PCOS, for All Women and the Men that Love Them!

We will share!

Okay ladies! No more hiding in the shadows... This is a touchy subject. Embarrassing and messy. But we must speak out So I will begin.

I had PCOS , In other words Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. It gives you heavy and painful periods, it can keep you from having children, it can cause you to get Cancer. It can pretty much destroy your life. If you let it...

I, like the woman in the bible who couldn't stop bleeding, couldn't stop bleeding. It was awful and embarrassing to say the very least. The honest truth, messy and life ruining. And by the time I wouldn't except one more  "let's wait and see answer from my doctors", I almost died from the hidden cancer in my uterus all due to PCOS.

Oh and poor care.

And I say this about good doctors and bad. I had many of both. Too many times they wanted to take a wait and see attitude. Even though my life was in ruin, and I am truly embarrassed to say, I let them do it. I let them shame me into waiting, oh, just lose weight. I did. It did not work. Take these pills, get your diabetes under control. Try excercize. Yeah that didn't work either... I let them put me on a back burner and wasted so many years of my life because of it.

I spent 27 years dealing with pain, heavy bleeding and clots, Hemeraging. Sometimes for 3 weeks of the month, having to carry extra clothes, usually three sets, and cleaning supplies with me every where. Standing behind the counter at work helping a customer while bleeding all over the floor because I stood up. Too many surgery's to mention. D&C's, Ablations. Nothing worked. And when I asked for a hysterectomy again and again I was rejected and told to try something else for a while.

Finally, I had enough. It was my life that was being put on hold. Me who couldn't attend things because I would bleed all over. Me who suffered some of the most embarrassing situations. Bleeding all over myself in the grocery store, a party, while working, in my car. While on a field trip with my daughters class, my kids graduations... And I am talking about a lot of blood. it soaked through my pants in minutes, my whole pants, top to bottom, 5 times or more a day! And when I went to the doctor crying they told me. I could deal with it. I almost slugged that doctor! And I should have bought stock in sanitary napkins and tampons. Thousands of my dollars went into them!

So enough was enough, I got another new doctor and said. Here's what I want, "I want my life back"!  And he said okay, he listened to what I had to say and when I was done, he said, "I think you are right", "it is past time".

Hooray! but then as I said, they did the surgery and the biopsy revealed what all their tests had not. A large cancer on the back of my uterus, totally covered by tons of tissue and blood. I was terrified, I feared I had let them talk me into loosing my life.

But two wonderful women doctors and Radiation seems to have taken care of it. But I have to wait five years to be totally sure.

But in the meantime, I am determined to share!

With my daughters, with my family and friends, we all talk about breast cancer, Now it's time we shared about this. Especially with the men in our lives. Andy was my savior and lifeline.

I had PCOS, My daughters have it, I know I have other family members who have it as well. Because it is hereditary. And we need to talk about it, be aware, and never, I mean NEVER, let a doctor shame you into not doing what is right for you.

As I was ringing the bell for the Salvation Army last week and the week before, I just couldn't help thinking how enjoyable my life is now! How much I appreciate this freedom!  And of how much of my life had been lost to PCOS.

What a waste!

I will never be the woman in the bible again, waiting inside, in darkness and shame.
She too had her enough is enough moment and...When she heard the Lord was coming, she had waited long enough! Nothing was going to stop her! And she came outside, I am sure still bleeding, but determined, and reached out and touched the Lord's robe and changed her life. Her faith and strength had made her whole.

Don't hide in the shadows, don't wait! If there is a problem tell your doctor, and tell them to to fix it, now, not later!

And share, PLEASE share with your daughters, family and friends. Lets get rid of this stupid stigma!

I had PCOS!

Free, how I feel every day now!

My Grandmother's Hands

They speak for themselves...

I remember one day my mom and her sisters sitting around squeezing the skin on their knuckles to see how quickly their skin smoothed back into place. I guess the faster it smoothed out the younger your skin was. I remember wishing my hands looked like my grandma's. Really!

Now, you have to understand, I have a fascination with hands.

All artists do, because for one thing they are very hard to learn to draw correctly, and secondly they are beautiful to draw.

But, I also like the things they say to you.
You can see comfort when they rest lovingly on someone else's hands or shoulders. Strength when they are picking something up, excitement they are waving in the air. Skill while they are whipping up dinner and cleaning the house. I think you get the idea.

My thing with hands goes beyond the normal, you see I am what the nurses like to call a bad stick...
They can never find a vein for my IV's. They hurt me a lot. If you don't believe me ask my husband. He's been there a lot when this happens. The conversation goes something like this..."I am a bad stick" I say. Nurse "Oh, I have been doing this for years, I never have a problem." 30 minutes later I am in tears my hand looks like Hamburger and the nurse says she is "sorry..."  and to tell my next nurse what a bad stick I am. Yeah, I always do, and most always it ends like this.
So maybe you can understand why I am so sensitive about my hands now, and why I am so aware of them.

Being that way also makes me appreciate them so much! I have been able to crochet, knit, draw, paint, and create through some of the awfullest situations with these hands. They allow me to keep my sanity. My mom was astounded as I knit my way through Seed Radiation.

I love my hands!

And now I am beginning to see them as I once wished they would be. I see my grandma's hands on me. Hard work and years of caring for others, I see it there on my hands. Love and comfort, strength and protection, all there...How wonderful. When I pray, when I hold my granddaughter's hands to guide them across the parking lot, when I am reading them a story and pointing to the pictures, there they are again...My grandmother's hands.

I am proud of them, proud to wear them, these hands. They are from generations of hard working, loving women and I share this DNA in my hands. It ties me to these wonderful women.

And I am so grateful to have my grandmother's hands...

We the People are Thankful! Just try and Stop us!

Power!

We the people, are Powerful!

Really we are!

Because we are thankful. Because we have gratitude! The faith of standing together in THANKFULNESS!

There is an awesome Power in doing that.

Today as we all sit down and convey our thankfulness to each other a powerful feeling covers this Earth!
In LOVE and JOY and FORGIVENESS, by being thankful for all the we have, whatever we have! We can change brokenness, poverty, addiction, and war.

We can change the world!
And all it takes is saying I am Thankful. What can I do to give that feeling to another?

This holiday started as a way to be thankful for the harvest, the goodness of the Earth. The wonderful BOUNTY God provides us.

We can donate food and money to provide food for those in need, and that is really great to do!

We need  to do more than that though...
Pray for our leaders, all of them! Pray them a heart full of gratitude and thankfulness.
It is amazing how when you're  full of these feelings you can't stop giving! And I imagine it would make a spirit of cooperation like we have never seen before... What? Put the needs of the people above the need to win the next election? I believe  prayer and thankfulness would make that happen.

Like the Grinch! It is overwhelming! Pray for them a heart that big, and more. Pray for goodness and kindness to overtake greed and corruption... even for one day, think of that day! Pray for Peace and Love that would wash over us all like a flood!

You all have the power to make that difference. You do!
Stop telling yourself, "oh, I am just one against so much..." Be the little stones on the beach, the more you build up the bigger the breakwall grows! And the tide is lessened, held back, weakened! It may come at you all like a powerful storm and tear you away. But don't give up! Come back and rebuild! Have faith! Hold onto one another, come back together and be thankful and strong!
I used to tell my children they were the stones I was placing in front of the waves. The waves being all the bad things in the world. Every stone lessens the waves power. And everyone that stands there together strengthens the others.

It is amazing how powerful you can be!

Just start with being Thankful... Seeing what purpose and strength comes from just doing that. When you think of all the people feeling Thankful today you can't help it! You will feel the power, just stand and allow yourself to feel the vibrations of Thankfulness flowing over the Earth.

The rest will follow.

Believe me...

We the people are THANKFUL!
Just try and stop me!
US!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Women of my Heart! Happy Birthday Mom...

Julie Walters as the wonderful Molly Weasley!

Molly Weasley, how do I love thee, Let me count the ways...

1. For your loving and firm representation of real moms.
2. For your determination in letting your children know how much you loved them.
3. This includes the children who were not of your womb, but, never the less your children.
4. For showing the world all the above, but that when push comes to shove and your children's lives are in danger and you can do something about it! Watch out world, you have just poked a Tiger!!!

I love the Harry Potter books, deeply. Reading them I most identified with Molly Weasley, I was not brave and strong like Hermione, or carefree like Luna, or Ginny surely loved, strong in that conviction.

I was like Molly. Chubbie, Mom, loving and loved. Making home the best sanctuary I could. Wanting to help sooo much, helping where I could, stepping back when I knew they needed to do something on their own. Even when it killed me... Giving all I could to my family. And when nobody suspected, stronger than even I ever knew. When it came to my family...well, watch out! When I was reading the final Harry Potter book and I got to the part about Molly battling Bellatrix, Who had just attempted to kill Molly's daughter Ginny. All the people there, in the Great Hall, were shocked by Molly running into the fray, the fury of Molly's spells and their strength! The battle between this mom and crazy witch was so powerful the floor heated up and cracked from the power of their spells.
None of the men fighting had caused this to happen. This was a powerful woman!
The best compliment I got from my grown up children, and they all said it, Was that when they were reading that part of the book, they thought of me. That, that, would have been me... Standing there between death, and my children fighting valiantly! I can't help but cry even now...It means that much to me.

There are so many other wonderful women of my heart, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Who shared her family Journey through the "Little House" books, not the TV show! And her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, who was a wonderful writer, and many other things as well. Jo from "Little Women" and Marme... Jane from "Jane Eyre". The brave, long suffering, Elinor from "Sense and Sensibility".

These women who have my heart, some are fictional, some real. They have taken me through my life and shown me what real strength is, given me purpose, and shown me defining myself and defending my all, whatever that may be, is okay. Even if others don't agree with me.

So, if you haven't figured this out already, this for my mom...
Who taught me to read, Sing, and dance. Who when I had my Gallbladder and Appendix out at 19, was there crying and yelling at the attendant for uncaringly hurting me when tranfering me to my bed. For driving me to so many Radiation treatments for 3 months and sitting beside me while I cried. For always encouraging me, teaching me to knit and crochet, to sew and draw. And for always loving me the best she could in a not so easy world.
For being my Molly Weasley... I love you mom.

Happy Birthday! A little early it's tomorrow..

A woman of my heart,
Vida Ann Schwalm ~ Johnston
Born November 22, 1942

My mom, sister Bonnie, brother David, and sister Naomi at my Aunt Bev's wedding around 1972?

Snowflakes!

Snowflakes!

I must confess...I am so excited! It is my favorite time of year!

I love making paper snowflakes! Do you?

I  have loved it since I was a little kid, and I can't help it I still do!

You can tell which apartment is mine in the winter because I have the windows absolutely covered with them. I pick a day before Thanksgiving and cut them out for hours...Yippee! It is a blast! Then I cover my windows in them. It's absolutely beautiful!

I could pick a day when my husband isn't home, but I have to tell you, I love making him crazy with all the little paper bits. He is extremely obsessive compulsive and it drives him crazy all those little white bits on the floor. Hee hee... It's my way of getting him involved in the fun and used to the idea that this is a messy season, It reminds him that paper bits on the floor isn't the end of the world. So I will be doing it on Sunday afternoon! Poor guy....

My usual cue as to when to begin this tradition is after our first snowfall, that happened on Thursday night here. We were in Brockport, NY at Wendy's. Yum, their dollar menu is great! They have chili! Anyway, we had just sat down and all of the sudden people were Ooooing and Ahhhing all around us, it had started snowing! People even walked up to the window and were looking out excitedly. You would have thought there might have been a grumble or two, but nope. Just happiness and excitement!

I like living here for that reason. people get excited about the snow, and yeah there is some grumbling when it gets bad. But for the most part I see a lot of enjoyment. That's part of the Joy of living near the lakes.

So now it is time for paper snowflakes! Time to be creative and cut, and fold, cut and fold, and create paper masterpieces.... Hang them in your windows, I guarantee people will get excited! So will you. And it will be like experiencing that first beautiful snowfall again, and again!

Have fun! I know I will!

Snip snip!

Oh!

That Happy Moment!

Just pure JOY!

Tonight I stopped and saw my Amigurumi girls on the way to work, and gave them all hugs!
We, Andy and I,  have had so many things going on  I have been unable to go to our Tuesday night meetings for many months... And I have missed them. I was so excited to go and see them. I did not care that I was in my work clothes or frumpy looking, I just could not wait to see them. We hugged, we laughed, we cried. And the moment was pure JOY!

We often don't appreciate these moments as much as we should. But things like the picture of my Mina above remind me to stop and be grateful for JOY!

Like that song that came on the radio, just when you needed to hear it. Or the friend who talked with you during the week, hugged you and encouraged you. And then just to top you off, sent you the most thoughtful card. JOY!

Sometimes it is strange moments that give you such abandoned JOY. Andy and I walking home from the store on a really hot summer day and we are grumpy and tired, suddenly the clouds open up and it begins to pour! What else could we do? We ran, half way home we were giggling and laughing so hard! By the time we got home we were soaked but the day had changed, JOY had come in and the rest of the day was just glorious!

Waiting for your children to arrive, or visa versa, your parents, on a holiday or any day. knowing you will get to have fun with them and share with them. Or every time your grandchild shouts, Grandma! Wow! Nothing better. This weekend for the first time our Ellie, who has been saying granpa for awhile ( don't ask), called me Gnma ma. My heart just sang!

In the Bible it talks of coming to Jesus as a child, I think on this earth we must meet JOY the same way... Makes sense as I truly believe  all  JOY comes from GOD.

To truly allow it to be a part of our lives we have to. We can't be afraid to share it, to do silly things when experiencing it,  to let go and be just in that moment, that glorious happy moment!

Today I experienced a JOY moment and it was wonderful!

I hope you find time in your busy week to have that happy moment of JOY!

 

Tick Tock,

Wall Clock

Oh the joy of a wall clock!

I love mine!

I got it for ten dollars at our church Rummage sale. It looks a lot like the one above, only lighter wood and not quite as fancy. Much simpler and homey. It keep great time because Andy keeps it wound for me. I never had to ask. He just started doing it. I think he likes the job. I have added a little micey to mine, he runs across the top (not really, only in my imagination). A lady who was my Sunday school teacher always had one on her clock. and I liked the idea so I added one to mine.

It counts the hour and tones on the half hour. I love it at night when I wake up to hear it strike the hour, it's somehow comforting. The gentle tick tock is my companion on days when I am at home.

And strangely we don't seem to hear it when we are talking or watching TV, Which is funny as it lives on the wall right next to it.

There have been more than a few times Andy and I have been talking in bed, after a day where trouble has dogged us, the clock will sound as if to say, time is going to keep going on. We both realize in the big scheme of things it wasn't something that couldn't be overcome. We were already in a new hour, minute, second.

Tick tock, tick tock, life seconds numbering...

I sing "My Grandfather's Clock to my grandchildren every night at bedtime when they are at my house. It's Mina's favorite! She loves the "Tick Tock"  refrain. I remember my mom teaching it to me and my sisters. It is a memory I cherish. I think part of the reason I have always wanted a clock was because of that song.

I love how I can tell Mina we will go to the playground when the clock strikes ten. I love listening as she counts as it strikes the hour and she comes to tell me, "grandma it is time to go to the playground and swing"! She gets it!

All the other clocks around me make me feel like I need to speed up! But not the wall clock. It seems to say with it's gentle tick tock, slow down, enjoy the moment, you've got plenty of time...

Mostly though, I love how it makes me feel the quiet, especially at night. It reminds me of a simpler time. When people had time to be together, sit around and talk, and knit and play cards. Why, just enjoy each other, their families, and their friends.

I love my clock! It is my treasure and pride!

I am grateful, tick tock, of it's quiet sweet song, tick tock, that reminds me each day is only so long, tick tock.

To waste not a minute, tick tock. For time will just keep going on... dong, dong, dong, dong, dong... A new day begins!

The True Gift.

I shop really early every week. Between 4 and 5 am. I have made friends with the cashiers who now know me by heart being that there are so few customers at that hour. They think I am crazy for walking, but they love my idea for toting my groceries home in a umbroller stroller. It was a dollar at a garage sale. What can I say? It holds a lot and is easy to push. But, I digress...

Yesterday as I was being rung out, I mentioned that I was so happy that Christmas was on a Sunday this year and that I would be ringing in a special bell choir. I invited the cashier, and her family to come.
"We won't be celebrating Christmas this year..." she said. "We can't afford it". Looking very sad.
I have heard this from several people this year... My heart breaks every time.
Because, well... It doesn't have to be, well, sad...

And I proceeded to tell her what I am about to tell you.

Without being preachy. Being wholly honest!

We have had many wonderful Christmases, not because we had money and lots of presents, because we didn't. My kids did not get video game systems, tons of fashionable clothes, etc. If it was a good year, they got one toy, usually something I made. homemade cabbage patch dolls, velvet dinosaurs, stuffed mice, puppets. Well you get the idea, And an outfit that I made also. Jammies and robes made of old blankets and comforters I found at the VOA. Dresses and pants to wear on Christmas day made from curtain panels also found at the VOA.

I made a lot of stuff!

Sometimes, if one of the kids wanted something very bad. I would save bottles and pennies I found on the ground and voila by Christmas I usually had enough to get the special dinosaur book James wanted.

If it was a bad year, well, I would try and fill their stockings. Sometimes, we couldn't even do that. But don't get the wrong idea.

We ALWAYS celebrated Christmas...

Andy and I tried to always find the JOY in Christmas, no matter what. Going to church to celebrate each Advent Sunday, making Christmas cookies to bring to our neighbors, who were elderly and had no children. Attending free Christmas concerts everywhere! The malls , the schools. Helping pass out Christmas baskets.  Going downtown to see the lights, driving around to see all the houses in our neighborhood decorated for Christmas. The first year Sara was sick we made bread dough ornaments for everyone. It wasn't much, but it was fun and it made us feel good!

Making the best Christmas day meals we could, telling each other how much we loved one another. This was the the order of most Christmas days. Notes of appreciation and love. I treasure these. They are worth more than Gold to me....

I am SAD that so many people are suffering! When there should be no need for that. Really. I am sorry. There just shouldn't be.

But, don't let this hardship take away your Christmas! Because the true gift of Christmas, isn't things... It's Love and thoughtfulness, Joy and renewal and most of all sharing and caring. It really is the thought that counts!

So even if you can't afford presents, put your tree up. Share that time with your family or the one you love. Celebrate every part of Christmas you can. Find new ways to do it!

I hugged my friend, told her I would pray for her and that I hoped she an her family could find a way through this sad time to celebrate Christmas. And I invited her to come again to our Christmas eve and Christmas morning services.

Yes, this year, Christmas is on a Sunday.

I am excited!

I will get up get ready for church. Pray and play my bells to honor my  Lord and share that with everybody in my congregation. Celebrate the JOY of my savior's birth, celebrate music and beauty and LOVE! Go home and love my husband, my kids and grandkids and my whole family. Whether they are there with me or not. Whether I have presents or not. And be filled up with happiness!

Because, I have found the true gift of Christmas

Splish Splash I was Taking a Bath!!!

Tweety!

Ahhhh, nothing takes away the aches of a long day like a bath...

With bubble bath and salts!

and a loofah!

Extra warm, hold the clock....

It can be really fun with the grandkids, splashing and hugging, shampooing each others hair and making shampoo coiffures! playing with toys and making barbies swim. toes and fingers turned into prunes.

Ahhh baths....Lovely

A lot of my first memories are of baths with my sisters, warm washcloths, and mom checking behind our ears to see if we got all the dirt. "there is so much dirt back there you could grow a potato!" she would say. For years I checked afraid one would actually grow there! Ha ha! Having my mom shampoo my hair. She scrubbed it so good!

My daughters still love a good tub, they will read in there for hours if they can. They have even grown on my husband. I honestly am not sure about James, but he used to like them a lot.

Now me...,

I like the sound the water makes, the way the tub sounds when you lay your head back on it and hum or sigh.  I like the feel of the soap in my hands, and the way my Ivory floats! The swish of the water.... The delicious scented steam rising to meet my nose.

I'll be honest there used to be a lot more room in my tub, and it was easier getting in and out than it is now a days. But I won't give my baths up if I don't have to. I am already planning ahead, looking at those walk in tubs. I know it will be different. But I will take that as compared to the option of no baths ever again.

Because really isn't taking a bath a little bit like visiting the womb again. I think that is why it feels so comforting and wonderful and renewing. I am pretty sure it is as close as we get to going back to the beginning on this earth. Showers are okay. A quick wet reminder, but a bath is a full blown experience. warmth, scents, cleansing, softening and rejuvenating!

Getting out and wrapping yourself in a warm towel and going to bed. I sleep like a baby.

Taking my grandchildren out wrapping them in a large warm towel and turning them into chubby little slugs and holding their sweet smelling bodies close and just cuddling. Putting them in their jammies, playing with their damp curls and tucking them in bed. Looking forward to tomorrow when they will inquire of me around 7pm "bath?"

"Oh Yes!" I reply " Let's go get the toys!"

I hope I never stop enjoying a bath...Living the joy of those sensations. Oh it's calling me now. It's been a long hard day. But I know I will feel much better soon.

Can you hear it? Bubble, bubble...Splish splash.

Go ahead! You know you wanna!

Tubbie time! Naomi, Bonnie and ME!

Thank you...

Singing is JOY!

As I start preparing for Thanksgiving, and the holidays to come, I am finding myself thinking of someone who I am thankful for. Someone I wish I had found the time to thank while he was still here among us.

Mr. William Mchugh.

I first met met Mr. Mchugh when I was in All County Chorus at Gates Chili Middle School. I was in 8th grade and he introduced himself to us because we would have the chance to continue on with him at the High School when we went into 9th grade.

He told us about the choir he had there. 200 kids! Awesome! Explained, he expected the best from everyone and he meant it! And then shook all our hands. Talked to each of us, and asked about our expectations for our future with the choir. Unbelievable!

It was the first thing I signed up for, and all I looked forward to all summer long....

The first day as we all took our seats. He asked for quiet, told us he expected us to be on time ready to go, to be clean and neat, No gum, No talking,  he wanted our total attention. For concert and trips girls were expected to purchase a white blouse, and navy skirt. Boys navy pants and a white shirt. He gave us a list of songs we would be working on. We were all called forward given a time for our VOICE LESSONS with him! Wow! Really? How cool. And sizes were taken and a number was assigned for a choir jacket for us each to use.

All this sounds boring, and tedious, but none of us had ever experienced a choir like this. Honestly!

And it gives you no idea as to the man who led it.

Mr. McHugh...
He was always smiling, and when he directed, you would swear he was transformed, the look on his face was like he was glimpsing heaven...How do I explain this? He made you feel special. Important to him, important to the choir. If he yelled at you, he made sure you understood, it was because you were letting yourself down and the choir, and he wasn't going to let you short change yourself  or the choir like that. He knew you were capable of more!

Now you have to understand. He did not have to yell often. Nobody wanted to let him down. We loved him!

At voice lessons he was so helpful and encouraging! He challenged you, vocally and musically, and humanly.
 I often left his voice lessons feeling like I was walking on air, unafraid to do anything! I was very, very shy. He showed me how to overcome that. Told me he believed in me. And made me believe it! And when the first voice recital was scheduled,
I signed up.
For the first time in my life I was not afraid to sing in front of people. And that was due in great part to Mr.McHugh.
When you sang he waited off stage. More excited than you. He was your biggest cheerleader. He would be directing you and waving his hands in glory as you reached the heights in your song, and you couldn't help but smile when you would see him out of the corner of our eye. When you were done he was waiting to hug you and tell you how well you did! How proud of you he was! Now he was like this with all of us! And when I say 200 kids I am not kidding! Not all of them signed up for everything but a lot of them did.

He must have gone home exhausted!

The choir sang at nursing homes, holiday concerts all over Rochester. All State and other competitions. We were always dressed impeccably in our uniforms we wanted him to be proud of us! And we gave 110% ! Because of him!

He knew all our names, remembered special things about us all. If he saw you in the hallway, unlike other teachers, he would stop ask how you were, tell you he couldn't wait to see you in choir that day and share something about the new music we were working on as it pertained to your section in the choir. For me at the time that was first Soprano. No one had ever treated me like this. It really was amazing!

I often wondered if he was the same way at home. How he had anything left to give at home? He gave so much to us. But I soon knew he was just as good and wonderful at home. Because, my uncle married one of his daughters and she was just as wonderful as him. Always smiling and laughing, full of JOY.

My husband knows one of his sons from work and he too is the same.

It takes someone very special to pass on such wonderful gifts. And he gave them freely and joyfully. Shared, cared and encouraged everyone and made you feel so important.

When I was in 10th grade we moved to Hilton. My one and only regret was having to leave him and the choir...

Sadly, Hilton's choir at the time had 9 people in it, including me. At first it was a shock! But my first day I could hear Mr McHugh in my head telling me how important each and everyone of us was. How in giving our all we made the choir special and suddenly it felt like a choir of 1000.

He taught me lessons I will never forget...

He gave me gifts I can never repay...

He was a teacher  like no other I have ever met, and was a man among men.

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to study under him, and to have had the pleasure of knowing him as a person.

Thank you, Mr McHugh.

Now I encourage all of you, not to wait. Did someone like this man ever change your life? Tell them now! Don't wait! You will regret it if you do. Share now, believe me you will be so much happier if you do.

Thankfulness!

MONKEYS! @*!!%$

Monkey

Okay, I'll admit it. I have sworn once or twice in my lifetime. Sometimes it is just hard not to.

But when our kids were growing up and the first one swore I was horrified! That would no longer happen!

It made me re think some friendships, and Andy and I went on a no swearing policy. And that worked for a while.
Eventually, we knew it was coming, the question came..."Mom" "why can't I swear?" "I mean sometimes you just get angry and well, you gotta express it somehow".

Strangely, that very week I had seen an interview with Will Smith, and another one with Mr. Rodgers. And both of them were talking about what made them not swear. They had very similar answers and it was striking, it really made me think!

They both stated that someone in their life had challenged them. Had told them they were too smart to use such words. That they could find better words to express their anger and work through a situation. Wish I had thought of that...

 What a good way to express to someone, that an angry verbal tirade does not have to have profanity in it. That a better way of expressing your anger, frustration, pain, what have you, is available. And it just takes using your brain.

You should have heard the moans the first time I explained this to my kids. My son said it best. "I hate that you think I am that smart"!
"Does that mean you get it?" I queried. "Yes"! they moaned back.

Now I am not saying they never swear. I know they do. But I like that they really regret it afterward and that they think about it and want to do better. And I know they don't do it in front of other peoples children.

I hear so many young people swearing these days, almost every other word out of their mouths is profanity. I am that annoying  grandma at Mc Donald's and other places who ask them to refrain when my grandchildren are there, or when children and families are around.
And yup! I say it! "You are too smart not to find a better way to express yourselves!"

My kids? Some of their solutions...Why sometimes it can be so funny. And it really can turn things around.

My Chandra makes me laugh every time!  I hear my daughter up in her bedroom... *Crash!* "MONKEYS!"
"Monkeys!" fly around her house a lot some days. She'll tell me, "What?" "It makes me laugh instead of getting angry"! I love it!

My son-in-law Erik does it very jauntily, Medieval style. And he and Sara have taught Mina very well she says "oh dear!"
 James, our son, when he is around me and his dad and others he restrains himself well, He can growl, and grunt with the best of them. Maybe, Ooo Ooo  he should say "GORILLAS!" LOL!

Anyway, We all need to challenge ourselves. All of us need to remember that we are intelligent beings who can use our brains and our voice to express our feelings in a civil manner. In a way that doesn't offend others. Once we can control ourselves we need to share with others.

A simple step back to a polite society? I sure hope so...

Monkeys! What? I just saw some in the zoo!