Tag Archive for infant

Personal: My Mom

My mother had three kids, kept a spotless house, worked in the family business, dealt with laundry down steep cement steps in a dank, unfinished basement using a ringer washer and depending on a clothesline and sunshine, lived through the death of her youngest as an infant, managed questionable activities of her son, and taught independence to her physically disabled daughter. She has been gone for many, many years, but she lives on in the hearts of the kids who survive her. On Mother’s Day, I reflect on her love for us.

Inviting Childhood Disease

Measles can harm a person for life, and it’s staging a comeback from 20000, when the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S.  2018 was bad, with 349 cases in the U.S.  It was the second worst year for that disease in twenty years. Mainly because so many parents refuse to vaccinate their children.  Last year, there were outbreaks in the 25 states that have communities of anti-vaccination communities.

Again and again scientific proof has been presented that the vaccine is NOT harmful and DOES protect our children. It also protects infants under 12 months and people with health issues, like cancer, who don’t have the option of getting vaccinated. Yet measles spreads so easily–you can get it by entering a room or touching a surface within a couple of hours after an infected person has  done so.

Learn more by reading  Measles was no big deal — until my daughter caught it.

Last-Minute Resolution to Consider

This is the last day to make our New Year’s resolutions.  May as well forget the traditional weight-loss one, since we fail before February anyway.  We could resolve to quit smoking or swearing, be more organized or thrifty…. Then, again, we could step out from our own little world into the larger one.  We can make this the year to help protect and nurture a child.  Yes, we can send money to support a child on another continent, but why not make it more personal?  One way is to volunteer at a local hospital as a person who cuddles at-risk infants, giving them the warm contact that will save their lives.  Another is to become a Foster Grandparent, Big Brother/Sister, or Child Advocate.  Also, we must do something when we see that timid first-grader being bullied by other kids.  Closer to home, we can spend more time with our own children or grandchildren, playing games, taking walks, and providing times for talk to happen. Focusing on children is a resolution that makes a brighter year for everybody.

Happy New Year.  May 2015 be a year of peace in the world and in your lives!

 

 

Pro Life in Peru

A woman and her just-born infant were in trouble in a Peruvian town.  They needed medical attention immediately.  The owner of a Cesna quickly offered to fly them to a hospital, then realized he couldn’t, because the tiny airport’s runways were unlighted, and it was a dark night.  Word got to a local radio station, which broadcast the situation.  Within half an hour that dark runway was brilliantly lighted by hundreds of people in 300 taxis and motorbikes.  The plane was able to take off, carrying its precious cargo of mother and new life.  At last report, mom and child were doing fine.

Strangers rushed to meet an emergency.  To me this is not only coming together as a community but a fine example of the concept of Pro-Life.