Monthly Archives: December 2008

The holiday season is my favorite time of the year. It’s when I don’t mind the cold so much. When snow is actually a welcomed sight. When a hectic day isn’t as exhausting as invigorating. It’s when you know people will come to your home with smiles and evenings will be filled with warmth. Whether you’re traveling or staying put, the holiday season seems to bring out the lighter side in many of us. The side I wish we could all show and see throughout the year, every year. I guess that’s why this season is so special. It’s when more of us allow ourselves to let go, unwind a bit and actually have a little fun – without thoughts of our work load or overdue bills.

We were going to spend Christmas Day on our own this year. Just a quiet day – us and the cats. However, last minute plans have joined the ‘lonelies’ and so we’ll have a houseful of guests after all. I was out late last night doing a last dash grocery stop and I was up early this morning getting some of the food ready. Tomorrow, the good china will grace the table, the crystal will sparkle, and laughter and Christmas wrap will fill the house.

I wish everyone the happiest time they could have. I wish for it to last well into the new year – and hopefully beyond even that. I wish for all of us to slow down, enjoy more moments, realize each is precious and unique, and I wish for health, above all, for everyone.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Thursday… Happy Holidays to all. 

The obvious isn’t enough, apparently – two wars. One in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Years ago, George W. Bush authorized a third war – a war against women. It’s apparent he will fight this war until his last – and too far away – day in office.

Mark 1 – Reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule which is a policy prohibiting “the distribution of foreign aid to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working overseas which offer abortions and abortion counseling, or lobby to make abortion legal and more accessible.” (thanks to WiseGeek for this precise definition)

Mark 2 – stacking the supreme court with judges whose ideology match that of the far right, with one of those judges having supported a proposal in Pennsylvania that required women seeking abortions to have consent from their husbands first.

Mark 3 – though I’m sure there are hundreds of marks additional to what I’ve indicated here, I have to skip to this as it’s the latest and one I HOPE will be overturned. I fear, however, without instant reaction from those opposing this, it will fall by the wayside while “more important” issues are addressed. Months ago, Bush forwarded a memo to the US Department Health and Human Services. This memo indicated that “abortion” would be defined as “any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.” The memo also clearly indicated that no organization could refuse a job to someone due to their opposition to pre-marital sex, contraception or abortion. It also reinforced the rule that is already on the books saying a practitioner cannot be forced to inform a patient of her options regarding pregnancy. You can read the entire article about the memo here.

And so, now that ruling has taken effect which means, as Planned Parenthood clearly explains – “President Bush’s rule limiting the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate reproductive health information when they visit a federally funded health care provider was made official. Now, anti-choice medical staff can withhold information about abortion, birth control, and sex education from their patients. Facilities that receive family planning funding, like Planned Parenthood, will have to certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control. For example, a doctor who opposes pre-marital sex could refuse to provide a prescription or even information about emergency contraception to an unmarried woman.”

And so now it’s up to us. We – those who have a vested interest in preserving the rights of women and choice – have to make our voices heard. President-elect Obama has already stated that he will overturn many of the changes this past president has put into effect. We can only hope this change will be one of the many. With help, it just might be. 

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I received this in an email and am more than happy and proud to pass it on.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”

“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam’,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.

I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

We’re either at the midway point or right near the end. Originally, the doctors told my mom she’d need six 5-day chemo treatments. Well, three of those have been completed and, fortunately, the side effects have been minimal – considering what they could have been.

Great news is that her body’s responses so far have exceeded their expectations. Greater news is that the next round of chemo – her fourth – might be the last she’ll need.

We, of course, are hoping for that. That round will begin the Monday before New Year’s Day and will end the day after New Years. Daughter and I will be here again that month for the week-after care, but Hubby will join us as well. We’ll have much to celebrate this year. Possibly the end of successful Leukemia treatments, and treatments whose side-effects were manageable.

The horrors of chemo still exist but not to the level they were before. The very thought that, in controlled amounts, poison can be introduced into the human body and actually help the human body fight disease is an amazing thing. If this chemo has done what it’s supposed to do, my mom’s CLL will go into remission.

Remission can last 4 or more years. With all science has learned about this disease – and others – in recent years, and with all science has done to defeat or stave off recurrences, a four-year remission might bring new and wonderfully successful ways of destroying – dare I say, “curing” – this disease.

We have a long way to go and nothing is set in stone – we may have to endure the full six 5-day treatments – but we are hopeful and optimistic. Hope alone is a wonderful gift our family has been given for this holiday season.

I know I’ve mentioned The Archaeological Perspective here before, but we had another wonderful experience with it yesterday, and I wanted to share.

This coming April our group of homeschoolers will spend a week literally uncovering ancient Greece. The head of The Archaeological Perspective, and himself an archaeologist, will bury treasures from that magnificent era and our children will learn how to excavate the area properly. They will learn about Ancient Greek culture from a man who has experienced it through discovery. He will share his passion and his wisdom with them in a way that will keep them enthralled and eager to touch the past. And touch they will as they apply his teachings and meticulously sweep away layers of history, and gingerly lift the past into today.

The treasures they’ll handle will be a wonder to behold. To imagine these items crafted, used and discarded thousands of years ago now being held and studied with awe by our children… who knew they’d have the rare opportunity and good fortune to experience something like this?

Of course, I know about what they’ll experience because we’ve participated in two ‘digs’ already. China’s Ch’in Dynasty last spring, and Renaissance Italy this past October.

But yesterday was unique. We met our archaeologist leader at the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York. At the Greek and Roman exhibit, he discussed the difference between discovering history through archeology and viewing it through its art. You cannot learn about the context of items in the MET the same as you can through the archaeological perspective. As stunning and inspiring as the items are, there is no grounding, no guidance. Just beauty.

The pieces the children studied yesterday were “said to be found” at a certain location. The use of many items was “either” this or that or perhaps…  Many of the items were basically looted from archaeological sites and sold. It’s almost as if the person who unearthed these precious things, simply held them up and said, “Look what I found!” Instead, they should have catalogued them properly. Identified the items with which others were discovered. Pieced together the story of each item’s existence. Who used it? Why? For what? What does all this say about the people of the time? How does this item fit into the history of the place, of the people?

The Met has a glorious Ancient Greek exhibit. Their ancient Egypt exhibit is beyond impressive as well. But to learn the meaning behind it all, a deeper understanding of the people and the time must be had. We had that with Geoff, our archaeologist guide. The passion he has for his art drew in every child. The wonder of all he’s learned fills his every word with yearning, as if knowing all he knows is still not enough. And the children – indeed the parents as well – picked up on that desire to know more. The itch to learn, to uncover the past, to experience it dimensionally, filled us, excited us and made us eager discover more.

What a glorious experience we had yesterday – watching our children’s eyes widen with the desire to learn. Beautiful.

On July 13th, 1985, the music world made history with a multi-continental concert aired live on televisions around the world. Famous and beloved musicians from that time entertained us with hours of music in the hope of bringing us together for one vital cause – to end starvation in Ethiopia. A valiant cause, a cause we still need to tend to today.

The musicians were at the top of their game that day and the world was enthralled. The concert, LIVE AID, is still discussed with admiration and nostalgia. Of all the amazing talent on stage that day, one band’s performance has been called “bloody brilliant”, “a one-off”, “the greatest live show of all time”. That band is Queen, with Freddie Mercury’s high energy and enthusiasm leading the way.

Announced to a huge live audience of not-only Queen fans, the band took the stage, with Freddie prancing directly front and center to soak in the adulation. His high-energy performance was amusing, entertaining and inspiring. His wide vocal range, playfulness, and timeless hit songs showed the world just what this man was made of, how deep his drive was and how versatile he could be.

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It’s hard to look at his performance from that day and realize the man was dying.

Infected with HIV at a time when HIV and AIDS had not yet revealed their horrible secrets, Freddie Mercury started to wither away. A super-charged musical genius with the determination to go on, recorded songs until just weeks before his death. Between takes, he’d down shots of vodka to dull the unbearable pain. He’d have to rest several times during one song. And soon, at home, this man who energetically covered every inch of stage during every live performance had to be carried up a flight of stairs so he could rest in bed.

On November 23rd, 1991, Freddie announced to the world that rumors were correct. He had AIDS. The next day, well after having made a decision to stop taking medication that merely kept him alive but did not help ease the pain or subdue the devastating disease ravaging his body, Freddie Mercury died of AIDS-related pneumonia.

Seventeen years later, this dreadful disease is still destroying lives. The lives of the famous, the lives of the everyday folk, men, women, and children from all nations, of all religions, of all races are being infected and dying.

Yes. We’ve made advances. But the disease is still active. The disease is still being spread. The disease is still strong enough to fight off all attempts to kill it.

Today is World AIDS Day. A day for the world to join together and face the fact this disease is not going away on it’s own. It’s up to us to raise awareness. It’s up to us to show tolerance. It’s up to us to educate those who are still confused as to how this disease is spread.

In 1985, the year of Live Aid, the very first HIV antibody test became available. Since then, we’ve been able to extend the lives of those living with HIV. Medicine has been able to keep ’full-blown AIDS’ at bay for many. But, in 1991, the year Freddie Mercury died, 10 million people worldwide were living with HIV. Today, despite all efforts to educate and eradicate, an estimated 33 million people now are living with the disease.

It’s time to stop the madness. It’s time to practice safe-sex. It’s time to talk to your kids. It’s time to get real and face this epidemic head-on.

It’s time to learn more.

It’s time to raise our voices, silence this disease and be proud of the world we created.
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