Carol H Tucker Passionate about knowledge management and organizational development, expert in loan servicing, virtual world denizen and community facilitator, and a DISNEY fan
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beladona Memorial Be warned:in this very rich environment where you can immerse yourself so completely, your emotions will become engaged -- and not everyone is cognizant of that. Among the many excellent features of SL, there is no auto-return on hearts, so be wary of where your's wanders...
Today is the 5th day of the 52nd week, the 28th day of the 12th month, the 362nd day of 2017, and:
Call a Friend Day
Endangered Species Act Day – passed in the US in 1973
Holy Innocents Day
National Card Playing Day
National Chocolate Candy Day
Pledge of Allegiance Day
The fourth of the Twelve Days of Christmas
On this day in....
1832 – John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign; he resigned to become a senator, with a voice in the debates. Van Buren had already been elected as Jackson's new vice president, meaning that Calhoun had less than three months left on his term anyway
1948 – The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami -- 29 passengers and 3 crew members went missing.
1958 – "Greatest Game Ever Played": Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium.
2017 - NASA Voyager is 19 hrs 36 mins 26 secs of light-travel time from Earth
As the year winds down, like so many other people, I find myself going back and reflecting on 2017, trying to put it into some sort of perspective.. This is a year that I will remember, that much I know
In January, after DJT took his oath of office, I learned things that I had taken for granted about the Presidency were not actually part of it. There was no sense of decorum, no attempt to work with former political foes, no statesmanship in international affairs, no feel of trying to unify the country or rally us all to a common cause and the polarization/divisions in who we are as Americans have deepened or widened. Conservatives are happy with the year of undoing [unraveling the safety net, dispensing with protective regulations, removing the US from treaties and global activities] and I am aghast that the cruelty of Calvinism is so widely accepted, and appalled at the incipient intolerance of anyone not white and Christian being proclaimed .
In February, for reasons we will never know or understand, my step-son chose to commit suicide; he shot himself a couple weeks before his 57th birthday
In June, exactly four months to the day before her 40th birthday, my daughter learned she had stage 3C breast cancer. Six chemo treatments [at three week intervals, completed in November] and one bilateral mastectomy [one week before Christmas] later, she still faces 2018 with six weeks of radiation treatments and then reconstructive surgery, but she is one of the lucky ones. Too young for the standard testing, she found the lump herself and when she went to her GYN, she was immediately sent for follow-up – given the speed with which this cancer was spreading, any delay would’ve quite literally have killed her..
In September, my father’s younger sister passed away after a long illness and being in hospice care. Only her husband now remains of the “older generation” in my family.
In December, Frank’s ex suffered a fall and a broken leg, then was hospitalized with breathing problems right before Christmas. Her daughter and grandson are doing all they can, but she is tired and not getting enough oxygen.
Having 2017 depart and 2018 roll in isn’t going to make a material difference; there is still a lot of coping that needs to be done. DJT is still president [no, I don’t believe that he will be impeached] and the conservative agenda is rolling forward. The family still has to deal with the loss of Billy and Aunt Blanche, Joan’s illness as well as the impact of Gem’s continuing path to recovery. But there is just something hopeful about a new year starting that enables me to take a deep breath and face the future with a modicum of hope if not optimism…..
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