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Oh, Those Days
This won’t be published before Mother’s Day 2019, but it is still important. Maybe the message will prepare those concerned for the coming year. The “days” I refer to are labeled, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day and then Parents’ Day, as if Mother and Father didn’t get gifts the first time. There are celebrations galore and people are made to feel special. For one day. I am a real Scrooge about these days for a variety of reasons. Firstly let me protect myself before the attackers take over. Whomever wants to celebrate those occasions need to do so. These are merely my opinions. My children were raised to believe…
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DON’T YOU GET USED TO IT
It is 7:35 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9. Every year, Victims Services of Montgomery County hold a memorial service and vigil for families and friends of homicides. I am honoured to be asked to present the Spiritual Invocation. This is my twenty third year attending. Watching those in anguish is heartbreaking. I have friends who have lost their children in this evil way and some have told me of the incredibly ignorant questions and comments they had to endure. Yes, I am sure it is done with every good intention. It is important to think before speaking. The poem I like by Angela Miller goes as follows: MY CHILD…
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I’ll Take That One
It is Memorial Day 2018. I have thanked men and women, alive or dead for their service. Thank you again. I woke up this morning with tears streaming down my face. They turned to sobs, heartrending sobs. It went on for quite a while, until I could hardly breathe. Bear in mind, I rarely cry. I realised I must have had some silent nightmare, bright and piercing in its intensity, but that one doesn’t remember. Other than John having died June 5th, 2015, so that date was looming, I knew it wasn’t that. It was gnawing at me and the physical pain was intense. The ER? No, this was strictly…
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When There Are No Words
What happened to a local Abington school girl over the years? There are no words. However, I am going to find something to say because of the murder of Grace Packer, whose memorial service was just held. I am not going to write a lot about 14-year-old Grace. I will focus on only this message. We must protect our children far better than we have been. You can find out about her, and her horrific life from the age of three, under her name Grace Packer, on many news sites. I came home today and found a book on my table which I had recently loaned to a bereaved father. It…
