GIVE THANKS

I will not generally blog about holidays (I'll leave that to others) but I do feel compelled to talk about Memorial Day, which really is meant to be more than a three-day long holiday sale.  Memorial Day is significant to me because a number of my family members have served in foreign wars; to include my father, husband and godson.

The United States no longer has a mandatory draft.  This means our military personnel have voluntarily stepped up to fulfill a commitment to protect our freedom.

• Americans freely socialize, exchange and research information on the web, while Internet censorship in China is among the most stringent in the world.  The government blocks web sites that discuss the Dalai Lama, the 1989 crackdown on Tienanmen Square protesters, Falun Gong, the banned spiritual movement, and other Internet sites.  The government's computers intercept incoming data and compare it against an ever-changing list of banned keywords or web sites, screening out even more information.

• We travel unrestricted around the United States while families in North and South Korea are still separated by the demilitarized zone.

• As we debate and contemplate about whom to choose for our next President, women in Saudi Arabia or Vatican City are not allowed to vote.

I am grateful to each and every member of the United States' armed forces who serves on my behalf to protect my freedom.

Let's take time out to remember the significance of Memorial Day and thank those who serve or have served in our military.

Following is a bit of information about Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873.  By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.  The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).  It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May, though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead.

Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery.  They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.  In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day.  More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts place  a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights.

The military of the United States is currently deployed in more than 150 countries around the world.

Peace

Michele



20 TID BITS

1.  Wash that make-up off of your face every night before going to bed.  Make it easier for yourself
     by washing off your make-up as soon as you get home.  This way it's already done before you
     get too busy or plop into bed or on the sofa with the desire but not the energy to get back up to
     do what you should.

2.  Give your grandchild (godchild, niece, nephew) a gift of stock or a savings bond instead of a
     video game.  They may hate you now, but you know how fast time goes and how good it feels
     to have something stashed away for a rainy day.  Do this especially when they are young and do
     not know the difference.

3.  Empty your purse each night of all of your loose change and save it.  You will be surprised how
     quickly this change adds up.

4.  Walk, walk, and then walk some more.  If you already walk daily, then add additional steps.  It is
     recommended that we try to walk 10,000 steps each day.  Wear a pedometer and track your
     steps.  You will be amazed at how short we fall of the 10,000 step recommendation.

5.  Call 2 friends you have not talked with in a while.  Call them at a time when you really can
     talk as long as they need.

6.  Call 2 relatives you have not talked with in a while. Call them at a time when you really can
     talk as long as they need.

7.  Visit Paris at least once.

8.  Do not repeat gossip, no matter how scintillating.  A dog that brings a bone will carry one also.

9.  Volunteer each year on your birthday.  Take a friend with you.

10. Keep all of your doctor's appointments and ask for a list of all of the tests that are
      recommended for your age and/or medical condition...and, then follow up with these tests.

11. Try a fruit you have never eaten before.

12. Try a vegetable you have never eaten before.

13. Open a Christmas club account (remember those???)  Have a set amount automatically
      deposited.  This way it really is painless to add to on a regular basis.  The money will come in
      handy and perhaps prevent you from overspending at Christmastime.

14. Fill up your car with gasoline in the evening before going into the house.  (You know we don't go
      back out once we get home.)  This way we don't have the extra stress of deciding whether to
      stop for gas in the morning when we are running short of time.

15. Read to the blind on the radio.

16. Send a hand written "Thank you" note to your Pastor.  (You know he prayed you out of that
      mess.)

17. Contribute financially and regularly to your alma mater.

18. Send a check to someone's child who is in college.

19. What the heck...make a Vision Board.

20. Wear sunscreen every day.

THANK YOU

Have you ever noticed when someone is generous enough to pay us a compliment...we are quick to qualify the remark?

For example, someone says to us "Oh, that is such a pretty dress!"  Our typical response is "This old thing?  Ugh, I've had this dress for years."  So what if we've had this dress for a while?  Does this mean the dress is no longer pretty?  We obviously still think enough of the dress to continue to wear it.  Why are we so quick to brush aside kind remarks directed our way?  Perhaps we don't feel worthy of such niceties because we really know who lives behind the curtain?  (Remember the Wizard of Oz??)

We have to learn how to accept compliments.  Not only does it discount the other person's opinion when we brush aside the compliment (and that is exactly what we do when we reply as we do), it also indicates that we really don't believe we are worthy of such pleasantries.  We have to learn how to accept compliments.  (Acknowledging compliments and being fooled by them are two different things.  That is not what I am talking about here.)

It takes 21 days to change a habit.  We can change this negative reaction by practicing a new and positive response.  The next time someone pays us a compliment, just pleasantly respond - "Thank you."  Practice it.  Instead of responding to someone who says that our hair looks nice by saying "I really need to go to the beauty shop to get it done", simply say "Thank you."

The simple response of "Thank you" does not come as easily as one thinks, but it can come with practice.  Just say "Thank you."  This response acknowledges and validates the other person's opinion.  It also says we are grateful for someone taking the time, first, to notice us, but after having noticed us, to have taken the time to be kind.  We are quick to remark how others can be so cruel.  Let us be quicker to acknowledge the kindness of others, especially towards us.  We can also pay this forward by being kind to others.  Mothers alway say, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".  Let's take that saying one step further and look for something good to say to someone and then say it.  As I have said before and will say often, people are fragile.  Our kind words may be the only kind words that person may hear directed to them that day.  Each morning, I set out with the purpose of trying to say something kind and/or uplifting to someone during the course of the day.  There must be other like-minded people out there, because surely the dress I had on today wasn't that pretty. 

Peace

Michele 

"Have a nice day"

FAMILY HEALTH DAY II

As discussed earlier in a previous posting (Family Health Day:  April 22, 2012), my family hosted a Family Health Day on Saturday, April 28, 2012.  Various family members presented reports on selected health topics.  The topics presented and discussed were:  High Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Benefits of Exercise, Depression, Medical Tests and Your Money, Your Health.

The purpose of our Family Health Day was to provide information and encourage my family to take more proactive and aggressive responsibility for our health.  As we age, we develop health issues which we could possibly dismiss or ignore when we were younger, but now can have debilitating or deathly consequences if left untreated.  Our quality of life really depends upon the quality of our health.  We tend to think if we had more money or had loving companions or grandchildren, our lives would be better.  But really, it is our health which drives the quality of our lives.  Health concerns can color our enjoyment of anything else we deem to be important, either positively or negatively.

The presenters took their assignments seriously.  That was evident by the details and thoroughness of the reports.  The event turned into a forum because of the interaction between everyone in attendance and the questions raised.  One of my brothers-in-law, an obstetrician/gynecologist, listened intently and confirmed the accurateness of each report and elaborated when various details were above our pay grade.

A local hospital provided volumes of informational hand-outs, in addition to tchotchkes such as stress balls, seed packets and chapsticks.  We gave away door prizes, had dinner and topped off the whole day with rice pudding made by my mother-in-law.  (Thank you, Georgia).

At the end of the forum, we all signed health commitment contracts - individually committing to taking responsibility for the maintenance of our personal health by scheduling and keeping medical appointments, starting with the scheduling of our annual physical examinations.  We each also chose a partner to be a support system for the year and to ensure we maintain our health commitment(s).

As a result of this health event, my family is organizing a committee in order to participate in next year's local Relay for Life.  I have committed to train so that I can run the relay.

One of my nieces will facilitate a Young Adult Sexual Forum.  My brother-in-law who is the obstetrician/gynecologist will be the presenter for that session.  I am hoping if he can show some of his graphic, nasty, color pictures of how some of the sexual transmitted diseases ultimately manifest, we might get some of our young people to slow down or at  least think before acting.

We are planning another health day later this year to focus on stress; how it affects us and ways to relieve it.  The plan is to have a yoga instructor and a masseuse in attendance.

My mother-in-law gave a report on the benefits of exercising and how daily walking heightens one's libido.  Okay, can I say TMI??  Did I mention she's 82??

Our first Family Health Day was a huge success thanks to many!  We will try very hard to maintain this momentum with the intent of achieving positive results because of our actions.

Have to go now...my husband's calling me to join him in a walk.

Peace

Michele