Still Crazy After All These Years

In one hour and seven minutes I will have lived on this planet for sixty-four years.  When I was born I had severe allergy asthma, and very little immune system.  I was in and out of the hospital often.  There was no treatment for asthma but to give oxygen and pray the attack would stop.  I remember at about the age of three or four being in an oxygen tent.  The doctor was speaking to a group of interns nearby.  I'm sure he thought that I couldn't hear him over the sound of the oxygen.  My ears were still pretty sharp then.  I heard him say, "This child will not live very long.  She is too severely allergic and sensitive."

Lying there I thought to myself, "HAH!  I'll show you Dr.!"  I HAVE, I've shown that doctor and then some.  Of course, the credit for keeping me alive long enough to reach some marvelous medical discoveries goes to my patient self-sacrificing parents.  They did everything in their power to keep me alive.  My attacks often started in the middle of the night, which meant one or both of my parents didn't get much sleep.  Mama started doing research and off we went to herbologists, naturopaths, chiropractors, nutrinists, and more.  Obviously something worked.

Then I began to see a new Dr.  He was a family practice doctor and he changed my life forever.  When he discovered my dismal past medical history he didn't just push a pill at me and tell me to come back in six weeks.  No, he got busy and did intensive research about the newest medical developments for my condition.  He got me involved in a medical trial.  I began to use a medication that helped to desensitize my bronchials.  It didn't cure me, but it lessened by hospital stays a great deal.  As my asthma lessened, I was able to strengthen my immune system.

I went to college, performed in summerstock theater, served an LDS mission, sang, danced, and acted in many productions.  I met the man of my dreams and we created family together.  He got his undergrad degree, and then his J.D.  We performed together with great joy. 

Now?  Now even though the pandemic has swept away most of the outside activity in my life, I am still filled with enthusiasm for the inside activity.  I sew, write, knit, do genealogy work, dance, sing, and sometimes play the piano.  I've watched fascinating documentaries that have increased my knowledge, and I'm currently taking an online Spanish class. 

One of my friends once told me (she was in her 80s at the time), you are only as old as your oldest cell.  Your body produces new cells every 5 seconds.  I have not verified the science of this with SNOPES but I like her vision.  In her nineties she needed to move into assisted living.  The last I heard, she was teaching aerobics there. 

Even if my body keeps getting older, and my health issues continue to pile up, I'm going to do my best to find joy.  There will always be something that I can do...even if it is lying in bed praying for those I love.  I AM praying right now.  I'm praying for this pandemic to stop.  I'm praying for a useful vaccine to be created.  I'm praying for a world where black lives DO matter, and we do NOT go around judging each other harshly.  I've seen a great deal of history in sixty-four years of living.  I want to see some more.  I wish to see our children make our earth safer, healthier, and much more loving. 

I'm happy that I've lived to reach my sixty-fourth birthday.  I'm blowing that doomsayer doctor a raspberry.  I imagine that he has passed on long since...and I'm still here...and still doing my best everyday.  (OK....I do not wish that doctor harm.  I just want him to see that I proved him wrong?) 

Happy birthday to me!

STOP THIS MADNESS!!!

I do my best to stay away from the divisiveness of politics. I can't be silent any longer. First of all...no haters please. I respect your right to your opinion. Please respect mine.

Portland, OR is a lovely town. The people are kind, they are tolerant of others, they even allow those that are down on their luck (the homeless) to put up a tent or tarp wherever it is not causing anyone harm. Unbelievably, even in heavy traffic they will allow your vehicle to merge into places that you need to merge.  

Since the horror of George Floyd's death there have been mostly peaceful protests about the use of extreme policing and racism. Enter federal troops who don't identify themselves, act as commandos, not peace officers (I believe most officers still swear to protect and defend...people?) and quickly prove that the very problem Black Lives Matter protestors are trying to address NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED! This overreach of the Executive Branch of Government is completely unacceptable. The protests in Portland were lessening...enter the stormtroopers (they really do look like that) with unfettered use of tear gas, rubber bullets (which broke the skull of a man), billy clubs (regular policemen haven't been allowed to use those for years), flash bangs, and an authoritarian attitude that smacks of tyranny.

My beloved Papa served for three years as a paratrooper and infantry man during World War II. He was very proud of the service that he gave for his country. This action against our own citizens would sicken him. He believed in our country and the values that we are supposed to stand up for. 

Maybe this president could spend more time focusing on ridding our country once and for all of a pandemic that is increasing exponentially? Perhaps, he could see that our health care heroes have the supplies that they need without having to wrangle to get them. Maybe the money that is being spent to send federal troops into Democratic cities instead could be used to get our health care workers the supplies they need? Or perhaps that money could go toward the expense of creating the vaccine that we need to end the Covid19 virus once and for all!  

What about the record number of unemployed people that are scrambling in our country?  Remember those down on their luck folks that I mentioned above?  There may soon be much larger populations of tent cities as people are unable to pay for housing for themselves and their families.  Perhaps some money could be put into this effort?

Finally, in what world does it make sense to send our precious children back to school in the fall?  When I was a child we were encouraged never to swap hats because it increased the exposure to ringworm and lice from other children.  Can you imagine 7 years olds that continue to wear their masks all day long without swapping with another child?  What about children who are asymptomatic but bring home Covid19 to other family members, those immune compromised or elderly?  Who will pay for the health care that all of them will require?  How about the teachers, and the staff when they become sick and must be quarantined.  Who will care for their costs?  As usual our president makes decisions without a single thought about possible consequences for others. 

Remember when a certain current president made NOT wearing a mask in a pandemic a political statement?  Remember how sharply the Covid19 cases rose because people were NOT wearing masks in public?

Please, let's stop the madness.  Here are some reasoned ideas to consider.  
 1.  Quit sending federal troops to cities that have largely moderate protests.  If there is looting, let the city, county, and state officers who have been trained to deal with these actions without exacerbating violence, police them.  That will save a large quantity of money.  
2.  Let's use that money that we have saved to ensure that our health care workers have the appropriate equipment that they need to keep themselves safe in this pandemic.  Let's make certain that there are guaranteed lines of replacement for all of that medical equipment.  
3.  There needs to be a plan to fund some sort of employment for all of these people who have no income.  There must be work that needs doing that could be accomplished from homes.  
4.  Let's establish a stay at home school program for at least this school year to avoid causing the possible health consequences of children returning to school during a pandemic.  Teachers could teach more practically remotely, than trying to teach masked children in socially distanced classrooms.  
5.  Let's require people to wear masks in any situations where they can't stay six feet from others.  We must close down places or situations that can expose us to this virus.