I am Thankful...

     This morning I received an e mail from a person who I see as a friend as she does me, yet we haven't seen one another in about five years and she only lives an hour away. We vent to one another, celebrate and think things over to one another. At the end her email said, I am Thankful. Like many others I too have used that phrase. But we lead such busy lives we forget what others are going through and if we can help.
     About a week ago a much older woman stopped me, asking to talk to me outside. She explained her car trouble. I went to see her mechanic and asked if I can make arrangements to pay or pay part of it. He then told me, she just wants it fixed, a minute' oil leak which entails a lot of things having to come apart, and that it isn't  a need. The next day I took my car in for inspection and the owner took me outside to let me know that maybe I could buy that woman groceries. I did. I bought her a gift card at a local market asked the post lady to put in in her box, not saying it was me. Okay one thing done. What bothered me was this woman has a grown daughter living with her who doesn't help one bit. So is she just hoping mom dies and she'll get the house and car? What to do?
     Today I walked into a local convenience store and asked a young lady how things are going, knowing her situation. It's gone from bad to worse. What to do? In her situation, I do know I can find different kinds of help for her. So that's on my agenda for today and tomorrow before she becomes ill with all that has fallen on her.
       Then I think of my own grown kids as my friend said in that e mail. They never went through what I know many have gone through. Healthy, happy, bust with careers and families, friends and volunteering, from my children, I am thankful, so very, very Thankful.
     I am also thankful for what I have, where I've lived, people who I have known and befriended me, people who live close by me and have been like friends. For all of you I am thankful and I can't go on without mentioning, I am also thankful for three wise men who showed me as a young kid what real men are like. What a coincidence-or was it?

Old Times

            Kenny Rogers had a song, "Life Was So Much Easier Twenty Years Ago".  To me it seems like thirty or even forty years ago.  When we think about how neighbors not only knew one another but they cared about one another. Now life is such a rush that so many homes have two working parents and not enough time for much of anything else. So kids get TVs, Video games, IPhones and anything electronic they want. It keeps them from bothering mom and dad, lets them stay in there room nice and safe. But are they?

 

            If anyone knows anything about the dangers in these handheld games please tell your sons and daughters who have kids and tell anyone you know. The worst as I know it, is a PS VITA.

             It seems innocent at first. Commercials make it cute showing a small female child playing games, ad maybe that is a certain PS Vita-there are a couple. One is just for games. But many adults don't know which is which and don't ask enough questions. PS Vita is like putting your child's life at stake as I see I, my opinion. They can reach kids -or adults-in other states, countries. No one knows who is lurking and I do mean lurking on the other side of a PS VITA. They might also come in contact with another kid who seems so very sweet, yet...

         

             In the legal system when a youth commits a crime, many times the record is expunged so how do you really know the kind of people your kids hang out with, go to the movie with, a dance with or "just talk in the privacy of their rooms."

              Yes, life was so much easier many years ago and in may ways it is now. Progress in many ways harms our children, twists their minds, entitles them because as you may have already heard, but my friend has one. Society and entitlement go hand in hand for those who won't accept personal responsibility and play the blame game. As I read somewhere, if you're not content with who you are and what you have, no matter what you have, it won't even be enough. Remember that the next time you think about kids, shopping, values and how you want them to grow.

        By the way, say hello to your next door neighbor.