I have a problem

I can think of nothing that is more important to me than my family.I am here because I have opinions that I think need sharing.  If I don't share them.  If I don't get to say my piece, my head will explode.

I am on Facebook.  Probably the largest social networking device yet.  Yes, I know, Blogger et al have been around longer, but it requires more work and doesn't read like a quick morning newspaper.  Facebook has given me a chance to catch up with so many old, and nearly forgotten friends.  People who were once important parts of my daily life but whom I haven't seen in years.  It has been wonderful.

Facebook has also been a way to keep up on what my friends and family think of what's happening in the world. We all have our various beliefs, causes and peeves and subscribe to the outlets that support those beliefs and then we share.


We share because we agree with what the author says.  What better way to let our friends know what we're thinking.  We share to bring like-minded people new information and we share in hopes that those who are see things differently might see our point if posed in a different way.

Seems benign, right?  Wrong!  My choice to share liberal news articles has caused a huge rift in my life.  You see, not everyone in my family circle is a liberal thinker. One, in particular is a hard right-wing, pro-life, bible toting Conservative.  He chooses not only to disagree with me but to smash and bash everything I post.  Yes, I said everything. 


If I comment on the weather, he's glad it's raining on me, and not in a nice way.

So, all of this is unsettling to the rest of the family who use Facebook to see what is going on with everyone and now, I am being asked to stop sharing articles to keep peace. It is killing me.  It goes against everything I believe in.  I've explained to them that Facebook is a public forum and it is my right to post what I wish.

I've explained that they can block posts if they don't like the content without blocking me.  But that doesn't seem to be enough.  What am I supposed to do?

The Most Heartbreaking 99% Graphic You Will See This Week

I read this article and it reminded me of a family I encountered when I worked as School Nurse in a middle school.  One of my students was a brittle epileptic (that means his epilepsy wasn't easily controlled with meds.)  Because of this, he had frequent seizures.

 I would be called to the classroom.  Anyone who is or knows anyone who is epileptic knows how to handle the situation and it is frightening but as long as the person doesn't harm themselves falling or cease to breathe, the event comes and goes.  All you can do is protect, wait and watch.  So, in an interrupted classroom, I would take the time to teach the teacher and the kids about what they saw and what to do if they ever encountered someone having a seizure.

One of the things I applaud most about my Nursing School experience is that we were told that it is my responsibility to take every opportunity afforded to me to teach.  It never ceases to amaze me how willingly people will believe falsehoods about how their body functions.  Its the responsibility of every health care professional to give people the facts.  But, I digress...

Back to my story.  In the course of these events, I would have to contact the Mom.  Just as it was my responsibility to teach the children, so it was to teach this Mom.  I learned that she was a single mother, living on Welfare, but now that her son was really doing better, she was in school to learn to be a hair dresser.  She  even had a job lined up for when she completed her training.  She was full of hope for their future.  She would get off welfare and make a good life for herself and her son.

Long story short, as I mentioned, controlling his epilepsy was a problem.  The usual meds in the usual dosages didn't do the job for him.  His seizures were so frequent and so severe that he often required hospitalization to get his seizures under control.

His Mom graduated.  Everyone celebrated until we learned that outside the system she could not get the meds her son needed.  Her only option to take care of him was to turn down the job and stay in the system.  There is no provision in public assistance programs to help people reemerge into the world.  You're either in or you're not.

The Most Heartbreaking 99% Graphic You Will See This Week

The Most Heartbreaking 99% Graphic You Will See This Week

Snow and Power outages

I was going to talk about something important today, but I'm reduced to making a comment about the weather.  As the world well knows, we here in the North East were hit by a monster, record breaking snow storm on Sunday.  We did lose power, but we were among the lucky ones who were only mildly inconvenienced.  We were out from 10 pm until 3 am.  Made for a chilly, snugly night, but other than that all was good.

This morning, however, we lost power again.  Called the utility company and were told they had no idea when we'd have power back.  Not to worry, it turned out to be just a couple of hours.

The thing is, it's Halloween and traditionally, hubby and I host a dinner for our kids and grandkids.  I make Foolish Ghoulish (Goulash) and the kids all Trick or Treat in our neighborhood.  We put out decorations and play scary music and all the kids in the neighborhood know our house. It's all very festive.

Had our power not come back on, it would have made for a considerably less than festive holiday.

Hope your Halloween is spooky good fun!

First Post

I considered naming this blog "Opinionated." I changed my mind after I looked up the word.

Turns out ~

World English Dictionary

opinionated (əˈpɪnjəˌneɪtɪd)

—adj

holding obstinately and unreasonably to one's own opinions;dogmatic ~ that's not me. Sure, I feel strongly about things, but I want to believe that I am open to the ideas of others.  I'm willing, even anxious to hear what others have to say.  So far, though, I'm a liberal, mostly green, lapsed Catholic, retired RN, married American Baby Boomer. Based on that information alone, you can guess that I've got thoughts on politics, conservation, religion, the state of health care, being married and aging in America.  There's so much more to me though.  Stick around.  Maybe we can talk.