Despite my great singing talent, my son when he was small would tell me I was only allowed to sing this to him. I found out later he thought I wrote it for him. Oooh, how I wish! I wonder if he even remembers any of this.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Choice:
Recently, I was in a discussion about how the newer generation of women don't fully understand how serious, and now fragile, Choice is.
It's one of those things, I suppose, you take for granted because since it's available for you, you then expect it to be there if needed. Or you think you understand, but unless you experience not having this right, you just can't fully understand how frighteningly horrific, how devastating it can/will be for women. I don't want to sound all dramatic here, but what I wrote above is true.
In all my wildest imaginations did I think legislation like we're seen from varying states would ever come into fruition. It scares the hell out of me. What can be next?
When I was in my late teens, I had three friends who became pregnant. In those days you were a 'bad' girl - dirty, if you found yourself pregnant.
This is what happened:
Friend #1 - She married the guy a month after we graduated from high school. He was an ass & a wife beater. He forbid her to have friends. I tried to keep track of her, but she told me each time he knew she talked to me, she got punished, she was afraid he'd hurt me. It broke my heart. I've tried searching for her many times through the years, but I haven't been successful.
Friend #2 - She found a 'doctor' in Detroit. Her boyfriend took her there & had what we call a 'back alley abortion'. A toxic infection set in. She was hospitalized, and survived. I remember holding her in my arms rocking back & forth as she sobbed. The doctors said she could never have kids. She & I are Facebook friends, & one day recently she wrote and asked if I was paying any attention to the proposed changes in our legislation. She said she'd like to wring everyone of those men's necks.
Friend #3 - She died. Bled to death. She called me, said she trusted me & asked if I'd come over & help her. Her parents were on vacation, the house was dark, no one answered, so I broke in. She passed away before I got there. I'm crying as I write this. It hurts so fucking bad. After all these years. At that time I didn't know she was pregnant, nor did I know she had an abortion. I learned later that her boyfriend took her to an abandoned house in Detroit. Her parents were beside themselves, wishing their daughter had confided in them. But back in those days, all of us were afraid of our parents when it came to sex, let alone babies.
All three of these friends I knew from Kindergarten. We were little 5 year old babies who grew up to be sweet & good young women full of dreams.
This is a lot of the heartbreak & why I find today's Republican legislators so horrifying for taking us back to those days of needless & unsafe choices for our bodies.
These days we're fortunate to have a world of information at our fingertips. This was not always so. We more or less relied on anecdotal information to help us understand what was going on with our bodies. The difference between those days & today is stark. Doctors treated women differently in those days, too. They were the all-knowing 'Gods' of medicine.
In all my wildest imaginations did I think legislation like we're seen from varying states would ever come into fruition. It scares the hell out of me. What can be next?
When I was in my late teens, I had three friends who became pregnant. In those days you were a 'bad' girl - dirty, if you found yourself pregnant.
This is what happened:
Friend #1 - She married the guy a month after we graduated from high school. He was an ass & a wife beater. He forbid her to have friends. I tried to keep track of her, but she told me each time he knew she talked to me, she got punished, she was afraid he'd hurt me. It broke my heart. I've tried searching for her many times through the years, but I haven't been successful.
Friend #2 - She found a 'doctor' in Detroit. Her boyfriend took her there & had what we call a 'back alley abortion'. A toxic infection set in. She was hospitalized, and survived. I remember holding her in my arms rocking back & forth as she sobbed. The doctors said she could never have kids. She & I are Facebook friends, & one day recently she wrote and asked if I was paying any attention to the proposed changes in our legislation. She said she'd like to wring everyone of those men's necks.
Friend #3 - She died. Bled to death. She called me, said she trusted me & asked if I'd come over & help her. Her parents were on vacation, the house was dark, no one answered, so I broke in. She passed away before I got there. I'm crying as I write this. It hurts so fucking bad. After all these years. At that time I didn't know she was pregnant, nor did I know she had an abortion. I learned later that her boyfriend took her to an abandoned house in Detroit. Her parents were beside themselves, wishing their daughter had confided in them. But back in those days, all of us were afraid of our parents when it came to sex, let alone babies.
All three of these friends I knew from Kindergarten. We were little 5 year old babies who grew up to be sweet & good young women full of dreams.
This is a lot of the heartbreak & why I find today's Republican legislators so horrifying for taking us back to those days of needless & unsafe choices for our bodies.
These days we're fortunate to have a world of information at our fingertips. This was not always so. We more or less relied on anecdotal information to help us understand what was going on with our bodies. The difference between those days & today is stark. Doctors treated women differently in those days, too. They were the all-knowing 'Gods' of medicine.
A friend told me this story in the 80s about when she was young bride in the 60s. She went to the doctor, who prescribed the new birth control pill. He told her to begin to take it on Friday, right before going to bed. She got pregnant. She miscarried & went back on the pill. Again, he told her to start taking in on Friday. She went through this cycle 3 times. 3 miscarriages.
Why was she getting pregnant on the pill? Why? Little information was available to women, plus the doctor who gave her the pill packets never explained she was to take a pill every day. She took it faithfully every Friday!
She was so embarrassed to share that story. All I could do was hug her tightly, and cry for all her pain & heartbreak. We laughed later, but only if you've lived during the mysterious times of minimal information can you appreciate the worry & confusion my friend went through.
There are thousands, no millions of stories like these. How sad is that? I don't want my future daughter-in-law or her future children to suffer.
I want their decisions to be safe and private and legal.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Challenger
Named in honor of the lost space shuttle crew, "Challenger" has performed free-flights during the USA's National Anthem at hundreds of events coast to coast—raising substantial public awareness for the Bald Eagle protection cause.
"Challenger" is a non-releasable bald eagle cared for by the non-profit American Eagle Foundation (formerly named national Foundation to Protect America's Eagles), headquartered at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
In early 1989, Challenger was blown from a wild nest as a baby during a storm, and was hand raised by the people who found him. Unfortunately, he experienced too much human contact at a very young age and became highly "human socialized." As a result, "Challenger" thinks he's a person, and cannot survive on his own in the wild.
He was released into the wild twice during the summer of 1989. After his second release into the wild, "Challenger" was rescued from a close encounter with death. He had landed near a man to beg for food, and almost got beat up by that person with a stick. Another man was "Challenger's" guardian angel that day. He stopped the stick-wielding human from doing bodily harm to the eagle. This had been the third time Challenger had sought out people looking for food when he became hungry, so he was placed under the care of the American Eagle Foundation for educational purposes by federal and state fish & wildlife agencies.
American Eagle Foundation
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)