Sharing My Thoughts from 9-11-01 and Today

In just a few more days, the media will (hopefully) still have some honoring and tasteful coverage of the events of September 11, 2001.  Since this weekend will be the 15th anniversary of that event and my own calendar is getting pretty full, I thought I would share "why I think it is important for us to NEVER FORGET that day" a few days ahead of time.

You know, these days, being "patriotic" seems to have new meanings.  To me, it is feeling of pride in honoring people, ideas, and even a flag (which holds many more meanings) for which this USA is founded  and known as a great country!  It does mean "red, white, and blue" and "united" and many other things we all could add to this sentiment of "patriotic".

Before I think up whole new concept of what 9-11-01 means to me, maybe I will just let you read what I wrote about September the 11th, 15 years ago.   Zoom in to read, I didn't want to try and type again.

These were just a few things that I thought of that day when those claiming to be terrorists, really just cowards, thought they could bring us down.   It was a day of feelings you know you will never forget.   

In the ensuing days and weeks, these people who made up the United States of America found new reasons to make each life matter, each memory matter,  and even each death matter.  Today, as best as I could find the death toll from the hands of the enemy that day is two thousand, nine hundred seventy -six.   I wrote it out so that maybe it will seem as large as it is.   And the ripple effect to the numbers of family and friends who lost that day is innumerable.  And that my friends, is why we need to remember.  There are too many of us who cannot even fathom a wicked act such as 9-11 happening,  But it did and we must always be diligent in protecting  our nation against such again. 

For that reason, the flag to me will always mean "unity" ....something of which our country these days has in short supply.  We must be diligent in making sure others will know that terrorism is not going to stop our country.  From the rubble of the foundations of building and planes will rise the hearts of unity and a strong defense in order to let cowards know of our intent:  to be true to our HEARTS and HERITAGE,: to RESPECT those who defend us, to HONOR those who have given up much to keep this nation strong and free, and to have COMPASSION for those around us, to KEEP in HIGH REGARD the principals on which our country was founded  I know of no better way to show this than to show HONOR to our United States of American flag.  It is just a symbol, but a strong one that has represented our solidarity.

 A flag is just a symbol, but how you treat it, how you show RESPECT for it, shows me where your heart and mind is at.  Maybe you should google up just how many men and women have died in several wars and deployments around the world to make this country what it can be, what it is, and what it has been.  And if that doesn't strike a chord of gratitude, then I don't think anything will.  

As for me, when I see red, white and blue, or I intentionally put on those colors,  I  think of and wear them with pride for my country.  And there is a hope in my heart that God will continue to bless this land, this people, and these ideas that have made it great. And that is why I think it is important for us to always remember:  there are those who want what we have, what we hold as true. and they are our enemies.  I will forever know that Freedom is not Free and many have given me this honor of  living in the USA and the freedom to to ask my GOD to continue HIS mercy and grace to us as he has since our founding fathers stepped foot on this soil.

Judy Hensley

9-8-2016

The Dance of Hope

 (NOTE:  the original blog was first posted at Parkinson's Journey, by Sherri Woodbridge when i was just starting to blog)

I just caught a few minutes of a show my daughter was watching on TV.  .It was a dance contest for 'America’s Best Dance Crew’.The finalist crews’ names were ‘Super Crew’ and ‘So Real Crew’. Each had about 6-8 members. As it showed their journey to the finals, they emphasized that each group had overcome some big hurdles in getting there.

This was dance moves of  2012, and what my daughter liked to do.  No cha-cha- cha, polka, or even disco.No, these young dancers incorporated break dancing and some interesting non-choreographed moves, many of which left you sitting there thinking, ‘That is impossible!’ It only goes to show what the human spirit can do when it is challenged and we devote our effort to a passion – something that is an inspirational  part of each of us!   You can tell each one on the stage had a passion for their expression of their movement of the dance and their desire to share it with others.

I was struck by one young man’s statement in his interview about his crew’s performances and their determination to win.He said, ‘You will have to kill us to stop us!’ His crew had come back when others thought they couldn’t win more than any other group in the show’s history – three times. Concerning the other team – one of the judges noted their strong performances and their belief in what they were doing even when some of their family members were not so supportive. He said they believed in themselves, then their crew, and then they made the judges and the audience believe in their passion and their dream.

I stood there and watched just a few minutes, but I was impressed. I thought, "These young people may not have been able to do something so impressive on their own, but they worked hard together, taking a shared vision and were somehow making it contagious.’They didn’t listen to others who said ‘You’re out of the running!’, but instead stayed with their idea of what would work for them, even when it was atypical to most dance move history.

Now, what these young people have accomplished may not change the world, but it is a shining example of what the human spirit is capable of producing when one believes in oneself, in a common cause, or in success for the future, and all because of seeing that nothing is impossible with those kinds of attitudes.

All that made me think of the times in my life when I’ve experienced a wonderful feeling of contributing to something special.Some of those times include: playing in band in high school, playing on softball and volleyball teams, helping coach a volleyball team that came out of the losers bracket and would not give up in order to win a tournament last year, meeting and talking with others on the internet with Parkinson’s disease, and being a part of the Parkinson’s Unity Walk the last three years.The sports competitions were for personal gratification.The effort I put out for Parkinson’s is a personal passion.

My body has symptoms caused by Parkinson’s and it can make life somewhat more complicated than normal, but I want to stay determined to do all I can to help work toward a cure.  I have to believe there will be a cure. I have to surround myself with others who will encourage me not to lose hope – then my spirit will endure!

I can't  make a cure for Parkinson’s disease happen on my own, but with the cumulative power of determined spirits within others who live with Parkinson’s, those who have loved ones with PD,  and those who want to be a part of something very special one day -- a cure.  Ask yourself these questions:  

Do you believe that we can make a difference in helping find a cure for PD??

Will you endure, even when the going is not easy?

What are you waiting for ? join the journey for a cure!

I wouuld like to encourage you to look at each day, determined to find the things that you can rejoice in and revive your spirit, and when you can’t seem to find anything joyful in the day, ask a friend to help you find it.  Get in the rhythm again.  Feel the joy of the dance of life.

The world will look at those of us with Parkinson’s and see us dancing a little bit out of sync on the outside, but they will never know the rhythm of hope we have together unless we can let them see it through our collective efforts of dancing/pulling together .It is then that I think they will see and know that a cure will come, and until it does, that rhythm of hope and belief will be a wonderful temporary healing.

Judy

This is a repost with minor modifiations.

Why can't it be every day??? Happy Mothter's day

This was orginally written to be posted around Mother's day 2016. But it got put in the drafts folder and not thought about again until recently.  I added and removed some thoughts and here it is....

Mother's Day 2016 came and went, and I  whimped out on it.  I guess it is because both of my mothers are both gone and my own daughter is not here either.  I am happy for all those who still have their mom here to wish them a blessed day each and every day.  I thought I would try to  share several ways I think I was blessed by God with 2 wonderful mothers and given the great honor to be a mother to my daughter, Carol. 

My mother in law, Kate, was a 'hot mess' as a friend likes to say about those who love to tease you and then act as innocent as she could.  She was kind and generous, and oohhhh  could she cook!  She was my mother in law for over 25 years.   She and Dad Bill were married over 50 years.  Dad Bill took wonderful care of her before she fell and she required more care than he could provide at home, so she lived for about 5 years in a nursing home before she died in  Dec. 2009.   She and Dad Bill have 2 daughters and one son to carry on their legacy of love and kindness.

I have many good memories of my mom, but one that haunts me to this day is on Mother's day 2010.  It was the first time Mom started feeling so bad from the cancer and she slept most all day.  I was

                                 

excited to give her the card I had picked out for her, but I don't think she was alert enough to read it and she just held it in her lap.  

Just a couple of weeks earlier, Karen and I had taken  mom out to the mall in her wheelchair and she felt good.  That was April 26th, her birthday.  How things can change so fast with cancer.  By the Thursday after Mother's day 2010, my mom and best friend for 47 was gone.  It grieved me to see her hurting and I told her we would be alright if she wanted to go on to heaven. She said to me "don't cry, it's gonna be OK".  My mom passed from this life into her eternal home peacefully on May 20, 2010. 

One thing mom used to tell us is that we would never know how much she loved us until we had a child of our own.  She is so very right about that!  I heard a very true ad on tv about mothers....it said "I am who I am because of who you are." That is exactly how I feel; anything good and courageous in me is from my mom.   So I feel very blessed can confidently say "I had the best mom ever."

Now I would not assume to speak for my daughter, but would think that based on other's conversations about  her after her death in Feb of 2013 that I admit it...I  usually think "they are talking about someone else who raised that girl, Carol, besides me." So I will take partial credit for instilling in her some of her contagious attitude and her love of life.   Her daddy, and my parents and Bill's  parents ...aunts, uncles, cousins, and misc family..all had a great part in her life and legacy.  Even her in-law's...Cooper's family....all of them, helped make her one  we remember with fondness at every turn.  And her friends and teammates, whom she deeply loved...they add to the happiness of memories made with her.  And them there is the one whose love made her smile brightest...Cooper. He brought out in her something for which I am most grateful ....the honor and commitment she had to him and the way he handed her new reigns for the new journey that they had started together.  

So maybe it isn't Mother's Day, and maybe there are more than just women you have to be thankful for in your life or the life of your children.  Go, and tell those people (and i mean speak it...not just a text} how blessed you are to have them in your life. And if they are already gone from this place and time, thank God for blessing you by putting many people in your life who made a change, who helped form your life story, and who gave you their best while here with you!

Judy 
Sept 2, 2016