Posted on Nov 8th, 2009
by 
AJ
When I read this question, a story came to mind that I read as a child in one of my Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories volumes.
It was called The Man Who Couldn't Move, and it told about this man who was paralyzed from the shoulders down and was as helpless as a baby.
Sounds like a poster child for doctor-assisted suicide--Right?
Wrong--and he would be the first one to tell you so!
It's been awhile since I've read this story, but I don't believe than any explanation was given re: how this man became this way.
He might have never been a really physically-healthy person.
On the other hand, he might have been a star athlete at one time who was reduced to this state by a sports injury, car wreck, or being in the final stages of ALS.
He might have been somebody who could have--had this taken place in this day and age--taken home the prize on Dancing With The Stars or Survivor before he got into this condition.
Even if he weren't the best dancer, survivor, or athlete, I'm guessing that he probably lived a pretty full life at one time before ending up depending on others for everything.
There were ordinary things that most of us take for granted--and, likely, he did, too, before they were taken from him--that he probably missed, such as being able to wake up in the morning, get himself dressed, eat unassisted, and walk out of his house to drive to whatever job he had.
I know that I personally think back on those times of walking through the different parts of Mammoth Cave and how much fun it was. Even after all this time, I can still visualize the entire Historical Tour in my head and take it from beginning to end.
He probably had similar memories that he relived from time to time.
But this wasn't talked about in the story I read about him.
Instead, what was talked about was how he had been able to get access to a special, voice-activated telephone.
By using this phone, he had been able to continue to participate in the everyday goings on at the office where he had once worked--but this wasn't the only thing for which he used this phone.
Even more of the time, he used his phone to call and talk to people who needed someone to listen to them and cheer them up--people who were lonely for somebody with whom to carry on a conversation just to shoot the breeze, share their lives, and joke around. There were people who needed prayer, and he had all the time in the world to pray with them.
Although it would be an understatement to describe this man as being in very poor health, when it came to spirituality, this man really had it going on!
This story just goes to show that you don't have to be one of those people receiving a clean bill of health from your doctor in order to be a spiritual person.
However, I believe that being a spiritual person helped this man to better cope with the hand that he had been dealt.
Access: Public
Print
views (52)
Posted on Nov 5th, 2009
by AJ
Personal freedom to me means that we need to get rid of the nanny laws.
However, it also means that we still don't have the right to yell "FIRE!" in a theater unless there actually IS one.
That is, I believe that people of consenting age should have the right to use marijuana, if they so desire, without the fear of being arrested for doing so.
However, I believe that it would go outside the lines of personal freedom to blow marijuana smoke in another person's face--or to drive, if recent use of marijuana impairs driving abilities.
In short, we need to strike laws from our books that turn people into criminals for committing victimless crimes.
If somebody is serving time for committing a victimless crime, he/she needs to have the so-called crime removed from his/her record and needs to be released from prison a.s.a.p.
Let's save our prison space for people who really need to be there because they're actually victimizing other people.
Access: Public
Print
views (27)
Posted on Sep 6th, 2009
by AJ
Just this morning, I happened to think about my cousin, Danny, who passed away unexpectedly nearly two years ago from a severe stroke. The thought of him just crossed my mind, and I could hear his voice in my head and wished that I could still call him to catch up with him and his family.
I also thought about driving around with him, listening to music, and just spending time together back when we were teenagers.
Danny came into our family when Uncle George married Aunt Mildred when they were 52 and 47. She was a widow with five kids, and Danny was the only one left at home. He was a grade ahead of me in school. When we first met, I had just finished seventh grade, and he had just finished the eighth.
Actually, my mom and I had been thinking about him just a few days ago and how we wanted to call Deanna (his widow) to see how she was doing, and I had been thinking about what had happened at their wedding.
First off, let me tell you that it was a few years after their wedding when they had their first child...
Anyway, there was this small child in attendance at their wedding.
I didn't hear all of the conversation, but I'm guessing that the child was bored and fidgiting and his/her mom was telling him/her to sit still because Danny and Deanna were getting married.
Anyway, I believe this kid wanted to know why this was going on and preventing him/her from doing what he/she would rather be doing: playing.
So, here's the resulting conversation:
Child (in a whiny voice): Why do they have to get married?
Mommy: Shhhhhhhh!
Child (again and more persistently): Why do they have to get married?
Mommy: Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Child (much louder and more persistently): But MOMMY! Why do they have to get married!?!
(This is followed by the sound of the mother and child getting up from the pew and leaving the sanctuary with the child chattering and the mother shushing him/her all the way out.)
Access: Public
Print
views (55)
Posted on Sep 5th, 2009
by AJ
Driving along the backroads going no place in particular--just drinking in my surroundings and celebrating the good feelings of life!
THE HIGHWAYS OF OUR PAST
In this, the age of interstates,
We've traded slow for fast
And seldom take the time to drive
The highways of our past:
Where barn roofs pitched Rock City,
Mail Pouch, and Mammoth Cave;
And batches of those roadside signs
Held verse by Burma Shave.
Where the route was shaded, here and there,
By canopies of trees;
Where lines of clothes by simple homes
Were blowing in the breeze.
Where a family's own produce
Was sold to passers-by;
And barefoot children ran with kites
To launch them towards the sky.
Where the place you chose for dinner
Could be called "one-of-a-kind;"
Where the road spread out before you
Had a gentle, scenic wind.
Where a rolling, sun-kissed valley
Could be viewed from mountain ridge;
And men and boys were fishing
From a singing metal bridge.
Where folks not only filled your car
But cleaned your windshield, too;
And wildflowers shone and sparkled
In the early-morning dew.
Where firefly stars surrounded you
When you drove in the night;
Where trees and graveyards took an eerie look
In full moonlight.
So take a little time out
When you need not go so fast
To drive, with gentle thoughtfulness,
The highways of our past.
Due to that thing we call "progress,"
Some of what once was is gone,
But, in many ways, on these roads
A simpler time lives on.
Ainsley Jo Phillips
In the 1992 Indiana Federation of State Poetry Clubs Fall Rendezvous Contest, the above poem received:
Category #8
Glenna Glee Award
First Honorable Mention
and was then printed in my chapbook, A TALE OF FIVE AUTUMNS, Copyright 1994 by Ainsley Jo Phillips.
Many such warm, magical places as I've written about in this poem can still be found, if you just take the time to leave the fast-lane and seek them out. Happy road-tripping! :o)
Access: Public
Print
views (19)
Posted on Aug 4th, 2009
by AJ
With lots of help from others (e.g. God, a great medical team, my mom, and other dear ones), I'm getting my lymphedema better and better all of the time!
Access: Public
Print
views (27)
Posted on Jul 16th, 2009
by AJ
I want my visiting nurse and wound specialist to hurry up and get here. They were supposed to have arrived between eleven and noon, and it's now almost 20 minutes of one.
Wonder what's holding them up...
Access: Public
Print
views (39)
Posted on Jul 14th, 2009
by AJ
Me--and I'm still at it and doing well!!!
Of course, I've had a lot of help from God, medical people, my mom, my "adopted" siblings, and others.
Thanks to everyone who has been keeping me in their prayers, love, and positive thoughts!
Access: Public
Print
views (30)
Help
Sign In
QaR
November 2009 
