Today is Memorial Day and a holiday for most of the working class in the United States, “the land of the free”. Coincidentally, it is also the beginning of summer vacation for students and teachers like myself. With no special plans for this national holiday, it has been a very slow day for me. I have a sense that I should be doing something, but I’m not. My school is closed for the week and I’m not teaching this summer anyway, so I have no work pending. I have a garage full of “stuff” that needs cleaning out and throwing away, but it’ll wait. After all it’s been there for 3 years now and a while longer won’t hurt.
This lazy, summer day is filled with sounds of laughing children playing in a neighbor’s pool. The passing cars sound as if they are in no particular hurry. The birds and chirping locusts sing in melodious chorus to the gods of summer afternoons. Those soothing sounds filled with the reality that I really have nothing to do, relaxes every sinew of my body and soul. The occasional soft breeze kisses gently on my skin. What could possibly take away this moment of calm? What ever could happen to disrupt this quiet tick of time?
For now, I would rather not dwell on the answers to those questions. For here there are no sirens screeching, mournful weeping or scenes of distress. For here all is right as I view my tranquil world. My green yard of nature’s tall trees, adorned with leafy shades of green and yellow, decorate this peaceful setting. I sit as a spectator of God’s creative artistry. Feline pets I’ve named Baby and Homer, are my children as they stroll about the perimeters of their enclosure venturing back at times to check on me, their “mother”. They quietly inspect the bushes for lizards or bugs, then dash away quickly to scamper partway up a tree. Then, as casually as before, they return to their patrol in and among the greenery bordering our fortress.
For now I am safe in a place miles from unthinkable atrocities in a place on the other side of my world. On this day, May 29, 2006, innocent people are dying as bombs explode around them. Soldiers made up of U.S. men and women are not experiencing the quiet of a peaceful neighborhood yard. They are living in a war zone, fighting to protect a nation of people, and fighting for their own lives.
For now I am safe in a time years from the horrors of past wars. My husband is here with me and my grown sons are with their wives, not in a foreign land surviving day to day, praying they will once again see home and loved ones. As a wife and mother, I am not staring dumbfounded at a courier sent to deliver a letter of condolence for a loved one killed in action while serving his country.
My life is blessed and my God has protected my family and I from all that we memorialize on this day. I am thankful for my blessings. I am thankful for the men and women that are willing to fight for a noble cause. May God bless and protect our troops that serve today.
On May 29, 1736, Patrick Henry, a brilliant orator and member of the Continental Congresses, was born in Virginia. On March 23, 1775, in St. John's Church, Richmond, he delivered his most famous speech. As war with Great Britain appeared inevitable, Henry proclaimed:
Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace —
but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!
The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are
already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear,
or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me,
give me liberty or give me death!
May 29, 2006
May 26, 2006
Summer Vacation is Here
What a year at school this has been. Maybe it was the hurricanes at the beginning of the school year that got us off to a rocky start. I don't know, but I just couldn't seem to keep up with the pace after that. Anyway, I was very happy to see it come to an end. In August we will all be ready for a new start.
Next year I will be teaching Language and Writing, which is what I was originally hired to teach. I am happy to be packing the reading books for a new teacher to take over that subject. I worked in my classroom today. First my partners and I finished grouping our students for their new 4th grade homerooms they will be in next year. AFter that, we all turned in items that are kept in the office and getting our papers signed by the principals so we could go home. Of course, I'm never finished enough to leave at 1:00. This summer our school is hosting the elementary summer school program again. So that means that we have to put things away, lock our cabinets, clean out the desk and cover bookshelves. I don't mind really because I like to start with a clean room. I never seem to put posters and desks back in the same place two years in a row.
It is going to be a good summer. I have a lot to keep me busy with just enough time at home to do some cleaning.
Here is a list of places I am going and things I hope to accomplish:
-Have a garage sale
-Tx NonProfit Theater Teen conference chaparone
-Babysit with my grandchildren in Michigan
-Go to an Astros game in Detroit
-Visit my son and daughter in law in New Mexico
-Visit my brother in law in Conneticut
- Go to a Mets/Astros game in New York
-Go to a Broadway play in New York
-Visit my friend in Boston
-Visit my friend in Abilene
-Enjoy having Kim at home for the summer
That last one is going to be a change for us after 25 years of Kim working through the summer months. He survived his first year back in the classroom in Aldine. He is very glad that he will be teaching in Baytown next year. I'm happy about that too.
It is going to be real nice to have him home in the summer for a change. I'm looking forward to his company.
Next year I will be teaching Language and Writing, which is what I was originally hired to teach. I am happy to be packing the reading books for a new teacher to take over that subject. I worked in my classroom today. First my partners and I finished grouping our students for their new 4th grade homerooms they will be in next year. AFter that, we all turned in items that are kept in the office and getting our papers signed by the principals so we could go home. Of course, I'm never finished enough to leave at 1:00. This summer our school is hosting the elementary summer school program again. So that means that we have to put things away, lock our cabinets, clean out the desk and cover bookshelves. I don't mind really because I like to start with a clean room. I never seem to put posters and desks back in the same place two years in a row.
It is going to be a good summer. I have a lot to keep me busy with just enough time at home to do some cleaning.
Here is a list of places I am going and things I hope to accomplish:
-Have a garage sale
-Tx NonProfit Theater Teen conference chaparone
-Babysit with my grandchildren in Michigan
-Go to an Astros game in Detroit
-Visit my son and daughter in law in New Mexico
-Visit my brother in law in Conneticut
- Go to a Mets/Astros game in New York
-Go to a Broadway play in New York
-Visit my friend in Boston
-Visit my friend in Abilene
-Enjoy having Kim at home for the summer
That last one is going to be a change for us after 25 years of Kim working through the summer months. He survived his first year back in the classroom in Aldine. He is very glad that he will be teaching in Baytown next year. I'm happy about that too.
It is going to be real nice to have him home in the summer for a change. I'm looking forward to his company.
May 20, 2006
A Matter of Life or Death
Life has become extremely intense for me over the past 13 years. Every day I run into something that is so serious, I find it hard to understand. People get angry, hurt feelings. I get scared.
Lately it seems there are more and more people/women that have cancer. The number of those people that are my age is steadily increasing. The generation of people in now their sixty's, seventy's, and eighty’s are beginning to pass away and many of them are dying of cancer. Now I find several of my friends, women I've worked beside, shared dormitory life with, worshiped with and even grew up with are getting cancer. That is scary to think I am close to a deadly disease that the only good thing anyone can say about it is, "the cancer researchers are learning more about it every day." It sure is taking a long time and so many more people are finding out they have this disease in the meantime.
I have thought at one time that it just could be God's way of weeding the population. However, I don't believe that anymore and now think that we as a race of selfish people, are just doing this to ourselves. With all of the air pollutants that are emitted through refineries, it is no wonder that many of my elementary school girlfriend's mothers have died of cancer. Mine did as well as my four other best friends' mothers...all five moms died of cancer. We grew up around refineries where several of our fathers worked. It could make us anxious about breathing the air.
The foods we eat must have a lot to do with getting cancer too. Those fried foods we grew up eating was so bad for us. Findings are now that the fats in butter are bad for you and can clog arteries and too much could be a cause of some cancers. More and more "experts" on foods are telling us to read labels for nutritional content. Grocery shopping now becomes as much a reading experience as going to Barnes and Nobel. I wish the grocers would simply put big red arrows on the shelves pointing to the foods we can have and not get sick.
I can't help but wonder what foods God intended for us to eat when we were created. Of course, there was our mother's milk. My mom did a good job of nursing her 3 babies. Well, from the start I couldn't do that with my babies so they got formula. What was in formula? I didn't check to see that it was nutritionally sound. I trusted that the manufacturer of that product had done the research and packaged a safe product for my baby. They have grown into healthy men, so I guess it didn't hurt them.
But what about all the food products packaged in our stores today? I'm reading from the South Beach Diet Dr. that the less processed our foods, the better they are for us. So we should try to eat fresh foods. Another book I have read said that fresh vegetables and fruits are much better for us but we should buy from open markets near to where we live. Open markets usually have foods that are home grown and therefore have only been out of the ground or off of the tree for a short period of time. But then I wonder about the pesticides or preservatives used on all of those fresh foods. Aren't they harmful? I guess I should just take up fishing and gardening.
I have got lazy and put on a lot of weight lately. I'm aware that the more fat a person gains, the chances of getting cancer increase. I have also put off my annual mammogram for a little over a year now, making me anxious because I could have a mass right now and not know it. But if you've listened to TV commercials lately, you know that research is trying to scare us further by telling women that mammograms are not enough. We can also get cancer from our alcohol consumption, a thing I'm trying to modify in my life right now.
The "C" word scares me. I don't want cancer so badly that it is part of my nightly prayers to God. "God, please don't let me get cancer." My mother didn't get to enjoy much about my boys' lives except for when they were little. She missed all three boys' high school graduations and weddings. The boys performed in plays at our community theater from the time they were in elementary school. Unfortunately, she was only able to see one of those plays. I don't believe she ever saw a football game where each one of my sons performed with the marching band. Her life was cut short and she missed a lot. I missed having her here with me to delight in all that was happening with my family. I want to be around to enjoy my grandchildren. Not only while they are little, but as they grow up, graduate, get married and start families. I want to be a great-grandmother someday.
Everyday I think about my friends who have cancer, Beth, who thankfully is in remission, Carla, who is going through treatments, Pam just started treatments, Pat who is in treatments now, Steve, going through treatments. I think about these other people, Kelly, who has had surgery and now receiving treatments, Ruth, a brave Christian woman trying different methods to her alive, and another Ruth from my church who is battling the disease. Carol, my brother's mother in law, is dying with cancer as I type. Passed away are my aunts Ruby Gene and Ruby, my sister in law, Cynthia, who was much too young to die, my mother, who I miss more with each passing day, Kim's grandfather, Pappy, and my friend Patrick, a flawed man who came to know Jesus, died of cancer this past year. Passing away just before Mother's Day was my friend Nancy’s mom. Her mother died about the same time my own mother was taken by cancer 13 years ago. And then a sweet lady from church passed away just this last Mother's Day. I attended her funeral last Thursday. Of course there are countless others whose lives have been altered for the rest of their time on earth because they have cancer or a close loved one did/does.
I am petrified of this dread disease. So much money, time and research is being put into finding a cure to cancer in our nation. I hope and pray that one is found real soon in our lifetime. However, I am fast becoming a skeptic about that whole endeavor. The people I named above and so many others are viewed as amazing individuals because of their "bravery". Brave? I don't know about that, I'm sure if we talked to those people we would know just how scared they really are. I would say they persevere as best they can with something they have no control over. Even if they are going through treatments and following all of the doctor's orders, there is no guarantee they won't lose that battle.
Relay for Life is a national fund raiser for Cancer Research and the relay is an annual event in many American towns and cities. I know the cause is noble and the individuals working on the project in the different places are dedicated people whose lives have been touched by cancer. No discredit to them, but the real cancer research needs more than our money, it needs our prayers. God is the ultimate decision maker in whether or not cancer can be brought under control and virtually wiped out for good. I pray that one day soon, cancer will be like polio, smallpox and TB. I pray there will be a simple preventative serum we can take to keep from getting the disease. I must have hope that our prayers will help those researchers to stumble across that magic medicine. Please, let that be your prayer today. Please pray for this awful disease to be conquered. It truly is a matter of Life or Death.
Lately it seems there are more and more people/women that have cancer. The number of those people that are my age is steadily increasing. The generation of people in now their sixty's, seventy's, and eighty’s are beginning to pass away and many of them are dying of cancer. Now I find several of my friends, women I've worked beside, shared dormitory life with, worshiped with and even grew up with are getting cancer. That is scary to think I am close to a deadly disease that the only good thing anyone can say about it is, "the cancer researchers are learning more about it every day." It sure is taking a long time and so many more people are finding out they have this disease in the meantime.
I have thought at one time that it just could be God's way of weeding the population. However, I don't believe that anymore and now think that we as a race of selfish people, are just doing this to ourselves. With all of the air pollutants that are emitted through refineries, it is no wonder that many of my elementary school girlfriend's mothers have died of cancer. Mine did as well as my four other best friends' mothers...all five moms died of cancer. We grew up around refineries where several of our fathers worked. It could make us anxious about breathing the air.
The foods we eat must have a lot to do with getting cancer too. Those fried foods we grew up eating was so bad for us. Findings are now that the fats in butter are bad for you and can clog arteries and too much could be a cause of some cancers. More and more "experts" on foods are telling us to read labels for nutritional content. Grocery shopping now becomes as much a reading experience as going to Barnes and Nobel. I wish the grocers would simply put big red arrows on the shelves pointing to the foods we can have and not get sick.
I can't help but wonder what foods God intended for us to eat when we were created. Of course, there was our mother's milk. My mom did a good job of nursing her 3 babies. Well, from the start I couldn't do that with my babies so they got formula. What was in formula? I didn't check to see that it was nutritionally sound. I trusted that the manufacturer of that product had done the research and packaged a safe product for my baby. They have grown into healthy men, so I guess it didn't hurt them.
But what about all the food products packaged in our stores today? I'm reading from the South Beach Diet Dr. that the less processed our foods, the better they are for us. So we should try to eat fresh foods. Another book I have read said that fresh vegetables and fruits are much better for us but we should buy from open markets near to where we live. Open markets usually have foods that are home grown and therefore have only been out of the ground or off of the tree for a short period of time. But then I wonder about the pesticides or preservatives used on all of those fresh foods. Aren't they harmful? I guess I should just take up fishing and gardening.
I have got lazy and put on a lot of weight lately. I'm aware that the more fat a person gains, the chances of getting cancer increase. I have also put off my annual mammogram for a little over a year now, making me anxious because I could have a mass right now and not know it. But if you've listened to TV commercials lately, you know that research is trying to scare us further by telling women that mammograms are not enough. We can also get cancer from our alcohol consumption, a thing I'm trying to modify in my life right now.
The "C" word scares me. I don't want cancer so badly that it is part of my nightly prayers to God. "God, please don't let me get cancer." My mother didn't get to enjoy much about my boys' lives except for when they were little. She missed all three boys' high school graduations and weddings. The boys performed in plays at our community theater from the time they were in elementary school. Unfortunately, she was only able to see one of those plays. I don't believe she ever saw a football game where each one of my sons performed with the marching band. Her life was cut short and she missed a lot. I missed having her here with me to delight in all that was happening with my family. I want to be around to enjoy my grandchildren. Not only while they are little, but as they grow up, graduate, get married and start families. I want to be a great-grandmother someday.
Everyday I think about my friends who have cancer, Beth, who thankfully is in remission, Carla, who is going through treatments, Pam just started treatments, Pat who is in treatments now, Steve, going through treatments. I think about these other people, Kelly, who has had surgery and now receiving treatments, Ruth, a brave Christian woman trying different methods to her alive, and another Ruth from my church who is battling the disease. Carol, my brother's mother in law, is dying with cancer as I type. Passed away are my aunts Ruby Gene and Ruby, my sister in law, Cynthia, who was much too young to die, my mother, who I miss more with each passing day, Kim's grandfather, Pappy, and my friend Patrick, a flawed man who came to know Jesus, died of cancer this past year. Passing away just before Mother's Day was my friend Nancy’s mom. Her mother died about the same time my own mother was taken by cancer 13 years ago. And then a sweet lady from church passed away just this last Mother's Day. I attended her funeral last Thursday. Of course there are countless others whose lives have been altered for the rest of their time on earth because they have cancer or a close loved one did/does.
I am petrified of this dread disease. So much money, time and research is being put into finding a cure to cancer in our nation. I hope and pray that one is found real soon in our lifetime. However, I am fast becoming a skeptic about that whole endeavor. The people I named above and so many others are viewed as amazing individuals because of their "bravery". Brave? I don't know about that, I'm sure if we talked to those people we would know just how scared they really are. I would say they persevere as best they can with something they have no control over. Even if they are going through treatments and following all of the doctor's orders, there is no guarantee they won't lose that battle.
Relay for Life is a national fund raiser for Cancer Research and the relay is an annual event in many American towns and cities. I know the cause is noble and the individuals working on the project in the different places are dedicated people whose lives have been touched by cancer. No discredit to them, but the real cancer research needs more than our money, it needs our prayers. God is the ultimate decision maker in whether or not cancer can be brought under control and virtually wiped out for good. I pray that one day soon, cancer will be like polio, smallpox and TB. I pray there will be a simple preventative serum we can take to keep from getting the disease. I must have hope that our prayers will help those researchers to stumble across that magic medicine. Please, let that be your prayer today. Please pray for this awful disease to be conquered. It truly is a matter of Life or Death.
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