Two months to election

Haven't written for a while because, seriously, I was waiting for this (GOP candidate Donald) Trump nightmare to end, but it seems to be true and it does seem to go on and on and on.

Luckily, we only have 65 days left until America's General Election for President of the United States. I truly believe if you vote for Trump, you are a racist! He has shown us many times he is a racist; (misogynist and confused liar) but I don't want to waste any of our energies writing about him.

To those who say: 'I am not voting for either of them;' I say you are bringing a racist closer to the White House. And by not exercising your vote, you are giving up your only chance in four years to let the lawmakers know: 'Hey we are out here, and we need help, too.'

To those who say: 'I am not going to vote for Hillary Clinton (the Democrat candidate) just because she is a woman.' I say, if you are a woman, yes, yes (!) you do HAVE to vote for her because she is a woman.'

I didn't become a feminist fighting for Title IX and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA, which has been before Congress for more than 30 consecutive years! They deny it each year.) for you to run around and not support issues and people who believe women should be given the same rights as men. Have some respect.

Besides, Women make up 53 percent of American voters, and it is about time we had a woman in the White House! I don't know about you, but in my 55 years, I am sick and tired of wealthy white men making decisions that affect my life!

To all men who have wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, you should be keeping them in mind when you vote! Don't you think this country deserves a woman in the White House?

And finally to those who say (for the first time in their voting lives) 'I am going to vote Green, Libertarian, etc. etc.'  I say, this year, you have a responsibility to other Americans to ensure Trump does not make it into office. The consequences are just too scary.

Clinton is the obvious choice because she knows what to do to keep our country safe and our citizens thriving. She can hit the ground running, and it's up to the idiots (Republicans) in Congress to support her as President (instead of sitting on their collective asses for the past eight years refusing to support our first Black President Barack Obama.)

Those two-year elections for Congress should have the highest voter response than any because these are the people who make the laws. Thank God more women have gotten in the House and Senate than ever before. Now, we just need to vote (!) to make both houses Blue again. : )

We have an opportunity, my fellow Americans, to elect a person who is more compassionate, with more empathy; who knows how to do the job, and has contacts worldwide; and who has literally been working her whole life to finally crash this final glass ceiling.

Hillary Clinton IS going to be our next President if we all vote!

My advice: Better get used to it!

Sometimes you are the Angel

Sometimes you are the Angel in someone's life. Sometimes other people are your Angel. I truly believe that because I have had some Angels in my life. That's why I always pay it forward.

For instance I have a friend I have known since elementary school. She wrote on Facebook today a story about how she helped out a homeless, hungry, young 'kid.'

She wrote:'Leaving my commercial kitchen, a young man approached me wanting to know if I had anything he could eat. ... I found some apples and cheese (for him). He sat on the curb and had eaten the apple by the time I had backed out.'

Today, she was his Angel.

My friend reached out about resources in her community and she prompted her friends to do the same and help homeless children.

On the other hand: Nearing the end of the month, (of which I am always out of money), I had to humble myself and go to a food pantry yesterday. (Luckily there are a lot of resources in my town.)

The thing is, food pantries seldom distribute any fresh produce!

It is no wonder obesity is such a problem. It is too expensive to eat healthy. Say I had a family of five, I could spend $2 on cheap hamburger, and $2 for Hamburger Helper and feed my family.

Or I could spend $4 on fresh strawberries and have enough for one snack for the children.

Anyway, I digress... I was at a friends' business today where she sells fresh-picked, local produce. For $5 you can get a smaller (than the large) tub of strawberries. I was venting to her about not being able to have fresh produce yada yada yada lol.

There was a man sitting on a bench there, who asked me for $1 for gas. I (reluctantly) gave it to him. (I say reluctantly because I have $14 to last me eight days.)

The man, who turned out to be the produce man, told me to take a tub of strawberries! Tears just burst from my eyes because this stranger let me buy all those strawberries for $1!  How lucky am I! Today, he was my Angel.

Even kindness can be as small as smiling at someone, you will have changed that person's life.



Broken ties are too far-gone

My niece had a rite of passage this weekend. She follows in a generations-old profession in our family: Nursing.  Her great-grandma, grandma, mom and dad and uncles and aunts are also Nurses.

My niece graduated with her Associates of Nursing, and I heard, she is going into Emergency Medicine to start. I am so very proud of her.

She had her pinning ceremony last weekend, and I wasn't invited.

The pinning dates back to the 1860s when beloved nurse Florence Nightingale presented her hardest-working graduates with a pin.  By 1916 it became standard in the U.S. to give each nursing graduate a medal of excellence and a pin. The ceremonial pin depicts the medal, badge, and cross to bear Nurses are committing their lives to with dedication.

The Medal of Honor depicts the respect Nurses have "for the miracle of life and finality of death." The Badge of Courage is for "everything nurses do on the front lines fighting death and disease with courage and commitment." And the Cross to Bear is for the Nurse's dedication "long after others have given up hope and are long gone," according to http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/nursing/blog/nursing-pinning-ceremony-rite-of-passage-for-graduates/ Pretty hefty stuff.

I always thought I would be there celebrating her life. But I'm not.

I didn't actually meet my second niece until she was two years old. She stole my heart.

Being a Journalist, my career has taken me to 18 states in the last 30 years. During a lull I was able to be a big part of her life, and her brother's until he was three years old.

I was there off and on as she grew up. I genuinely liked her. I always made it a point to always speak to her (and my other nieces and nephews) on the phone. It wasn't enough.

I was running in and out of people's lives - oblivious to the bonds I was breaking.

It has not helped I'm estranged from most of my family by choice.

Still, I am perplexed on how it has come to this.

Being the second oldest of three sisters, they each first had a girl and then a boy.  I never had children of my own - my only regret in life.

I wanted to be the quirky, fun Aunt, and always dreamed of being there for my nieces and nephews - even if their parents weren't.

During the years I lost my personal connection with my nieces and nephews. I thought once they get older, they will, on their own, pursue a relationship with me. I was wrong.

I had sent cards and gifts throughout their lives and found one sister never passed my gifts on to my niece and nephew. Another strongly discourages a relationship with me; and other sister does not approve of my lifestyle, which makes her uncomfortable. (However, she has been gracious enough to encourage her children have a relationship with me, of which I am grateful, even though she doesn't.)

Still I always thought I would be there for my nieces and nephews. I have to come to terms with the fact is I wasn't.

Now that I can, and am here for them, it's too late. My oldest niece is getting married this summer. I am not invited.

I waited too long. Those broken ties may be too far gone.