Once again we're celebrating an Independence Day. Freedom still rings throughout our land. We call it the Land of the Free and the Home Of The Brave. Our star bangled banner still waves in triumph..."oh say can you see by the dawn's early light"!
We are lucky to have this independence and freedom. Think about some of the Arab countries or the African countries.....freedom doesn't exist.
When you think about it, there are limitations on our freedom and this bothers and concerns some persons. Women don't always get paid the same as men, so does this violate our Civil Rights granted under the Bill of Rights? Children can't pray in school. A lot of assemblies of persons result in arrests so has freedom been lost. People are arrested for voicing their opinions, so does this violate our rights? If a person believes in Islam, they are considered a terrorist. There is racial profiling. The constitution gives you the assurance that you can be safe in your house, yet a Supreme Court decision was made to allow police into your house without a warrant if they hear what they call suspicious sounds in your house. The Federal Government can use videos and wire tapping when a person hasn't been convicted of anything. A Chicago women made a choice of an alternative treatment for her child who had behavorial mental problems....a Chicago Swat team broke in and took the child because DHS didn't like the treatment decision. Police seize computers and cell phones to obtain information about you. In one Chicago school, children are banned from bringing their lunch from home. If you have a bank account or a security lock box at a bank and don't use it for a period of time, it's seized and kept for a while then sold or used. If you deposit $10,000 or more in a bank account. you are reported to the IRS and investigated and if you write a check over $5,000 it's put on the suspicious activity list and if you write several this size, you may be in trouble because they probably think you are money laundering. Sometimes I even feel that Big Brother Is Watching me. HA HA
All of these things are not necessarily something I agree with, but could these be violations of our constitutional rights? But, all in all, this country sure isn't as bad as Iraq or Afghanistan, etc. As Americans, we must always stand United on the home front. We must strive to assure the country operates with our constitutional rights guaranteed and awarded. Each person is given the right to elect Congressional and Judiciary persons who will assure that.....and if they don't it's time to elect another who will.
Enjoy the day whether you have a planned family outing or cookout. Or, maybe you have to work. Or, maybe you will just sit back and enjoy a day of freedom. Kick off the shoes, recline the chair and watch the television and by all means relax. But ..... enjoy the day. And think of our town Greenview, Illinois.....which was organized by our forefathers, to remain forever, in the land of freedom. A fine old town which still stands proud, bedecked today with our star spangled banner, waving strong and proud. It's a good thing!
A New Concept I Will Be Posting.....A Continuing Story
Throughout my lifetime, I was always writing things in journals and diaries or just on paper. It was simply a part of my life. Several years ago, I got all of these out and started reading these. Some things I had written were dumb, but I was a kid then who had not much else to do as I lived in Greenview, Illinois. Many of my writings were deep thoughts on various subjects and in my older lifetime, they made sense and were still deep thoughts. Other writings centered on my fears of certain things. One of these fears was the subject of death. It was obvious to me when I re-read my writings that I didn't understand death as a kid. And when I think about this, I don't think any child understands death and even when that child grows up, the understanding may not get any clearer.
I decided to write some of my thoughts on the subject of death in a continuing story. Some things are from my journals and diaries and some from a documentation of my life's story which I completed a couple of years ago. I don't know exactly how long the story will continue....until I'm done with my story I guess. I'm not sure if I will post a story chapter each day or if it will be a few a week. Sometimes it might not follow the timeline and will appear to jump around but that's the way I wrote in my journals. I will try to not make my posts so long that you lose interest. If I lose readers because of the subject, that's ok, but keep in mind I'm not trying to sway anyone to come around to my way of thinking, I'm just documenting my food for thought. And maybe this will help me retain readers and gain some more. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading....keep in mind that some of this is copied from my diaries and is very personal to me.....yet I am willing to let you see the inner me. Just a humble kid in the beginning and now an old lady who still lives in Greenview, Illinois. Enjoy!
Death Is Hiding Around The Corner
Chapter One - First Impression
The first person I remember seeing lying in a state of death’s repose was the daughter of my father’s friend. The girl was quite young and looked like she was sleeping but I couldn’t understand why her facial features looked funny. She was really pale and her face looked like she had painted her face with clown makeup. That clown makeup really bothered me. Why did she just lie there and do nothing? She didn't smile or raise up and tell people hello. Why were her fingers lying on her belly? Why was she lying in this box with white satin material on the pillow. Why was her mother and father crying? Why were lots of people crying? Why did my dad shake his friend’s hand and hug his wife? Why did my dad bring me here?
All of these questions would be normal questions for a young child to ask when death is first exposed to the child. I had never seen death before and no one told me what it was or what I should expect because I was too young. But at some time I had to learn, so I suppose my dad felt it was time to show me how death affects those who go on living. I sure didn’t think it was time but my dad apparently wanted me to know that she was dead and gone to heaven. But I still didn’t know what that meant until I thought about the funny facial features and the stuff on her face which looked like my clown makeup. And those fingers on her belly, just lying there, not doing anything. I didn't like that clown makeup and those fingers lying on the belly. And when someone said they were putting her in the ground, it felt pretty final to me. That bothered me because I remembered the bird I found not long before that day I went with my dad to see that dead girl. That bird must have been dead. I picked him up when I found him and shook the bird a bit and when he just laid there, I didn’t want the neighbor’s dog to get him, so I dug a hole for him and buried him. When dad told me the girl was dead then I knew the bird must have been dead. Why didn’t I know that? And why must things die?
After my experience of going to the funeral home with my dad, I knew I didn’t want anyone I knew dying. But time marches on and the so called nasty death began to catch up with my life. A few aunts and uncles died. I remember having to go see them for the last time. I knew I would never see my aunt/uncle ever again. It wasn't fair. And just like the young girl I saw the first time, my aunts and uncles were covered in clown makeup and their fingers were lying on their belly. I began to associate those fingers on the belly and clown makeup with death. Was I going to look like that one of those days. NO! Not me.
During my grade school years we played a lot of baseball at the grade school yard which was across from our house. There wasn’t a whole lot to do in town, so we made our own fun. Sometimes it was walking up the spiral fire escape on the old grade school and sliding down it on a piece of waxed paper or forming the baseball teams and playing for hours. I had to be very observant of my mom as she was sick a lot so I had to stick close to home. Through the last years, she was in the hospital with a bad heart attack. She took this liquid green medicine for her nerves. The Lithuanian doctor, Stanley Paulaskis, filled her bottle each time she visited the doctor. I don’t think she took other medicine because I can’t remember seeing her take anything else, but I know she felt bad a lot. The doctor’s wife was his nurse. Everyone always says he came from behind the Iron Curtain. That sounded stupid to me as a kid, because if the curtain was iron you couldn’t get through it so how did he come here? I once asked him but his accent was so bad it couldn’t understand what he said. I remember hearing Walter Cronkite say on television that the Iron Curtain meant there was an impenetrable barrier by the Russians. When I heard the word Russians I got scared, because people said the world was going to end because the Russians are going to drop a bomb on us and kill the world. I also remember that Mr. Cronkite talked about this huge stone Berlin wall in Germany. I always wondered why do those people in other countries liked walls and curtains. Here in America, we liked the wide open corn fields and pastures and if my family wanted to go to another state, we could go. I really liked watching Walter Cronkite report the news. Almost as much as I like to watch Lawrence Welk and the Lennon sisters.
I was aging and began to know a bit more about people dying and death. I learned some things at Sunday School from my teachers and from the minister and from my friends at school. The minister said that death was beautiful but I didn't see it that way with that funny makeup. I didn’t have a book to use to really explain death, so I had to rely on these people’s knowledge. But I had a lot of unanswered questions. Then the most horrible thing happened. My mom was ill with a terribly ravished heart and in my twelfth year of age, she died one night when I was at a basketball game. My brother ran to the school to get me, but mama was dead. She had peed on the couch and I knew mama must have been really sick to do that. She would have been so embarrassed. But I didn’t know that death caused her urine to be released.
It was the night before Valentine’s Day in 1962, and my brother and I had spent our allowance on a box of Valentine's Day candy for mama. What was I going to do with that candy? We ended up giving it to grandma. The next day I asked my dad if I could call his new wife “Mama” when we were out shopping for a new blue dress for my mama to wear in her casket. I was age 12 and how did I know that no one could replace my mom. And, how could I know that my childhood had just fallen apart and that in the future the world would be full of mean and hateful persons stepping into my father’s life and trying to capture his heart and his money while alienating this child as well as the rest of the siblings. And these same people my dad seemed to like, hated my baby sister who couldn’t help she was a downs syndrome child. It happened. Why did my mama have to die? I was so upset with mama dying because just a few weeks before that she told me she wasn’t going to die when I asked her about her being sick and going to die. I remember crying out “Mama how could you do this to me, I’m only 12“.
......STORY TO BE CONTINUED IN A FUTURE POST.....KEEP ON READING PLEASE.....AND THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ MY STORY.
What's To Eat At Our House Tonight
Tonight is meatloaf. I simply use: 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 cup chopped onions, 2 Tablespoons worchestershire sauce, salt, pepper,1/2 cup ketchup, 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, parsley flakes, one egg, 1/4 cup water and 2 pounds of ground chuck (may need more bread crumbs....trial and error). Mix it together, and shape it in a loaf and put it in a sprayed pan. Before I put it in the pan, I spoon really cold water over it above the sink.....water over the top supposedly makes it so it doesn't fall apart....at least my food sources told me long ago. I let it cook out the juices and pour off the grease and about 3/4 the way through cooking I spread ketchup over the top and mix 2 cans of tomato soup with a 2 cans of water and put around the meatloaf so we can use this for gravy. Total cooking time for a 2 pound meatloaf will be about 1 1/2 hours....but test with a thermometer.....170 degrees. Mashed potatoes taste really good with the tomato soup gravy. French green bean casserole and hard rolls are also on our firecracker meal.
Thought For The Day
Every night I turn my worries over to God.
He's going to be up all night anyway.
--Mary Crowley
I appreciate my readers....more than you can ever realize. Today is a holiday for which we celebrate our nation. Tomorrow is a holiday on which we can celebrate life itself. We should always be thankful for being given yet another day to live in this world. Be kind to yourself....take a moment to reflect on your life. And, if you have a few spare moments, think about documenting your life. Those who are your next generation will appreciate learning about the person who had a small town named Greenview Illinois in their history. From one Greenviewanite to another.....Have a safe and happy July 4, 2011. I remain.....your friend.
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