I am still getting mailings from my high school that I went to back in the late 30's and early 40's. A few years ago I received a letter from my grade school! I graduated from the eighth grade in 1938. Their letter reminded me that " probably most of the values that I have today were taught to me in St Joseph's School." When I reflected on that statement I must say I agree with that premise. We focused on learning at that school. When we left our home each morning and went off to school our parents were very secure in the fact that we were walking into an institution that would shore up the values that we were being taught at home. School was just an extent ion of the family.
Back in the early 1900's a prominent anthropologist from Yale University traveled around the world to study all of the major cultures of the world. He found that all of the cultures shared the same value system that we do. Values like Courage, Prudence, Perseverance, Self Control, Honesty, Ethics, Morality, Compassion to name some of them. It was determined that the nature of man drives the necessity of values being taught. It has been said that ignorance is man's worst enemy, knowledge is man's only defence against the abuse of power and corruption.Education is the cure for such ignorance as behavioral non-conformity, lack of consideration of others, a knowledge of right and wrong.
We have to start educating and building a value system for people when they are still in their babyhood. We teach them to "share" to say "please,thank you" (consideration for others)They rapidly learn to respond to praise for "good behavior" and to sanctions for "bad behavior." As a teacher of children for 40 years, I could determine which children had a good basic understanding of honesty, self control, courage and so on. The later they start to learn basic values the harder it is to teach them.
In most cases children mirror the values of their parents. I have wondered so many times if the parents and adults in the child's world realize the lessons the child is learning from them. I had a young boy in my class one year that told me they were going to Florida on spring break and it was not going to cost anything. When I asked how this came about he very proudly said ,"Well my dad owns his own business and when we go places he looks at places that are for sale and then he charges the trip to his company because he can say it's a business trip!" Uh.
What messages are the children learning today when they view political ads. Some of them are out and out lies and others lies by innuendo. I am very disheartened. Character assassination is rampant. What value system is that? Fewer and fewer good people will be running for office because of this 'accepted' practice. Then what defense will be put in place to cure the abuses of power and corruption? Who do we hold responsible for this and how do we stop it.?
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Phone rage
I have to wonder what things I could have accomplished if I could have utilized the time I've spent trying to tend to business by using the "convenience " of the telephone. I've become very leery of the jaunty, cheery, phony voice that greets the caller with, "Welcome to ..." I swear it is the same man's voice, no matter who you are calling. "Welcome to National City!" Welcome to Insight!", Welcome to AT&T!" " For English, press one, for Espanol press two" then come the choices of presses. All choices connect you to computer voices and more opportunities to 'press numbers. Problem is, none of the choices even remotely address the problem you are calling about.
Fury is futile, scurrilous remarks fall on deaf ears, tears of frustration are wasted and when you do eventually reach a 'press ee' that gives you hope of talking to an actual human being with a pulse, you are put on hold.
"Hold" is a unique method of torture. Elevator and grocery music is delightful compared to 'hold' music. I think when the 'Welcome to... guy answers his first directive should be press a number to say," No "to 'hold' music.
In the unlikely event that you do eventually get a human being on the line, I always feel compelled to ask if they are ,in fact, human. Sometimes I hear a tinge of displeasure in their voice and I am not always able to contain my aggravation at talking finally to a real person. I frequently have to apologize for the fact that when I initiated the call more than two hours ago, I had a purpose in calling but due to the stress of number pressing, making choices, listening to torturous music and managing my anger, I can no longer remember why I was calling!
Life is tough in this tech world!
Fury is futile, scurrilous remarks fall on deaf ears, tears of frustration are wasted and when you do eventually reach a 'press ee' that gives you hope of talking to an actual human being with a pulse, you are put on hold.
"Hold" is a unique method of torture. Elevator and grocery music is delightful compared to 'hold' music. I think when the 'Welcome to... guy answers his first directive should be press a number to say," No "to 'hold' music.
In the unlikely event that you do eventually get a human being on the line, I always feel compelled to ask if they are ,in fact, human. Sometimes I hear a tinge of displeasure in their voice and I am not always able to contain my aggravation at talking finally to a real person. I frequently have to apologize for the fact that when I initiated the call more than two hours ago, I had a purpose in calling but due to the stress of number pressing, making choices, listening to torturous music and managing my anger, I can no longer remember why I was calling!
Life is tough in this tech world!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Reflections
When I was a young child I was afraid of storms. I would hide my head under blankets or even get into a covered space. My mother, however, tried to calm my fears by resorting to her faith. She would take a piece of palm that we had received on Palm Sunday at church and stick it out the window. She assured us that the storm would be over in about ten minutes but meanwhile we could count on the blessed palm for protection. My skepticism went unchallenged. No Noah, or Radar or scientific methods of weather prognostications were available to us. Just rural folklore. We lived through the storms so the palm must have done the trick.
When I had my own children, Mother gave me a lesson in how to be a mother. She said now that I had children of my own I could not let them see me cowering in some corner. She said I needed to be unafraid or at least pretend to be unafraid and thereby show courage to my children so that they would not be fearful. I did as she advised and actually did get to the point where I could reassure them and remain calm during storms. There was no mention of the palm solution. But one time Mike spent a day or two at her house and when he came home he said, " It stormed while I was there but Grandma stucked a plum out the window and the storm stopped pretty soon." Still worked!
I learned that I made many mistakes when I was raising my children. I learned this by observing my children with their children. They had the courage to give their children independence at a much earlier age. When mine were young I carried them out to the car, up the stairs, into their highchair etc.etc. I t was much easier for me because it didn't take as long to get things done. Not so with my grandchildren! It was not as quick but they walked to the car, climbed or crawled up the stairs, struggled into their chair, bed etc.etc.
They were encouraged to wash their own hands, take their own bathes and dress themselves at an early age. Granted sometimes their shirts were on backwards and they did not always have the shoes on the right feet but they did it themselves.
I wonder how my children are seeing their children now that they are grown, married and parents themselves. Whose system of child rearing are they following. Are the grandchildren getting the independence that they got at an early age? Are the grandchildren as well disciplined or organized as their parents? I love being privileged enough to get to see the third generation and watch them grow and blossom into real people!
The thing is, the best way to rear good kids is to set good examples. Give them a road map, so to speak, that will show them how to be brave , polite, generous, moral, and tough. Have fun doing it, too.
When I had my own children, Mother gave me a lesson in how to be a mother. She said now that I had children of my own I could not let them see me cowering in some corner. She said I needed to be unafraid or at least pretend to be unafraid and thereby show courage to my children so that they would not be fearful. I did as she advised and actually did get to the point where I could reassure them and remain calm during storms. There was no mention of the palm solution. But one time Mike spent a day or two at her house and when he came home he said, " It stormed while I was there but Grandma stucked a plum out the window and the storm stopped pretty soon." Still worked!
I learned that I made many mistakes when I was raising my children. I learned this by observing my children with their children. They had the courage to give their children independence at a much earlier age. When mine were young I carried them out to the car, up the stairs, into their highchair etc.etc. I t was much easier for me because it didn't take as long to get things done. Not so with my grandchildren! It was not as quick but they walked to the car, climbed or crawled up the stairs, struggled into their chair, bed etc.etc.
They were encouraged to wash their own hands, take their own bathes and dress themselves at an early age. Granted sometimes their shirts were on backwards and they did not always have the shoes on the right feet but they did it themselves.
I wonder how my children are seeing their children now that they are grown, married and parents themselves. Whose system of child rearing are they following. Are the grandchildren getting the independence that they got at an early age? Are the grandchildren as well disciplined or organized as their parents? I love being privileged enough to get to see the third generation and watch them grow and blossom into real people!
The thing is, the best way to rear good kids is to set good examples. Give them a road map, so to speak, that will show them how to be brave , polite, generous, moral, and tough. Have fun doing it, too.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Midwestern Hurricane
It was a week ago today that we were almost blown away! Sustained winds of 50 miles an hour and gusts up to 75 or 80 mph. That officially classifies it as a hurricane. Right,Pat? It took most of us by surprize. High winds were predicted but not as high as we got.
My power was off from Sunday until Thursday night. I stayed at Karen and Paul 's the first night but when it became obvious that the power was not coming back for quite awhile, I decided I should stay home. Our dinner at Karen's and Paul's on Sunday night was truely great. Paul put a beef tenderloin on the grill along with some potatoes to bake and while we waited for that to cook we had tomatos with Camenbert and blue cheese chunks with olive oil and balsemic vinegar drizzled over it and Greek seasoning sprinkled on it along with some sushi that had to be used because of the power outage and of course a few glasses of Sharaz wine. We ate outside of the enclosed patio and had candles on the table to add to the ambiance and to allow us to see what we were eating. Even Fergus got to join us and he has a liking for sushi ,we discovered, when he helped himself to a serving. We topped our gourme meal off with fresh peach pie that I had baked just before the power went off. Life is tough in these River Towns.
We have a large oak tree in the front yard and T. Tabb, the owner of the empty house next door, has two large oaks in the front yard and one in the back along with an ash tree between the houses. Needless to say we had many, many limbs down in both front and back yard. My deck table and umbrella with all my shamrock plants and ceramic hippo and tiger were all blown over and some even off the deck. The umbrella was blown into the yard next door and my neighbor behind me saw it going so he and his wife jumped in their car and came over to help me and so they had a view of a huge branch spliting off their tree and falling on their deck where they had been standing just before coming to my aid. Very frightening.
On Monday, Michele, Jeff, Julie and Jane came to help clean up my front yard. Christian, my teenage neighbor that I taught at MDS when he was in the 7th and 8th grade came to clear my deck of branches. Karen and Paul swept the deck and helped pick up the plants.
Brian, who used to camp frequently, came over and brought me a Colman stove and a battery powered lantern, and a minor's lamp so I could read. Gregg brought me a cooler full of ice and cokes.( they were even the baby bottled cokes which I can hardly survive without!) Linda brought me some items from the store that I could eat without cooking. Life is good!
One evening, Karen, Paul, Kathy, Abby and I went to Red Lobster for dinner and one day we went to Buckheads for lunch and one day I went to The Cafe' with Toni and her mother for lunch. Penny Skinner had me down for a fantastic dinner that her husband, Jack, had prepared on the grill. Salmon with dill sauce and sweet potatoes. Penny brought me home before dark and then later that night, my power came back on.
There are so many stories of people helping each other. As I drove down the street I noticed the bright orange heavy duty extention cords stretched across the street. One neighbor on one side had power and the person across the street did not so they shared. Isn't that beautiful? Many people had generators and so they could get by. Gregg was without power until last night! one day short of a week! He has a generator and he said it cost just about $30.00 a day to run it. The people with gas ranges were lucky, Linda had no power but she does have a gas range so that made life somewhat easier. Mike and Jane lost their power for just two days. Kathy and Michele and Brian didn't lose theirs. Kris and Tim were without for five days also.
Midwestern Hurricanes are a lot easier to deal with than the coastal ones because we have no water surges, no levees etc. to worry with. For us it is a huge inconvience and we did have some fatalities but nothing nearly as bad as they are dealing with along the Texas coast.
My power was off from Sunday until Thursday night. I stayed at Karen and Paul 's the first night but when it became obvious that the power was not coming back for quite awhile, I decided I should stay home. Our dinner at Karen's and Paul's on Sunday night was truely great. Paul put a beef tenderloin on the grill along with some potatoes to bake and while we waited for that to cook we had tomatos with Camenbert and blue cheese chunks with olive oil and balsemic vinegar drizzled over it and Greek seasoning sprinkled on it along with some sushi that had to be used because of the power outage and of course a few glasses of Sharaz wine. We ate outside of the enclosed patio and had candles on the table to add to the ambiance and to allow us to see what we were eating. Even Fergus got to join us and he has a liking for sushi ,we discovered, when he helped himself to a serving. We topped our gourme meal off with fresh peach pie that I had baked just before the power went off. Life is tough in these River Towns.
We have a large oak tree in the front yard and T. Tabb, the owner of the empty house next door, has two large oaks in the front yard and one in the back along with an ash tree between the houses. Needless to say we had many, many limbs down in both front and back yard. My deck table and umbrella with all my shamrock plants and ceramic hippo and tiger were all blown over and some even off the deck. The umbrella was blown into the yard next door and my neighbor behind me saw it going so he and his wife jumped in their car and came over to help me and so they had a view of a huge branch spliting off their tree and falling on their deck where they had been standing just before coming to my aid. Very frightening.
On Monday, Michele, Jeff, Julie and Jane came to help clean up my front yard. Christian, my teenage neighbor that I taught at MDS when he was in the 7th and 8th grade came to clear my deck of branches. Karen and Paul swept the deck and helped pick up the plants.
Brian, who used to camp frequently, came over and brought me a Colman stove and a battery powered lantern, and a minor's lamp so I could read. Gregg brought me a cooler full of ice and cokes.( they were even the baby bottled cokes which I can hardly survive without!) Linda brought me some items from the store that I could eat without cooking. Life is good!
One evening, Karen, Paul, Kathy, Abby and I went to Red Lobster for dinner and one day we went to Buckheads for lunch and one day I went to The Cafe' with Toni and her mother for lunch. Penny Skinner had me down for a fantastic dinner that her husband, Jack, had prepared on the grill. Salmon with dill sauce and sweet potatoes. Penny brought me home before dark and then later that night, my power came back on.
There are so many stories of people helping each other. As I drove down the street I noticed the bright orange heavy duty extention cords stretched across the street. One neighbor on one side had power and the person across the street did not so they shared. Isn't that beautiful? Many people had generators and so they could get by. Gregg was without power until last night! one day short of a week! He has a generator and he said it cost just about $30.00 a day to run it. The people with gas ranges were lucky, Linda had no power but she does have a gas range so that made life somewhat easier. Mike and Jane lost their power for just two days. Kathy and Michele and Brian didn't lose theirs. Kris and Tim were without for five days also.
Midwestern Hurricanes are a lot easier to deal with than the coastal ones because we have no water surges, no levees etc. to worry with. For us it is a huge inconvience and we did have some fatalities but nothing nearly as bad as they are dealing with along the Texas coast.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
August 22, 2008 11:43AM
On August 22, 2008 at 11:43, Doc peacefully passed into eternity. We had a long and fruitful marriage. We were married in Covington, Kentucky on February 28, 1942. During the next nineteen years, we had six children. He spent two years as a soldier in WWII and because of Crowell Collier Publishing Company's demise he worked in Kentucky for a year while I waited in Springfield, O for him to find a house for us and in later years, he spent a year away from our home working in Mt. Vernon, Illinois until he could get a job here in Louisville again. Four years out of the sixty-six we were together.
We had some rocky times and we had some smooth times but we always toughed it out and came out on top. It would be hard to tell in the limited space of this blog what we accomplished in the sixty six years of our union and hard to tell of the joys and sorrows we endured together. The important thing is we lived up to our commitment: "for better or for worse until death do us part."
It is comforting to know that his genes live on in the fourteen grandchildren and twenty-some great grandchildren and the impact of their lives and deeds will benefit future generations. Who knows what great things they can or will accomplish? He will be a part of it all. His genes live on!
" And can it be that in a world so full and busy, the loss of one creature makes a void in any heart,so wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth of eternity can fill it up!"
Charles Dickens
We had some rocky times and we had some smooth times but we always toughed it out and came out on top. It would be hard to tell in the limited space of this blog what we accomplished in the sixty six years of our union and hard to tell of the joys and sorrows we endured together. The important thing is we lived up to our commitment: "for better or for worse until death do us part."
It is comforting to know that his genes live on in the fourteen grandchildren and twenty-some great grandchildren and the impact of their lives and deeds will benefit future generations. Who knows what great things they can or will accomplish? He will be a part of it all. His genes live on!
" And can it be that in a world so full and busy, the loss of one creature makes a void in any heart,so wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth of eternity can fill it up!"
Charles Dickens
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Rescue Mission (Part one)
On the Yard Sale circuit you frequently see items that are pretty much useless to anyone! They are beyond salvaging and un-restorable. (Is that a word?) I've made it my mission though, to salvage the broken and seriously deformed religious icons.
I have an Infant Jesus of Prague that is without a hand. He has a little wooden stub protruding from his right sleeve. He is in need of the services of the local hand surgeons. It would have to be a transplant for the hand is long gone. Tragically, while residing in my downstairs room on the top of the book case, he fell (or was pushed) onto the floor and lost his head. The head rolled behind the bookcase and I could not retrieve it so he stood there, headless and hand less for a number of months. Finally the head was found and my attempts to re-attach it have not met with success. I'll keep trying. I paid twenty-five cents for him.
On top of the cluttered shelf on the wall of that same room stands the Headless Monk. He arrived at our house about thirty-five years ago. I like to think he was seeking refuge. He came in a box of Keith's art supplies and I have never been able to discern if he was created by Keith or by an unknown artist. Why doesn't he have a head? What secrets lurk behind this mystery? I do not know.
I have another Infant Jesus of Prague that has a small planter attached to the rear of his body. The planter is cracked, chipped and barely hanging on and would not bear up under the burden of dirt or water. This, too is a yard sale purchase. Cost? Twenty- five cents.
When I was lying in my hospital bed after one of my cancer surgeries, heavily drugged, one of my good friends brought me a statue of St Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer. She placed him on the bedside table. After she left, I threw my arm out to the side and inadvertently knocked him off onto the floor. His head went in one direction and his body in another. Linda was present in the room and she got on her hands and knees and crawled around the floor looking for his head. she found it under the bed. I was devastated because I thought it might be an omen! I beheaded the patron saint of cancer! Realizing how upset I was, Linda assured me that she would take it across the street to Tonini's and see if they could repair it. They were very understanding and graciously said they would take it back and give us a new one. Whew! He resides on my dresser with a couple of angels, a teensie Mary and an Infant Jesus of Prague that is in mint condition!
I now have a new mission. Kris and Tim bought a lovely old home in the Highlands that was formerly owned by a prolific Catholic family. As part of the tour on my first visit to their new home, I spied a statue of the Virgin Mary hiding in the weeds beside the garage and fence. She was in pretty rough condition. It was love at first sight for me. I asked what they intended to do with her , hoping that I could be a part of her salvation. They had no plans for her! I suggested that maybe I could adopt her. They agreed to let me have her but she still hung out there by the garage for the next two years. A week or so ago Stephanie and I visited Kris, Maureen and new citizen, Rowan Patrick. I checked to see if Our Lady of the Lally was still there. She was! Stephanie went out to check her out and said, " We can take her if you want." I wanted! So we wrapped her in a plastic bag and carefully placed her in the car and brought her home.Jubilation!
To be continued.
I have an Infant Jesus of Prague that is without a hand. He has a little wooden stub protruding from his right sleeve. He is in need of the services of the local hand surgeons. It would have to be a transplant for the hand is long gone. Tragically, while residing in my downstairs room on the top of the book case, he fell (or was pushed) onto the floor and lost his head. The head rolled behind the bookcase and I could not retrieve it so he stood there, headless and hand less for a number of months. Finally the head was found and my attempts to re-attach it have not met with success. I'll keep trying. I paid twenty-five cents for him.
On top of the cluttered shelf on the wall of that same room stands the Headless Monk. He arrived at our house about thirty-five years ago. I like to think he was seeking refuge. He came in a box of Keith's art supplies and I have never been able to discern if he was created by Keith or by an unknown artist. Why doesn't he have a head? What secrets lurk behind this mystery? I do not know.
I have another Infant Jesus of Prague that has a small planter attached to the rear of his body. The planter is cracked, chipped and barely hanging on and would not bear up under the burden of dirt or water. This, too is a yard sale purchase. Cost? Twenty- five cents.
When I was lying in my hospital bed after one of my cancer surgeries, heavily drugged, one of my good friends brought me a statue of St Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer. She placed him on the bedside table. After she left, I threw my arm out to the side and inadvertently knocked him off onto the floor. His head went in one direction and his body in another. Linda was present in the room and she got on her hands and knees and crawled around the floor looking for his head. she found it under the bed. I was devastated because I thought it might be an omen! I beheaded the patron saint of cancer! Realizing how upset I was, Linda assured me that she would take it across the street to Tonini's and see if they could repair it. They were very understanding and graciously said they would take it back and give us a new one. Whew! He resides on my dresser with a couple of angels, a teensie Mary and an Infant Jesus of Prague that is in mint condition!
I now have a new mission. Kris and Tim bought a lovely old home in the Highlands that was formerly owned by a prolific Catholic family. As part of the tour on my first visit to their new home, I spied a statue of the Virgin Mary hiding in the weeds beside the garage and fence. She was in pretty rough condition. It was love at first sight for me. I asked what they intended to do with her , hoping that I could be a part of her salvation. They had no plans for her! I suggested that maybe I could adopt her. They agreed to let me have her but she still hung out there by the garage for the next two years. A week or so ago Stephanie and I visited Kris, Maureen and new citizen, Rowan Patrick. I checked to see if Our Lady of the Lally was still there. She was! Stephanie went out to check her out and said, " We can take her if you want." I wanted! So we wrapped her in a plastic bag and carefully placed her in the car and brought her home.Jubilation!
To be continued.
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