Immigration: The Debate and the Moral High Ground

Since 911 we have become a country that no longer believes itself to be safe from international violence. We have experienced first hand the devastation of loss on our soil. Our immigration system is broken and now consumed by fear as well as ineptitude, we struggle to move forward. 

We are a nation of immigrants. The only true natives are the American Indians, everyone else is an immigrant. Our boarders both north and south are pretty loose verses those who come into our country by plane or boat. We are a large country and the length of our boarders are long and have many miles covered by uninhabited land and wilderness. In short we do have to tighten up the loose ends. In the meantime we have people who are seeking asylum from persecution from violent gangs and corrupt governments. People who are looking just to live their lives without fear. I heard on Face the Nation this morning that at least 80% of all people coming into the United States are fleeing for personal safety for themselves and their families. So what are we to do?

Well I cannot write what we can do, we have experts that should be working on that. We do need to curtail people coming into our country illegally, we are a nation that has a rule of law. Sometimes though there are special circumstances.

I cannot remember where in Central America this large group of immigrants came from, but they came in a caravan headed for the US. We knew they were coming, we should have prepared to process them instead of seeking to ban them. The news gets confusing to me after that. One day I am listening to the news and this group of people are camped along our boarder and the next time I am hearing about children being taken from their parents.

President Trump has this zero tolerance policy for illegal immigration, which in effect means that the immigrants that come in illegally are jailed immediately and the children taken from them because they are not to be incarcerated with them. Obviously this was a heartless and extreme measure to a group of people who have already been extremely traumatized by events that led to their exodus.  Thank God that those closest to Trump were able to convince him that taking the children from their families was extreme and unusual punishment. In short a cold hearted act that served no reasonable purpose for the country nor the families involved.

What happens next is yet to be seen. But kudos to those who have been fighting for the human treatment of the immigrants coming in. We are a nation of laws, but we are also a nation of compassion and humanity. We are the standard bearers of freedom and human rights. This has been our nation's drive since World War II when we found out about the exterminations of Europe's Jews. We as a nation have held the moral high ground, we must not decide to waver from that now. We are the land of the free, the dream of the weary and safeguard for those who seek justice and peace.

We need to protect ourselves from those who seek to harm us, but we cannot call everyone the enemy or we will lose our identity and our grace.

A Mother's Day Reflection

It happened a couple of days ago as we were celebrating my father's 95th birthday. My son got into the driver's seat and I in the back directly behind him. I see a small spider on his headrest and before I get the panicked words, "there's a spider", I open my car door and quickly swish the spider out the door. For those who know me that was an unbelievable act of courage, for I have a undeniable fear of spiders and all bugs for that mater.

Love trumps fear, and my instincts were to protect my child, even if my child will soon be 44 years old.

I am so proud to be a mom. I raised two children and I would give my life for either of them. To be a mother is the greatest blessing a woman can have. I look back on the childhood of my children. I worried about them, cared for their activities (I hate sports, but I was there), shared their joys and their sorrows. Love is what binds us, even today. I pray for them and their families daily. I still worry for them too. I have found that I never stop being a mom. The children grow up, but you love them and worry about them long after they have left the nest. Being proud of them when they are young and even (if it were possible) prouder of them as adults.

I reflect back to my own childhood, I had three moms, my mother, my grandmother and my great aunt. (my grandmother and her sister lived with us. My mother had ill health for many years.) I loved all three of them so very much. though all three of them have left this earth, my love for them has not ceased.

To all the mothers reading this, know that your sacrifices, worry, joy and prayers will never be in vain. You are cultivating a community of love that will last through your children, your grandchildren and yes even your great grandchildren. Those who come to know you will love you and love never dies.

Have a very blessed and joyous Mother's Day!

The bits and pieces of life

This is one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. It contains every gemstone imaginable. It cost me only $35. I can wear this piece with just about any outfit, whether it be casual or dressy.  If you take a closer look you would see that it is made up of scrap pieces of gems. The cast offs, the insignificant pieces that were meant to be thrown in the garbage. Yet I own this beautiful piece. I bought it with the idea of owning so many gems. I have never been disappointed with this purchase. It is a mirror of real life.

How many times do we feel insignificant and that we don't matter. In a world where there is so much emphasis on fame and power, we need to remember that in life the small and the humble are important too.

It isn't Gun Control, It should be Gun Common Sense

After this past week's horrible school shooting in Florida, the 18th since the beginning of this year, the gun control debate is flourishing again. My confusion is with people siting the 2nd Amendment. Really. This isn't a 2nd Amendment issue. No one wants to ban guns, we just want to take the semi automatic and automatic guns out of circulation.

The AR-15 is easier to purchase than a regular handgun. You cannot go hunting with this rifle, if you did you won't be able to eat the kill. In an article written by the Toledo Blade Editorial Board and I quote; "It is easier to buy an AR-15 - now the weapon of choice for copycat mass killers - than a handgun in Florida and Ohio. You must be 21 to buy a handgun, but you can buy this weapon of war at 18, and with no waiting period in Ohio."

To me this is very scary that this horrible weapon, which is much more damaging than a handgun, can be gotten so easily.

Why are some gun owner so hell bent on keeping this gun. It is a weapon of war. It was designed for one purpose, to kill as many as possible in a short period of time. If collectors want this gun, fine, don't sell the ammunition and have the gun for show.

People, we need to compromise here. Don't give me the malarkey about guns don't kill, people do. Yes, people can still kill with a knife or a rock. But you cannot take out a dozen people in a minute with a rock or a knife. And yes, mental illness is a problem here, but obviously with being able to buy the AR-15 so easily even the mentally ill can buy this gun.

We need to respect our 2nd Amendment right, but we also need to make sure innocent people aren't dying because we cannot compromise for the common good.

I am neither a liberal or a conservative. I am someone who lives in balance. Living in the middle allows me to be able to compromise when things need to be corrected. Our country cannot continue to have the right and the left constantly having to have their own way. We need to come together for the common good of the entire country. That is what our founders had in mind when they drew up the Constitution.   

Election Day is finally in site. Praise God!

I don't know about how any of you are voting, and that is okay. Voting is a very personal thing and we are so blessed in this country to be able to have free and open elections. I hope that if you haven't voted yet that you will do so on Tuesday. It doesn't truly matter who you vote for, neither of the two major candidates are virtuous, or without blemish. I can honestly say I am disgusted by both of those two choices. I have heard some say they are going to vote; not voting isn't the answer.

We need to choose the person who we feel best suits out political and religious views. Between Clinton and Trump there is no cut and dry solution for me. Both candidates, for me are flawed and self involved. Hilary is totally trying to become president to forever remain in the history books; and I have come to believe that she will do so at any cost. She is totally in this for herself. Whatever good and noble intentions she had, left her long ago, that is why her popularity is so low. Donald, well I am not sure I have him figured out. He is definitely a narcissist, and definitely vulgar, loud mouthed and makes fun of people; all of these things are truly despicable and not very presidential. However I have come away with the feeling that he does really care about people, he is very unpolished, but then he is not a politician. I believe that is why he has such a following. People are tired and frustrated. We do not have the level of jobs that we once had, a $15 mandatory minimum wage won't change that. Flipping hamburgers at a fast food restaurant is not a career, jobs like that were at one time for school kids wanting to make a little extra money, $15 an hour for them will only make the food more costly and less people doing more work. I don't make $15 an hour and I am an administrative assistant. I live pay day to pay day like most people these days. I once made over $40,000 a year, but the auto industry went bust and being over 50 it was hard to find another high paying job again. I have no regrets, I live a modest life and I love what I do. The only point I am trying to make is that our economy has changed so very much. We no longer have the volume of high paying jobs that we once had. With the new "Obama Care" insurance rates have become astronomical. Our economy is out of control and so is our world. People are afraid.

This new movement will continue no matter who wins. The people of this great country want to be heard and they will be heard. No matter who wins this election people will demand change.

Voting is the beginning of instituting this change. Please vote and make your voice heard. We are a nation of hard working, generous people. Everything will fall into place as long as we demand that the people we elect are truly working for the people and not themselves.

Please vote, make a difference, and be involved. Complacency is what has brought us to this point in the history of our great nation. Only personal involvement and political transparency can heal us again. We must make our elected officials do the job we elected them to do. That is why I believe in term limits for all elected jobs, city, state or federal.

Please vote and make a difference!

October is respect for Life Month-What It Truly Means to be Pro Life

October is the month dedicated to the Respect for Life movement. During this month we pray for an end of abortion and an end to this culture of death in our society.

I hear a lot of people say they are pro life. I am pro life too. When most people hear that phrase they think of those people being anti abortion, and that is certainly true, but it is so much more than that.

To be Pro Life means that you believe that all life is sacred from conception to natural death. So obviously abortions, mercy killings, murders, and the death penalty are things that we are against. Even though pro life is all those things it is also much more than this. Pro life celebrates all life, it desires to protect all life. It realizes that all life is a gift from God.

To respect life also means to respect the people we meet everyday, to have empathy for those who are hurting from violence or escaping war, or poverty. Respecting those people who are marginalized and mistreated and threatened because of race, color, or religion.

Because respecting life is all these things, we should be inclusive of this when we debate the abortion issue. I hate abortion, I also hate seeing Muslims being harassed and vilified because of the atrocities of the Islamic Jihads. I hate seeing the disabled made fun of, I hate crude remarks about how someone looks. I hate the violence that exist in our streets. I hate the violence between black and white.

I love all life. God has given us our lives, this good earth and all our individual talents. God is life, God is love. We are called to love each other no matter what. Yes, even those we do not like, or do not understand.

So when you are talking to me and telling me not to vote for someone because they are not pro life, keep in mind that I am looking at the whole picture. I want to see an individual run for office who encompasses all the criteria that I mentioned above.

Unfortunately, there is no one running for president with the above attributes, so I must make my decision using a different yardstick.

I don't know what the future holds, who the next  president will be. I do know this. Unless we become a society that once again treats all people with a least a small degree of respect, that we become a little more compassionate to our neighbors, or take responsibility for the children that we conceive in moments of passion; unless we become life giving in our individual actions toward all people, we will never truly be a people who actually are respectful of life.

It's Mom's Day!

What a beautiful day here in Maumee, Ohio! The sun is shining and the temperature is a beautiful 78 degrees. I started the day with going to Mass and thanking God for the many blessings that He has bestowed on me. Then I heard from my children and grandchildren. The day is just plain precious.

There was one person whom I could not hug today. My dear mom. Momma died nineteen years ago on May 1st. I'd like to dedicate this to her.

Momma, I missed you again this morning. I think of you everyday. We didn't have a 1950's TV life, but it was certainly a good life. I remember the time we were little and you were sick. The trips we took to Cleveland so that you could see your doctor. We would walk to a church in downtown Cleveland and go to visit Jesus in the tabernacle and light a few candles. I don't know how old I was, I was just old enough to remember I guess. Funny how I think of those times so long ago.

Momma, I love you. You weren't Mrs. Cleaver or Harriet Nelson, but you were perfect for me. God bless you momma, I know you are keeping the angels in stitches.