Armed Forces Day
May 15, 2010 by Dan
Filed under Human Interest
By Dr. Laura
May 15, 2010
I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.
– William Shakespeare
from Twelfth Night (Act III, Scene ii)
Today is Armed Forces Day. Thank a man or woman in uniform for their service to our nation.
Source: Dr Laura
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Palin Upset with School for AZ Boycott
By Fox Nation
May 13, 2010
Sarah Palin took on officials of an Illinois high school for canceling a trip to Arizona by its girls’ basketball team because of the controversial new immigration law.
She also maintained her support for oil drilling despite the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Keeping the girls’ basketball team off the court for political reasons?
Those are fighting words,” the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate said during a speech Wednesday in Rosemont, Ill., a Chicago suburb.
Noting that Highland Park High School has allowed student trips to China, Palin asked whether school officials know “how they treat women in China.”
School officials said the Arizona immigration law that makes it a crime to be in the country illegally and requires police to check the immigration status of suspects was not “aligned with our beliefs and values.”
Palin encouraged the team to defy authority.
“Go rogue, girls,” she said, playing off the title of her book about being John McCain’s running mate in 2008.
On the campaign trail, fans often greeted her with, “Drill, baby, drill” to signal their agreement with her support for aggressive oil exploration.
On Wednesday night, Palin maintained that support but said oil companies must be held accountable through strict standards.
ALSO:
Highland Park High School Scraps Team Trip to Arizona
Illinois School Nixes Basketball Team’s Trip to Arizona over Immigration Law
Source: Fox Nation
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Photo ID for Your Child Is Urgent
May 12, 2010 by Dan
Filed under Safety Tips, Features
By MEC
May 12, 2010
One of the most important tools for law enforcement to use in the case of a missing child is an up-to-date, good-quality photograph.
Noted below are some tips for parents and guardians regarding such a photograph?
- The photograph should be a recent, head-and-shoulders color photograph of the child in which the face is clearly seen. It should be of “school-portrait” quality, and the background should be plain or solid so it does not distract from the subject.
- When possible the photograph should be in a digitized form, and available on a compact disk (CD), as opposed to just a hard copy. This minimizes the time necessary to scan, resize, and make color corrects before disseminating it to law enforcement.
- The photograph should be an accurate depiction of the child, not overly posed or “glamorized.” Nor should other people, animals, or objects be in the photograph. The photograph should not be taken outside, out of focus, torn, damaged, or very small.
- The photograph should have space for accurate, narrative description useful to identify the child such as name, nickname, height, weight, sex, age, eye color, identifying marks, glasses, and braces.
- The photograph should be updated at least every six months for children 6 years of age or younger and then once a year, or when a child’s appearance changes.
- All copies of child’s photograph and information should be maintained in an easily accessible, secure space by the parents or guardian. The photograph and data should not be stored in a public database.
Download the Best Practices Guide for Child ID Kits
Source: Missing Kids
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Americans Sung ‘God Bless America’ at Randolph School in Huntsville, Alabama
By Hank Richards
GCC/Staff
May12, 2010
It’s an extreme pleasure to dial a published telephone number and reach the person in charge of an organization on the first attempt.
This actually happened on grandparent’s day last Friday when I called Dr. Byron C. Hulsey, the Headmaster at the Randolph School, in Huntsville, Alabama.
Randolph School began its mission in 1959 with a handful of elementary classes in an antebellum home.
Within a few short years, the school relocated to a spacious 17-acre campus with a mission that complimented the Huntsville industries in U.S. missile defense, rockets and space age technology at the Redstone Arsenal, home of the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA).
Numerous scientists and engineers, including the legendary space pioneer Dr. Wernher von Braun, sent their children to Randolph.
The school’s rigorous college preparatory curriculum and successful alumni rapidly attracted Huntsville’s business community.
In 1981, a local Fortune 500 company donated a computer lab, one of the first of its kind in a high school setting and in 1998, Randolph attracted national attention for successfully integrating laptop computers and a wireless network into their classroom structure.
Randolph School is listed as an IBM reference site for its outstanding technology program and has received national accolades as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.
The school is directed by Dr. Byron C. Hulsey, the man who answers his own telephone while managing a $12 million annual budget.
Hulsey has enjoyed an accomplished academic career. He is a graduate of the Woodberry Forest School in Virginia, having earned his B.A. degree from the University of Virginia in 1990, where he received the prestigious Jefferson Scholarship.
Being a Texas native, he went on to earn both, an M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas in Austin where he was a Patterson-Banister Fellow in American History.
In the summer of 2006, he moved to Huntsville, Alabama to begin work as Randolph’s Head of School. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children.
When asked by Richards to explain the success of the Randolph education model, Hulsey replied, ‘we emphasize honor, integrity and character and demand discipline and diligence . . . I feel gratified that Randolph is a safe place; by a safe place I mean it’s safe to embrace opportunities and perhaps to be disappointed at times but safe enough to offer an academic environment where our children can achieve success in arts and athletics and engage in those opportunities that commit to overall excellence; safe enough to have the support of a hands-on community and proactive faculty who believe in the values at Randolph that contribute to unparalleled personal growth.’
One of Hulsey’s many tasks include setting aside a unique day in the spring each year for grandparents and special friends of the K-4 classes to visit the school.
The guests are treated to programs that feature musical selections presented with hand chimes, a variety of songs that include ‘God Bless America’, classroom visits with student demonstrations and a picnic lunch on the south lawn of the campus.
With this year’s exhibit, each classroom demonstrated its learning accomplishments using group projects such as a life-cycle by actually hatching baby chicks in school; presenting the world of computer photo graphics of a class in progress in real-time and so much more.
Approximately 600 people turned out for the celebration that concluded with a picnic lunch under the shade trees on the south lawn of the campus.
The guests found the students receptive when demonstrating the advantages of attending a school with a student/ teacher ratio of approximately 10 to 1.
Randolph’s faculty strives to help students become young men and women of character who are self-motivated, intellectually curious and articulate, characteristics necessary to become responsible decision-makers.
Randolph, the only independent college prep school in North Alabama, has been twice named a National School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
For more information view the school website at www.randolphschool.net. To schedule a campus tour or to learn more about Randolph, contact Glynn Below, Director of Admissions, at (256) 799-6103 or e-mail the Admissions Office .
Source: Examiner
Editor’s Note: Contact Hank Richards by email at editor@pronlinenews.com or call him at (256) 417-6084.
Richards is a prostate cancer survivor and a nationwide public speaker on the issue. If you would like to schedule him for your speaking venue, call the listed number above.
We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Mother and Daughter Tale
May 9, 2010 by Dan
Filed under Parent's Advice
By Aliza Davidovit
YC/STaff
May 9, 2010
This blog is a personal story and dedicated to my mother for Mother’s Day.
“The foot bone connected to the leg bone, the leg bone connected to the knee bone, the knee bone connected to the” femur bone, the femur bone connected to the pelvic bone.
Let me know when you’ve stopped singing.
The femur bone, also called the thighbone, as you may know, is the longest, largest, and strongest bone in the body.
It’s an unusual thing to think of for a daughter, but my mother reminds me of a femur bone because it’s her strength of character alone and continued support and love that gives everyone close to her a leg to stand on.
She is like an indomitable scaffold that sustains our courage and our family through the hardest of times.
There is not a thing upon which she lays her hands that she does not transform from average to beautiful–from décor, cooking, fashion, to extracting an individual’s full potential. Even death she made beautiful for my father.
After the doctors told us that he had six more months to live, she didn’t leave him to their care but rather took care of him at home, herself, and decorated the remaining days of his life with music, love, and laughter until the angel of death closed his big blue eyes.
My parents were deeply in love for 38 years, like Romeo and Juliet. My mother would visit his grave every day for five years straight after he passed away. But I will never forget the night my father died in their bed.
Through her sobbing tears, my mother went to blow dry her hair because the funeral was the next day.
She said to us that my father loved seeing her look beautiful and even after having lost her parents, a daughter, a sister, and now her beloved sweetheart, she would not allow death to triumph over life.
We all looked at her in awe. She was our femur that kept it all together just as that durable bone brings the upper and lower half of the body together.
But life’s a bitch and even as you try and put your best femured foot forward it can ravage you. A few years ago, my sprightly, energetic mother got out of bed one morning and five steps later found herself lying on the floor in screaming agony. It took her three hours to reach the phone.
She called my brother, and being the superhuman body builder that he is, he beat the ambulance and broke down her five inch wooden doors with his own hands. I got the phone call in New York.
I was on the next plane to Montreal. My mother’s complete femur bone was broken, eaten up by lymphoma. My beautiful mother, my best friend who I speak to a thousand times a day–I was not ready to say goodbye. I never will be.
I had just signed a deal to ghostwrite a book on Jewish success, but instead of heading to the library I found myself sleeping on a lawn chair in my mother’s hospital room for three weeks and then staying in Montreal for the next five months caring for her and her toy French poodle, Papoush.
It was excruciating for me to see my mother that way. She was always so independent, coming and going, and now she had to go through chemo and learn to walk all over again with titanium filled leg. She was my rock but now I had to become her femur.
Yet even in the hospital, my mother wouldn’t surrender and refused to wear their hospital gowns or use their bed linens.
She may be the only patient in the history of the oncology department who had a chiffon beaded nightgown and 700-thread sheets.
It was the hardest thing that we ever went through. Even the dog fell into a depression during that difficult time. Yet, I found strength in myself that I never knew I had.
That strength was shaped like my mother. I have never met a person whose presence brings such light into any room as does hers.
That light continues to guide my way. As we went through MRIs, surgery, chemotherapy, hair loss and rehabilitation, I was empowered by all the times in life I saw her fight instead of fall. I’d sing to my mother to distract her from her nerves and would make all the technicians and doctors laugh with my terrible voice.
At my mother’s bedside, I wrote a book, nurtured her and her French poodle back to health, found the power of laughter, and realized that I stood in the shadow of the greatest role model a daughter could ever have.
But most of all I learned how deep, special, and strong are the bonds of a mother, a daughter, and a French poodle. The femur bone had nothing on us.
On this Mother’s Day, I just want to thank God for the great blessing of a having a mother like mine, a mother who has taken so many lost souls under her wing and taught them to fly, a mother whose honesty will criticize you into perfection not weakness, a mother who has surely done God’s work, when He was busy elsewhere.
Source: The Source Weekly
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Teen Connection on Mother’s Day
May 9, 2010 by Dan
Filed under Encouragement
By Tracey Jackson
May 9, 2010
Why are there so many closed doors in our house?
Who’s on the other side?
Teenagers are allusive
they’re always avoiding
Why do they feel they must hide?
Though we’ve been told someday they’ll
out grow it
we’ll have to just wait and see
Someday we’ll find it
The Teenage Connection
My child, my heartbeat and me
Now I just took some serious liberties with my friend Paul Williams’ amazing song The Rainbow Connection.
But being that this blog is for the Partnership for Drug-Free America and the fact that he is so involved in the sobriety movement, he won’t care.
Today is Mother’s Day, which means mothers are being paid attention to whether the attention givers really want to or not.
Families are taking Grandma out to brunch despite the fact that she may aggressively quiz them about hair length, tattoos, drug experimentation and love choices.
Mothers are being given breakfast in bed, handmade cards and if Zale’s has their way, lots of diamonds.
Even teenagers are venturing out of their caves (a.k.a. their rooms) with a few if not cheery, hopefully coherent words of affection and appreciation — though they may be simultaneously texting as they recite them.
And then the whole family will sit through a meal, though the teens may be texting while eating.
Yet they are honoring mom despite the fact they might not have spoken more than seven full sentences to her in the last week.
Mind you this is not all kids nor is it all families. Some are better and some are much worse.
But the average teenager is about as interested in interacting with their parents as Obama is in becoming a Birthed.
It often starts around 13, when they pretend they don’t know you in public — unless of course your credit card is on its way out of your wallet and headed in their direction.
And pretty much everything you say – unless it is “yes” to an unreasonable request– is considered lame.
By 15 their rooms are their sanctuaries and often times its Enter at Your Own Risk, or just plain Stay Away.
When you do enter and attempt a “normal” conversation that could start with something as simple as “Do you have much homework?” you get volleyed back, “Why do you always have to tell me what to do? I can run my own life!”
Psychologists talk about their frontal lobes being underdeveloped; I feel like their ears have some filter system in place where every phrase uttered by a parent is turned into an insult.
“It’s cold out today, you might want a sweater” is met with an angry, “Why do you have to be so controlling?”
At this point when connections are not happening everything feels misinterpreted and an air of alienation hangs over the family.
This is a very frustrating period for both parents and kids. They are branching out and carving their independence and usually without much regard for our feelings: they have to do it, but it’s not easy for us to watch the person we knew disappear like a ghost.
Consequently we end up either confronting them with what we perceive to be (and often is) their rudeness, which only escalates into more rudeness and more shutting down or we go off, tail between our legs to lick our wounded feelings in silence, and stew.
What I found has worked the best in our house is when Taylor gives me the vibe that she is in a bad, introspective, or a I-want-to-be-left-alone mood, I just leave her be.
I learned to respect her need to be away from not just me, but all authority figures, and many people.
This means not taking it personally — not an easy thing for me to do — but I find when I do this, she somehow gets that I am acknowledging her individuation from me.
By not taking it personally, she does not become defensive.
By my ignoring her and doing my own thing, she eventually reappears on her time, in her way, and the space is then free for connection.
Try not to ask “What’s wrong?
What happened?
Are you in a bad mood?
Why aren’t you talking to me?”
This gets the door slammed faster than almost anything.
If I want to connect yet feel the wall being erected, I will tell her about something that happened to me that day, something rather banal that is not full of subtext.
Even something as benign as “I got my hair cut today” might be met with “You hate my hair! Why are you always judging me?”
Today I found the prettiest flowers at the market. Today I read a funny article online.
Say something upbeat, not about them, neutral and not open for misinterpretation.
Be in the moment, it’s usually where they are most of the time. “When I was your age I felt…“is heard as a lecture.
All you will get back is “I don’t need a lecture.” Slam.
The other thing that I have found really works is to do nothing but just be there. It’s hard, as parents we want to connect – we miss that little koala bear attached to our hip, and truth be told they miss it too which is partially why they are so aggressive at times.
They want you and don’t want you and hate the fact they want you and hate the fact they need you while they don’t want to need you.
So when I’m feeling that way, I sometimes just go in her room — after I ask if it’s OK; privacy is everything at this age.
I bring my laptop and just hang out with her; saying nothing, just being there, amusing myself and asking for nothing in return from her.
I’m giving her the message that I’m here if you want me, we don’t have to talk. Then the most amazing thing happens — she starts chatting up a storm.
We’re connecting because I haven’t demanded it. And when that happens, it feels like Mother’s Day no matter what day it is.
The good news is: it is a phase and they do come out of it. And from what I hear, you get years of laughs and jokes at everybody’s expense – especially on the holidays.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Source: Drug Free
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoaschronicle.com
Special Mother’s Prayer
May 9, 2010 by Dan
Filed under Human Interest
By Christine
May 9, 2010
I pray you’ll be my eyes
And watch her where she goes
And help her to be wise
Help me to let go
Every mother’s prayer
Every child knows
Lead her to a place
Guide her with your grace
To a place where she’ll be safe
I pray she finds your light
And holds it in her heart
As darkness falls each night
Remind her where you are
Every mother’s prayer
Every child knows
Need to find a place
Guide her with your grace
Give her faith so she’ll be safe
Lead her to a place
Guide her with your grace
To a place where she’ll be safe
Source: Mothers Day Celebration
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Founder of Mother’s Day
May 9, 2010 by Dan
Filed under Parent's Advice
By Mothers Day
May 9, 2010
The story of Mothers Day is the story of firm determination of a daughter, Anna Jarvis who resolved to pay tribute to her mother, Mrs. Anna M Jarvis and all other mothers of the world.
Anna Jarvis dedicated her life to fulfill her mother’s dream of the recognition of day for honoring mothers.
Though never a mother herself, Founder of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis is today recognized as the ‘Mother of Mothers Day’. An apt title to define the remarkable woman’s ceaseless devotion to her mother and motherhood in general.
Anna Jarvis: Childhood
Anna Jarvis was born in Webster, Taylor County, West Virginia, on May 1, 1864. She was the ninth of eleven children born to Ann Marie and Granville Jarvis. Her family moved to Grafton when Anna was a year old.
It was here that the Anna did her schooling. In 1881, she enrolled at the Augusta Female Academy in Staunton, Virginia, now Mary Baldwin College. After finishing her academics, Anna returned to Grafton and did teaching in a school for seven years.
Anna Jarvis: Inspiration for Mothers Day
Anna Jarvis got the inspiration of celebrating Mothers Day quite early in life. It so happened that one day when Anna was 12 years old, Anna’s mother Mrs. Jarvis said a class prayer in the presence of her daughter.
To conclude the lesson on ‘Mothers of the Bible’, Mrs. Jarvis said a small prayer,
“I hope that someone sometime will found a memorial mother’s day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”
Anna never forgot this prayer. And at her Mothers graveside service, she recalled the prayer and said, “…by the grace of God, you shall have that Mothers Day.” The words were overheard by her brother Claude.
Anna Jarvis: The Struggle for Mothers Day
After the death of her mother in 1905, Anna Jarvis resolved to honor her mother. She became all the more serious in her resolution when she found that adult children in the US were negligent in their behavior towards their parents.
Besides the desire of her mother that someone would one day pay tribute to all mothers, living and dead and appreciate their contributions made Anna decisions even stronger.
In 1907, Miss Anna began an aggressive campaign to establish a National Mothers Day in US. On the second death anniversary of her mother she led a small tribute to her mother at Andrews Methodist Church.
By the next year, Mother’s Day was also celebrated in her own city of Philadelphia.
To give shape to her resolution, Miss Anna Jarvis along with her supporters began to write hundreds of letters to those holding the positions of power advocate the need for a national Mothers Day.
A fluent speaker, Anna used every platform to promote her cause.
Though the response was cold initially, she achieved a breakthrough by gaining the support of great merchant and philanthropist, John Wanamaker of Philadelphia.
The movement gained a fresh impetus with his support. In 1909, forty-five states including Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico observed the day by appropriate services.
People also wore white and red Carnations to pay tribute to their mothers, according to the tradition started by Anna Jarvis. Anna chose carnations because they were her mother’s favorite flowers.
White carnation was her most favorite because it represented the purity of a mother’s heart. A white carnation was to be worn to honor deceased mothers, and a red one to honor a living mother.
By 1911, Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state of the Union. And in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother’s Day as a national holiday that was to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.
Anna Jarvis: Purpose of Celebrating Mothers Day
An activist to the core, Anna Jarvis stepped outside the four walls of the house. Striking feature of her personality is that she did not frowned on the traditional women who felt complacent staying at home.
Instead she strived to bestow honor and dignity on women who were homemakers. This was one of her main purpose of celebrating Mothers Day.
Mothers Day is meant to give due honor to the woman who gave us birth and life. Though we often have the feeling of gratitude towards our mothers we do not confess it often.
Mothers Day is celebrated to share those feeling with our mothers. To spend some time with her and make her feel special. Those staying away from mothers must express their feelings of love and gratitude by writing to them or talking over phone.
Anna Jarvis: Her Disappointment with Mothers Day Commercialization
It is poignant to note that though Miss Anna Jarvis devoted her life for the establishment of national Mothers Day but in the end she was disappointed at the way thing turned out.
She was concerned with reform, not revenue. She hated the commercialization of the day, so much so that she felt sorry for ever starting the tradition of celebrating Mothers Day.
Anna died at the age of 84 on November 24, 1948. She is interred beside her mother in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. On the day of her burial, bell on the Andrews Church in Grafton was tolled eighty-four times in her honor. The Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum is located four miles south of Grafton on U.S. Route 119/250.
Anna Jarvis: Her Mother, Mrs. Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis
Mrs. Anna M. Jarvis gave birth to 11 children but only four lived to adulthood. Inspire of the large family, Mrs. Jarvis maintained an active life. She regularly participated in activities of the church and civic affairs.
Her remarkable contribution to the society in which she lived was the formation of Mothers Day Work Clubs in the local churches.
Mrs. Anna Jarvis called on the women of Webster, Philippi, Pruntytown, Fetterman and Grafton to join the club and combat poor health and sanitation conditions that existed in that time in their neighborhood and attributed to the high mortality rate of children.
The clubs were highly successful and their role in tackling the local community problem was honored by all.
During the Civil Wars, Mrs. Anna Jarvis urged the members of Mothers’ Day Work Clubs to take a neutral stand and nurse both Union and Confederate soldiers. Near the end of the war, the Jarvis family moved to the larger town of Grafton, West Virginia.
In 1865, after the Civil War, Anna Jarvis organized a Mothers’ Friendship Day at Pruntytown Courthouse. This was done to bring together soldiers and neighbors of all political beliefs.
The event was a big success and came to be organized annually for several years to promote peace and friendship.
Mrs. Anna Jarvis was also an active member of the church. She took charge of the primary department of the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church School when the church was completed in 1873.
For more than two decades, she taught the students of the school. Mrs. Jarvis was also a renowned speaker of her times. Her lectures were quite popular in the church
after the death of her husband, Granville E. Jarvis, in 1902, Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis moved with her daughters, Anna and Lillie, to Philadelphia to live with her son, Claude. Mrs. Jarvis died at the age of 72 on May 9, 1905.
She was interred in the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. On the day she was laid to rest, the bell of Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton was tolled seventy-two times in her honor.
Source: Mothers Day Celebration
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Have an “Open Heart” on Mother’s Day
by Jane Seymour
May 9, 2010
Today is Mother’s Day ! It’s important to show our appreciation to those special women in our lives who have shaped who we are today and loved us no matter what. What are you doing to celebrate this year?
I started Keep Open Heart Web site because of my mother’s Open Heart philosophy. Throughout my life I have heard amazing stories from people who live their lives with an Open Heart and my hope is that through this site we will be able to collect and share so many more.
Here are some examples that I hope will inspire you and your family on this Special Day.
In January of 2006 my Mother got really sick from diverticulitis, I was afraid I was going to lose Her. At the time I was only a junior in High School.
I had already lost my dad when I was 8 years old. My mom and I have always been very close we can tell Each other anything. She is my best friend!
I have been epileptic since I was 11 years old and I was scared that she wasn’t going to be there for me. I didn’t realize at the time that she already thought about that.
As my mom and best friend she made plans to be sure that if anything happened. I would be taking care of.
It’s been 4 years and I am so grateful that God has allowed me to still have her in my life.
Today I am only able to get her a card and take her out to dinner for Mothers Day.
As a mom she has always told me that all I had to do was say that I loved her. She didn’t need cards or gifts.
Her birthday is next month and I still have not figured out what to get her. No matter what I get her she will always be grateful for the thought.
I Love my Mom and someday I hope that if I became a mom I can be like her.
Kimberly
Hollywood, FL
I honor my mother.. I was so blessed to have her as a mother, teacher,freind,helpmate,leader in our community,helpful to the needy, baby sitter for my children, and most of all, she taught me the love of our heavely father.thanks you mother, you have been gone from this life for 12 yesars and I Thank God for every remembrance of you…..
Mary Fern Farley
Living with an Open Heart has helped me through the years- To overcome adversity, hardships, anxiety, fears and tears. I didn’t have great parenting to lead me on the path of life- But through sacrifice and blessings, I overcame great strife!
Rather than harbor resentment and dwell in self pity- I’ve put my time and talents into improving my city.
Through coaching and fundraising and donating my time- I’ve found that I can help others, out of the darkness climb. Whether for the Special Olympics or the Relay for Life- I’m now involved with all my kids and yes too, my wife.
Teaching kids new skills and rules, I’ve seen it change their lives- All my time and effort are rewarded when a hug arrives. It doesn’t take great brains or skill, of this I am quite sure- But the sacrifice pays dividends that over time endures.
There is one requisite ingredient that helping does require- Having and keeping an Open Heart- love and peace is the desire.
Through humble and strained beginnings, I’ve learned that an Open Heart- Brings love and hope and opportunity- for the giver and receiver a new start! We can all afford an Open Heart and the treasures it does bring- Yes it takes some vulnerability, but oh how it makes hearts sing!
James,
Chicago, IL
My mom passed away October 12, 2009 after a long battle of illnesses. Although we knew it was coming it did not make it any easier.
After her death I found comfort in giving back to others like my mom always did during her life. She loved to quilt and had many finished and unfinished projects.
After us each family member received a quilt I decided to call some of my moms friends to come and select one for them.
They were all moved by being able to have a part of my mom’s legacy. We also had an estate sale and donated all the proceeds to 3 different children’s hospitals in her memory. This was another rewarding experience for me.
So for Christmas I purchased 4 Open Heart pendants so that I, my daughter, my daughter-in-law and my son’s girlfriend would each have one to wear to spread the word of living with an open heart. Thanks for inspiring me to carry on the same tradition you and your Mother inspired.
Pamela,
Hammond, LA
The summer before I started my first year of college is when my Mom and I started getting really close. Perfect timing right? We get close and I have to move away.
We decided to get matching Open Heart rings to keep each other close while I’m away. Anytime I am having a bad day, needing some encouragement, or just needing to know someone is there, I can always call my Mom to talk.
The Open Heart ring makes it that much easier to remember she is always there for me. It’s almost like she isn’t just my mom anymore, she is my best friend. Leaving for college was extremely hard, but having the Open Heart ring on my finger made a little bit easier because it reminded me that I wasn’t alone.
Samantha,
Oklahoma City, OK
I have four wonderful daughters, three that were born to me, and one step-daughter. She lost her mom, at the age of three, from cancer. Growing up my daughters and our family faced much heartbreak.
My husband became disabled at the age of 33 from a work injury. He has had 18 surgeries. My sister died a tragic death and then her youngest son died in the Iraq War. At times, I felt like giving up.
Then I would look at my daughters, they loved me and depended on me to be strong. When you open your heart, love heals the hurt. As children they learned from my examples.
I did not want them to give up and close their hearts. So, now my daughters are young women, graduated from college, living on their own. They struggle because of our current economy.
I wish I could do more for them. It saddens me that I cannot shelter them from the worries of the world. Yet, I know that I have shown them by opening their hearts, love does find its way.
Debra,
Princeton, WI
MY OPEN HEART LESSON BEGAN WITH THE BIRTH OF MY SON 23YRS AGO, HE WAS BORN WITH HEART PROBLEMS, BECAUSE OF THE LACK OR OXYGEN, HE AS LEARNING DISABLITIES. LEARNING TO OPEN MY HEART AND GIVE AND GIVE HAS BEEN A LIFE EXPERIENCE.
I HAD ONE CHILD BEFORE HIM, SHE WAS FINE. BEING A MOTHER OF A DISABLIED SON IS REWARDING, I HOPE MY STORY WILL BRIGHTEN OTHER MOTHERS OF DISABLITED CHILDREN. NEVER GIVE UP, OPEN YOUR HEART IT WILL WORK OUT, THEY WILL BECOME YOUR BEST FRIEND YOUR LOVE OF YOUR LIFE.
JACKIE,
MYRTLE CREEK, OR
It was Christmas Eve of 2005 when I got a call from my grandmother in Oklahoma to tell me that my dad had had a heart attack and that he was being rushed to the hospital via ambulance.
My heart felt like it was being ripped right out of my chest! I was waiting by the phone for any news. The next call I received was from my mother calling me from my dad’s bedside about an hour later to tell me that they were going to have to take him into surgery immediately, because they did not know if he was going to make it.
The next thing I hear is my mom saying “He flat lined they are trying to bring him back”. I fell to my knees and began immediately praying, “Please Lord don’t take him from me, but if you do need him, please just let me get there to tell him goodbye”. My husband and I drove 12 hours and we were continuing to get updates along the way. My dad made it through the surgery and he is still here with me today. I kept my heart open and God blessed me abundantly. Paula West Jordan, UT
– Paula,
West Jordan, UT
Source: Keep an Open Heart
Editor’s Note: There is a lot more to read. Just visit Keep an Open Heart and you can tell your story and read others.
You can contact Mrs. Jane Seymour at keepanopenheart.com.
We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
America Is This What We Have Come To?
By Scotty Starness
YC/Staff
May 6, 2010
The P.C. police strike again. Five Live Oak High School students were sent home due to wearing t-shirts that showed the American flag on them during…Cinco de Mayo.
Who did this upset? An assistance principle named Miguel Rodriguez.
The school administration is attempting to claim the boys wanted to ‘start a fight’ even though they were sitting around, eating their school lunch and talking among themselves.
The idiot, Miguel Rodriguez, claims he didn’t want any fights to break-out between Mexican-American students and the guys wearing the American flag t-shirts.
Why would Mexican-Americans be upset by the American flag being worn in America in an American high school?
Here’s the kicker. More than 100 students were witnessed wearing the Mexican colors of red, white and green on their shirts and some had the Mexican flag painted on their faces.
How many of these trouble-making students were sent home? ZERO!!!
I wonder if Miguel Rodriguez demanded that the school remove the American flag flying up on the flagpole that’s planted on American land.
I find it amazing that we have one group that was allowed to express their pride and first amendment rights and one group was demonized for the same thing. Land of the free, home of the politically correct.
Political correctness is what will be the downfall of America. We have to tip-toe around special interests groups due to the fear of being labeled racists or bigots. It’s time the majority spoke up and out against this blatant BS.
Martin Luther King wanted equal rights for everyone. Today, we have special rights for protected groups.
Allowing these special rights to special groups creates special problems. The school violated one group’s rights and protected the other group’s rights.
Political correctness strikes again.
Source: Scotty Starnes
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@youngchronicle.com