Category Archives: Rants

COVID-19 Pandemic Quarantine ….

My Life, Rants,

January, I was posting about Sarcasm & Attitude being much cheaper than Therapy and Bail Money. I posted about how proud I was of my son (scoring in basketball). Of course, there were posts about cats and food and my usual “real life” antics.
February had me posting more food and cats and antics. I am still proud of my son. This is also the month that clear lines were drawn between me and people who claimed to be friends. Politics was the heated topic. COVID-19 made itself very well known in the world. People started to show their true colors.
Now, it is mid-March. People are insane, greedy, self-centered, and down right nuts. My food posts shifted more to wine posts. I am still proud of my son. Cats and chocolate are still high on my list. Quilting has made it’s way up the list. Why are people hording toilet paper?

Here are some of my posts from the past month on Facebook…

Feb 18th
For those who truly know me, when I feel strongly, I am going to say something. I have never been one to blindly accept the words of others. I was raised to evaluate all aspects. I have always been one to over think every situation .. yes, sometimes to a fault. I was also taught to check the words and actions against the Word of God. Just because someone claims to be something does not mean their actions reveal it.
I have lived in different states, cities/towns and circumstances in my 49 years. I have made friends who are as varied and unique as the colors in the rainbow that God created. Each person, created by the same God. Do we always agree. NO.
Today, I was called a hypocrite. I will not sit quietly while a handful of people claim to speak for me.
I have always acted passionately about my convictions. That has never changed. Have there been times I have held my tongue/fingers .. more times than I can even begin to count. Words are powerful. Actions are louder.
As for my faith. God and I know where I stand. He is who follow. I do not live “different lives” for different people as some do. My love does not change with the sun’s position in the sky.

Feb 19th
If you ever wonder what your house would look like filled with smoke …
Toss some sugar on a very HOT burner …
Instant smoke FILLED house!
TA DA
(bows) Thank you very much!
I’m here all night … cleaning the stove!!!!

Feb 21st
Why are there soo many headlines constantly filling our feeds about the death of children from either negligence of adults, or out right murder by adults?

Feb 24th
Before you tell someone they are too sinful to attend church, read the 7th Chapter of Matthew then, maybe, the 3rd Chapter of Romans or the 8th Chapter of Romans or the 5th Chapter of Romans .. to start with ..

Pinky and The Brain are running for the Presidency!

MANY posts about COVIDE-19

Vanilla Wafers with peanut butter are yummy.

Nurses are HEROS!

COVID-19 is spreading rapidly around the world!

Cats are adorable!

March 12th
To all nurses who spend long shifts in the same area, exposed to a plethora of pathogens on a daily basis with already weakened immune systems from lack of sleep and rest … to the nurses who are all to often the recipients of anger, confusing, frustration, and discontent from patients and their families … to the nurses who are most often THE ONLY ones present when pain and agony are so overwhelming for patients who cry out with blood curdling screams in the darkness … thank you for your willingness to do all that you do. Thank you for putting yourself in harm’s way to care for those who need you.

March 12th
Granted, I do think that many people are acting like fools .. raiding the stores of toilet paper and cleaning products. That being stated … seriously … regardless of the numbers, there are sick people and there are people who have died. Think hard before you type or share something you think is “funny” …

Coffee is good Chocolate is great and wine .. and chocolate ..

Sad, people have to be taught how to wash their hands!

SUSHI!

CATS!

Hoarders are selfish jerks!

I love annoying my son.

March 15th
While all of y’all are freaking out about COVID-19 and your diarrhea issues … keep in mind that tick season is going to be worse than you can imagine this year.
As a reminder, it was a tick bite that triggered Lucenda’s rapid health decline the last few days of her life. Because of her genetically inherited auto-immune disease, her body was not able to fight the rapid flood of infection. Also, within the year after her death, (just to my knowledge alone) there were 6 more people who had the same symptoms. Because they did not have the auto-immune disease, they did gradually recover .. it was a slow process.
BE SMART! BE AWARE! BE READY! Be Calm.

March 15th
Stop .. STOP posting memes with bogus dates of “outbreaks” correlating with election years! Just STOP for crying out loud. First of all, let us focus on the facts .. there are diseases in the world … PERIOD. Second of all, stop blaming political parties for your lack of proper hygiene practices! Thirdly, stop proving how moronic you can be by “sharing” random memes on social media just because you have nothing better to do! If you are bored, try some actual REAL research for a change!
Here are some things I found by actually RESEARCHING more than just some random blog …
SARS – Only seen in 2003 (A coronavirus – Severe acute respiratory syndrome)
Avian Flu – First detected 1997. Threat still exists.
Swine Flu – First detected 1998. Mutation of Avian Flu Threat still exists.
MERS – Was initially seen in 2012 (A coronavirus – Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). Currently active in the Middle East.
Ebola – Been around for at least 40 years. This currently is and has been a huge problem in The Congo for years.
Zika – First detected in 1947. First human case in 1952. No cases reported in the US since 2017.
Cornona Virus – There are actually 7 in total. COVID-19 is the latest strain to be detected.
Let us not overlook other illnesses that are CURRENTLY a problem in our world… Measles, Dengue fever, Yellow fever …

Tonight:
Here’s a “novel” idea … perhaps God has allowed something to happen to “wake us up”. Spend more time with family. Slow down. Interact with the people around you. BE COMPASSIONATE HUMANS!

A national milk shortage … if only our nation had not been so stuck on “cheap stuff fast” .. the countless dairy farms that went bankrupt might still be in business to help provide for their local communities.

How many “kids” stay inside when they are not in school. How many PEOPLE stay glued to electronic devices? How many people actually GO OUTSIDE voluntarily? How many “families” do “family” activities?
Why are soooo many people having such an issue with “STAYING HOME”?!?!?!
Seriously people …

But to say that I do not understand

My Life, Rants, The Story, Thought, , , ,

It has been said that I do not understand …

I am not walking in their shoes. I have not lived the moments they have lived. I do not know every recess of their heart. I can never feel the exact way that they do. Honestly, I do not want to.

But to say that I do not understand …

There were many many nights my wife, Lucenda, and I got little, if any sleep. People asked us how to pray for us. We said, “Pray for God’s Will for this child’s life.” We were told this was “the easy way out”. We were also told that we needed to claim an outcome in prayer.

We were “fostering” in hopes of adopting. Circumstances changed almost daily. For months we were uncertain of the outcome. We continued to pray the same prayer, “God’s Will for this child’s life.” Praying this pray was in no way “the easy way out.” You see, what was “best” for this child may not have been to be with us. “God’s Will” is much greater than our wants and desires. “God’s Will” is not always what we want.

Twelve months passed. The parental rights were terminated. However, it was far from over. There was a 30 day “waiting period” in case the biologicals contested or changed their minds or whatever. THAT month was almost as bad, if not worse, than the previous 12 months.

At 13 months of age, we adopted that bundle of joy. Was it an easy time? No. Did we have the “9 months of pregnancy” or the “pains of labor”? No, we had 13 months of an insane emotionally heart wrenching roller coaster.

But to say that I do not understand …

My father-in-law, who was a wonderful man, had lived a life of pain from arthritis. It was only after getting a staff infection from fixing a broken drainpipe, that we found out just what he really had. He was officially diagnosed with a very aggressive autoimmune disease. Upon discovery, my wife was tested and officially diagnosed with it also, being it was genetically passed down.

This revelation brought answers to questions we did not know we had as well as questions that could not be answered. This disease was the reason we could not have children biologically. In that, it was a blessing that this disease was not being passed down to another life to endure. We also found out this disease, at that time, relatively new in the list of discoveries, was probably more aggressive in females.

My father-in-law’s health deteriorated rather rapidly over the next 2 years until his death. Two years after that, the signs in my wife’s body were no longer “unnoticeable”. That is when things began to progress rapidly for her. No, she did not have cancer. No, we were never given a “this much longer to live” time frame. Because there was still so little known about this disease, we were “flying blindly” into each new day. Our faith in Christ kept us going each day.

But to say that I do not understand …

Everyday, her health progressively deteriorated. I lived with her every day, but I did not see it. Honestly, I did see it, as did others. We, I just did not acknowledge it. We dealt with the bad days as best we could. We moved on, one day at a time. I did, however, have death in the back of my mind. I know this, because my dreams took me there against my will often. My mind … perhaps GOD … was “preparing me” as it were of what was to come. You see, that woman was a very stubborn woman. You did not “make” her do anything. (SIDE NOTE: someone once made a very misinformed/misguided evaluation that I was “physically abusing” my wife. For those who truly knew her, laugh at this when it is brought up. If I were to have EVER hurt her, I would NOT be here to tell the story.) As it turns out, my dear wife had been in a great deal of pain that she did not share with anyone. Her body was destroying itself from within and she said nothing to anyone about it.

As I stood in that hospital room, I prayed the same prayer over my wife that we had, together, prayed over our son those years ago. I prayed “God’s Will be done”. I knew then that God’s Will may not be for my wife to stay with us here on earth. Honestly, if she had, her quality of life would have been horrible. She would have most certainly lost one of her legs. You see, her liver was full of cysts .. her kidneys, lungs, heart, and all other organs were shutting down. The disease had wreaked havoc on her body. She was “physically” beaten from the inside by an incurable, un-treatable, painfully invasive disease. I wanted her to be without pain, for she has been in pain for most of her life. I wanted her to be at peace. I wanted her to rest. Signing those papers to remove the life support … being there as the doctor “pronounced” her .. THE HARDEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!

But to say that I do not understand ..

In all of this, there was still that boy of ours. He was 3 weeks away from turning 11 years old. PRAISE THE LORD, he gave his life to Christ just two months prior to all this mess. My wife had THAT peace in her heart. He was at a weekend camp. I had delayed having him brought to the hospital because things were happening so fast. By the time he was brought to the hospital, my wife had been “gone” for just over an hour. I had to tell my son that his mother was not sick anymore .. that she was not waking up .. that she had died .. THE HARDEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE! Watching him “process and realize” what I was saying…. It was horrible.

He wanted to see her. So, we went up to the room. That very wonderful nurse (post for a different day) had gotten my wife cleaned up. All the machines were gone. No wires, no tubes, no anything. Just my wife’s body laying there in the bed. Resting.

I wish I could have recorded the words that my son spoke. NO preacher has EVER said it more clearly than he did right there at his mother’s bedside. This young life explained the purpose and plain of God’s Will and the need for Christ … the purpose and plan of Salvation … what it truly means to be a Christian. He knew that his mother was at peace. He knew he would one day see her again in Heaven. I was so very proud of him (still am).

But to say that I do not understand ..

That was just over 5 years ago. Every day has brought new struggles and challenges into our lives. My son and I both feel the deep pangs of loss. I have regrets of things I should have said to her, or not have said. If I had “just realized” what was happening, I could have done things differently. — We cannot change the past .. no matter how much we might want to. — When I tell someone to cherish the moments you have, I do so out of experience. Do not “ignore” the signs and insist it isn’t happening. You are not in control of life. GOD, the Creator of Life, is the ONE in control. As for “Expecting Miracles” … each breath we breathe is a miracle. Seeing the sun, smelling fresh bread, hearing a child’s laughter, experiencing LOVE with/for/from another … all of these, and much more, are miracles. Cherish the miracles God has given you. Cherish the memories you make. Cherish the moments you share. Remember, God’s Will is not always easy, or without challenge. Look at what Jesus went through for us.

…end transmission..