Friday, January 13, 2012


Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

All of his questions, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues drawn
But it's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off

I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It's a final mess but it's left me so empty
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark and right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off
- Florence + The Machine

Grace


It has been more than two years since I touched this page. If viewed by no one, it still means a lot to have this humble little outlet to collect words, images and thoughts that are meaningful to me. To say a lot has transpired in the last two years, is an understatement at best.

I really never understood what grace was until it was shown to me through a few simple words, "I love you no different, I love you the same." The evidence is God's use of this person, Robby James Fram, in my life. July 24th, 2010...a miracle. Each day since...undeserved. That is grace. My relationship with God has always been private and tender - raw and frank. God does exist, He is alive in me, though I am nothing but a screw up. Funny thing is He sees me, and anyone who reads this, as precious and worth the cost.

Grace allows me to give it all to God for Him to take providing me hope that each day forward, I smile brighter, laugh louder and express a childlike joy. Being forgiven is easier than most think, it's forgiving yourself that some people spend a lifetime struggling to do.

Monday, October 26, 2009


Han Chuanhao / Xinhua / LandovNext

This unique geological phenomenon, known as a Danxia landform, can be seen in several places in China. This example is located in Zhangye, Gansu Province. The color is a result of millions of years of accumulated red sandstone and other sediments that have dried and oxidized.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

"The vending machine accepted five dollar bills, so I fed a crisp Lincoln into the slot and pressed the button corresponding with the caffeinated beverage of choice. The change descended loudly.

Quickly applying some mental math, I calculated that the vending machine had returned only $1.50 in change. I plunged my fingers into the coin return cup and planned to voice a complaint to the front desk as soon as I retrieved those six quarters.

Then I looked at the coins in my palm: three Susan B. Anthony dollars, and three quarters. My anger turned to embarrassment.

The change I received wasn't what I anticipated, but it was correct."

- Anchor

Wednesday, September 16, 2009


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Saturday, September 12, 2009


Daylight - Delerium (featuring Matthew Sweet)
If I lose my faith
Just remind me, just remind me
When my shadow's longer
Stay beside me till it's brighter
How easy I forget
How beautiful to see you once again

In my darkest hour I will be freed

When I close my eyes
I hope to find you, I hope to find you
When I leave my body
I want to be ready, willing like you were
I sat beside you then
I felt the warmth as it left your hands

In my darkest hour I will be freed

I've been waiting so long
That waiting was the end
Let this sleeper awaken again

In my darkest hour I will be freed

- Glen Phillips

Monday, September 7, 2009

To do the same old thing, the same old way
and to expect some new outcome...
that is madness.
- Albert Einstein

Every saint has a past,
and every sinner has a future.
- Oscar Wilde

It's not what you look at that matters,
it's what you see
- Thoreau

Monday, August 31, 2009


You would not believe your eyes,
If ten million fireflies.
Lit up the world as I fell asleep.
'Cause they fill the open air,
And leave teardrops everywhere.
You think me rude...

But I would just stand and stare.

I'd like to make myself believe,
That Planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep,
'Cause everything is never as it seems.

'Cause I get a thousand hugs,
From ten thousand lightning bugs.
As they try to teach me how to dance,
A foxtrot above my head,
A sockhop beneath my bed.
The disco ball is just hanging by a thread (thread, thread).

I'd like to make myself believe,
That Planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep,
'Cause everything is never as it seems (when I fall asleep).

Leave my door open just a crack (please take me away from here),
'Cause I feel like such an insomniac (please take me away from here).
Why do I tire of counting sheep? (please take me away from here)
When I'm far too tired to fall asleep.

To ten million fireflies,
I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes.
I got misty eyes as they said farewell (said farewell),
But I know where several are.
If my dreams get real bizarre,
'Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar.

I'd like to make myself believe,
That Planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep,
'Cause everything is never as it seems (when I fall asleep).

I'd like to make myself believe,
That Planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep,
'Cause everything is never as it seems (when I fall asleep).

I'd like to make myself believe,
That Planet Earth turns slowly.
It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep,
Because my dreams are bursting at the seams.

Owl City - Fireflies

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Sunday, August 16, 2009

I will miss you girls


Auntie Jess loved this video so that she made the poor child, the Kindred Spirit, sit through it about 100 times. Listen enough and you'll be singing it yourself on the way to work, in the grocery market...and then realize you're about 3 decades too old to be singing this without appearing to be a complete nut job.

In the past two years, I have spent every weekend possible around my little Kindred Spirit, and in the last three months the newest addition, my little Kindred Soul. Funny, but as simple as these videos are, watching them with my niece, singing together, smiling at one another, and dancing around...these moments have brought the biggest joy to my life.

When we found out my sister was expecting the Kindred Spirit, we were all ecstatic. I am fairly certain every paycheck of mine was entirely directly deposited to Babies R Us that first year. I couldn't wait to see my sister and brother in law become the parents they were so eager to be as well as myself to become an aunt.

The day she was born, looking at her in the hospital, seeing my little sister as a mom, I couldn't help but cry...it was the best moment. I think it took me two days to be able to finally look at the Kindred Spirit without tearing up. My brother in law is an amazing father that any child would be so fortunate to call dad. My sister, the same...attentive, consistent, loving and selfless. I have really felt blessed to watch them grow into their role as parents as well as see the home they've created for the girls.

From day one, anyone who has been around me, whether it be for 5 minutes or the past few years, knows about my niece. I've felt a bond with this girl that I cannot begin to adequately describe.

My sister and I were blessed to have an aunt in our lives as we grew up. Though we didn't see her often, when we did, no time had passed. She exemplified the character of who I always wanted to be, both as a person and as an aunt. She was loving, gentle, had the greatest sense of humor, a child like inner spirit, and a faith in something greater which radiated until the day she left this Earth. It is in remembering the traits and qualities I saw in her that I hope to provide for my nieces. Like our aunt...though I may not be down the street, in the same town, or state for that matter, the greatest hope I have is that wherever these girls may go, and as they grow up, they'll always know how proud I am to be their aunt.

I love you.

Friday, August 14, 2009


child after my own heart...seriously could fall asleep where I stand...it's a fairly sad day when a kind, elderly, soul asks you if they are to blame for your excessive yawning :) My reply is now standard...not chronic fatigue, just something a bit more colorful to widen the eyes and leave them with enough awe and wonder to last the day.

Been doing everything possible...more sleep, no. mmm...more exercising...helpful, but still feel like a freight train just hit me...again, put it in reverse, and then once more for giggles.

Liquid energy is asking for trouble, but now I have a newly discovered daily fix of extra shots in a 'coffee drink' that is already filled with enough sugar replacements to kill a small horse. Of course, in the spirit of all that is good (and not wanting to get on a caffeine high alone) my co-worker has become the daily recipient of my sleep craving, pseudo-coffee drink inhaling, daily binge adventures. If ANYTHING happens to him, I hold myself responsible...and the good folks at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Maybe it's time to go swimming.

Pacific here I come...it's been awhile, friend.

Thursday, August 13, 2009


Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.

"Fran & Marlo Cowan (married 62 years) playing impromptu recital together in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic. He turned 90 in February. The song is Old Grey Bonnet..."

Wednesday, August 12, 2009



Today WILL be an amazing day. I plan to take it for everything it has. Everything behind me - fighting my way ahead. Empower yourself...defy a stereotype and walk away with a big smile.

Monday, August 10, 2009


Heaven bend to take my hand
And lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight

Truth be told I've tried my best
But somewhere along the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more than I could bear

Though I've tried, I've fallen...
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

We all begin with good intent
Love was raw and young
We believed that we could change ourselves
The past could be undone
But we carry on our backs the burden
Time always reveals
In the lonely light of morning
In the wound that would not heal
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
That I've held so dear.

I've fallen...
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

Heaven bend to take my hand
Nowhere left to turn
I'm lost to those I thought were friends
To everyone I know
Oh they turn their heads embarassed
Pretend that they don't see
But it's one missed step
One slip before you know it
And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed

Though I've tried, I've fallen...
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...

- Fallen S. McLachlan

Saturday, August 8, 2009

my heart





Friday, August 7, 2009

Amelie

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Saturday, July 18, 2009

"I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human.

I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin or Martin Mull or Fred Willard - or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald...or even remotely close to any of them.

But, I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife, and above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife, and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms."

- Ben Stein, How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Memory in the Womb

Shared via AddThis

Monday, June 29, 2009

Friday, June 19, 2009


It was wonderful to see you again. You have worked very hard. Enjoy all you are about to experience. This is your time.
Life isn't fair, but it's still good. When in doubt, take the next small step. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Your job won't take care of you when you're ill. Family and friends will. Stay in touch. Pay off your credit cards every month. Agree to disagree. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up your present. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. Get rid of everything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful. Burn candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. Over prepare, then go with the flow. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. The most important sex organ is your brain. No one is in charge of your happiness but you. Always choose life. Believe in miracles. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it. Your children get only one childhood. Get outside everyday. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

- Regina Brett, 90
Cleveland, Ohio

A friend of mine, 77 years old, was born deaf. As a child, his mother forbade him to learn sign language because she wanted him to be able to 'adapt' and 'be like any other hearing child.' Along the way, did learn a fair amount of sign, but to this day, has only relied on his expertise of lip reading. He married a woman of the hearing world and they were absolutely...a perfect match.

His wife passed away years ago, and since, he's surrounded himself with great pals and the outdoors. We went hiking last year, and he was amazing - strongest out of the group! This man has been a true friend. The character he exemplifies is inspiring...and he has a kindness that knows no end.

That hike we completed together was awesome - we all had a blast. This past year, he has prepared himself for a life changing experience: a cochlear implant! He was nervous, as were his friends, about his adjustment post-surgery, but everyone was enthusiastic for him as this has been something he strongly desired to have, and try. All you can do is try.

77 years later, "I can hear your voice."

:)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009


Donor travels to see girl he saved graduate. He watched his brother die, so he volunteered to save Stephanie.
By ERIC CARPENTER
Orange County Register


ANAHEIM - Seventeen years ago, Bill Atkinson was lying in a hospital bed hoping – affirming actually – that the needles going into his hip would help save a baby thousands of miles away. A baby he'd never met.

He kept saying to himself, "This is going to work. My bone marrow is going to help save a life. I know it is." He endured those moments of pain, confident he would help that baby live, grow and someday achieve dreams.

Tuesday morning, Atkinson watched Stephanie Rudat of Anaheim, now 18 years old, old enough to understand, as she turned that gift into a milestone – for both of them. Atkinson, 54, flew in from his home in Vermont just to see it on his own dime.

It was an achievement that Stephanie might have never lived to see had it not been for the man she affectionately calls "Donor Bill." "It's a big life moment for me," Stephanie said. "I wanted to share it with him … because I love him."

In 1992, Stephanie was just 2 months old when doctors discovered that she had leukemia and would almost certainly not survive without a bone-marrow transplant.

Her parents and her only sibling, a sister two years older, were not a match.

On the other side of the country, Atkinson, a chief warrant officer in the Navy, had decided to sign up on the then-newly created National Bone Marrow Donor Registry.

He had lost his older brother, Ken, to leukemia years earlier. And when he found out about the registry, he signed up immediately, eager to help somebody else survive.

Months went by and Atkinson began to forget about the registry. Until he got a call that he was somebody's match.

By law, he couldn't know who he was helping for at least the first year. Nor could the Rudat family know who the donor was. But both had hints.

The Rudats were told that if the transplant were scheduled in the evening – which it was – the marrow was coming from the East Coast. And doctors referred to the donor as "him."

Atkinson asked a lot of questions and presumed by the relatively small amount of marrow taken that he was helping a baby.

After the first critical years passed and Baby Stephanie's health was improving, both parties wrote to a third-party registry official asking if they could meet.

In October 1993, Atkinison flew out and met the Rudats.

He remembers seeing a 2½-year-old Stephanie in a sparkling white dress: "This was my opportunity to give the gift of life I wasn't able to give my brother."

Many letters and e-mails have followed since, tracking Stephanie's milestones. Her completion of kindergarten. Her entering high school and making the soccer team. Her getting a volunteer job at Crystal Cathedral talking to troubled teens and adults on a suicide hotline.

The Rudats flew to Washington D.C. in the mid-'90s to meet up with Atkinson to help lobby for federal funding for bone-marrow programs.

And in 1998, they flew to Maine to celebrate with Atkinson as he retired as a master chief from the Navy.

Aside from those visits, Atkinson followed Stephanie's progress from afar. She takes frequent growth-hormone injections and sees an endocrinologist at Children's Hospital of Orange County. She has remained cancer free.

Stephanie's mom, Farhat Rudat, wrote to Atkinson to let him know that her daughter was graduating from Katella High School. He immediately decided he had to come.

They kept his visit a secret to surprise Stephanie.

On Saturday, he flew out and met the Rudats at their Anaheim home.

"I had told my mom that I wanted to invite Donor Bill," Stephanie said. "But she said it was probably too short notice. And I assumed he couldn't come."

So when Stephanie's father answered the door and told her she had to come see who it was, Stephanie reacted like a typical teenager.

"I was like, 'Whoever that is, can't you just let them in?' …Then I saw who it was, and I was shocked."

They hugged. Stephanie kept touching his face as if to make sure it was really him.

Atkinson and Stephanie spent the next day hanging out in Newport Beach, talking and catching up.

On Monday, they visited the cancer institute at CHOC to meet with doctors and remember just how far Stephanie has come from her cancer diagnosis.

"We've talked about school, sports, boys, the social scene, a bit of everything," Atkinson said. "I'm so happy to see that she has become a talented, lovely young woman."

Stephanie plans to attend Cal State Fullerton next year. Eventually, she'd like to study medicine and become a doctor.

Farhat Rudat teared up watching her daughter, now a healthy adult, thank her "lifesaver" in person.

"There is no greater gift," the mom said. "I still have that little white dress from when Stephanie met Donor Bill the first time. That moment meant so much; I can't let it go. This is our living miracle."

Tuesday, at Glover Stadium in Anaheim, Atkinson sat with Stephanie's parents, in the bleachers, and looked on as the Katella High students walked to receive their diplomas. When "Stephanie Rudat'' rang out over the loudspeakers, Atkinson beamed.

After the ceremony, they all gathered just off of the field. Dad placed a lei around his daughter's neck and kissed her. Mom placed a lei around Atkinson, and they hugged.

"Thank you," Donor Bill said.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Sunday, May 31, 2009


My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?
What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

- Chad Kroeger

Wednesday, April 29, 2009


Lynne and Ray Simon stand in front of their house in Pennsylvania as it is moved. Lynne contacted the corporation that were going to demolish the house to make a carpark and was told they could have the house for free as long as they could move it

Monday, April 27, 2009


In 1999, British publisher Hodder Headline (now Hachette Livre) held a global photographic competition called M.I.L.K. (Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship). Inspired by the 1950s landmark photographic exhibition, 'The Family of Man', M.I.L.K. began as an epic global search to find unique and geographically diverse images on the themes of friendship, family and love. It was not only the richest in photographic history, but also one of the most significant, drawing participation from 17,000 professional and amateur photographers in 164 countries. In total over 40,000 images were received by M.I.L.K., including at least four Pulitzer Prize winners. The 300 winning images were chosen by the Chief Judge, Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt, and were the basis for three books entitled Family, Friendship and Love and an international touring exhibition launched at New York's Grand Central Terminal in 2001.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original M.I.L.K. competition, M.I.L.K. Licensing (now a subsidiary of PQ Blackwell), again in association with Elliott Erwitt, is conducting a new competition founded on the themes of friends, families, lovers and laughter to create a new collection of 150 images. The 150 winning images will be published in a new book entitled Fresh M.I.L.K.: Friends, Families, Lovers & Laughter in Fall 2009, and on selected licensed products.

www.freshmilkphotos.com

Saturday, April 25, 2009


Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight

Touched down on the cold black tar
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath

There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, he's buying time

All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I've been there a million times
A couple of million eyes just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well, I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way You see the people all alone

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
That I keep missing

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

- Give Me Your Eyes (Brandon Heath / Jason Ingram)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009




In (these photos) provided Tuesday April 21, 2009 by the Global-Newsroom agency, Russian extreme sport star Valery Rozov glides through the air after jumping from a MI-8 helicopter into the active Mutnovsky volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on Saturday April 18, 2009. Rozov opened his parachute after dropping below the rim of the volcano crater and then landed safely on a sheet of ice in the middle of the simmering crater.


It truly is agony
Enduring these moments
When I wish I could just
Step out of my skin and
Expose my marrow
To show from the inside out
How my bones connect
How my blood circulates
A real first hand view of
How I experience pain
But, oh what a mess!
All that blood and ()...so untidy
So impolite to be walking around
Without your skin just to make a point
Better to keep it hidden


- What Would The Neighbors Think?
excerpt from Braids On The Wall by Bob Childs

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Tuesday, April 14, 2009


http://soundofsilence.hyd.googlepages.com/statisticsfromtulir'sstudyoncsa

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Forensic Skills Seek to Uncover Elder Abuse


SANTA ANA, Calif. — The elderly man in the emergency room was covered with bruises, some purple and others fading to yellow. Despite signs of dementia, he told the same story over and over: His wife’s burly home health aide had beaten him. But the health aide and the wife insisted he had fallen. Now it was up to the members of Orange County’s Elder Abuse Forensic Center to decide which story was true.

A forensic photograph of the bruised body of an elderly victim of abuse.
As the man lay on a gurney, he was interviewed by a team from the center: a geriatrician, a social worker and an investigator from the sheriff’s office. The bruises on the man’s chest, they determined, were the result of being punched. There were bloody outlines of a shoe on the man’s leg. His clear, consistent story, and cognitive tests, persuaded the prosecutor to charge the aide with a felony. At the center here, public health and law enforcement officials are learning to speak the same language and using the same forensic techniques as those popularized on the three C.S.I. television series to diagnose elder abuse and neglect. For decades, the techniques have been the state-of-the-art approach for investigating child abuse and domestic violence. But elder abuse has lagged far behind, suffering from a lack of financing, research and data.

Now change is in the air, and forensic techniques are just one of many new initiatives nationwide to protect the elderly. Geriatricians at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, for example, review county autopsy reports looking for suspicious themes. Bank tellers at Wachovia branches nationwide are learning to detect irregular transactions in the accounts of elderly customers. Congress is also expected to consider, before the October recess, the Elder Justice Act of 2006, which would create the first nationwide database on elder abuse, replacing inconsistent or unavailable data. The legislation, which has bipartisan support, also assigns a federal official to coordinate projects and technical assistance and helps replicate programs like Orange County’s.

The most common form is physical neglect, like untended bedsores, dehydration or the reek of urine. A family member who is providing care, most often an adult child, is usually the guilty party. Greed is generally the motive, whether there is a multimillion-dollar inheritance or a monthly Social Security check at stake. All this was well known to the assorted professionals in Orange County, but before the forensic center was established, each had to improvise without easy access to others’ expertise. A social worker might need a public guardian to sort out conflicting claims from adult children over who had power of attorney. The social worker might also need advice from a detective about securing evidence, but calls to colleagues often went unreturned for weeks, and there was likely to be no doctor to consult because few were trained to detect elder abuse.

Some 6,000 cases of elder abuse are reported annually in Orange County. In California, 100,000 reports were filed in 2003, accounting for 20 percent of the 500,000 reports nationwide. But there is widespread agreement among professionals that those numbers may be low. In a 1996 study, only one in 14 cases of physical abuse and neglect were reported and one in 100 of financial exploitation.

-JANE GROSS
Published: September 27, 2006
NY TIMES

knocking on glass

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Iraqis tend to try to help one another after bombings and often drive victims to hospitals because ambulances can be slow in getting to the scene. But salesman Asad Raad's act was particularly notable because a burning car can explode if the fuel tanks are on fire, and bombings are often quickly followed by other attacks intended to kill rescuers.

The rescue, which witnesses described to an Associated Press reporter at the scene, highlighted the often overlooked role of Iraqi civilians in the aftermath of such bombings. Although violence has tapered off greatly over the past year, deadly attacks still plague the capital. Raad rushed out of his motorcycle shop after the explosion shook the Kazimiyah area of northwest Baghdad. He plucked the infant from the back seat, where he lay next to his dead mother. Throughout the afternoon, relatives brought Raad milk and diapers for the baby, who was sleeping hours later.

"If nobody comes forward to claim him, my family is thinking of adopting him. To save and care for the baby is the only thing a human being can do in such circumstances," said Raad, a newlywed. "I cannot stand still and watch. I will do everything possible to protect the baby who lost his mother."

-Katarina Kratovac, Associated Press Writer

Slowly the world sees a shell. The only reminder of who they were is their outward appearance and with time, even that, begins to change. Seemingly all is forgotten because their once possessed identity is vacant in mind and tongue becoming unrecognizable. A unique grieving begins.

It's our job to protect and care for them. To make sure that who the world sees isn't an empty shell, but the person. No matter the profession or trade, footsteps traveled, world they have witnessed...slowly this disappears.

We become their voice. Not in place of, but on behalf of. What a vulnerable, uncontrollable trust to be given. Protect dignity, protect their values, even if they may be apart from our own, unique wishes and desires, and their rights. It's our obligation.

survival






On October 24, 2007, a miracle baby named Amillia Taylor turned 1 year old in Miami, Fla. The daughter of Sonja and Eddie Taylor, Amillia was born at 21 weeks weighing just a little over 9 ounces, and is the first baby known to survive after a gestation period of fewer than 23 weeks.

Doctors held little if any hope for her survival but Amillia defied the odds and demonstrated a desire to live. They attribute her survival to significant technological advances in neo-natal care. "When they took her out, the whole room gasped. They were shocked because she was so small. She had one eye opened and was looking around." Amillia Taylor was born weighing 9 ounces and measuring 9 1/2 inches long (about the length of an ink pen). Taylor says the neonatologist on staff didn't know what to do with Amillia because he had never seen a baby so small. Full-term births come after 37 to 40 weeks, and few babies born before 22 weeks survive. Her parents say they named her Amillia because it means resilient in Latin, a fighter and hardworking. "She's our little miracle."

Amillia's mother, Sonja Taylor, says she is delighted by her daughter's continuing progress. "Even though she's only four pounds, she's plump to me," she said. "So yes, the big difference is her size now. "Now I can feel her when I hold her."

Doctors say Amillia will still have to be monitored closely after her release, requiring asthma medication and extra oxygen for months to come as she still weighs less than two kilograms.

- BBC

norma rae

Monday, April 6, 2009

everyday second chance


Illustration created by Shadowheart Designs©
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

- Tenth Avenue North

Friday, April 3, 2009

you can't help but be impressed

Va. boy drove 1,300 miles to Texas rodeo grounds

JETERSVILLE, Va. – A 13-year-old Virginia boy apparently loaded his family's pickup truck with food, clothes and his dog, hitched up a trailer with two horses in tow and drove nearly 1,300 miles to Texas, police said. The teen's parents found him safe Friday.

Police are unsure why the boy ran away Wednesday morning from his Jetersville-area home. He apparently was well-prepared, even bringing extra propane tanks along.

Wyatt E. McLaughlin was found about 2 p.m. Friday on a rodeo grounds near Weatherford, Texas, where he had performed several times before. His parents looked for him there on a hunch, said Sgt. Tom Cunningham, a Virginia State Police spokesman.

"These all don't turn out well," Cunningham said Friday night. "We're pleased to report the outcome was positive."

Surveillance video from a gas station in Mount Pleasant, Texas, appeared to show the boy pumping gas Thursday into his family's pickup truck. The parents flew to Texas to view the video and believed the boy on the tape was their son, Cunningham said.

"Then (they) took the initiative and went to places they thought the boy may be," Cunningham said.

The rodeo grounds are at least two hours away from the gas station, but "is a place the family had been to on several occasions and Wyatt had participated in rodeos."

Cunningham said he wasn't sure how the family found out about the video but said they made several phone calls to Texas rodeo connections.

The family had no listed telephone number.

Thursday, April 2, 2009