TROUBLES

"THE LONG JOURNEY"

A trouble is like a pebble. Hold it too close to your eyes and it fills the whole world and puts everything out of focus.

Hold it at the proper distance and it can be examined and properly classified.

Throw it at your feet and it can be seen in its true setting, just one more tiny bump on the pathway of life.

This is how I feel about life. Too many times when one has troubles, you let the trouble take over your life, instead of taking control over your own life. All the years I was growing up, Mom and Dad had a little plaque on the wall that read:

"SUCCESS COMES IN 'CAN', FAILURES IN 'CAN'T ' !!"

Dad and Mom were very wise. They taught my sister Sandra, brother Tom , and myself about life. They taught us to be honest, trustworthy, have carry through, and that our word was binding. These are positive character traits.

My daughter has Schizophrenia and this has been a difficult card to be dealt, both for her and our family. But it is alright.... I firmly believe that we are given obstacles in this life, to help us grow. These obstacles were determined long before we journeyed into this world. These difficulties, and how we handled them, how we treated people along the way, is how we will be judged on our journey out of this world.

Yes, life is like the title of my blog "The Long Journey". The STIGMA associated with mental illness is over whelming. Even agencies and people that should know better, throw in the towel when the going gets rough. They leave families and people suffering high and dry...is there possibly an element of self-service.

Answerable to a higher power some day.....oh yes !!!

This is the reason I am so dedicated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. I guess you could say "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade".... One thing I have noticed, is people with disabilities are treated differently. I guess it depends on which way the wind is blowing....

HAPPY JULY 4TH, 2009

The 4th of July is truly a holiday to celebrate our Independence for so many reasons. It is the date we give thanks for our freedoms. The meaning of Independence is: the state of being independent. The 4th of July is a legal holiday celebrating the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Our freedoms have been quite evident throughout the years !! Our country has more freedoms than any other nation and we should appreciate each an every one of them. I am happy I live in this country, where we are able to make our own choices, vote independently, worship as we choose, and all the other freedoms we enjoy.

GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!

~ JULY ~

The summer harvest day begun

With cloudless dawn and flaming sun;

Ripe grain the sickle flashes through;

The sweep of scythes in morning dew;

The nooning underneath the trees

Made cool by sea or mountain breeze;

The thundershower, the clearing sky,

And sunset splendor of July !

This poem reminds me of the summer days my sister Sandra and I would spend on the farm with our grandmother. We would go up to the farm in northern Minnesota when Dad was stationed at different air bases. I can remember the times when the grain was cut, loaded on trailers pulled by horses, and riding to the farms in the surrounding area. This was such a fun time. At noontime, the cooks would have huge dinners and the food was yummy.

Grandma always made sure my sister and I did our chores, pulled weeds, and fed the chickens. These are memories I go back to now. The days were always full of fun things to do, lots of work, and then at the end of a day, Grandma always made her wonderful meals. She was from Germany and was a wonderful cook and pastry maker. To this day, I can still "taste" some of her goodies !! Yum...I have often heard that childhood memories stay with us throughout our lives. I am thankful I have such good ones.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY !!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful father's past, present and future. May your day be special. You are the father's that have stayed with your children, not walked away when it suited you. And even if you did leave, you made sure your children knew they were loved. Many father's simply leave a family, mostly through divorce, and never look back. This is exactly what my first husband did. He left his two daughters without giving them a thought. This leaves a child with the feeling "what did I do wrong." The child didn't do anything wrong. It is just a selfish man that thinks only of themselves, their wants and their needs.

A father is so important in the life of a child. He gives them direction, guidance, knowledge and stability when the children are young , growing and developing.

My second husband Ned is the perfect example of a good father. He is hard working, loving, caring, supportive and always there when needed. He still worries about his daughters to this day.

A special thanks to my dad for the values and lessons he taught my sister Sandra, brother Tom, and me.

IT TAKES BOTH PARENTS TO RAISE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY CHILD

TO MY DAD ~ WITH LOVE~ON HIS BIRTHDAY

This is a picture of my Dad, sister Sandra and me. I am the one in the middle. You know what it's called...the middle child syndrome !! Dad and Mom would always take us on picnics (the simpler things in life) and we had a ball. Dad was always there for us kids. He was the disciplinarian and Mom was the buffer. My sister and I, and later on our brother Tom, had the best of all worlds with the parents God gave us.

Dad doing the thing in life he loved the most. His beloved flying. Dad taught pilots from all over the world how to fly. Flying was Dad's first love...and he was very good at it. One of his students ended up teaching at the Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, CO...then went on to reach the rank of General. Another was a Captain for Delta Airlines. Dad knew flying, and passed on his knowledge to his students.

Dad was born June 13, 1911, in Kanaranzi, MN. His parents were of German extract (in case you haven't figured that one out.) Dad was an only child, and began flying his very own airplane at age 16. Dad was born with flying in his veins. Dad left us on July 8, 1974.

There is a little poem I posted earlier in my blog about having good parents. The title of the post was 'My Mom and Dad', and the poem was: 'Blessed Are You Who Have Been Given Holy Parents'. The old I get, the smarter I find my parents were. Now isn't that life !!!!!