****************************************************** ****************************************************** ****************************************************** ****************************************************** Hello Everyone! I want to do a special Tribute for my dear friend John Elliott. He was selected for the POTW but he is not able to provide a photo for the front page of AdlandPro, which is a requirement to be featured so I wanted to honor him anyhow by posting this forum in his honor. ******************************************************* John Elliott is one of Adland’s nicest members. He has a huge heart and everyone who knows him can attest to this. He and Luella May have a blog that is a work of love for those who have suffered in their lives from abuse. He donates of his time to help others in our community. He is loved my many here and this community would not be the same without him. We truly appreciate John’s work here and we would like to asked everyone to show him how much you appreciate him also. We love you John! Enjoy your week of honor! ******************************************************* Here’s John’s Bio:
Thank you John for this great honour you’ve bestowed upon me here in your wonderful POTW forum. As a humble man I never seek the accolades of others, preferring myself to help in silence, and observing my friends as they aspire to their own potentials. I was going to tell you about my own life’s entire story, its burdens, and its abusive background, of where and how I survived my ordeals; how I grew to be the person I am today. However all this and more are well written about already, in great depth at my new website The Corner 4 Women http://thecorner4women.com which I will talk about a little further on. What I will say is I’m a single parent Dad and so proud to be one, bringing up two lovely children alone is never easy, and made more difficult when you are a man. I’m 55, my birth sign is Libra, I’m an artist, poet, writer, webmaster and designer, I’m a retired master craftsman in many media, and qualified toy-maker, also an antique furniture restorer, and through my various talents have actually been highlighted on regional and national UK TV (I was invited to join Lorraine Kelly on her then famous GMTV live morning show, and met Barry Norman a renowned and well respected film critic and presenter.) I’ve been interviewed on local and national radio, and various other local, national and international media. Have supped tea with one of our Queens cousins, who visited my workshops, and been the personal restorer for two Lords from our local shires. The list goes on and on, so I’ll end at this point and continue with what I intended to write about for you today. My Soul Brother and My Sacred Hearts Drawing Lots of people and dear friends within this community, have wanted to know the inspiration behind my "Sacred Heart" pencil drawing, which forms the basis for my giftware by Geppetto collection within my Online Printables WebPages http://oakwoodgrafix.co.uk/OGOP/ is also featured on my main sites homepage at Oakwood Grafix http://oakwoodgrafix.co.uk and has been my profile picture you see here since I joined AdlandPro community, originally in August 2005, before having to rebuild everything in October after losing my information, as so many others have done. Ok Ok so here goes I hope you have your tissues ready my friends. First of all I'd like to clarify that, I myself am not overly religious, and belong to no particular group or following. But I do pride myself in having very strong, deep and fundamentally Christian ideals and values. Believing more in a higher cosmic state of the universe, in that everything has a time and place to happen, and friends come into ones life for a reason, whether for a few days or a lifetime. Several years ago I had a lifelong friend, he was a devout catholic, we had grown up together since Kindergarten. Throughout our lives we were like the brothers, neither of us had. Our birthdays were one week less than a year apart, October 1950 (me) and 1951, so it made us both Libran star signs and so much alike in many ways. Our talents for woodwork were the same, as were our goals and ambitions. Such was the bond we shared. We worked on many restoration projects together and our small businesses were intertwined. He was from Yugoslavia and we met when he was 5 and he could speak no English, yet we bonded like soul brothers and could understand each other from almost day one. He and his mother had crossed Europe, alone, fleeing from the oppressive government of their home country, his mother with three bullets still within her as they arrived on our shores. By the time he was 7 he could read and write better than any native English kid with an IQ of a 12 year old. All through our lives we were inseparable as we grew into adulthood. It was coming up to my soul brothers birthday, and I had no money, I was going through a particularly bad patch financially, and being a single parent didn’t help matters either. This upset me deeply as I really wanted to give him something special. Time quickly heading onwards and still no present, still broke, I sat crying as I had his invitation to his birthday party in front of me. Like Cinderella I knew I just could not afford a decent suit to attend, and I wept some more. Often in times of upset I sit with a doodle pad and just draw little oddments. I sat for what seemed like an eternity, nothing came from me at all. Then in a flash I started, and somehow without a thought created the Sacred Heart drawing. I was so proud. I found an old picture frame and wrapped it in newsprint with some twine. I went to his party, as I was, not very smart in rags almost, only intending to drop it off at his front door, and skulk away un-noticed, but he would have none of it as he dragged me inside, my head bowed low, in shame of being in tatter's, as he started tearing at the paper. His eyes lit up as he saw the framed drawing and tears came streaming down his cheeks, as he hugged it close to his chest. He showed it everyone with such joy; my humble drawing was giving them all tears, as they were almost all Catholics. An alcove was quickly cleared and it was given pride of place in his little prayer corner. Everyone said it was the best ever present he'd ever had, and he just loved it. I felt so proud. He dragged me upstairs and kitted me out with his best gear shoes and all, so I wouldn’t feel out of place. He certainly loved my present. Two weeks later he was brutally attacked and murdered by seven youths who are still serving long sentences to this day, hence the absence of any names here. His family wanted me to have the drawing back because he was so fond of it. I now keep it safe wherever I am, wherever I go, and whatever I do. It watches over me, and protects me from harm, for my soul brother is always with me, by my side in everything whilst I show my beautiful drawing. His departure was meant to be, our time together was ordained by higher powers, written in our books of life. My journey though saddened by his exit, continues on alone as my path unfolds before me. The memory of my soul brother will remain within my heart forever as he is always here with me, his spirit lives on everyday I draw breath. Thank you for reading about my Sacred Heart drawing, and hopefully understanding what it means, and represents to me, so please don’t ask me to change my profile image, it will never happen, and besides its much better than looking at a toothless bald headed old guy of 55, who could frighten the barnacles off the bottom of any boat. LOL In November 2005 I had a dream, so profound, its now the centre of my entire life. You can read about my dream in my forums. With the help of Luella May my co-founder, editor, partner and new soul mate; we transformed this visionary dream into reality. On November 16th 2006 (Martin Luther King Day incidentally) we launched our precious baby The Corner 4 Women http://thecorner4women.com an ezine 4 women, empowering women throughout the world, and helping to break those abusive chains of oppression. It is a sanctuary, a safe haven now for both men and women to enjoy. It is at this point I’d like to give out a very special and warm heartfelt thank you to Nancy Nellis who donated our web hosting and conference room facilities, to whom both Luella and myself owe so much, allowing The Corner 4 Women to expand and grow. We love you so Nancy, you have a special place in our hearts, for your generosity and kindness. As a new site we were ranked about 6 millionth, in a world of almost 76 million websites. Today Alexa ranks us amongst the top 2.5 million in the world, in a little more than a few weeks. With very little marketing on our part all thanks to the wonderful support we’ve received from everyone and our growing members, both in and out of adlands. So do come along and join us on The Corner, Kick off those aching shoes, relax to our ambient music whilst you have a cup of steaming coffee, I’ll put more logs on our fire, Luella and myself will make you welcome as you enjoy all we offer. Once again I thank you John for all the good things you do for everyone within our community, and the many who remain nameless, but who have put my name forward and cast their votes throughout the past weeks. I’m so very proud to be your friend and POTW. Another person here at adlands who has inspired me onwards through my many struggles is John Partington, whom I befriended way back in August, he gave me the encouragement to continue, and is an inspiration to my ongoing success, I now publicly say “Thanks my friend for everything, you have changed my life in a profound way”. To friends old and new, to the many strangers whom I may meat on my journey of life, I say “May you flourish, prosper and grow rich in the cornucopia of friendships, at AdlandPro community, Love and Peace to all” John Elliott Aka Oaky Wood *******************************************************
If you’re not on John’s list of friends please take the time to invite him to be your friend, you won’t regret it.
Love and blessings to all of you from,
John Sanchez and LaNell
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