Posts tagged ‘personal’

Jul 3

Moving On

My parents are moving today. And I’m kinda sad about it. I don’t like the idea of other people living in their house. It feels upsetting and wrong.

Which is weird, because I haven’t lived with them for over 20 years. And they’ve only had this house about 3 years.

So what’s that all about, I wonder?

Maybe I just like the house. It’s smallish and comfortable. I feel peaceful there. I’ve enjoyed the times I spent there.

My parents are moving on to bigger and better, and I’m sure the new house is really great. But all I keep thinking is I’ll never stand in that backyard again, I’ll never sit on that porch again, I’ll never sleep in that room again…

I’ll never again look on that one small piece of the world.

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As I’m writing this, I’m realizing the truth that this is about me and not the house.

I have an uneasy relationship with change. Occasionally I have embraced it, but mostly I just keep a nice safe distance.

But for three years I’ve been trying to close that gap. With little success.

Finally I’m making some strides. Finally I’m, if not embracing change, at least giving it a side hug.

Instead of saying, “this is what I want and here is how I can get it,” I’m forcing a change in my thought and behavior vocabulary.

“This is what I want and here is how I will get it.”

It’s not easy.

Because that “will” is a mighty filled-up word. Inside those four little letters is sacrifice and sweat, pain, deprivation, commitment, persistence, self-control…lots of hard, hard things.

I am moving on to bigger and better places in my life. And yet some part of me is melancholy, and a little scared about what changes I’m moving on to.

And lamenting the loss of this small and comfortable existence I already know so well.

♦

Jun 29

2 Comments

the Infinite Monkey speaks: the next right step

Random brilliance from across the blogosphere…

A new day means another chance. Another chance to take the next right step. If I’m being honest, I’ve lived too much of life focusing on the problems at hand, too scared or too full of self-pity to simply do the next right thing. Dreams aren’t realized in a day.

– Jeff R

A New Day

∞

Jun 5

9 Comments

The Suicide Awareness Project

My nephew and his friend Alaina asked me to post this for them. They are working on a school project about something that, in Alaina’s words, “a lot of people don’t like to talk about very much because it’s a harsh topic. So we figured why not us, since we’re passionate about bringing awareness to it.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hi.

I’m Alaina.
Alaina

And I’m Peyton.

Peyton 2

We’ve been working on a project together; we want to spread awareness about a serious problem.

We feel that this problem is something that gets over-looked by many as an unimportant, non-serious issue. There is no enthusiasm about suicide prevention or awareness of the symptoms. We definitely don’t hear about it at school. And the fact that we never hear about it proves to us that suicide is one of the lesser things that the school system cares about.

But suicide affects many people in so many different ways.

Last year, we came up with a plan; we wanted to host a walk to support suicide awareness. But unfortunately that didn’t work out. Although a couple of the adults in our school supported us wholeheartedly, it only took one person’s lack of support to make the whole project fall apart.

We emailed her, called her, wrote her letters… It supported how we feel about it, that no one cared. Or at least that people at the school don’t care. And that’s what we were trying to do, to get our school – and not just our school, but others in the community – to realize that this actually does happen. That person not responding was a slap in our face that made it seem like it was true, that nobody did care.

We both personally know many people who have been and continue to be changed by the effects of suicide or attempted suicide. Suicide is a real problem that needs more attention.

Recently one of our own friends tried to commit suicide. He over-dosed on pills, but thankfully he survived because his mother found him in time. We were told that she found him at the last possible moment he could have received help to stay alive.

It was a terrible experience for him to go through, but also for his family and friends. It was a horrible thing to have to watch him go through that without being able to help him.

We feel like people don’t realize the true effects of suicide until it happens to them. It affects much more than what it seems to on the surface. Suicide is bigger than one person. For every person that commits suicide, there are on average six people who are affected deeply by that suicide. All of that person’s family, all of his relatives, all of his friends that cared and loved him are now left with this.

And we’re positive each and every one of them feels that they could have done something.

We need help spreading the word. Talk about it more, don’t let it be such a shy subject.

Mentor someone. Learn what to look for and how to respond to cries for help.

Share this post. Spread the word.

♦

Alaina and Peyton were also my guests on the podcast, talking about their suicide awareness project, why they took it on, what it means to them, and why they care so much. You can listen to that here.

May 22

Tipping

It’s possible, and even likely, that you’ve never heard of the kind of tipping I mean.

This week’s podcast guest has something so important to share! And I want to get that message out to as many people as possible.

Debbie Deming is on the show to talk about furniture tipping over onto little children. She says that in the US this year, about 25,000 children go to the ER and a child will die every 9-11 days due to a tipping accident.

It’s the kind of accident that can happen in any home, to any one’s family. And so many people have never even heard of it before.

When it happened to their granddaughter, Debbie and her husband thought it was a freak accident that had never happened to anyone else. But as they mourned the loss of Amaya, they found other families who had gone through the same tragedy, and they realized that tipping happens all too often.

So they started a foundation, Safe and Sound with Amaya, to spread the word about the dangers of tipping. And along with information, they give out free furniture straps to anyone who needs them.

You can hear Debbie’s story on the podcast, but whether you listen or not, I just want you to be aware that this is a thing that happens.

As I said on the show, I climb up on things that I know I have no business attempting. These little kids are just doing the same thing – trying to reach something they want. Only they don’t have the experience to understand that it’s dangerous. Until it’s too late. It’s our responsibility to keep them safe, and tipping deaths are totally preventable.

If you have kids or know anyone who has kids, please look around and see if they are as safe in their home as you think they are. A 25 pound child can pull over a 100 pound dresser just by stepping or pulling up on a single open drawer. That’s a fact that too many parents have learned in the worst possible way.

Free furniture straps are available!! Be safe now, instead of sorry later.