Kids and Cars

Tags: photography blogging weblog vicki's_blog





This was summer in the south in pre-air conditioning days. It was too hot to stay in the house. The kids have to sit somewhere, but they had no stoops; they had no front porches. They could find a natural resting place outside, perhaps a car, and hope for a breeze.


I have been sorting through some old pictures of my family and found these kids sitting on their family cars -- my mother on the left; my father with his sisters on the right.

Lucky Me

I have been a single mother since the 70s when my boys were 1 and 3. I was lucky my MS waited until they were in high school.

I spent most of my life learning to take care of myself, to be independent, and teaching my boys to take care of themselves, too. When my MS told me I could no longer live alone, I was lucky that Garry and I moved in together.



I am lucky to have Garry in my life. I depend on him more than I admit to myself, and he is gracious enough to share his life with me. Lucky me!

Okay 2006, We are ready for another lucky year.

World Peace

The other night we watched a documentary Peace One Day about Jeremy Gilley and his campaign to gain support from organizations, governments, and the United Nations for an annual one-day global ceasefire. No killing for just one day. It was inspiring.

Due to his efforts, the United Nations planned an event to ring the peace bell -- sadly, maybe ironically ? the morning of September 21, 2001. The presentation had begun, but participants, spectators, and press were evacuated on hearing of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center just a short distance away.

Even, or maybe, especially following such a dramatic and far-reaching act of terror, Jeremy Gilley continued his crusade. As a result, the United Nations has proclaimed September 21 as the day each year to celebrate peace by declaring a ceasefire in all violent conflicts.

The vision is that this small space of time -- one day free of killing -- will lead to intercultural cooperation and global unity. One man persevering won the support of the United Nations and many countries. World Peace is not yet here, but individuals, organizations, and societies can continue the journey toward Peace One Day.

Watching this documentary inspired me to see if other peace projects were underway. I did a quick search and found that the United Nations had previously declared January 1 as a day to celebrate One Day In Peace. That first event was in 2000, the beginning of the International Decade for the Culture of Peace & Nonviolence for the Children of the World. Wow. We are halfway through the decade. It may be too ambitious, but it is a good plan.

Even before that, some high school kids in the mid 90s were challenged with a school project to help students express their passions. The result was more than an educational project when they created The One Day Foundation dedicated to empower young people throughout the world.

I did not find any recent activities for this particular program, but their site referred to the global youth network which is currently active in France, Mexico, and Brazil.

After watching a movie, I took my laptop to bed and did a little research. It took about an hour. About an hour in bed with a laptop. Young people have the energy and the passion needed to continue this struggle. The blogging community is largely inhabited by young people. Some of us older people would like some peace, too. Is there a Peace blog? I would like to think so, but I did not find it.

Tags: world+peace peace blogging weblog vicki's_blog

Multiple Sclerosis

A friend recently told me she was interested in my MS reference because her sister was being tested for MS. It made me think of when I was first diagnosed and found little information to let me know what to expect.

The library had several books with possible symptoms and explanations, but the information was often conflicting. The only thing I remembered hearing was that MS is the crippler of young adults. In the past fifteen years, research has resulted in clearer information and several medications that actually treat the disease instead of just certain symptoms. The Internet provides all kinds of facts as well as anecdotal information helpful to MSers, and friends, families, and even caretakers of MSers.

MS is still a mystery. We know for sure that many people have it. After I was diagnosed most of my friends told me about someone they knew who had MS. I didn�ft know anyone, so I should have suspected the MSer in my midst was me!

The other positive fact is that MS is unpredictable. The initial diagnosis is not easy and the prognosis is uncertain. People known to have MS vary from Montel Williams who fights MS with fitness to the late Richard Pryor who was so obviously disabled. Other Famous People with MS exhibit various sets of symptoms, some obvious and others not so visible.

From time to time I will write about my personal experiences in the hope that someone will be able to relate and find comfort.

I feel lucky. There are so many things that are worse than MS. If I am going to have MS, I am grateful it is 2005. We have many mobility options and a level of acceptance not known twenty years ago. One good source I rely on is the National MS Society.

Stay positive and good luck.

Truth & Beauty

I found a blog post worth reading. Baraka tells of her experience with multiple sclerosis that closely paralleled my own feelings when I accepted my disability as permanent. Permanence is an easy fact to deny with MS because it may remit to normalcy. The article illustrates to other MSers that we are not alone in dealing with our unpredictable, on again-off again disease. It is helpful for care-givers and family members as well. Not all of us can find the words to tell the story so eloquently.

Thank you for sharing your insight. The post, titled Intersections, is dated December 11 http://rickshawdiaries.blogspot.com/.

Profile Interests

Today I expermented with the interests listed in my profile. Click on one and a list displays of other bloggers who list the same interest. Here are some things I noticed:

Topics tend to attract those of similar ages. Now this makes sense in the same way a movie targets age groups. That doesn't stop older folks from seeing and enjoying more juvenile flicks, but most people who go to children's movies are children or accompanying children. For example, I have mind mapping listed and the list of other mind mapping-interested bloggers was middle-aged and older.

Exact wording makes a difference. For example, my mind mapping search did not include anyone who said mindmap. So close and yet ...

Words mean different things to different people. Again, this makes sense. For example, I listed games. To me, games are Trivia, Lingo, and other word games. The list was mainly computer gamers or Playstation types. I guess for poker or casino games the word would be gambling.

You may not get what you expect. Surpringly, at least to me, my fashion yielded very young bloggers. Older people have to dress, too, but they did not include fashion as an interest. This was a very short list and three were from the Philippines. I will now take more interest in Philippine fashion trends because something must be happening there.

Mainly, using the interests to browse is a great exercise. I found good blogs around the world -- poets, artists, writers, gamers, professionals. I found people like me and people very unlike me with a similar interest. What fun.

Back Again

It has been a long time since I posted to this blog -- and I had the audacity to call it a DAILY log! Well, in my defense, I have tried other blogs. Some I even posted thoughts, rants, and stories. I even had some comments. Wow, what an accomplishment.

Here's my new idea for this blog:
I will try to post on a regular basis. It may not be daily, but I hope it will be more often than yearly. Over the past year I have read many blogs. I find I am more of a lurker. My new year's resolution is to participate. I know the new year hasn't started yet, but maybe if a get an early start it will get done. Maybe.

Yesterday I changed the format. It is not quite finished, but I'm working on it. I updated my profile today and saw there's much more to do there. It's not enough to say I'm female. Over the next several days I'll enter my interests and favorites and I'll look at other blogs that share my interests.

Okay, let's go