HEALING HEARTACHES, STORIES OF LOSS AND LIFE

Keepin It Real

2012-03-10T15:05:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TIGsoCzWknw

SPRING FORWARD here comes our sun

2012-03-10T09:54:00.001-05:00

It's time

SPRING FORWARD

...

Here comes the light

and

are seeing the sun come

it's waking us

it's lasting

longer!

Yippeeeeeee

....

OK,

I know it is also a time

setting all those clocks

in the house,

in the car

your wrists,

and

adjusting again to

change!

A time that some will have to adjust to

and

we will hear about those who

don't like it,

those that just are

losing somethin.

But

it really doesn't take long

for our bodies to

adjust,

remember

attitude

and

messages you give.

BUT

it does have an impact on

the

brain,

and how folks sleep

I will let ya know that!

Night owls

will have the roughest time,

and

when they rise

they will have a bit of trouble

"shining"!

Students and workaholics

are the most suseptible to this change.

Remember

that brilliant brain of yours

and

those neurons

generate

are having to

"re-set"

the circadian rhythm

that

is our sleep-wake cycle!

And

that signal

the

SUN.

So get ready,

it's time to re-set the clock

literally

body, mind, spirit

and

throughout the house!

And

SPRING

is right around the corner!

Try to find some sun today

and

in the morning

cos

it will help you re-set

your

brain

to the

wonder and new beginnings

that are yours!

We do feel better when we have light,

when we are in the sun,

when we just feel like there is

more light longer.

Remember our beloved

Andy Rooney?

Well I can remember when he had this to say about time and I cracked up

cos' I can still see and hear him in my mind,

“Daylight Savings time doesn’t save *&^%. All it does is screw the clock up and piss me off, but it’s either do it or be early for everything”.

What a quote to start

off

spring forward

and

today, to give you a laugh

and

a great memory

of a great man!

Ya gotta remember the great curmudgeon that we all listened to and loved

and

what a great day

to remember that!

but another great quote to leave you with

as you try to remember

how many clocks

need your attention

and

make plans for a grand weekend

...

“When told the reason for Daylight Saving time the old Indian said, “Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.” ~Author Unknown

I LOVE IT!

C'mon Sun... we've been missing you!

So with that said,

I wish you a magnificent day

filled with

wonder

awe

magic

faith

belief

joy

LAUGHTER

LOVE

LIGHT

Walk in Beauty,

DRSES

keepin it real

*Remember to send all your friends with a computer to subscribe and visit the you tubes.

After we receive 101,

we will then put all names in the hat,

draw out a winner

and

let ya know who it is!*

Just thinking about YOU today...

2012-03-09T12:30:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whuB61lJhxU

Click!

Let's SEEEE if...

2012-03-09T04:13:00.003-05:00

Kamryn

talking to me on the phone

awhile back...

Today

I'm thinkin

and

wanting to get 101

subscribers to the blogs

and

heaven only knows

how many I'd love to get to

"click" and share those

"Keepin it Real" you tubes

I'm comin to you with.

so...

I'm wondering,

a little challenge might just entice you

to share and to get others

to subscribe

and join us here!

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do"

Eleanor Roosevelt

Drum roll please...

ahh

isn't that a sound you just

get giddy with the thoughts of?

so then,
Let's have some
FUN!

I'm asking for 101 subscribers

and will be taking names

from the blogs...

Those names once 101 are collected

will be dropped into the magic hat

you seeing me wearing on

the videos

and

a lucky winner will be drawn!

YEP

a lucky winner

who will then recieve an email
or be notified here;

letting them know

their very own

autographed copy

Healing Heartaches

is on its way to them to have and to enjoy!

With a little "somethin somethin"

added as a thank you in the box

just because!

Healing Heartaches continues to recieve great reviews from folks who take the time to write,

to take the time to let me know of chapters

thoughts that they related to.

One reader has told me she threw the book with such strength across the room that it now has a permanent dent in it

she realized that many of the stories were allowing her to come to her own losses

and

journey of grief into healing ways.

I would have liked to have watched that

as long as I wasn't in the direction of the throw!

Others tell me

that their book sits on the nightstand like a trusted friend,

and

that they re-read from time to time,

will sometimes try to see the people that the stories reflect or they will wonder if I was peeking into their own lives.
I am so honored by the words of others,
it does make me feel as I've come to live here in your mind... I love that feeling.

This bear, was made at the bear store we all hear about, on a trip where Olivia had her first experience with room service!
Oh she took such time and care in the making,
and when it was ready for stitching
Olivia picked out
not one,
but 3 hearts to go inside that special bear.
One to beat for Olivia
One to beat for "da mama"
One to beat for "Nana"
and
the three to beat together always
keeping us near
even when we are far apart.
OH yes, my heart melted.
quick, order her all the room service she wants,
that is Nana's girl!
The Embassy Suites had those little outfits all ready for us
upon return for her special bear...
oops
I think I've forgotten its name,
shame on me!
I'm sure she will tell me again.
In Healing Heartaches
I tell a few of the stories of me
in my alter-ego
named
Bearly Bear,
yes, me dressed in a bear suit,
huge I was
and
ever so cuddily...
I had a series of fund raisers through the year,
enlisting then the Mayor Jim Moran in
Alexandria Va
the
A.B.A.T.E. folks on their motorcycles
and
the community at large along with the likes
of
Mary Chapin Carpenter,
and a lot of other musicians
that would play their hearts out
for children with Cancer.
All done so that
Bearly Bear could show up
and hand out bears
to brave little warriors
and
the party was thrown at holiday time
the first one in D.C.
at the
Embassy Suites
and
later taken to another property
and
to Richmond
to reach more and more kids!

The Embassy Suites hosted many a party

for

children with Cancer

where

"Bearly Bear"

would come down from the highest floor there in a glass elevator...

Teddy bears *similar to the one above* but not dressed as fancy... would be handed out to these wonderful kids at a holiday party.

Bearly Bear did not talk, but was a grand listener, and confidant for many a bald headed child in the throes of cancer, of life threatening illness and family dynamics.
Bearly Bear was known to show up in ER's, in hospitals late at night,
you just never knew where that Bear might
arrive,
and the talks that would be had
with a pad of paper
and a pen in a paw!

All would come screaming, some being assisted by crutches, by parents, by wheel chairs

but

ALL

would want to be touched, to be hugged

and

to recieve their new bear...

some would have last years bear with them,

to show and to tell of the year,

the chemo treatments, the loss of hair,

the new friends,

and

hard conversations with parents who cried alot.

Teddy Bears with fur worn thin, with bandages on, and IV sites that had been placed there at places of treatment by hospital staff who understood the importance of those bears

and

eased the pain of the children by allowing them their bears during treatment.

One little girl had her Mom to shave her bears' head, in order to look more like her

and wanted to let me know

of the visits she had from the angels

and

her view on dying.

She wanted to tell me

as she said,
"cos' when I try to tell mommie and daddie they just cry and I think they get mad at me."
The tears that were shed within that bear suit were enough to fill a full sized pool,
and the love that was recieved enough to carry me many lifetimes.

Each and every time I speak across the country

I think of those times when staying in

Embassy Suites.

I reflect on those days,

those children, their parents, grandparents, siblings...

those magical Teddy Bears

and

the lessons I learned from such old souls

housed in such little bodies.

Now owned by Hilton,

I still just have to tell whoever is at the desk,

about the days

Bearly Bear and those glass elevators
and
the
magic that happened;

the days of starting those parties in the elevator

and

the joy brought to children, and the parents,

a day was spent joyfully

with

Santa and Bearly Bear.

With so many who volunteered their time

to make it a day to be remembered

a day to be cherished

a day to be inspired by in ways one can barely

fathom.

Children are amazing;

they remember where they came from,

and

they are open to recieve

open to give

and

they are warriors.

...

Healing Heartaches

one beat at a time

and

I hope the 101st person to subscribe

will let us

stir up a hat

and

gift a book to someone who may enjoy it!

so there ya go,

the challenge is on...

The skies are the limit

for

us all to soar

and

to remember,

I thank you for being here!

Hope you are enjoying

"Dr Sherry Keepin it Real"

on you tube as well!

Let me know

if there is anything you wanna hear about,
or
talk about!

I'll see what I can do with your thoughts!

"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye" Helen Keller

MARCH
is
MS AWARENESS MONTH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWfNCIgmsPs&feature=plcp&context=C45f4959VDvjVQa1PpcFO2X5KGzDdJjhuCeDs-YJdBGCR7PNAzkSk=

Walk in Beauty,
DRSES
www.sherryeshowalter.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWfNCIgmsPs&feature=plcp&context=C45f4959VDvjVQa1PpcFO2X5KGzDdJjhuCeDs-YJdBGCR7PNAzkSk=

MARCH: Women's History Month

2012-03-08T05:21:00.005-05:00

Granny

"back in the day"

Happy International Women's Day!

March is here

and

It's Women's History Month.

Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week." Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as "Women’s History Week." In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month." Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as

“Women’s History Month.”

...

The theme for 2012

Empowerment and Education

we look at women

and

honor them.

The right to learn, to reach and grow

was a battle that was fought fiercely

and gained through years of struggle

by those who walked through their fears.

The time is certainly now

for women to

stand

and for all people to recognize

that without women

the race is done, over, kaput!

Mother Earth

has been through much,

is going through much

and

needs us to remember

her

and

the many and brave women

who are the matriarchs

and

the pioneers

and

often stand behind many great men

historically.

There is a new generation,

new

HOPE

and

new little feet with beautiful

souls

to pick up from the battles of years ago,

from the scars that are worn

and

the cumulative loss and grief that have

been healed along the journey

women who now are educated,

out numbering men in colleges nationwide!

The old ad that was once on televisions on the country has never been more true:

"You've come a long way baby"

...

Ah, yes we've come a long way

thanks to our wisdom keepers

to those who have helped to encourage,

love, mold, and

provide solid foundations on which we have build our own faith and homes

that sustain us in the good times

and the hard times.

Women stand UP

and

remember those who have walked the walk,

who have stepped out of the box

and

created magic and brilliance and opportunities

for all of us

and

the generations to come.

"Go Forward With Courage
When you are in doubt, be still, and wait;
when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage.
So long as mists envelop you, be still;
be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists
as it surely will.
Then act with courage." Ponca Chief White Eagle (1800's to 1914)
Speaking of courage
and
women to admire,
I'm thinking of my dear friend Laura
of her grit, determination
and
her courage.
She has MS, a disease that has to go away.
She may have the diagnosis,
but the disease
will NEVER HAVE HER.
Her daughter Shauna is out in Texas
putting her butt on a bike every I mean every day
to prepare for the MS150
where she will ride once again for a cure
for this miserable disease.
Laura will be at the finish line
screaming her lungs out for Shauna
and
all the others riding
to
CURE MS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWfNCIgmsPs&feature=plcp&context=C45f4959VDvjVQa1PpcFO2X5KGzDdJjhuCeDs-YJdBGCR7PNAzkSk=

Courage personified
and
lives being lived wide open
strong women...
And the next generation on its way
with a voice, a smile
and
HOPE,

Teach one > Reach one

and

embrace the rich history

women

who have made a difference in the lives of all on our earth,

while stepping UP and out

to continue

to embrace all that is beautiful,

all that is passion

all that is worthy of your time.

"Only 95 years ago on Nov. 15, 1917, Our Grandmothers & their Mothers Picketed the White House & CONSERVATIVES to get the right to vote!

33 innocent women were wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' 40 prison guards wielding clubs & their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the women who were defenseless. By the end of the night, they were beaten until they were barely aliv...e. Some were chained to the cell bars, hands above head & left hanging for the night, bleeding & gasping for air. Additional affidavits describe the guards dragging, beating, choking, slamming, grabbing & kicking the women.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food-all of it colorless slop, was infested with worms.

One of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, so they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat & poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. They tried to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane, for fighting to give women the right to vote, but failed.
All of Us, & especially women, need to make sure that they get out & vote, remembering these very courageous women, who fought the Conservatives with their lives, so that women would be allowed to vote today...

Alice Paul

"When you put your hand to the plow, you can't put it down until you get to the end of the row. "

From those brave early days

and

the women

since the beginning of time,

I tip my hat

and

say

"thank YOU'

We've come a long way baby,

and

we've only begun!

Yes it is

Women's Month,

it is the time

for

women to be heard,

and

I do believe that more women, grand dames,

are letting the world know

they have beauty, grace, elegance,style

and

a voice that has power.

Women know the ropes

the hoops,

hell women created them!

“A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up.” Mae West

Yes,

Women are remarkable,

“After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.” ~ Ann Richards ~

Wishing you a day

"roar"

a day that is filled with all that you dare to dream.

When you see a woman out there,

remind her to stand up for all women,

in her walk, her talk, her actions.

Remind that man how lucky he is

to have had a Mom, a sister, a daughter, a friend.

Celebrate each day

with

"awe"

in your freedoms and rights and choices.

Walk in Beauty,

DRSES

keepin it real

www.sherryeshowalter.com

WICKED COOL WEDNESDAY

2012-03-07T08:02:00.000-05:00

Jump on in, it's

Beautiful

Wicked Cool Wednesday!

Since we have a day called

super Tuesday,

let's just create our own

"Wicked Cool Wednesday"

a day

to Jump in to our own

day of celebrating

a day to jump into our own feelings

goodness, honest interactions,

and

right way relations.

Maybe the idea will take form

and

folks will just adopt the thought

and

find it worthy

of a day that spreads throughout the week.

It can be a day

that our thoughts create our actions,

our

fundamtenal belief

that

All people are equal

and

deserve to be treated with kindness

and

respect kinda day!

A day of no lies, no slander, no smut campaigns to fellow Americans.

AND

a day of no attempts to win back that which is lost through acts and actions

beneath a snakes belly

where a bell was sounded and rung loudly across the lands

by one person with too much influence and power...

Yep

I'm thinking it is a

"Wonderful Wicked Cool Wednesday"

and

We The People

ARE

The People.

We come in all sizes, shapes, colors, sounds, socio-economic backgrounds,

faith systems, beliefs, humor, standards,

and

we come with voices

and

great strength

particularly when we come together.

Do you remember those days

after

9/11

when folks all over our country,

in cities and in little towns

banded together

with

UNITY

and their voices were strong.

In cities strangers extended their hand and voice to another with greeings of hello,

how are you...

When crisis hits

devastation

and

angst

suffering is witnessed

Natural disaster

Terrorism

by the hands of hatred

We The People

ARE the People who rise up

and

say

We Are A Strong Nation

and

WE stand together.

Our rights, our freedoms, our humaness

will always

be worth

Standing For

...

The key to standing is to really know

that there may be those times

when you look around you

and

find you are standing alone

at times,

other times

you may just be amazed

to see that out of nowhere comes many

who nod their head

as they take their place to stand alongside you.

And yes,

along the way you may find that some will turn their backs,

others put their heads in the sand,

and

still others will say you now have an enemy

and

to watch your back.

All those things

are proof in the pudding that it is

YOU

that are standing

YOU

that are passionate about someone

something

that has taken you from your seat

and

called you

to Stand.

So when you do, stand proud, stand strong,

and

know that you

are

YOU

and

you have rights, choices, and the freedoms that you do

thanks to those who are in Uniform

and

fighting to maintain our freedom

and

defend us from all harm.

Thank you

those who are serving

those who have served

and

those who love them.

This is a day

I hope you will enjoy,

I hope you will do something absolutely fun

for YOU today.

We survived that thing that is called

super tuesday,

we're continue to hear of the promises, the distortions

and all that stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxD2beB0JTc&feature=plcp&context=C3b9b6aeUDOEgsToPDskI5p8mRfizKEMvW7NSO4oFz

But

just for today,

imagine yourself

taking a great big leap from the back of a boat

and

creating an awesome splash

of wonderment,

only to surface and find yourself

eye to eye

with a dolphin that is smiling at

YOU!

Have the best day

"evah"

STOMP

Faith is a process of taking the jump,

remembering it is not always certain how warm or cold that water will be,

but believing that it will be

and

that you will BE a splash!

Walk In Beauty,

DRSES

www.sherryeshowalter.com

Great timing, Missouri

2012-03-06T09:48:00.008-05:00

Happy Tuesday

some will say it is

Super Tuesday (never did understand what that means).

But it is Tuesday

and

I have to tell ya,

I put this picture up and thought of the day

I saw it!

I was speaking to a group

in the Mid-West

on Compassion Fatigue.

A great group of Professionals

who work in the health-care and mental health

fields

along with the penal system

were there that day.

During the lunch break a wonderful

woman came up to me

and

had something in her hand...

She said something like this,

"I wanted to show you something that helps me keep my stress down, and I just know you will love it".

With that she showed me this soft brown

thing

that you just saw,

and

then said,

"and it's so easy to place over your ear, while getting the point across!"

I laughed so hard I almost fell in the floor!

Yep,

it was a guard against BS

that you can just slip over your ear

and

we sure could use one of those

NOW.

Are you laughing so hard

you are about to pee your pants now?

I did!

Everyone in the room

wanted one,

everyone there was hysterical as she modeled this handy little thing

and

oh boy could we sell them now like

hotcakes!

It's Tuesday

YOU have gotta just laugh

at the absurdities of life

and those who open their mouths

at times.

And then

today

we hear that

Missouri has a sculptor and they are getting ready to add

Limbaugh's "bust"

to the Missouri Hall of the Famous!

Way to go Missouri,

your timing is just great.

Since the sculpture is not yet finished with his sculpting

perhaps it would be more fitting to

sculp his ass or his mouth

for your hall.

Yes

Gotta give it to ya,

he is famous alright.

He has set a new standard that the whole wide world can see as Americans being

disrespected and women thrown into the dark ages with contempt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Km_hIGcZSA

House speaker Tilley's decision to do this

will now create a storm

over the Missouri native

and

home grown pride or disgrace now being

honored while among protest from others in the political scene; Tilley said Monday that the ceremony will go on as planned and that he is “honored” to be the one who chose Limbaugh to be included in the hall alongside Missourians such as Harry Truman, Mark Twain, Walter Cronkite and George Washington Carver.

“It’s not the ‘Hall of Universally Loved Missourians,’” said Tilley, a Perryville Republican. “It’s the Hall of Famous Missourians.”
Wasn't Jessi James also a Missourian?
I do believe he was famous as well
if memory serves me right.
Limbaugh’s bust is being made by Kansas City sculptor E. Spencer Schubert. He didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday. Wonder why there are no sculptures in Missouri... Not trying to take away anything from Schubert, just curious why they wouldn't want one of their own state to represent art from their pride and state?
Schubert also is working on the bust of another Missourian that Tilley is inducting into the hall this year — Dred Scott, the African-American slave who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom in 1857. Dred Scott to Limbaugh, talk about a contridiction in "busts"...
Meanwhile back in
the world of realitiy
we
are suffering at the gas pump
WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION
to what matters;
housing markets
jobs
JOBS
unemployment is high
smear campaigns are raging
and
disrespect is growing.
False promises, outright lies
and
MEN who think us stupid...
The Nations capital
where people come from all over the world,
yet
DC Transit is allowing signage that shows the world, that one can say
ridiculous things
and
curse the leader of our Nation
once again
where is the decency I have to wonder.\
One thing is sure
YOU better wear your boots
cos I think
the muck is rising
You will need to
protect your feet, your souls,
and
your ears
and
your heart and use your brain
as you figure it all out.
A "bust"?
seriously Missouri your timing on this could not have been more "off"
don't ya think?
I'm thinking
the boycott of sponsors that spew a show filled with hatred, with a shock jock that has no class
and
who makes lames attempts of justifying his behaviors and then says "I apologized" for my misuse of words,
is just pathetic.
But then look at the source.
However, as sponsors and those who advertise are bailing out,
perhaps they realize that
We the People are the people
who are now speaking up
and
will no longer tolerate this.
Gas prices?
Well to me that says,
we better be paying very close attention
to
Iran
and what may just be
all hell breaking out
in the very near future.
God Bless America
and
our President and his family.
Thank you
to those who are serving our Nation
to keep us free and safe.
May the Creator give you what is needed
amid this turmoil
that has been created in the words
of those political ones
and
focus to do what you are skilled to do
when called upon
to protect us.
...
People
Stand UP
for respect, for your freedoms, your rights,
your choices
in this Nation of ours.
Imagine, just imagine
how the world is viewing us
when signs on DC transit
say
"go to hell barack"
and
are left there .
Just imagine how the world and our enemies
and
our troops
are feeling
and
what they all our thinking
when
we as a Nation
do not stand together
regardless of party lines
in Unity
...
Imagine how the world and soldiers
of our USA
feel and think
when a shock jock of no morals
spews hatred and venom
against women
when that woman
could be a soldiers wife, mother, daughter, sister.
Yet another country could be saying,
"oh yes, we have them now... they are thinking like savages, and we can attack".
Just imagine
our strength
when we stand
United
and
if that is too hard,
just remember
how we stood
after 9/11,
how we stood
after major disasters
and
now
standing from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes.
We are a strong people
living in our beloved country
and
we
are speaking.
RESPECT
and
we have to now wonder
how in the world
Missouri House speaker can even begin to defend his actions
of an ass being honored by way of a bust.
Maybe the sculptor will take some artistic liberties
and
make the mouth open, tongue out
and lay some oxycontins on the tongue
as a
great message to those who are now dying by thousands each year from prescription overdoses
and
then at least we can think there is a message in the madness
of this decision.
Great timing once again.
STOMP

Walk In Beauty,
DRSES
keepin it real
www.sherryeshowalter.com
Get Up
and outshine your day today!

Read more here: http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/missouri-house-speaker-defends-honoring-rush-limbaugh-state-capitol/#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/missouri-house-speaker-defends-honoring-rush-limbaugh-state-capitol/#storylink=cpy

Towers Trumps Gypsies and Thieves

2012-03-05T07:47:00.002-05:00

MONDAY

it's

Monday

a new day

a new week to make

your voice be heard

to dance in the streets

to sit it out.

I have listened, laughed, cried,

been downright outraged

and

still

can say

"I am continually amazed at the buoyancy of the human spirit".

Many many many

have asked since the writing of these blogs

and

Healing Heartaches

for a voice to go with my thoughts.

Many have asked others here

"what does her voice sound like?"

and

I have finally been drug up the mountain to the world

You Tube

and

answered your questions!

I sure hope you enjoy what is to become a daily

program there

called

DrSherry Keeping It Real!

The number of "clicks" to view it

will probably determine how long I will do this,

or shall I say the number

"likes"!

But

many have asked

and

now the ask need be no more.

Hope you enjoy

what is the first of many

thoughts and musings

"Keeping it Real"

you tube style!

"click"

and save it to your favs'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WShdTZANhtQ&context=C308fe5cADOEgsToPDskJAgxaR6jz2eaiXTlRjuKhs

From the Towers we see The Trump

and

his celebrities

and the t.v. realities that just seem so short of reality in so many ways.

We see people that I can hardly recognize

yet they are doing their best to win

The Donald's challenges

for charity or organizations they believe in.

We see

Humanity at its best

in the worst of times

witnessed over the news

with all that has been devastated in our country

with the Tornadoes and now sift through rubble.

People are finding their way to those that need them, those that need hands, arms, and bodies.

Once again

we are reminded that we are all connected

by the many who are responding

in all the ways they are able

at a time of crisis.

I cannot imagine the pain, the devastation

of sifting or walking through what moments before was my home, my life, my treasures

now exposed for the world to see

and

wonder how ...

The prayers and the prayer bowl are full

and

prayers are going UP

...

We have witnessed horror

in the news, on the air,

on the sides of buses

and

in those who exercise their rights of

the

1st Amendment.

We've also seen an outcry

and

those who have said,

"enough is more than enough".

We are seeing the efforts of many ordinary citizens; men and women, teenagers

now standing

and demanding that

one man be taken off the air

for his crude, insensitive and reprehensible

acts.

We're seeing sponsors, and those who advertise on the Rush show

now "backing out"

and

taking emails and phone calls seriously.

Those like Proflowers, and a few others

will see that supporting your

local business and mom/pop operations

will in fact boost the economy

and

the service will probably be better as well.

The heat is on

where those folks live.

It lives in their pockets

and

many are now saying

"we boycott".

...

And yet,

the wonderment of the day,

is spirits of gypsies and thieves

and

those who embrace this as a time

ACT not react

STAND

not to sit.

Anyone who values women;

has a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister,

granddaughter

is now realizing that

women are powerful, they vote, they will not tolerate any longer being treated in ways that are less than what they deserve.

And

we deserve all the rights and privledges

and

choices that men make and enjoy

every day.

"We The People"

are

The People.

And the people are talking.

STOMP

Yesterday's blog has a list and so many comments from readers.

It also has a wealth of resources of ways and numbers that YOU can get involved with

to add your message

YOUR words

to those that are being spoken.

I encourage you to speak

so that theives

will not steal your spirit

nor

your rights

nor

your choices

nor

your respect

nor

decency.

To end,

the really grand news of this weekend

is that;

Godson Kamryn and his team

in Radford VA

played some wicked basketball

with him averaging 13 points a game,

and

after 3 games of the AAU

those boys

took

2nd place in the championships!

Way to go Lakers in Radford,

great job!

Seems the effects of 3 games in a row

on those who are 10 years old

takes a smile

even when they are

crowned as winners!

Of course it could also be that the smiles are hard to come by

as a result of the

outright FIGHT

they were exposed to and the secondary trauma that was absorbed by seeing

ADULTS

act like asses

in front of kids playing their hearts out.

Perhaps that had some impact

on why they lost one of the three games

after witnessing an almost brawl

the basketball court

where parents showed themselves

and conducted themselves

in a way that

was shameful

resulting in the police being called.

What is wrong with people?

Role models?

C'mon now... these are kids

playin their hearts out

and

they are passionate

and

competitive

in their sports.

Sit down parents, holler, praise

and

have fun,

but please... stop the maddness up there.

Congrats kids,

not all grown-ups are insane,

hope you all will forget what you saw

but learn

from the lesson of it.

Radford Lakers 2012

Kamryn and his best pal JW bottom left.

Oh those are some tired lookin champs!

So here we are

in the beginning of a new week,

a time of newness all around.

From devastation will be re-building,

from strangers will become friends of a lifetime.

From ignorance will grow empowerment

and

knowledge.

From this moment

have the choice

to dance

sit it out.

I hope you dance.

STOMP

To those in Sundays prayer bowl,

YOU were being held up.. and always are.

Walk in Beauty

DRSES

keepin it real

www.sherryeshowalter.com

visit me

or to purchase

Healing Heartaches

I appreciate each of you.

STAND UP for what is right..and what is just wrong.

2012-03-04T06:25:00.007-05:00

Yes

I have something to say

BUT

I am NOT the only one!

Here me

and

STAND UP

pick up your phones

get your keyboards ready to type

and

Let YOUR voices

be heard.

Together we are

stronger than the mighty oak

and

If you are not OUTRAGED

YOU

are not paying attention!

STOMP

I am "outraged"

and
I hope you will not be swayed by the latest
statements of Rush
with a "sorry" at the end.
A thinly valed "apology"
if you call it that
from Limbaugh.
Entertainment?
Humor?
REALLY....
"I did not mean a personal attack" he now says... "In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation."

Limbaugh mocked President Obama on Friday, after the president called the young woman to thank her for testifying before Congress on the issue. Once again his disrespect valed under that of an entertainer is reprehensible.

Be interesting to see what he is capable
of, if he did mean one.
Remember Maya Angelou,
"when people show you who they are
believe them".
And once again Rush L has shown himself
but
this time
he's gone too far.
As he now scrambles to refuel his wallet,
and
makes a half baked attempt at
righting his wrong.
He can not unring the bell/
It has been rung/
Many are telling it like it is
when
saying he is a total and complete
misogynistic snakes belly.
You can call him an entertainer,
I will not, he has never entertained me.
You can say that is what people on the radio do,
but
it is not what they do.
You can say it is a result of his admitted
drug stents,
but
that does not excuse him.
He probably hoped for more listeners,
better ratings,
but
He has shown the world
his hatred of women.
He can now say how ridiculous this all is
to have people upset
when there are bigger fish to fry,
economy going south
gas goin up
elections and those who want the
white house.
I will say,
KEEP IT REAL here
there is Nothing he can say to me.

In more ways than I can count

absolutely

disgusted that one "man"

is still allowed to spew hatred, insanity, along with his perverted self righteous hatred of women

across air waves.

Yes

I am talking about

rush lim****

and

he has

finally taken his revolting snake belly

beneath the guise of humaness.

It is time

for him to go away,

far far away.

IF and I say "IF" he ever had a mother

(which I have my doubts)

she is surely hanging her head.
Perhaps he can be the next
POSTER BOY
for contraceptives and condom use.
His mother

would be a grand poster parent

for

birth control now.

This ...
well what do you call someone who so carefully,
willfully
spews such outright hatred and his own warped sense of reality in and on a radio show about a young woman

and

in the process self admits that his disdain

for women is

only topped by his desire to

"watch them have sex"?

A very bright young woman

named

Sandra Fluke

found and used her voice elequently

in front of

members of Congress, a comittee,
and testified at a hearing on

womens health.
We are now seeing some of the most repulsive and hateful spewings since I cannot remember when; name calling of a young woman, assuming the worst, making up the rest.
Men and some women confusing politics
with
womens' health and their own dignity
and
right to be heard.
Some are wanting to compare Palin and Maher and such to this act of behavior.
It has nothing to do with Palin, it has nothing to do with Maher.
Let's be clear,
it has everything to do with an assault
made on air,
a medium supported by people and organizations that make money, *your money*
on Rush
and
his outrageous remarks.

She stood calmly, respectfully

and explained how affordable coverage

of contraceptive coverage for women would benefit not only her

but millions.

She is a brave woman, attending a Jesuit University, a woman with a bright future.

I am certain her parents are filled with pride.

This is what she said to the members of

Congress: taken from ABCgo.com

Sandra Flucke:

Leader Pelosi, Members of Congress, good morning, and thank you for calling this hearing on women’s health and allowing me to testify on behalf of the women who will benefit from the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage regulation. My name is Sandra Fluke, and I’m a third year student at Georgetown Law, a Jesuit

school. I’m also a past president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice or LSRJ. I’d like to acknowledge my fellow LSRJ members and allies and all of the student activists with us and thank them for being here today.

Georgetown LSRJ is here today because we’re so grateful that this regulation implements the nonpartisan, medical advice of the Institute of Medicine. I attend a Jesuit law school that does not provide contraception coverage in its student health plan. Just as we students have faced financial, emotional, and medical burdens as a result, employees at religiously affiliated hospitals and universities across the country have suffered similar burdens. We are all grateful for the new regulation that will meet the critical health care needs of so many women. Simultaneously, the recently announced adjustment addresses any potential conflict with the religious identity of Catholic and Jesuit institutions. When I look around my campus, I see the faces of the women affected, and I have

heard more and more of their stories. . On a daily basis, I hear from yet another woman from Georgetown or other schools or who works for a religiously affiliated employer who has suffered financial, emotional, and medical burdens because of this lack of contraceptive coverage. And so, I am here to share their

voices and I thank you for allowing them to be heard. Without insurance coverage, contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school. For a lot of students who, like me, are on public interest scholarships, that’s practically an entire summer’s salary. Forty percent of female students at Georgetown Law report struggling financially as a result of this policy. One told us of how embarrassed and powerless she felt when she was standing at the

pharmacy counter, learning for the first time that contraception wasn’t covered, and had to walk away because she couldn’t afford it. Women like her have no choice but to go without contraception. Just last week, a married female student told me she had to stop using contraception because she couldn’t afford it any

longer. Women employed in low wage jobs without contraceptive coverage face the same choice. You might respond that contraception is accessible in lots of other ways. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Women’s health clinics provide vital medical services, but as the Guttmacher Institute has documented, clinics are unable to

meet the crushing demand for these services. Clinics are closing and women are being forced to go without. How can Congress consider the Fortenberry, Rubio, and Blunt legislation that would allow even more employers and stitutions to refuse contraceptive coverage and then respond that the non-profit clinics should step up to take care of the resulting medical crisis, particularly when so many legislators are attempting to defund those very same clinics?

These denials of contraceptive coverage impact real people. In the worst cases, women who need this medication for other medical reasons suffer dire consequences. A friend of mine, for example, has polycystic ovarian syndrome

and has to take prescription birth control to stop cysts from growing on her ovaries. Her prescription is technically covered by Georgetown insurance because it’s not

intended to prevent pregnancy. Under many religious institutions’ insurance plans, it wouldn’t be, and under Senator Blunt’s amendment, Senator Rubio’s bill, or Representative Fortenberry’s bill, there’s no requirement that an exception be made for such medical needs. When they do exist, these exceptions don’t accomplish their well-intended goals because when you let university administrators or other employers, rather than women and their doctors, dictate whose medical needs are legitimate and whose aren’t, a woman’s health takes a back seat to a bureaucracy focused on policing her body. In sixty-five percent of cases, our female students were interrogated by insurance representatives and university medical staff about why they needed these prescriptions and whether they were lying about their symptoms. For my friend,

and 20% of women in her situation, she never got the insurance company to cover her prescription, despite verification of her illness from her doctor. Her claim was denied repeatedly on the assumption that she really wanted the birth control to prevent pregnancy. She’s gay, so clearly polycystic ovarian syndrome was a much more urgent concern than accidental pregnancy. After months of paying over $100 out of pocket, she just couldn’t afford her medication anymore and had to stop

taking it. I learned about all of this when I walked out of a test and got a message from her that in the middle of her final exam period she’d been in the emergency room all night in excruciating pain. She wrote, “It was so painful, I woke up thinking I’d been shot.” Without her taking the birth control, a massive cyst the

size of a tennis ball had grown on her ovary. She had to have surgery to remove her entire ovary. On the morning I was originally scheduled to give this testimony, she sat in a doctor’s office. Since last year’s surgery, she’s been experiencing night sweats, weight gain, and other symptoms of early menopause as a result of the removal of her ovary. She’s 32 years old. As she put it: “If my body indeed does

enter early menopause, no fertility specialist in the world will be able to help me have my own children. I will have no chance at giving my mother her desperately desired grandbabies, simply because the insurance policy that I paid for totally unsubsidized by my school wouldn’t cover my prescription for birth control when I

needed it.” Now, in addition to potentially facing the health complications that come with having menopause at an early age-- increased risk of cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis, she may never be able to conceive a child. Perhaps you think my friend’s tragic story is rare. It’s not. One woman told us doctors believe she has endometriosis, but it can’t be proven without surgery, so the insurance hasn’t been willing to cover her medication. Recently, another friend

of mine told me that she also has polycystic ovarian syndrome. She’s struggling to

pay for her medication and is terrified to not have access to it. Due to the barriers

erected by Georgetown’s policy, she hasn’t been reimbursed for her medication since last August. I sincerely pray that we don’t have to wait until she loses an ovary or is diagnosed with cancer before her needs and the needs of all of these women are taken seriously.

This is the message that not requiring coverage of contraception sends. A woman’s reproductive healthcare isn’t a necessity, isn’t a priority. One student told us that she knew birth control wasn’t covered, and she assumed that’s how

Georgetown’s insurance handled all of women’s sexual healthcare, so when she was raped, she didn’t go to the doctor even to be examined or tested for sexually transmitted infections because she thought insurance wasn’t going to cover something like that, something that was related to a woman’s reproductive health.

As one student put it, “this policy communicates to female students that our school doesn’t understand our needs.” These are not feelings that male fellow students experience. And they’re not burdens that male students must shoulder. In the media lately, conservative Catholic organizations have been asking: what

did we expect when we enrolled at a Catholic school? We can only answer that we expected women to be treated equally, to not have our school create untenable burdens that impede our academic success. We expected that our schools would live up to the Jesuit creed of cura personalis, to care for the whole person, by

meeting all of our medical needs. We expected that when we told our universities of the problems this policy created for students, they would help us. We expected that when 94% of students opposed the policy, the university would respect our choices regarding insurance students pay for completely unsubsidized by the

university. We did not expect that women would be told in the national media that if we wanted comprehensive insurance that met our needs, not just those of men, we should have gone to school elsewhere, even if that meant a less prestigious university. We refuse to pick between a quality education and our health, and we resent that, in the 21st

century, anyone thinks it’s acceptable to ask us to make this

choice simply because we are women.

Many of the women whose stories I’ve shared are Catholic women, so ours is not a

war against the church. It is a struggle for access to the healthcare we need. The

President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges has shared that Jesuit colleges and

universities appreciate the modification to the rule announced last week. Religious

concerns are addressed and women get the healthcare they need. That is something

we can all agree on. Thank you.

This woman stood UP

and she spoke for all women.

And

then, someone who calls himself human

went on air,

and was twisted, sick, humorless, and hatefilled

about her, to her,

and

shared his view of
Ms. Fluke
and

ALL WOMEN.

He called her a "slut"

and
a prostitute.
He alleged that this young woman was having so much sex she cannot pay for contraceptives.
HE IS AN IDIOT.
Limp Rush said: "if we're going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."

LIMBAUGH: "This woman comes forth with this frankly hilarious claim that she’s having so much sex, and her buddies with her, that she can’t afford it. And not one person says, did you ever think about maybe backing off the amount of sex that you have?"

Did you read that anywhere in that transcript?
And he is relentless

in his on air

attacks against a 3rd year law student

who has the support

of
so many,
inlcuding

the President of

Georgetown University

the support of

her parents, family, friends,

and

people across the world.

Of course that is with exception of the

nutcakes who watch, follow, listen, and like him.

Rush lives in his own fantasy probably fueled and fed by oxycontin

and

his slew of sexual fantasies

with what or whom I cannot even fathom.

Yet

insurance will pay for

VIAGRA

and

not for contraceptives?

This maniac iswill continue his unrelenting and vicious attacks on

Ms Fluke and all women.

and has yet to have an understanding of

birth control pills,

womens rights and choices

and

healthcare needs of women.
He may have Viagra and birth control pills confused as he implies that the number of pills you take are dependent upon how much you are engaging in sex.

He thrives and exists at the expense of others

and

it is past time it is stopped.

Whatever rock you crawled out from under

it is long overdue

that you return to it rush.
I have never listened to this man
spew his hatred, bigotry, egotism, and inflated sense of self in his well-known money influenced drug induced states.

As those who do NOT listen,

we can affect change

in many ways.

Here are the ways,

and

in closing let me just say this:

Thank YOU Ms. Fluke for your grace, your poise, your ability to stand UP

and thank your parents

for the wonderful job they did

in raising a young woman

to be of strength.

...

women

Stand UP

Men, this could be Your daughter, your Mother, your sister...

STAND UP

and let

YOUR voice take action.

This has nothing to do with party lines

with how one votes

with conservatives or liberals

middle of the roads

I don't cares.
It has nothing to do with your tax dollars
your rights as a citizen.
It has everything to do
with
Rush and his disdain
his outright ignorance
and
the need to stand.

THIS HAS TO DO WITH WHAT IS RIGHT

AND

PEOPLE WHO TAKE THE

1ST AMMENDMENT TOO DAMN FAR.

Clearchannel shame on YOU.
Those who advertise on this radio show, sponsors,
I will not do business with you,
the Sears Card has been destroyed
and
the list is goin down.
Just cancelled the sleep number bed that was ordered.
Pro flowers? Nope, off the list too.
Carbonite? Not a chance in hell.
Life Quotes, what a disappointment to hear of you supporting this man and feeding him so well.

Next?

Here is the List of current Rush Limbaugh Sponsors,
LIMBAUGH'S SPONSORS

ProFlowers
... Email
Web contact form
Sales or Service: 1-800-580-2913
Phone: 800.580.2913

CARBONITE, Inc.
617-587-1100
177 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
carbonite@mailnj.custhelp.com
Direct Dial Office: 617-587-1100 EXT:1115

Mid-West Life Insurance Company of Tennessee
9151 Grapevine Hwy.
North Richland Hills, TX 76180
Phone (800) 733-1110
(web banner ads on rushlimbaugh.com)

American Forces Network
Contact Us: @MyAFN.net

Mission Pharmacal Company
10999 IH-10 West Suite 1000
P.O. Box 786099
San Antonio, TX 78278-6099
Telephone: (800) 531-3333

Life Quotes, Inc.
32045 Castle Court
Evergreen, CO 80439
1-800-670-5433
info@lifequotes.com.au

Life Lock
https://twitter.com/#!/lifelock
US Phone: 1-800-543-3562
International: 1-480-457-4500

Corporate Communications: tami@lifelock.com
http://www.lifelock.com/

AOL
http://techguru.aol.com/rush/?ncid=bannadusstor00000102
1-855-677-4611

AOL Corporate: 1.800.827.6364

ADDITIONAL:

Show Your Support to stopping Rush.

List of Radio Staions that Air Him
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/menu/rush.guest.all.html

FCC Consumer Complaint:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/...
Includes "Obscene or indecent programs" and "unfair/biased" broadcasts.

Syndicated By:
1) Premier Radio Networks: 818-377-5300
http://www.premiereradio.com/
Corporate office: 15260 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Syndicated By: 2) Clear Channel: 210-822-2828
http://www.clearchannel.com/
Corporate Office: 200 East Basse Road, San Antonio, TX 78209

We together are a powerful force to reckon with,
and
today I am asking you
to use your voice,
to
STAND

DRSES
keepin it real
www.sherryeshowalter.com

The ABC's of it

2012-03-03T08:08:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning

and the above thought I caught on a

page of Facebook

and

had to grin,

we need to put that one in the

front part of the brain

I'm thinking!

The storms have now left destruction

from the Gulf Coast

The Great Lakes

and

today many are without their homes,

their loved ones,

their minds

as they attempt to make order of it all.

Photographs of the remnants of

homes, memories,

things that are upside down

or completely gone,

and in one home of such mass destruction

a table sits as if nothing had happened

with two American Flags

standing perfectly straight.

Disaster and trauma

and

"states of emergency"

have been sounded.

We have to have

FAITH

during times like this,

we must maintain

HOPE

for those lives so deeply affected,

those lives lost

and

those who are now wandering through

the debris.

They will survive this,

they will find that ability

and hands that will be extended

to hold, to help, to care.

"Faith can move mountains, but don't be surprised if God hands you a shovel."

~Author Unknown ~

My prayers to all in those states

and

communities

and those who love them.

Brave and strong men and women

will just show up

will arrive

and will jump in to do whatever and wherever

because they can.

People will show the best of humanity, as they gather in fellowship with UNITY to render compassion and care and desire to make a difference for those who are now wondering how this could possibly happen to them.

Lives forever changed

by a ravaging storm front that has

taken lives,

destroyed tapestries

of lives put together through years of work, play and prayer.

Strength and faith will be tested in ways

never before imagined.

And yet,

many will find a great ability

to re-build

to stand UP

to believe that it will work out

in the long haul.

People are truly amazing

and

able to accomplish great things

during times of such heartache

and

tragedy.

As strangers will meet for the first time,

they will quickly develop bonds

that one would think had been tied strong

together for years.

They will cry together, sweat together,

find ways to restore and build up

TOGETHER

Unity

as those who are connected

as human beings who care only can.

We will witness and some will be there

hand in hand

heart in heart

doing the extroidinary jobs

of digging through devastation

and

instilling

HOPE.

We will see once again,

the proof will be in the puddin;

that when we stand together

we stand

STRONG

and

we are a great force to reckon with

in the times of tragedy

in the times of greatness

and even

during times of great stress and sadness.

are people who stand strong in the face of harm, of threat, of destruction and devastation.

I cannot help but wonder

why

we forget or choose to not stand in ways such as this all the time.

In our thoughts, our actions, our

UNITY

as brothers/sisters

of our country.

My gratitude to all the

FIRST RESPONDERS

who are now answering the call

and those who are volunteering

in the states, communities

and

lives that have been affected

from

the Gulf to the Great Lakes.

Our prayers and thoughts are with you

today and in the coming days

and

months.

Please hold on to each other

and

onto

FAITH

...

"Faith is a passionate intuition."

~William Wordsworth ~

Blessings to all who gather here,

"keep the faith"

DrSES

"keepin it real"

www.sherryeshowalter.com

More on Loss and its Complexities:

2012-03-02T05:25:00.007-05:00

Grief Triggers

Loss

Fear of loss

finding balance

and

just missing the way things used to be

often stir up emotions

wishes

dreams

hopes

doubts

complexities of life.

My prayers and thoughts to all those who are digging out from the devastation of the recent Tornado paths.

To those in shock and horror in Ohio

my thoughts are with you,

and

to that coach who instinctively

took charge,

"thank you",

you are a man to be hugged, to be thanked

and

to be held UP by so many.

For those in the political arenas

around the country,

to Virginia and its Governor,

it is "past time"

women STAND UP,

men wake up

and

realize ...

Women have rights,

you enjoy your freedom, your rights,

your choices as Americans?

STOP trying to take away those very freedoms

choices and rights

Women.

Rush Lim*brainless*, someone take this piece of human pus off the airwaves,

he is dangerous, he is mean, he is

perverse, and I will not support

any of those who support his airtime.

List of supporters to come!

Don't like something?

Don't do it.

Like your rights as an American?

Leave the rights of others alone.

These are some frightening times.

Grief

is not just a response or reaction following a death of physical form or a person or something we have loved and held precious.

It is experienced by inches at times

when something or someone we love

is close to us,

right beside us

within us!

Many will speak of those feelings and experience the many and varied stages of

loss and grief

during times of upheaval in their lives,

in times of great change.

Often I've heard people describe

grief responses

when one they love is ill,

when a major/significant change has occurred

in their world.

Times that create those reactions
in your life

when your world seems upside down

and

split between surreal and real
and
words that are hard to muster,

and

it doesn't quite make sense in the grand view of how it has been planned out.

Friendships, family members, bonds that were suppose to last forever

that somehow change

and

lead to

separation, detachment, estrangement,

divorce

for examples.

When you think you know someone
well,
have built a foundation
a relation
based and created and nourished
of thoughts/beliefs
or
so intimately.

...

At times people will talk about knowing

the place they work, the people they spend the bulk of their time with,

the organizations that they dedicate their service to,
ones they represent
and
do their best for.

Many across the country now

feel they have no voice anymore,
feel that they are just there to fill a space,
some

afraid to say what they think or feel.

For if they do?

They have seen others be told,

"if you don't like it ... Leave".

There have been relationships similar to that type of toxic work environment,

relationships

built on belief systems, trust, honesty

and time given to nurture and foster

a greater love to sustain through years

in the good and bad times.

But something changes,

well hell everything changes,

we all change,

but some things are just supposed to stay the same right?

When we give, love, nurture, honor

and trust.
We mourn our dreams, our youth, our health
our
well you can get the drift here.
Grief is a frequent companion in all phases
of life.

...

We find our belief and trust
our feelings; that it is reciprocal

over time,

we've been taught that, if we are

we've been loved or respected for who we are

and

our word, that love will be returned in similar ways.

When relationships fail,

and

during the times that they begin to fall apart,

there are signs and symptoms

not only the failed relationships

that often get missed;

but it just may be that our vision is clouded

as a result

of experiencing

GRIEF as it is happening.

Grief takes you off your game, so to speak.

Things begin to not make sense,

vision gets cloudy,

many are not hearing the very words that are being said.

Others are hearing only parts of the sentence,

and those parts are the ones that are hoped for

rather that what is being intended.

People begin to see only what is hoped for,

what was rather than what is.

Grief

in all its wonder

can color the view like a kaleidoscope

and

depending who is looking through that narrow opening

the view will look different and continually change and the other end is manipulated.

Loss is Loss

and

it truly is painful

and

takes time, support and understanding to get through it.

It is grief; it is a journey that will grab you and make you pay attention.

It also will make people question why you call it grief!

Many will not understand

how could you feel you are grieving when no one has died; many will ask why and how could you grieve when you chose to walk away from a relationship.

It is in those times

that your grief feels disenfranchised

not acknowledged by those you may need the most.

There have been some relationships

in which it has taken

30 years for someone to show another

"who they are"

and it is only then that hard choices have to be made, and the words of

Maya Angelou will never be more true.

"When someone shows you who they are,

believe them"

Working with people with Alzheimers

and listening to family members

one often hears grief expressed

and not "anticipatory grief" that is read about.

But very real grief, as families express their daily losses, of watching, hearing, witnessing the loss of a loved one while they are still alive.

Their grief is real alive

along with the person they love.

At the time of a funeral yes there will be a finality, a sadness, but often one will hear families and friends declare,

"I did my grieving while they were alive"

"I lost him/her a long time ago".

"To spare oneself from grief at all cost can be achieved only at the price of total detachment, which excludes the ability to experience happiness" Erich Fromm

Yes, grief in its complexities, the emotions, feelings, physical spiritual emotional

is tremendous.

It happens as we mourn our youth,

our dreams,

our loved ones who are no longer sitting across the table.

It happens as friendships are dissolved

bonds that we knew would last forever are disrupted and choices are made to

end relationships

and just walk away; walk away mad, angry, hurt, astonished or

as enemies.

It happens as we see 1/2 of all marriages and unions ending in divorce;

there are still upsurges of grief reactions.

Circles/cycles/phases/stages

Life at its best/worst

Life in all its splendor

through painful loveliness.

And still,

NO ONE

wants to talk about

loss, death, grief,

and yet we bear witness to it,

go through it

each second, each minute, each hour

of each and every day.

"The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief ~ But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love. ~ Hilary Stanton Zunin ~

There are sometimes

when everyone has or will say

"good-bye"

and in that saying

it will be final,

there will be a point of no turning back

and

yet even then their will be grief triggered,

but it will also be a time when there is a final and clear resolution to a time and a relationship.

In that way it is most compelling

and

so very different from grieving a most beloved treasured loved one,

on with whom you are now faced with finding ways to continue the relationship in a healthy and most different way.

But yes,

grief will and is

playing out in our lives right this minute

and

probably in ways unimagined.

And yes,

sometimes

"good-bye" is the only thing left to say.

I know that no one likes to feel it,

no one likes to talk about it,

no one

really likes to have to deal with it.

BUT

perhaps that is why we get so very involved when grief is made public,

when stars and celebs die,

when grief is then sanctioned

and given a voice.

YOU are as if not more important,

you and that which is sacred to you

are as important as anything or anyone.

We have to learn to talk, feel openly,

in order to heal.

Sure wish we could bring back rituals

that allowed others in the community to recognize those who are grieving,

perhaps it would make for a kinder place

and

one that allowed others to relate easier.

Remember those black armbands?

Back when the community knew that if a person got on an elevator looking like they had lost their best friend,

the could tell at a glance that indeed they had

...

Wherever you are,

Whatever you are doing today,

I wish you all that you dare to dream.

Walk In Beauty,

DRSES

"keepin it real"

www.sherryeshowalter.com

for speaking inquiries and to pass along to those who may have an interest!

Thanks for being here!

Pulled the "grief trigger" ....

2012-03-01T05:50:00.004-05:00

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief... and unspeakable love."

~ Washington Irving ~
Oh

those krumpled kleenex

and

sitting at the kitchen table.

Alone or with a trusted friend,

those

"grief triggers"

will get pulled

and

activated

and

whether we like it or not

that

grief "thang" will creep in

at times when you least expect it.

I can tell that

my thoughts the other day

have activated the trigger

in many here,

and

for many who do not comment

but read often and re-read as well.

Yes

grief is an "opportunist"

and drinks from our well of

resources and energy

from time to time.

Often leaving us exhausted

and

grumpy, worn out, or sad

or just plain out

depleted along the path.

More often than not

and

according to research

people will heal in spite of clinical interventions

although many benefit greatly from therapists

and

many will at times

come to the conclusion

that it becomes a choice made to

re-join the dance of life

or be stuck in the darkness of pain.

Seems everyone

related quite well

to this humor

and very real

thought:

That grief,

and its way of

being and showing

itself.

And

at times

we just have to "sit with it"

and

allow the tears to fall

and the trail of grief

to take us through the path once again,

or perhaps differently

now that we've had some time;

have felt the reality of missing

that many label "yearning and searching"

in texts and literature and counseling.

MIssing is missing

and it is something that has yet to be defined

in its completeness

but certainly felt

by those who feel it deeply.

The

pain of loss one goes through takes a tremendous toll on the spirit, the fabric of life of the person grieving and those still here

who also love and bear witness.

and

it may be helpful to acknowledge it and

to recognize that somewhere along the line

we have been given words

and those words are

"powerful"

and often do not fit

what we are feeling

in times of mourning loss

absorbing the realities of death

and

its impact.

We've been conditioned and taught that

"I know just how you feel"

"you'll get over it in time"

we've been told

"don't dwell in the past"

we've been encouraged to

come to

"acceptance"

"find closure"

and

"move on"

Words are powerful instruments that give a command to our brain,

but do not make sense always to the heart.

It just may be we need new words,

to adjust to what is now

our meaning systems

incorporating the pain of loss

and

the reality

that

"hearts that are connected in life cannot be separated by death, as death is not that powerful".

However,

labels are the rage,

pathology is confused with reality and the complications of grief are reality

for each who experiences profound loss

of something or someone they love.

Meaning systems are shaken,

the very foundations that we build lives on are felt to be in a state of dis-equilibrium.

And

our systems are thrown into crisis,

added to the words of so many.

It is no wonder people do not fully grasp the reality of loss for so long,

they are too busy trying to find their grasp and understanding of all the words being said to them and to figure out how to apply them now that their world is out of balance.

Denial

Anger

Bargaining

Depression

Acceptance

...

Resilience

Recovery

Chronic Dysfunction

Delayed Grief or Trauma

Reconciliation

Letting GO

....

Words, definitions, explanations, theories and postulations

on human experiences and emotions

can be challenging,

can be upsetting

can be plain out off the mark.

Sometimes we don't want to "let go"

why would we?

Letting go implies to release, and hearts that are connected never really let go of love do they?

We must use our brain and our bodies, hearts, souls to connect to the words that we are hearing and saying

in relation to our lives, our losses

in order

to heal.

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?"

~ Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) ~

The existence of

"complicated grief" is now being talked about, being discussed and is a current debate in the field of those in the professions and academia.

I think that all grief is and comes with

complications.

Particularly for the one who is grieving.

It is a personal journey,

one that is different each and every time loss is involved dependent upon the love, the relationship, the unfinished business,

the age, the type of kinship shared,

and

the imprint that is left to be honored and remembered.

I also think that we need new words,

words that speak loudly

to the

opportunist that grief is;

and

those times when sadness and missing

hit home and hit hard.

Times when you just wish you could spend an afternoon together, or share another precious event or laugh or seek council with

or just "be".

Feelings and profound thoughts on

loss and grief are not new, they have been thought about and felt since the beginnings of time.

I found this quote and found it

quite beautiful

and so very true

if only we can instill it and believe:

"Grief is itself a medicine".

~William Cowper (1731-1800) ~

Just as music is the Universal language,

it soothes in ways that nothing ever will,

so is grief itself a medicine to wounds never imagined.

So as you give yourself permission for those times when that opportunist called

"grief" comes to pay a visit,

allow it to be medicine

to soothe your soul,

allow yourself time to feel, to be one with it,

to lean in to those times and memories

and

then

STAND

with

Faith

HOPE

Clarity

that you have loved and been loved

and

say the name of the one you love

while sharing them with everyone you see!

And yes,

there are times

when you would just about give anything

to see them again,

so pay attention

they are everywhere YOU are.

Walk in Beauty,

DRSES

"keepin it real"

www.sherryeshowalter.com

Whatever YOU Believe

2012-02-29T06:07:00.004-05:00

FEBRUARY 29,2012

LEAAAP YEAR!!!

Happy day of confusion

and

here's to the

Leap year babies!

....

I never did figure out

where

Enter

based on this photograph

and sign!

But

I finally made my way to

"enter"

and enter I did

into an airport

....

well now I don't remember where!

Speaking of entering,

my thoughts today

are

on beliefs.

Now that is a tricky thought to enter

into!

What to believe,

who to believe,

how to believe,

when to believe,

Do you believe?

I BELIEVE!

Years and years of work in hospice

have given me a perspective of beliefs and thoughts that are beautiful

that have at times been challenging

and

have always fostered my own

true belief
that the Creator leads us all
to greatness, to oneness;

that life is in circles and seasons

and

cycles.

Very much akin to what Mary Labyak

of Hospice spoke so very often of

when she talked to colleagues, to legislature, to so many

around the world

about the vision and mission of

HOSPICE its concept, it work.

The very real ideal

Hospice care at is best;
its core being seen
and acted out in circles.

Beliefs are often

held sacred, private, often challenged in and within those circles.

Many attach faith, religion, spirituality

to belief systems,

it has never been more apparent

than in my lifes' work in hospice settings

as people face end of life issues.

Folks who are nearing the end of their lives, and those who love them

often will express their faith, their beliefs,
their anger, their angst
their anticipation,
their joy of what is to come.

I've sat with many, with chaplains, nurses, social workers, home health aids, volunteers,
many across the faith spectrum

we often explored the faith and belief systems

and

values of those we worked and spent time with. Often exploring our own in the same process!

Listening with all our senses

as fears, tears, anger, acceptance and

rituals were expressed.

Christians, Native Americans, Buddhists, Agnostics, Athesists, Jews, Muslims,

Wiccans, Pagans,

all with their own

set of beliefs.

Non-believers have their own beliefs and to hear and listen
openly is a vast and rich experience.

To not believe is in fact a belief system,

even if it is not yours.

To accept one for what they stand for

is true acceptance in life,

one without judgment,

one that says,

"to not believe is saying that is what you believe" and that is alright by me,
I value you for being who you are.

But,

it is also a belief system

to believe in truth, in honor, in justice

fairness,

and

when someone is "blowing smoke"

based on

what they present to you

and

how it is presented.
I remember Maya Angelou
and forget her wisdom so often,

"The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.” ~ Maya Angelou ~

There are times when

the belief may begin in earnest
and then someone will show you who they are,
as you are suddenly
down a path

that leads us to wonder,

to suspect

that we have been led

to something that violates

our very beliefs
along with the beliefs and trust that had been established.

It is then

that we are wise to remember Maya Angelou,
wise to step back,

re-evaluate

and

re-assess

the very core of self and what and who we believe in.

The foundations

the course, and the turns that were taken based upon the strength of our beliefs.

When living in a world so diverse

in beliefs,

it is always helpful

to stand strong in our own bodies, minds and spirit,

knowing we will need to be flexible

in our hearing, feelings, and thoughts.

Knowing that anothers' beliefs

may be completely opposite of ours,

but it does not diminish who we are

individuals

with beliefs, with thoughts, with attitude of gratitude.

It is in perhaps

these ways that we are so

universally connected

that we share

the idea

that whatever we

BELIEVE

it is up to us

to be responsible

and

acccountable

in our kindness and our stewardship

to others.
One of the many painful lessons I have learned through the years,
is that people you think you can believe
in

can lead you down a primrose path
and
then out of the blue
you will feel blindsided
once you realize
that business and believing
in the words of others
can be harsh
and userious
...
The harsh realities that make one realize
that YOU must believe in you
always
and that which is within
that motivates, and leads you
in your actions, words, good deeds
and
your life.

“Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz ~

What is important

is to ask yourself

"What do I believe"

Walk in Beauty,

DRSES

keepin it real

www.sherryeshowalter.com