Life Through The Eyes of Your Grandchildren

The first thing I did before posting these pictures is I asked permission to do so by my grandsons' parents. They granted permission, therefore I will be able to post and write about how (we) his grandparents are celebrating My eldest grandson's 12th birthday. 

 

 The grandfather.

 Of course, my eldest grandson has a younger brother and we would not leave him behind.

What I have learned about this child (nearly teenager) standing up there on the balcony is how intelligent he becomes each time I see him. He loves history and asked us to take him to Russia someday. I told him I would take him to Ireland. We may plan it for his 13th birthday.

Being the eldest grandchild and being the only grandchild for the first four years of his life, he quickly became a frequent flier. My first trip with him was to Florida. I believe I have taken him to Florida at least six times and of course to Atlantis Bahamas and the very many road trips.

The last two trips with my grandsons proved how mature they are becoming. We have driven in silence twice now. Very different from the days of two youngsters fighting in the back seat of the car.
Both boys with IPhones and ear plugs playing games and listening to music, while we drove the two hours to the mountains. Last night, conversations about how the cashier at Kmart had a difficult time counting change (needed his contact eye solution) and how we spoke about some people having more difficulty with learning than others. (he will be entering 7th grade and taking college level math)

His interest in the historic houses on the way and how he wanted to see the Rocky mountains. He spoke about England and the possibility of being able to see the queen. Better yet, he knew her to be Queen Elizabeth.

He will be 12 years old on August 14th and I still remember the night he was born, the first time I held him, the feeling of being a first time grandmother. I cannot describe the feeling in words. I loved being a mother, but being a grandmother is something special.

Today, we may hike the trails to the water-falls or go to the water park. We will be buying a cake with candles and singing Happy Birthday. Birthdays are special and when each grandchild celebrates their birthday, we (grandparents) try to make it special as in (us time). I have wonderful memories of my own grandparents and since my grandchildren's birth, I wanted to create memories for them.

Do As I Say Not As I Do

Corruption, Breaking Laws themselves while enforcing them on civilians, Lying, Lying and More Lying. Welcome to Philadelphia's Judicial System.

 It is very surreal to watch police/detectives get away with a motion to suppress tainted evidence then drive home and see this. Driving and Talking on a Cell Phone is against the LAW! This Probation Officer must have forgotten that LAW, License Plate # MG-7148D  at 11am on Hunting Park Ave traveling from East/Kelly Drive.

He Keeps Me in Flowers.

I am very lucky to be married to this man who never forgets, is always there, loves me dearly, unafraid to show affection, is my greatest support, shares his wisdom and keeps me in flowers. 

 

"Over time I have learned that just because someone pushed my buttons, it did not mean that I had to respond. Just because they said it, does not make it a fact. We only give it importance when we justify, defend or respond. I can truthfully say that exercising the option not to respond when provoked is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I want to get my two cents in. I don’t want them to think they can get away with anything. I have learned that false pride pushed me to engage in foolish arguments in the first place. Now I try to give myself enough time to ask myself  "How Important Is It? " Usually when I do that, I find it is not that important after all."

There is a Proverb(26:4) that says Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.

We will be on the rode again this weekend to celebrate my eldest grandchild's birthday and spend quality time together and in the process continue to make memories. To vacation with a grandchild is to see life through young eyes and to share wisdom and love.............

Fleeting Days of Summer

These fleeting days of another summer, we remember Charles Epting Vansant (1892-1916), Section 10, Lot 151 in Laurel Hill Cemetery, his summertime of life cut all too short...

Each and every summer, Philadelphia residents flock to the sun, sands and refreshing ocean breezes of the Jersey shore. This summer has been no different. Neither was the summer of 1916…

Philadelphians were in the grip of an all-too-familiar, deadly heat wave that summer of nearly a century ago. Twenty-three year old, Charles Vansant, arrived with his family at Beach Haven on Long Beach Island on July 1. The young broker and Penn graduate decided to take a quick swim in the cooling waters of the Atlantic before dinner. A Chesapeake Bay Retriever befriended him on the beach and followed him far out into the water. Just as quickly, however, the dog turned around and headed back to shore. Vansant called to his companion, encouraging him to return to their swim. After many vain attempts, the young man opted to return to land himself.

As he swam through the pounding surf, he never heard the shouts from the crowd gathering at the water’s edge. Only feet from safety, Vansant was halted by a terrible pain in his left leg. Blood turned the water red. Onlookers rushed into the water to assist the screaming victim, pulling him ashore as some barely visible creature beneath the water’s surface struggled just as fiercely to pull him back out to sea. The creature’s belly scraped the ocean’s bottom, and he finally released his deadly grip. Despite efforts to save his life, Vansant’s femoral artery had been severed, and he bled to death less than an hour after he had first entered the water to celebrate the start of his summer vacation.

Vansant’s death was one of four that would occur over the next two weeks. A twenty-seven year old man and two young boys would also meet their fate at the jaws of a shark. The national media descended upon the Jersey shore, the "man-eating" attacks inciting a panic that one journalist described as "unrivaled in American history." The negative caricature of the shark became a lasting piece of popular culture, eventually inspiring Peter Benchley’s novel, Jaws, which Steven Spielberg adapted into the iconic film in 1975.

 

NAMI | Dr. Phil and Brian Williams: You Can Do Better; Listen to President Obama about Ending Stigma

NAMI | Dr. Phil and Brian Williams: You Can Do Better; Listen to President Obama about Ending Stigma

When a Jackass is a Jackass

Dr. Phil insults the mentally ill: Column

Pete Earley 6:03 a.m. EDT July 31, 2013

His remark that the insane 'suck on rocks and bark at the moon' stigmatizes people.

Dr. Phil(Photo: Robert Sebree for USA WEEKEND)

Story Highlights

• Paula Deen's racial remarks drew censure. Dr. Phil's comments got a big laugh.
• Let me get real with the popular doctor. My adult son has a mental illness.
• Your comments can make them ashamed and discourage them from seeking medical treatment.

"You won't believe what Dr. Phil just said on his show," my wife, Patti, told me. "He said insane people 'suck on rocks and bark at the moon.' "

 

"Dr. Phil said what?" I replied.

"Insane people suck on rocks and bark at the moon. He also told a young woman who was stalking her boyfriend that she wasn't some 'crazy psycho' because of her obsession," Patti said.
I turned on our DVR when I got home from work to watch that same Dr. Phil episode called Obsessed With Love, which focused on a 19-year old girl named Victoria.

Within minutes, Dr. Phil mouthed exactly what Patti had quoted him as saying. After underlining the word "insane" in a letter that Victoria had written to him seeking his help, he brushed off her worries by declaring that her obsession did not mean that she was "insane" because insane people "suck on rocks and bark at the moon."

When celebrity cook Paula Deen admitted using the N word, she drew public censure. Dr. Phil's ignorant slur drew a big laugh from his audience.

During the coming hour, Dr. Phil repeatedly assured his audience of millions that he understood both the importance and power of words. He scolded Victoria, telling her that she needed to stop playing word games and "get real" about her obsession -- a reference to his trademark moniker.
Let me "get real" with you, Dr. Phil.

My adult son has a mental illness. He has been psychotic, delusional and he has been arrested and booked into a jail. He has been shot by the police with a Taser and repeatedly hospitalized. As a psychologist, I'm certain you are aware that 2.4 million Americans have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, 5.7 million have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and another 14.8 million have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Those are just the ones who generally fall into the category of having a serious mental illness or, in your crude terminology, the "insane."

When you make these 22.9 million individuals the butt of your remarks, you are marginalizing them and their illnesses. Declaring that insane people "suck on rocks and bark at the moon" discourages them from seeking medical treatment for brain disorders that are not of their choosing and certainly not their fault. It makes them feel embarrassed and ashamed. Would you have said that individuals with Down Syndrome like to suck on rocks and bark at the moon?

In June, the White House held a mental health summit during which President Obama declared that our nation has to rid ourselves of the "embarrassment" associated with mental illnesses. "We've got to get rid of that stigma."

Dr. Phil, your careless words promoted embarrassment and stigma toward mentally ill Americans such as my son and others who often are abandoned on our streets delusional and homeless because our mental health care system has failed them and us.

By the way, Dr. Phil, when one of those "insane" individuals gets treatment most recover. My son did and today he helps others who are "insane" by working as a "peer to peer" specialist much like a recovering alcoholic helps those fighting their own alcohol addiction.

He's a hero, not someone who sucks on rocks and barks at the moon.

Pete Earley is the author of CRAZY: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness.
In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions
from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors.

Post Note; I really do not need to comment since Pete Earley did an excellent job in writing this article.

Wislosky Siblings

Children of Lucas (1906) and Eva (1932)

• Andrew   1887 - 1938
• Samuel    1898 - 1938
• Anna       1899 - 1990                       Married George Kraft           DOD     (1954)
• Mary       1902 - 1968                            #        John Lowry               #         (1975)
• Lucas      1903 - 1903
• John        1904 - 1954                            #       Marie Schroeder        #          (1945)
• Julia        1906 - 2002                            #       Anthony Coppola      #          (1962)          

My Real Name is Wislosky

It is not Weleski or Wisloski or even Wislocki. It is Wislosky and my great paternal grandparents came from Austria, spoke Polish, and were named Lucas and Eva. Lucas is interred in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Manayunk. He died in 1906 (New Years Day) and Eva is interred in Westminster Cemetery. (Lower Merion) She died in 1932. Mystery finally solved on all accounts.

 

YES. I DID MAKE IT!

For those of you who do not know me, I am NOT known for any desire to COOK.

If my Mind Could Speak

Hello owner,

This is your mind speaking. I understand you have a problem with me. I do not habitually speak, but under these circumstances I feel compelled to, as you are now affecting my work.

You have been inquiring into my exact location and function for many years now; since adolescence I would say. Such questions never bothered me, even if I never answered them nor ever could. But more recently, unhappy with my “performance”, you have become grudging, slighting and at times even utterly unreasonable.

“Subject to instability”; “unequipped to manage overload”; “flighty”; even “downright rogue”. Thus I have been characterized by you. You have nagged, badgered and run me through with alcohol and all manner of toxic compounds. And now, experiencing whatever it is you are experiencing, you again hasten to point out that this is all my fault. You may do that. In fact, you may do whatever you want, but let me say this:

I am here to function. I function. That’s all I do. I don’t think. I have no mind of my own. I am your underling. I do as I’m told. So if you are experiencing whatever you’re experiencing, it is because you once told me that it should be so. Check the record, you will see. The chain of command has never changed: you at the top, me down here alongside this body I am said to inhabit.

Ah, you can’t access the record, or not all of it. “My mind doesn’t go back that far”, you say. Bullshit. It does go back that far; and if it seems not to, it is because you once instructed to limit your scope. I follow orders, I always have. I serve you, just as I serve your current experience. I am not your current experience; and nor are you. Your current experience is just that, an experience. So stop slamming me for whatever you’re upset about.

Besides, if you don’t like something... simple, change your mind.

In the Morning Mist

Twin foals eating side by side on a farm not far from where we live.

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

If life could always be this beautiful.

Home Coming

 

Apparently, Mr. Shark Shark is allowed to lay in the window. "Boy", things have changed. My ex-husband would never allow a cat to sit in a window, especially since the cat would need to climb on top of the counter to get to the Garden window. Things are changing!

Anyway, I could not get there fast enough or place my arms around my son whom I love deeply. Yes. Tears fell. Yes. Laughter followed. A real mother would truly understand this feeling.

I have some tough decisions to make and I will make them by next weekend.

Just so you know, I came home with zero corn.

I discovered listening to music on your I-Phone with ear plugs is amazing. I do not have to listen to his music and he does not have to listen to my music. When I am alone and want to drift off in another world, ear plugs + music + eyes shut = relaxation.

A new suit arrived today for work.

So did the most feminine blouses in beautiful colors.

I guess I could add three colorful bras. (oh my God, not online) I have given up the white and beige for colors. Mid-life crisis? Maybe? Who cares! If I can get a decent 50 dollar bra on sale for 15 bucks, I am so there.

This post all started with a cat. Whatever!

Last Day

Last night, I did not sleep well. Good excuse to nod off on our way to Washington D.C, this morning. However, another picture of the corn field in case I ever forget what one may look like.

If you look closely, you will see I am holding my yogurt and my water bottle sits upon the hood of the truck. I woke up just in time to snap this picture. Truth-be-told, Washington D.C. is only a one hour drive from where we were staying.

Main objective was to visit the American History Museum.

One sad moment came over me as I looked at this huge doll house and watched the other little girls fascinated by it. It reminded me that I will never share that sort of moment with her.

Before, you get to this museum you must pass this.

Then this (under construction)

This.

And of course tons of these as a result of 9/11. You can find these in front of every building of importance.

I am sure some people care about this though I am not one of them.

Once upon a time, Washington D.C. was one of my favorite spots to visit. They were the days when I was proud to be an American. After one has been jaded, one's view-point in life can change. When I was first "jaded", I wondered if it would change me. 2.5 years later, I am a changed person. I could not feel any less American. I distrust the power in this country. I distrust the justice system. I will never cast another "vote" in an election nor serve on a "jury". I will never trust those in power because they abuse their power. We would all like to believe in that "make pretend world" where people are good and can be trusted until you lose the very rights you were given by your forefathers. I know what that type of pain and loneliness feels like. I understand the sense of hopelessness and fear. I also understand "very few" really care. My eyes were once closed. My eyes were once held behind rose-colored glasses. My eyes see clearly now. So, it is time to talk about my wonderful steak dinner tonight and being watched by "him" the entire time.

 Last but not least, I caught Bill grabbing his nuts!

New Day New Post

Have no idea why I typed that title. Welcome to my world, where I generally have no idea why I do what I do, When you figure it out, let me know. BTW, I may yet to come back home with some corn in my trunk since I see fields and fields of it everyday. Do you think Farmer Bill will notice? Anyway, I slept really well last night, got up, went down for breakfast, had a conversation with an elderly couple who repaired antique dolls and were from Indiana, then went back upstairs for a two hour after breakfast nap.

Time for the trip down to Harper's Ferry. Western Maryland to Virginia to West Virginia, then back up to Maryland. Harper Ferry Sights;

 This is an acre of land I purchased 20 so odd years ago. I know. I know. Will I ever do anything with it? Probably not. But to the right, this land has this view.

My guess is I will pass it down to my kids. It belongs to me. Yes, in my name. Yes, I love history and the beauty of this area so much, I purchased it for a fairly cheap price. The only agreement I had to make was promise not to build on it for ten years.

Anyway, we parked the car and took the shuttle down into the valley of the old Harper's Ferry town known as the place John Brown fought against slavery (which is why we have West Virginia to begin with since they broke away from the state of Virginia over the slavery/war) and of course why John Brown ended up dead.

 I really need this chair in my own house.

Above pictures with the exception of the church are from an old time Boarding House. On another note, if anyone ever experienced the glory of climbing a hill in Manayunk, this town will give you a run for your money. Hills, steps, hills and more steps. Believe me. I fell up some steps. Yes. I know. People fall down steps. I need to be different and fall up steps.

St Peter's Catholic Church has been here since 1830 founded by the Irish immigrants who came over to build the town, mills, canals and railroads.

 This is what's left of St. John's Episcopal Church that served as a battle field hospital during the Civil War, but did not make it.

Had lunch at this old Bed & Breakfast.

  We ordered the Chicken Pot Pie. It consisted of two pieces of chicken, about three peas and surrounded in all bread. Basically, I turned the sucker upside down to get to the three peas and called it a day. A hour later we were eating dinner. SOMEWHERE ELSE.

We got away from Harper's Ferry for a moment to show you where we ate real food. When you pull up and spot a sign "biker's welcome" with fake palm trees and tacky statures of pirates, how could one not go in for a meal. I had the best steak. Mexican style. In a Biker Bar.

Back to Harper's Ferry.

Need any Dry Goods?

Or a direction to High Street.

Or a picture of Bill standing on Thomas Jefferson's Rock. Not that any of us know for sure, the man actually ever stood on it, but what the hell, name a rock after him.

 I asked Bill why he took this next picture. He told me, "in case you fell, I wanted it on camera".

Little does he know I birthed three babies, the last one after a hiking trip, took three boys grocery shopping, let alone allowed them in my car as they fought constantly, and I am still alive today, thank you very much. INSANE. BUT. ALIVE. I. THINK.

Apparently, I lost my fear of heights. Damn it! I stood on Jefferson's rock. Have a year like I just did and a thousand mile drop to the bottom of a mountain, hitting rocks along the way, while being washed away by the river, and pecked to death by crows and fish seems like a piece of cake. And this concludes the pictures of the day.

 Practicing for my homeless days sleeping on a bench.