I borrowed this blog from one called "TRUE STORIES OF A MIDWEST YANKEE"

I read this blog and thought it was worth sharing. Random acts of kindness are so worth mentioning as are the wonderful people on the receiving end. I've included a link to the original blog at the bottom as I am only sharing, not owning. Grab a tissue and rejoice in knowing there are Angels out there. . . .

Dear woman behind me in line at the grocery store,

You don’t know me. You have no clue what my life has been like since October 1, 2013. You have no clue that my family has gone through the wringer. You have no clue that we have faced unbelievable hardship. You have no clue we have been humiliated, humbled, destitute.

You have no clue I have cried more days than not; that I fight against bitterness taking control of my heart. You have no clue that my husband’s pride was shattered. You have no clue my kids have had the worries of an adult on their shoulders. You have no clue their innocence was snatched from them for no good reason. You know none of this.

What you do know is I tried to buy my kids some food and that the EBT machine was down so I couldn’t buy that food. I didn’t have any cash or my debit card with me. I only had my SNAP card. All you heard was me saying “No, don’t hold it for me. My kids are hungry now and I have no other way of paying for this.” You didn’t judge me. You didn’t snarl “Maybe you should have less kids.” You didn’t say “Well, get a job and learn to support yourself.” You didn’t look away in embarrassment or shame for me. You didn’t make any assumptions at all.

What you did was you paid that $17.38 grocery bill for us. You gave my kids bananas, yogurt, apple juice, cheese sticks, and a peach ice tea for me; a rare treat and splurge. You let me hug you and promise through my tears that I WILL pay this forward. I WILL pay someone’s grocery bill for them. That $17.38 may not have been a lot for you, but it was priceless to us. In the car my kids couldn’t stop gushing about you; our “angel in disguise.” They prayed for you. They prayed you would be blessed. You restored some of our lost faith. One simple and small action changed our lives. You probably have forgotten about us by now, but we haven’t forgotten about you. You will forever be a part of us even though we don’t even know your name.

You have no clue how grateful and embarrassed I am that we pay for all our food with SNAP. We eat well thanks to the government. I love that. I love that the government makes sure my kids are cared for. It is one less worry for us. I also struggle with pride and embarrassment. I defiantly tell people we are on SNAP. Daring them to judge us.
Only those closest to us know why we are on SNAP. They know my husband is a hard worker who was laid off after 17 years in a management position with his former company. They know we were moved from our home to a new state only to be left homeless since the house we had came with the job he lost. Only those closest to us know my husband works part time while looking tirelessly for more; that he has submitted more applications than he has received interviews for. Too many jobs are only offering part time work anymore. It is not easy for a 40-something year old to find a job that will support his family of 5 kids.

You know none of this but you didn’t let that stop you from being compassionate and generous to someone you have never met.

To the woman behind me at the grocery store, you have no idea how much we appreciate you. You have no idea the impact you had on my kids. You have no idea how incredibly thankful I am for you. Your action may have been small, but to us it was monumental. Thank you.

Thank you for not judging us. Thank you for giving my kids a snack when they were quite hungry. Thank you. Just thank you.

Forever,
Andrea, the woman in front of you at the grocery store with the cart full of kids who are no longer hungry

http://truestoriesofamidwestyankee.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/to-the-woman-behind-me-in-line-at-the-grocery-store/comment-page-7/#comments

30 Random Thoughts on 1/1/2013

1. Don't strive for perfection. Don't date it, marry it or want it. It's boring, annoying and unattainable.
2. Like is more important than love. It's easy to turn like into love, not as easy to turn love into like.
3. Care for something small, cuddly and furry, preferably at least 4 or 5 years old, maybe a dog or a cat. Your life and your education will be incomplete until you love and are loved unconditionally by a pet.
4. Instead of using the dishwasher, once a month wash your glasses with a new sponge in hot, soapy water.  The sparkle and shine will put a smile on your face.
5. Take a little "ME" time each day, it may be only 10 minutes but it should be your 10 minutes.
6. Walk barefoot in the rain at least once each summer.
7. Do random acts of kindness frequently. You could give a smile to a stranger or send a note of praise for a teacher, store clerk, or receptionist. You could visit a nursing home, animal shelter or school and volunteer to spend time with a senior, an animal or a child. Maybe you will choose to buy  cup of coffee for the person behind you in the coffee shop or pay for a stranger's groceries.
8. See a musical at least once a year, more often if you can manage it.
9. Read a biography, a love story, a mystery and a thriller every year. Books expand your horizon and take you to wondrous places.
10. Send a favorite author a note and thank them for a great story.
11. Do something totally out of character at least once every six months - strike up a conversation with a stranger, join the crew of a community theater, try something that scares the bejeebees out of you.
12. Find a charity that holds the same values as you and give it your support. Donate money (just a touch more than is comfortable) because all good charities need funding and you need to learn to budget. Donate time because devoting time and attention keeps those values in the forefront.
13. When someone knows they are wrong, they will attack. Stand firm. Don't yell, shout or make a scene. In time they will stop or be exposed. It is not your responsibility to try to change their values, only examine and hold true to your own.
14. Find something that makes you laugh each day. Watch a pet play, listen to a humorous story, look for the humor in a surprising situation, laugh at the outrageous. Laughter celebrates joy. Laughter should never be mean.
15. Treat yourself to a manicure, a pedicure or a different hairstyle once in a while just because.
16. Wear mismatched socks because they are warm and fun and it's important not to take yourself too seriously.
17. Have a snowball fight on a snowy day. Drink hot chocolate on the back porch. Sing at the top of your lungs. Don't worry about the neighbors, they'll like it or not. Doesn't matter, do it anyway.
18. Take your camera to the park, walk 30 feet, turn left and point and snap. Now look up, turn to your right and point and snap. Walk 75 feet, repeat. Discover the wonder in the every day snapshots of your life. Share the photos with others.
19. Everyone is scared at some point, just keep going, it gets easier.
20. When you don't feel well, go to a doctor. When it hurts, take pain medication. When it doesn't hurt, don't take pain medication.
21. Avoid people and groups who use the phrase "I hate. . . .", they love drama, create chaos and drain your energy. They are telling you who they are, believe them.
22. When you are unsure what to do, take the kindest action.
23. Giggle. It's good for you.
24. Silence equals consent. If someone says or does something that goes against your core values, speak up. You probably won't change them but one rational voice in the crowd can make a difference. Be the difference.
25. When you are unkind, apologize.
26. Tackle big tasks one step at a time. If you want to quit smoking, just don't smoke that one cigarette. If you need to lose weight, work on losing one pound.Find a way to make it work.
27. Sometimes you just need to have a good cry, it's okay, cry.
28. Buy something silly and play with it. A bottle of bubbles, a coloring book and crayons, a jump rope.  Rediscover the kid in you.
29. Don't beat yourself up. Don't beat others up. Every day each of us are doing the best we can with what we have.
30. Find someone to love and love them completely. A spouse, a child, a sibling, a cousin, a friend, a pet, yourself. . . . love really does make the world a better place.

Dear Republicans:

Let it go. You misjudged the American people and what they want. The President of the United States is a Democrat. Get over it. Do you want a Republican President in 2016? Okay, here are a few suggestions.

1. Practice what you preach. You want less government? Then stay out of my gynecologist's office. You are not a doctor. Your opinion on abortion should not be law. It is not the government's concern either. Get your transvaginal ultrasound wands out of women's vaginas. Forcing women to endure a medical rape is wrong, stop it. Of course you have a right to state your opposition to abortion. You do not have a right to stop a pregnant woman from having one. Let it go.

2. If you oppose Gay marriage because of  the teachings of your church, realize those are your beliefs not mine. Just as you believe Gay marriage is wrong, I believe it is right. You and I were born heterosexual, just like some people are born gay. Neither side made a lifestyle change, we are what we are. Your religion teaches that God is all powerful so recognize s/he had a powerful reason for making some of us gay. Stop the conversation about gay marriage just grant equal rights to all and move on.

3. The country is changing, please change with it. Many of you are smart, brilliant, creative, wonderful people with a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. Share it with everyone, white, black, Hispanic, Asian and every other citizen in this country. Do you care about others besides middle class white men? I think you do, show it.  Talk to women, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc. ask us questions and listen to our answers. You can't be inclusive if you don't talk to us.

4. Helllllloooo! Republican men need to recognize that rape is an act of violence, women do not choose to get raped, they don't enjoy it, they aren't looking for it, they can rarely prevent a stronger, determined man from committing it. Women do not have some secret secretion in their bodies that will prevent a pregnancy occurring from a rape. Recognize rape is a crime of violence and support the victims of rape. When a Republican politician refers to "legitimate" rape, or indicates a woman's body will reject pregnancy when they are raped, or makes other equally ignorant statements stop backing and supporting those politicians. There is no excuse for such attitudes in the 21st Century.  Run, do not walk, away from those people. Republicans everywhere need to educate themselves on rape and then drum the "war on women fools" out of the party. You will not lose anything important. 

5. You could solve the immigration problem. Some of the smartest people in this country are Republicans. Stop fighting and find a solution. The majority of Americans will not agree to deport American children born in this country of illegal aliens. If their parents are good citizens, find a workable way for the children to be naturalized and the parents to become citizens. You want to deport the low life and criminals? No problem, so do the Democrats.  Fair immigration reform will win more than the Hispanic vote, you'll win many Democrats too.   

6. Disavow the extremists. Michelle Bachman, Eric Cantor, Grover Norquist and others of the same ilk need to go. Bachman is incredibly ignorant on so many subjects that she brings down the collective IQ of the entire Republican party by at least 50 points. Cantor grandstands but has no real economic comprehension. America can not afford rigid, arrogant, self serving politicians anymore. Norquist highjacks and intimidates elected Republicans by bullying them to sign a no new taxes pledge. Get rid of the fools who sign the pledge along with Norquist. Elected officials need to be able to negotiate on issues and follow the directive of the voters who put them in office not blindly follow other politicians such as Norquist. If a new tax is out of line, any politician, Republican or Democrat should vote against it without a pledge forcing them to vote it down and if the tax is beneficial, they also have an obligation to vote in support of it. Rush Limbaugh, ugh. He is not enhancing the Republican party. Dump him.

7. Find an honorable, strong leader to put forth as a candidate for 2016. No more Bachman, Gingrich, Santorum, Romney, Ryan types. While they each may have had some value, overall each was not a strong, honorable leader. Americans are not simpletons, we know fools when we see them. Find a candidate with a strong belief in the people of this country. Someone who wants to work with 100% of Americans and does not write off  47% of the population or think of us as "you people."  The next candidate should be willing to release at least 5 yrs of tax returns and should recognize the difference between personal beliefs and political issues.If the next candidate can run a campaign without trashing their opponent, they will have my vote and a lot of others as well. We want to know what the candidate believes, not what they don't like about their opponent. (This goes for Democrats too but I'm trying to help the Republicans right now.)

8. Last, but not least, understand the majority of this country, regardless of race, color, religion, sexual orientation or gender is moderate. There are always going to be crackpots on both sides of the aisle. Ignore them. Crazy liberals and extreme conservatives don't have enough support to put anyone in office so stop catering to them. You don't have to insult them or anger them but you also don't have to agree with them. Moderation, bipartisanship, willingness to work toward the middle, knowing when to stand strong and when to compromise ~ those are what we are looking for in a leader. All Americans, regardless of party, want a leader. You give us that, we'll support you.


Everything else. . . let it go.  

A Lesson Too Valuable to Ignore. . . .

See this little guy? His name is Punkin and he came from a rescue group based out of Canton, Ohio. The founder, Robin Aufderheide has a 17 year old son named Zack.

Zack is growing his hair to 10 inches so he can donate it to another charity called Locks of Love. They take the hair and have it made into wigs and hair pieces for children with cancer and other diseases that cause them to lose their hair.

Zack currently came under fire at school because the dress code states boys hair can not be in a ponytail, fall below the collar or cause a disruption. He was told to follow the rules and get his hair cut. When Zack explained why he was growing his hair the principal suggested he go to a board meeting and ask for an exemption until his hair was long enough to donate. Zack did, the board listened to him, it appeared a member or two empathized with him and at the next board meeting, they voted and determined he had to cut his hair or suffer the consequences.

So far the consequences have been an in-school suspension and way more attention from the media than Zack ever wanted. Rules are important, they hold havoc at bay. But sometimes, the really responsible thing to do is to respectfully break the rules. I've known Zack's Mom for years through the rescue community and I've known Zack as the youngster who used to ride shotgun with his mom on many a transport.

I don't know the school officials that believe the rules are there for a reason and can not be broken, I don't understand their thought process but I do know this:

Robin is a good Mom who started a rescue group and has fought to save small breed dogs whether they are strays, owner surrenders or come from puppy mills. Her son learned kindness and caring and that sometimes it is important, even responsible to break a rule for the greater good. Now would be a teachable moment for the Canton High School Zack attends.  Teach the students that rules are important but sometimes, the greater good is more important. 

Lead by example and show the students that sometimes Principals, Superintendents, even School Board Members will stand up and break the rules because it is the right thing to do. Teaching the student body that adults can recognize an error and fix it, is a lesson much too valuable to let pass. I support Zack and I hope the Principal, Superintendent and School Board will too.

https://www.facebook.com/onemoreinch

Goodbye Lennox

 Lennox, a Labrador/American Bull Dog mix was killed today in Belfast, Ireland.

Lennox didn't bite anyone, he wasn't vicious, he caused no harm, in fact he was a friendly, happy go lucky dog.  Hard to believe that a a city council would sanction, no demand, a harmless, loveable dog be killed? Believe it, Lennox's troubles started as a  victim of a BSL (Breed Specific Law) and his life ended because of arrogance, ignorance and egos.

When you take away all the drama and tempers, here is what happen: a little over two years ago three members of Belfast City Council had the dog warden seize Lennox, after these inexperienced, non-experts declared he was a pit bull mix and therefore a dangerous dog.

This quickly spiraled into a horror show. The family appealed to the animal warden but were repeatedly ignored, they appealed to city council for help and were turned down. They retained an attorney and took their case to the press and the public and that's when the real nightmare began.

Animal advocates denounced the Belfast City Council members, they posted angry remarks on Facebook, Twitter and various websites demanding the release of Lennox and some suggested vile and destructive actions be taken against the council members.  The Belfast City Council members dug in their heels, how dare these crazy animal activists stick their nose in "our" business? How dare they tell us what to do?

Of course there were also reasonable, problem solving animal activists that were calmly and kindly offering solutions to save Lennox (remember, Lennox never did anything wrong ~ never) and allow the members of Belfast City Council and the court system ~ as the case went to an appeals court ~ to save face and let Lennox live.

Sadly, both sides dug in, by golly the council was not going to be threatened, yelled at, pushed around or bullied by a bunch of dog loving busy bodies. They could legally kill that dog and by God they were going to do it. No one was going to tell them they couldn't carry out their God Given Duty!

The animal activists were angry, frustrated and at a loss. How could the Belfast Council members choose to kill a dog based on incorrect information? Hundreds of thousands of animal lovers worldwide signed petitions to save Lennox. Hundreds of people protested the laws, wrote letters to the editor, called and emailed the council members. Rescue groups offered to take Lennox into their organizations, Victoria Stillwell offered to place Lennox in a sanctuary to live out his life in safety.

At any point the members of the Belfast City Council knew they could legally allow Lennox to go home to his family, or release him to a rescue or give him to Victoria Stillwell who agreed to pay for all costs associated with taking him to a sanctuary.

Instead, they let their anger, arrogance, ignorance and egos reign supreme and earlier today they killed this handsome, loveable dog who never growled, bit, or harmed anyone. They killed Lennox because they could.



While I would like to ask the Belfast council members "What exactly is it that you think you won?"  Maybe the more important question to ask them is "Do you have any idea what you lost?"


God Speed precious boy, I'm sorry we couldn't save you.

Goodbye Nora

Nora Ephron died yesterday.  I didn't know her personally but I feel as though I did.  That was part of her amazing talent. She wrote about life as she saw it and we saw ourselves in her descriptions. She made me smile with her appreciation of life.

I laugh out loud everytime I watch When Harry Met Sally. Sleepless in Seattle makes me feel warm and fuzzy and I mourn the loss of the bookstore while cheering the romance in You've Got Mail.
Her movies made me laugh and cry. 

She didn't like growing old but wrote such hilarious accounts that she made all of us feel a little better. Since growing old is better than the alternative, she not only made us laugh, she made us feel like we were all members of the same club.  I Feel Bad About My Neck is best appreciated by those over 45 and I Remember Nothing is still one of my favorites.

These are some of the movies that came from this brilliant, funny lady:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-nora-ephron-greatest-hits-video-compilation-20120626,0,3304097.story

Nora was one of those people who played a quiet, indirect role in our life. Her humor, her joy, her love of life and her talent to share all of that became a part of our culture, a part of our collective history .  Thank you for making me laugh and thank you for showing me the foolishness of taking myself too seriously. I will miss you. God Speed Nora.

Avery's Bucket List

Sometimes I think the universe whispers to us and other times I think it shouts.  I read a post earlier today about a little, 5 month old baby girl with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy.) Her name is Avery and her parents started a blog called Avery's Bucket List  http://averycan.blogspot.com/ . They (and friends) made a list of all the things Avery would like to do before she dies. Babies with SMA type 1 rarely live to the age of two. A tiny little baby should not need to make a bucket list, she should have days and days and months and months and years and years ahead of her. Alas, Avery does not. The disease is progressing. . .

She has already lost the ability to move her legs, her parents know her time is limited but they are working to put a face to SMA. Perhaps Avery's beautiful little face will be the one that inspires someone famous to take up the cause of SMA, maybe a brilliant mind will see this pretty baby and take an interest in the disease and that mind will be the one that starts the research that eventually will find a cure for SMA.  At present there are no clinical research studies looking for a cure for SMA. Avery's parents know that help can not come soon enough to save her, but by putting a face to SMA, they hope it will help a child in the future.   

 

None of us have any magic answers but we all can do something to help - please look at Avery's blog and read her bucket list. Is there anything you can help with? At the very least we can help spread her story, we can help make her the face of SMA. The universe shouted today: SHARE AVERY'S STORY! I listened, I'm sharing. I hope you will too.