It was the Christmas season. There was much to plan and tend to. Kurt, my eldest (stepson, but son none the less) came home with “the other woman”. The woman she was “other” to was my wife, Mariann, who was VERY protective of her son and his feelings.
This young other woman came into our home…and she was pleasant, appreciative, helpful, thoughtful…and otherwise annoying because I could not find fault with her.
Before Christmas day, I tried to figure out how to make her feel welcome. We did a ceremonial dance, hunched, aware, sizing each other up in a circle like Sumo wrestlers. She would not conquer! I asked her what she liked or would like to do. Her reply…”I would like to build something.”
I have been a woodworker all of my adult life! I loved her immediately!
We went to the Home Depot, bought wood, safety glasses, aprons, and hardware. Over the course of 2 days, she built a beautiful pot hanger that would be a classic addition to any kitchen. A masterpiece! I gave her power tools for Christmas :).
But wait! There’s more! She is a brilliant writer, and an incredible mom. These things evolved but they are important none the less.
She is not the “other woman” these days, but she is the favorite author in my life, and I am privileged and grateful for knowing her.
Joslyne Decker is a brilliant writer! She has grown into a life with a kind and gentle husband Demetri Orlando, and a beautiful vital daughter Zoey (I love that name!).
Zoey has been the catalyst through which Joslyne has channeled her incredible talent for words. It is a sincere, honest, humorous style that says what we all think, and it is expressed in ways we cannot help but enjoy and appreciate. Not since Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, have I read such pure prose.
I am a die-hard, life-long fan of Joslyne Decker, and she promised me I could write the preface to her first novel. Just in case, I write this now to serve that purpose, but beware…The blockbuster novel is just around the corner!
Visit Zozo’s Mom, and see for yourselves.
Health Care Reform?
I admit I don’t have the answer. At the core of the current movement is the intent to manage health care costs. I am all for that as the skyrocketing trend of late will grow the number of uninsured by virtue of economics.
Should the government run health care? The government has an abysmal track record with regulatory policy. On the upside, the law of averages says they are due for a success story. The flip side is akin to the odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery.
Human beings are the only species with an inherent sense of reason, and yet we are so unreasonable. Where are the cool heads that will come together to look at the situation logically and find a solution that serves the greater good?
The essence of reform is simple, the logistics are a likely nightmare, but the direction we are headed in will surely throw a wrench in the cog that keeps health care accessible to anyone.
Don’t whine…don’t blame the other side of the aisle…FIX IT!
In the case of my late wife Mariann, I am relieved that the health care company we used covered nearly a million dollars worth of medical expenses, and the remaining portion was miniscule by comparison, but I also know that they [BCBS] covered consultations that never occurred, medications that were wrongly prescribed and never administered, and my complaints to them were met with “It’s covered, don’t make waves.”
This kind of waste is used to justify budgets; increase costs to the subscriber, and escalates the problem while indemnifying the provider. Shame on you!
Again, I appeal to bright minds who understand the issue, and economics to the point of practical resolve. If you don’t want universal health care…good for you…fix the current system!
I appreciate your guidance and help.
Right-Left-Write…Chaotic Prose
I am an artist. At least that is what I have come to believe. I have been drawing pictures since I was old enough to realize that a pencil was a tool and not a chew toy. I have worked hard and practiced at art for a very long time. I make a living on my creativity. Some say it is a God-given talent. I won’t argue that point, but I do believe God gives us choices that we are left to make something of.
That brings me to my first observation. I have heard so many times that whatever happens to a particular person, or in a particular situation, it is God’s will. I believe in God, but I also believe that whatever happens happens and to imagine that God controls every second of every human’s life is to imagine that God has multi-tasking skills beyond our wildest imagination, and would certainly cramp his/her work schedule. No, I think God gives us choices, and the rest is up to us. If we ask God for wisdom, patience and understanding…that is reasonable, but to ask him /her to fix every problem is selfish, short-sighted and unreasonable.
I am an artist. I make a living being an artist, but I am also the salesperson, accountant, human resources director, mentor, and collections officer. This requires a left-right brain capability. From a very young age I excelled at math and science at the same level I excelled at art and literature. I’m not bragging as I don’t completely understand it myself. Perhaps God given. I love statistics, mathematical problems, abstract equations, but I also love music, art, and creativity of any kind. I remember as a child in a creative curious way wondering what made things work. I tore apart a washing machine (without permission), and found that the second part of that curiosity (by threat of my father) was how to get that machine back together and functioning. Right-Left.
In the middle of this prose we lost Senator Edward Kennedy. A symbol and caricature designating the end of a first generation political legacy spanning nearly 6 decades. For all of his fallibilities, indiscretions, and skeletons, he did in fact create change, and transcend the aisle to promote dialog among opposing views toward solution. With more than a thousand laws penned, and nearly as many co-authored, Teddy was a diligent advocate of human decency and a soldier for human rights. I for one cannot cast the first stone, right or left handed. He will be missed.
My father was part of the generation that created the American Dream. He was born in the middle of World War I; was a young teenager working full time at the outset of the depression, and worked very hard all of his life to make things better for everyone around him. This is truly a legacy. To that end, most of what I have seen in my lifetime (aside from my father’s example) has been short sited, selfish and destructive behavior with no consideration for future generations, and yet still touted as “legacy”. This is absolutely true of politics, but of society as well. We have pigeon holed ourselves into a place where we somehow [through denial] think that the mess we have created is a legacy. It is not! It is a mess, and the legacy will come from those people who consider all of the consequences, struggle to find plausible, long-term solutions, and stop handing garbage to the next generation. For this there is no right/left, there is only right and wrong…and the political right AND left don’t get it at the moment!
With all of the thought of right and left, right and wrong, and how we are conditioned to feel and think, I asked my Grandfather once if the glass was half full or half empty. His reply…”It depends on whether your are drinking, or pouring.” He also gave me advice at the birth of my son regarding raising children, “Love them with all of your heart, teach them a good set of values…and insure Everything heavily!”
In between the right and left; the right and wrong, we have created a sea of gray. “That is always right…unless.”. “That is always wrong…except when…”. We need to shore up the gray and land on solid ground with real solutions to last for generations to come. The radio pendants of all persuasions simply whine on a daily basis without solution, and fire up their listeners only to have them hit a wall and wake up in the same position they hit unconsciousness in. Let’s think for ourselves, and think for future generations, because given the tail spin we are in now, eventually the adage “I’ll be dead before that happens”, will no longer be an excuse.
By the way, if you looked outside tonight to a clear blue sky at the moon, just below and to the right…you could see Jupiter. I am certain it is a non partisan position.
Be well!
