's list). When we place our Pride to one side, we are then able to get in touch with our hearts. As much as my post upset some, understandably, I have since tried to move on, including a public apology.

I apologize to everyone I offended. I do not apologize for the ideas I tried to express, however clumsily. But I am sorry for expressing those ideas hastily, offensively and without enough thought to present my argument with the kindness and caring that such emotional and passionate subjects deserve. I screwed up big time.

P.S. I just received this note from Geoff, with permission to post it:

I am glad you enjoyed. Flowers really demonstrate all of the beauty and grace we can enjoy in life.

And thank you for your service to this country as a member of the military and as a champion of civil rights. I am sorry if I disrespected the significant effort and time you've given to all of us.

-Geoff