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Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870
Once again, it’s Mother’s Day here in the USA, and I wanted to remind us all again what Mother’s Day can mean.
I also wanted to let you know that, according to Salary.com, if you add up all the things a Mother does — tutor, housekeeper, cook, chauffeur, etc., etc. — her salary should be $119,000.
Under the circumstances, is a phone call too much to ask?
Just to put it all in perspective.
Also to add some perspective, and a little laughter, my grandson was here this weekend. We watched ET together — his first time for this magical movie — and I answered all his questions, including whether or not the movie was made in the 1900’s. HIs new thing, at 9, is did it happen in the 1900’s? “Were you born in the 1900’s, Nana?” Well, yeah. Right smack in the middle of ’em actually. And my brain is going “I was! I really was!”
He sleeps in our family room when he’s here, in his sleeping bag on the couch, and when ET was finished, he wanted to watch the Wizard of Oz (which he has seen before, it’s one of his favorites). It was getting late — about 2 hours past his bed time, actually — and I was getting a bit crispy and in need in of sleep. But he always watches a movie until he falls asleep when he stays over, so I put Wizard of Oz in and headed to bed.
Two hours later, I”m sleeping, and from the darkness I here: “Nana! Nana!”
“What do you need, sweetheart?” I asked, sleepily.
“Wizard of Oz is over. Can you put ET in?”
“You need to go to sleep!” I told him.
“But I want to watch ET while I go to sleep,” he said, with a little soft wistful whine I find very hard to resist.
I said, “No, just need to go upstairs and go to sleep.”
“Oh, pleeease, Nana!”
And I said, “You’ll be cranky in the morning if you don’t get sleep, you know that.”
“I’ll pinky promise you!”
Pinky promises between my grandchildren and I are Sacred Vows. And for this particular grandchild, it is the most Sacred Vow of All.
“Okay, pinky promise,” and I reached out for his pinky in the dark of my room.
“It’s over here, Nana,” he said softly.
I found the pinky and we made our Sacred Vow, and I headed upstairs to switch the movie.
As we were going upstairs, I said, “You know, I spoil you, don’t you.”
And there on the stairs, in the half-light from his room he stopped and looked at me and said, “Thank you, Nana.”
A very Happy Mother’s Day for me.
Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870 – Julia Ward Howe
“Arise, the women of this day!
Arise all women who have hearts,
Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears!
Say firmly
“We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking of carnage,
for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We women of one country
will be too tender of those of another country
to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes with
our own, it says ‘disarm! disarm!’
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.
Blood does not wipe out dishonor
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
whereby the great human family can live in peace,
each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Ceasar,
But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
that a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient
and at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
to promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
the amicable settlement of international questions,
the great and general interests of peace.”
For all the Mother’s and Grandmother’s in the world. This is for the very special job
you do every day. All of you are irreplaceable
The View of North Carolina
Hello to all my WordPress family and friends. I have returned and I am now rested up and raring to go. It was wonderful to see old friends and to meet new ones.
It seemed as if we ate out constantly, but be assured Asheville has some very amazing restaurants. From Cuban to great Italian (yes, I was surprised) to Greek and a special place called Tipolo Honey which makes all their food from locally grown produce. I usually took half home for another meal. It was so much fun. We did do other things besides eat.
There was a great deal of talking and laughing, some crying and sharing of old memories. There was healing and joy. We walked a labyrinth. And forged new friendships. My best friend and I found a new comedian named Kathleen Madigan. She is super funny and Netflix happens to have some of her comedy in its library. Try her out.
There was looking at places to move to. This part was fun and exciting and scary too. Moving down south is necessary for me because of my health, but I have been a Yankee (in the geographic, not baseball sense) my whole life. The good part is that there are so many old hippies and artists in Asheville that a part of me feels like I already live there. Not to mention the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Smoky Mountains which hold the city and suburbs in their loving arms. The light is amazing for all kinds of art and the energy is gentle and loving. It is a great place for a vacation. Where else can you find lizards, tropical flowers, bears, deer and clean fresh air?
The Biltmore House is also there and the acres of grounds are lush with fragrance and color all year around. Spring is, of course, lovely beyond words. They often have open air concerts during the summer to make it even more of a treasure.
Spring colors in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Photograph taken and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
My best friend Maggie and me. April, 2014
Biltmore on the mountain. Photograph taken and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Laughter at the Light Center. Photograph taken and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Spring in Asheville, North Carolina. Photograph taken and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014
Croatian National Ethics Tribunal In The Making
dr. Zvonimir Separovic
In this era we live in, it has become more and more unsettling in a democracy to watch politicians in government or power turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to the plights of their constituents (citizens) to protect and improve the interests of the people, the nation. Cries of helplessness ring at every corner, in every crevice of the developed as well as of the undeveloped nations. The ethics in activities of those in power that affect the citizens’ and the nation’s very lives and livelihood have become to resemble a kind of a “fly-by-night” phenomenon and, yet, they are crucial to the preservation or destruction, if unchecked, of humanity and prosperity.
It goes without saying that the government and society can no longer promote and enforce ethical behaviour solely through the utilisation of ethical codes of conduct or through the promulgation of a plethora…
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Zimmerman v. NBC – Motion to Dismiss
WARNING: This article contains images and words that some might find offensive.
Reading NBC’s motion to dismiss was fairly easy. Trying to make sense out of Zimmerman’s reply was not so easy.
NBC Universal has petitioned the court to dismiss Zimmerman’s lawsuit for four reasons;
(1) he has failed to comply with Florida’s retraction statute, which precludes his claims with respect to one of the five broadcasts he challenges;
(2) he is a public figure who cannot carry his burden of demonstrating, by the clear and convincing evidence required by the First Amendment, that any of NBC’s reports were broadcast with a high degree of awareness of their probable falsity, or, indeed, that they are false in any material respect;
(3) he cannot demonstrate that the NBC broadcasts caused the debilitating damages to his reputation and well-being that he claims are attributable to NBC; and
(4) he has, for these…
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Frustration
Our truest self is on display during our greatest moments of stress. How we respond and treat others is evidence of our inner self during these times in our lives.
We all experience moments when we lose our composure. The stress in life and the demands we are under can at times be like a pressure cooker waiting to blow. Usually when this happens, our frustrations are taken out on the individuals least responsible for our feelings. It could be a clerk at the store or the waitress. Many times it is directed at the ones who love us the most.
The moments immediately following these events show what that individual is made of and who they really strive to be. When we look past the frustration of the moment and watch what immediately follows we can see someones real character. Does that person apologize to the one who faced…
View original post 186 more words
Frustration
Our truest self is on display during our greatest moments of stress. How we respond and treat others is evidence of our inner self during these times in our lives.
We all experience moments when we lose our composure. The stress in life and the demands we are under can at times be like a pressure cooker waiting to blow. Usually when this happens, our frustrations are taken out on the individuals least responsible for our feelings. It could be a clerk at the store or the waitress. Many times it is directed at the ones who love us the most.
The moments immediately following these events show what that individual is made of and who they really strive to be. When we look past the frustration of the moment and watch what immediately follows we can see someones real character. Does that person apologize to the one who faced…
View original post 186 more words
Peace, Bliss and Light
Great images and poem. I am reblogging. I hope you don’t mind. Hugs, Barbara
Looking at yourself honestly – Gratitude
Can you be gratitude?
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“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is
like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
~ William Arthur Ward
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This is from work
by Ahalya Kumaran
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How To Show Gratitude in Five Different Ways
How do you show gratitude? What do you actually do when you feel grateful for someone or something in your life?
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Five ways to show gratitude:
1. Give a special note of acknowledgement: On someone’s birthday, instead of writing them an ordinary Happy Birthday note, tell them how much they mean to you. Tell them something specific they did that made a difference for you. Tell them why you’re grateful that they’re in your life. And of course, this doesn’t have to be limited to birthdays only. Any day is a good day to send a note like this.
2. Return the favor: Do something thoughtful…
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