Remember...

I can remember way back when I used to hang clothes on a clothes line in my back yard with clothes pins. Yes, we had a dryer but at one time it was nice to smell the fresh air on your towels and sheets from hanging on a line that the sun and warm air had dried. Don't you remember when you could run with all your mite and throw your arms and body into the sheets hanging from the clothes line in the summer or just before a rainstorm you could smell the rain and you had to quickly grab the clothes from the line before they became wet and as you folded each towel and sheet you could still smell the wetness of rain in them. Well the same thing applies that as I folded and hung up my moms clothes I could smell her, you know the smell maybe it was fresh bread or frosting from a cake or her favorite cologne or just a clean sweet soapy smell or maybe it was blue grass. I knew my moms smell and I knew her just by her smell alone and when I was sad or lonely or just missed her I would go to her closet and stand in the middle of her clothes and let her clothes wrap around me like a hug and take deep long breaths and take in her smell and immediately I felt happy and complete and loved. The blue grass smell I associated with was a perfume she wore and she never wore any other and I knew that when I smelled that perfume I instantly thought of her. I believe all mothers have a mommy smell that only her children know and this smell is a very strong bond just between her and them. The next time you hug your mom take the time and close your eyes and relish in your mommy smell for its a love of a lifetime...

Being a parent...

As I was growing up and my parents would discipline me I did not always agree or even understand the punishment. There were plenty of times that I said to myself, when I grow up I am never going to do that to my child or say certain things to my child. But as I raised my daughter I found myself repeating a lot of the same things that was done to me. Some of these things were good and some were not so good, but I say wait, stop, and listen for no one that becomes a parent is given a handbook or manual on how to be a parent. Sure there are dozens, hundreds of books written on parenting but really, these books were written after the fact. I mean these people became parents, went through the trials and errors and then thought gee, let me write a book on parenting for I've got this in the bag. No one knows how to parent for this is a learning as you go type of thing and you do the best that you can by what you know. You go by the way you were treated and what you have learned from others. Parents with more than one child will work even harder for they do not want to repeat mistakes from one child to the next but to continue to raise them the best way possible. Yes, it would be great if we all had instructions given to us as we leave the hospital but we do have the ability to love and learn and make our mistakes and hope that we have made a difference in some one's life. Its hard being a parent but its so worth it...

Vows

What has happened to the vows of marriage? Where did they go? Do people really take them seriously? These are the questions that have pondered me with all the accusations of affairs in our society. It really is depressing when every time you turn on your television, read a paper or look through a magazine you see all the affairs that is plaguing our society. What are we teaching our children, that its OK to make a promise in front of our friends and family, put it in writing, and two weeks later be sleeping with someone else? Saying I'm sorry and still love you just doesn't cut it. Why go through the wedding and signing a marriage license if you were never going to follow the vows to begin with? Oh, I know it seemed like a good idea at the time. Marriage is hard, and those people that enter into it lightly is doing an injustice not just to themselves but to all those that marry and mean it. Getting married means two people have made a promise before god, family, and friends to make a life together through the bad times and the good, sickness, children, financial strain, plain old life. You don't take off running at the first sight of discomfort, you buckle down and deal with it. That is why you see couples that are celebrating there 25Th, 30Th, and even 50Th anniversary and you think GOSH, how did they do it? They did it the hard way by loving, respecting and honoring there vows. That's what being married is! A novelty I know but wouldn't it be nice if it caught on... P.S. Now don't get me wrong ABUSE and NEGLECT of any kind should never be tolerated, I was mainly talking about infidelity!! Marriage can be good but it can also be painful, so take note and be wise and love long.

Forgive...

Its not everyday that you come across a movie that moves you as much as this one does in Amish Grace seen on LMN (Lifetime Movie Network). This movie tells the story of a distraught man that walks into a Amish school and takes hold of all the girls in the school and ends up shooting ten girls. Out of the ten girls eight are killed. The real story is not the shooting but the Amish faith of forgiveness. One of the mothers that lost there oldest child was having a hard time forgiving this man and could not understand how her husband could easily forgive this man for killing her daughter. She was to the point of leaving her faith when she learned that her daughter had not only forgave this man but prayed for him right before he shot her. This was a big impact for her, she realized that her daughter prayed for him but also forgave him for what he was about to do. She knew then that she could forgive him for not what he had done but for her daughter and family.This gave her the strength to go forward with her life. I was blown away for I learned such a valuable lesson and realize that holding on to hate and malice just makes you bitter and cold and yes, you can not move on until you learn to forgive. Forgiveness trumps hate and with forgiveness comes closure. We should all take note on this one...

Credit/Privacy

You know it amazes me that our government has gone through a lot of trouble passing the Hippa Act to protect our privacy when corporate America is giving the information away freely. The most dangerous of information is held within financial institutions. What scares me is not necessarily the associates that work in these companies but the country's that they have working for them in computer technology, customer support, Internet advisement etc. One country in particular India is used a lot in banks and large corporations and such because it is cheaper and more cost effective. This is worrisome to me because India has Pakistan next door and we know how much they love each other and with India supplying the U.S. with customer support for all these corporations who knows what information is being leaked out. When you call for customer support with your computer you get someone from India and the same for collections. I know for a fact that there is a lot of sensitive information and computer systems that this country has access to and having this information in the hands of a country that could go to war with their enemy could jeopardize our economical welfare. Scary thought...

Health Care...

Such a big subject that tests us all. I was one of those that had 30 plus years in the banking world and had medical, dental and vision through my job. I thought to myself, gosh those people that do not have health care how do they do it? Well, now I'm one of those people that lost there health care when my job went away. I have several health issues and take up to nine prescriptions daily and when I had health care I thought the co-pays were bad enough until I lost them. My higher med with insurance ran forty dollars per month and fifteen dollars for the rest and I thought that was bad, I didn't know what bad was but I certainly do now. My med now for the inhalers are two hundred and fifty dollars and four hundred dollars just for two scripts. I do not have any medical at this time. Without health care and the rising costs of prescriptions med the choices a person has to make is very hard. Yes, I am happy that the health care reform that has been voted into law and yes, I understand that a lot of people do not like being told that they have to buy insurance, but if you want to drive you have to have insurance and if you get a terminal disease or the flu without insurance you just die, which one would you choose...

News...

I was watching the evening news when they announced Bank of America's new line of marketing concerning bank fees. This caught my eye because even though I was retired I had invested over 30 years working for various banks and try to keep up with the financial aspect of them. I was amazed that B of A had decided to DROP the fees on debit cards for over drafts. I mean any one with half a brain would have put a cap or block on all debit cards so you could not spend more than what was in your account. Oh, but then the bank could not collect the huge fee associated with this, but then the bad press they received and I would imagine the many canceled accounts and lets face it customer retention is a primary goal of financial institutions, maybe it would be a better idea to say "drop the fee altogether". What a brainstorm and I wonder how many people they had to pay to come up with that one. Watch closely for I fear fees will be on the rise...