“Having a special needs child often means that our kids miss a lot of school. So to prevent entanglements with the truancy officer, learn from my experiences and make sure you get every single doctor’s note turned in.”
Read more…
Law Enforcement
George Floyd, Riots, and a Door Opening
“I can’t pretend to know what the answers for moving forward are. But a door has opened wide for all of us. It is time for us to take a good hard look at ourselves and take a step through that door. A door to a place where we truly live the words that we have been taught. The teachings that God loves everyone. That there is no difference in his love for anyone based on their skin color or anything else. He just loves us all because we are his children, and treats us all equally. And so should we.”
Read more. . .
Getting a Glimpse into a First Responder or Soldier’s Reality
“I watched people walk by the door of the classroom through the window. I remembered the times I had sat in front of a TV thanking God my kids weren’t old enough to go to College after watching the reporting of a mass shooting at one.” Read more. . .
The “What Do I Do If” Game
If your spouse is in the military, law enforcement, or dealing with a potentially deadly illness, you have played the “What do I do if my spouse dies game?” You may have played it anyway if you are the type of person like me who wants to have a plan for every contingency.
I say “game,” but it’s not a game you ever want to play. But this is the reality of life for people in these situations.
When my husband was deployed to a war zone, I met another spouse whose husband was also at war. She said when she can’t sleep, she figures out how she is going to spend her husband’s life insurance. She plans out his funeral. As he is double insured, she had lots of money to figure out how to spend. For his funeral? She planned on getting Clay Aiken to sing because her husband couldn’t stand his singing. She thought it might be enough to make him rise from the dead if she did that.
Those of us who find ourselves in situations of life where our spouse could die, find that there are necessary conversations that must be had. There are contingency plans that must be made, that while others might make them, for us, the reality is that the chances are much higher we might have to enact that plan.
If your spouse dies, will you stay where you are? Move closer to the family? Change jobs or go back to work? How will childcare be handled? How will we handle life? These are the thoughts that run through our brains in the middle of the night. This is a fact of life for us.
There are unexpected benefits.
1- If it happens? We have a plan. Not everyone has one.
2- We highly value the time we do get with our spouse because we know that any day, things could change.
So here’s to all the other spouses and families out there playing the “What Do I Do If?” game. May you never need to use it.
Separation of Children at the Border and Sex Trafficking
Recently I wrote an article about sex trafficking and the U.S. Borders. In the conversations, we are having about the separation of children from their parents at the border right now across the country, we need to include in our discussions the fact that there are legitimate reasons why a child would be separated from parents or the adult they are traveling with and unfortunately it is because of sex trafficking and using children as drug mules to bring drugs in. Read more…
The Duct Taping of a Boy With Autism…
In Tacoma WA this week, kids videotaped what looked like a child abduction. A man was seen using duct tape to secure a boy and worked on dragging him away. The kids called 911. It is what I would want anyone to do in this situation if it were my child. The video sparked a lot of outrage in the community that an adult would use duct tape in this way and the local police have characterized it as child abuse.
Law Enforcement: They Just Want to Serve
“By and large, Law Enforcement officers are made up of a unique blend of people who just want to serve their fellow man and have this very strange desire to run towards dangerous situations…”
I’m here… To Blog
I’ve always loved to write but I haven’t done much of that in recent years and I think perhaps this will be good therapy for me. Perhaps along the way, I can encourage another Mom, Dad, Grandparent or Sibling out there to just try to live through today (or maybe the next 5 minutes) and not worry about tomorrow right now.
Read more. . .
