September 2, 2011 |
| What is Patriotism? |
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WHAT IS PATRIOTISM?
Sometimes we take for granted words that seem to be imbedded in our psyche. The word patriotism comes to mind. What is patriotism? Who is a patriot? As a child of the 50’s and 60’s, we were taught in our classrooms to pray and to pledge allegiance to our flag. I remember very clearly my seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Louise Todd Terry, requiring each student to recite a morning prayer at the beginning of our school day. I don’t remember all the context of my prayer, but I do know that I prayed for our soldiers.
Just two short years later, my older brother, Larry, would receive his draft notice while attending college. He was drafted into the United States Marine Corps, one of only three young men selected for the Marines from our county at the time. They were looking for a few good men, and I would have to agree with their choice. Our whole family was so proud of him, but what made a lasting impression on me was my mother crying. It seemed as if she cried for two entire years. All we knew was that the Marines were always on the front lines, and fortunately my brother came home safely. His future brother-in-law would not be so lucky. Reginald C. Britt, or Reggie, as he was called, joined the Navy as soon as he graduated from college, and became a pilot. He jumped out of an airplane, his parachute did not open, and his body was lost at sea. His mother is in her mid-eighties today but I still see the melancholy in this mother’s face when she speaks of her long-lost son.
Pearl Harbor was still fresh on everyone’s mind, and my father, Paul, 21 years of age, joined the Army on the very patriotic 4th of July, 1942, since he had just recently completed his stint with the CCC, also known as the Civilian Conservation Camp. He developed health issues and received an honorable discharge two years later, classified as a disabled veteran. My father had seven brothers, six of whom served their country. He and four others served during WWII with the younger brothers enlisting as they came of age and one serving in the Korean War.
My father-in-law, Joseph Thompson, landed in France just after D-Day. He was scheduled to travel aboard the Belgian transport ship, the “Leopoldville.” At the last minute he received orders to travel aboard a smaller ship. He was very agitated and questioned the decision. He was a captain and wanted to travel with his men. He begrudgingly sailed on the alternate ship. As soon as he landed he started to search for his group. A fellow officer came to him and asked if he had not heard of the catastrophe, and he replied he had not. The soldier informed my father-in-law that the “Leopoldville” was struck by a German torpedo and had gone down in the English Channel. Over 700 men from the 262nd and the 264th Regiments, of the 66th Infantry Division of the United States Army, also called the Black Panthers, had died. They were reinforcements headed for the Battle of the Bulge. The final tally was 763 soldiers-mother’s sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers that had been killed or died of hypothermia. The day was Christmas Eve, 1944. It was the coldest day on record for Europe at that time. Fate, or God’s intervention, had spared my father-in-law. He questioned why he was spared and so many of his fellow soldiers paid the ultimate price for freedom.
He was called up again during the Korean War. He earned a Bronze Star that now hangs in our house and forever commemorates his service, his courage and his patriotism. This month my father-in-law just celebrated his 93rd birthday. He has lived a good life, raised three children, and taught Sunday school for 40 years. He just celebrated his 68th wedding anniversary with his beloved Jo. Time and a stroke have slowed him down but his legacy survives in his life story and his family.
Today my son, Adam, wears the uniform of a United States Army captain. He spent a year in Iraq with another deployment soon to come. When I see him in uniform, I feel a mother’s pride. I also feel a huge lump rise in my throat whenever I see a helmet propped on an M-16 rifle with a pair of empty boots resting nearby.
In high school I read the book, “Hiroshima.” I also read “The Red Badge of Courage.” I did not have enough life experience to correlate my reading material with my family’s history. It was not until later in life I understood, as I explored and traced my roots and learned of the sacrifices of my ancestors and the deaths of grandfathers in battles. Not until my son stepped into those military boots and traveled to a foreign land did I understand a soldier’s mother’s heart. I then understood my mother’s fear. I understood my mother’s tears. Those books weren’t just words on a page anymore.
I still feel the tears well up when I hear the National Anthem. I feel my chest rise up whenever I recite the Pledge of Allegiance. My family traces our military service through every conflict back to the founding of this country. So again, I ask, what is patriotism? The dictionary describes a patriot as someone who loves and loyally supports his or her country. I guess I can say this describes me well. I think it describes my family very well. So, just as a soldier can thank God for his safety, I also thank God for being born in the greatest country ever known to man. “America, God shed His Grace on Thee.”
Patricia Morris Thompson
John Wade Keyes Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
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DAR has served America for 121 years as its foremost cheerleader. In 1928, the Daughters began work on a building as a memorial to the Constitution. John Russell Pope, architect of the Jefferson Memorial, was commissioned to design the performing arts center, known as DAR Constitution Hall. Today, DAR Constitution Hall is the only structure erected in tribute to the Constitution of the United States of America.
Known as the largest women’s patriotic organization in the world, DAR has over 165,000 members with approximately 3,000 chapters in all 50 states and 11 foreign countries. The DAR has long promoted patriotism through commemorative celebrations, memorials, scholarships and activities for children, and programs for new immigrants. For more information about DAR and its programs visit www.dar.org or call (202) 628-1776.
For a video that shows some of our local DAR members go to http://www.youtube.com/user/TodaysDAR.
The story above on Co-Chairman Patricia Ann “Sissy” Morris Thompson’s patriotic family provided inspiration for her to join the DAR and to help with our Constitution Week program.
Information provide by
Mrs. Doris Estes of Athens, Alabama
August 27th, 2011
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August 30, 2010 |
| The Importance of Our Constitution |
The Importance of our Constitution
by Paula Phillips
Most countries in the world have a set of written laws to which their societies must adhere. These laws usually proclaim what a citizen of that country may not do against society, the general public, or its government. In the United States , our great legal document is called the Constitution.
The unique greatness of our U.S. Constitution is that this document is not so much about what the citizens cannot do, but rather what the government cannot do against its own people. It specifies and limits the government’s power over the people and puts the power squarely on the shoulders of the citizens, not the centralized government. This exceptionality had never been tried in a nation before our founding fathers wrote our Constitution. Hence, our America and its governing document were called “the great experiment.”
Prior to our beloved Constitution, peoples of other nations had to submit to an all powerful central government – be it monarchy or parliamentary. Our wise founders decided that the people should not submit to the will and possible tyranny of an all powerful central source, but rather our government should submit to the will of the people. Our founders had had enough of a tyrannical government telling them what they could and could not do, of taxing them without their consent, and then not listening to them when they had grievances. Our founders wanted their posterity to inherit a better form of government than had ever existed in the world.
The importance of our Constitution cannot be overstated. Without this document, America would lose its specialness, its blind justice for the little person, and the hope the people keep from generation to generation. It is because of this special manuscript that we can expect, nay demand, equality and justice. We can pursue our dreams, hopes, and ambitions free from the shackles of tyranny.
Where else in the entire world can one take his grievances to the highest court in the land and expect a fair hearing? Where else in the world can a person practice the religion of his choice without fear of persecution from the government? Where else can one express himself and his views openly without fear of government officials taking him away to prison? What other country gives the individual the right to keep and bear arms? What other nation specifically outlines that every citizen is equal in its country? Where else in the world can any child dream of being president one day? Only in America is this achievable, and only because of our Constitution is this possible.
Our founders sacrificed their lives and their fortunes so that our great document, this Constitution could be our inheritance. It has been important enough for men to give up their blood, sweat, tears, fortunes, and comfort for its survival. It is in our U.S. Constitution that we, the children of these ingenious founding fathers, find our rights as American citizens. It is because of their sacrifices and their forethought that we have bestowed upon us the responsibilities and the freedoms of the greatest nation on earth.
It is therefore of utmost importance that we protect, defend, and preserve this way of life – with our Constitution’s guarantee of freedom – and pass it on to future generations. Any lack of vigilance on our part can erode those freedoms.
This great document was important enough for our ancestors to stand up to the most powerful nation on Earth at that time – Great Britain – and say “we have had enough. We believe we can govern ourselves better than anyone else can govern us.” It was important enough for these American rag-tag farmer/soldiers to fight against a powerful and precise military enemy against all odds of winning. It was important enough for our ancestors to guarantee our liberty through this document. And, it is important enough for us today.
The Constitution is our country’s most sacred document. It is because of these written laws which guarantee our liberty that America is still the most special and greatest nation in the world.
The U.S Constitution is still important and worth defending with all we have – our honor, our lives, and our fortunes.
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July 28, 2010 |
| Finding a Care Giver |
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Caregiver Hands
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Finding Care for Caregivers
By Diane Lehr
When Susan’s mother was diagnosed with cancer at the same time her grandmother received the diagnosis of dementia, Susan stepped in to offer daily assistance, coordinate care, and settle the estates of the cherished women in her life. Susan represents multitudes of women who daily step out of their comfort zone and into the roles of nurse, legal advisor, housekeeper, pharmacy technician, cheerleader, and prayer partner to their own close relatives. This role, without fail, exhausts and depletes even the most well prepared family caregivers. Often these duties are delegated to the available women in the family who are considered the natural recipients of these difficult roles. The caregiver’s well being must be considered in these cases because a sustained effort at caring for those in such a demanding situation will lead to physical and psychological decline in the caregiver’s own life. This dilemma results in a crisis within the society as fewer and fewer are willing or able to assist fiscally or physically in these situations. Susan is an example of a woman who did have some resources available to assist her, but many have only themselves to offer as relief to the people who are ill in the family. This proud woman worked independently for a time and then was savvy enough to see that she could not sustain the demand. She reluctantly reached out to her church and to local community support systems and found herself sitting one day in the middle of a conference room with several other women who shared with her the caregiver label. She was uncomfortable participating in this support group at first, and felt that she did not really know what she would say. Over time and after hearing so many stories, she learned simple ways to improve her situation. Susan offered a woman she met through members of her church a small wage to come in for two hours, three days a week. The woman would prepare lunch, assist with baths, and sit with her two family members who were often reluctant to have Susan leave. During this respite, Susan took a brisk walk, either around her neighborhood or at a local park or mall. This time away served as a reset button on Susan’s feelings of entrapment.
She also took the opportunity to revamp her own dietary habits as a result of researching the most nutritious meals she could prepare for her mother during her cancer fight. Susan turned off the television news and learned to appreciate the quiet and serenity of the "news fast." She began to read period novellas, rather than the big news publications. She found herself playing CD's of classical orchestras and easy jazz as a way to mentally escape the tedious daily questioning and confusion she dealt with in her grandmother’s dementia. She realized that keeping a soft musical atmosphere in the home kept her grandmother calmer as the day progressed.
She also developed a keen love of the art of high tea with her mother. Susan began to allow herself the luxury of soaking in bubble baths every night after all were in bed. She found that these times were the only rescue for her tense muscles. Susan discovered that her grandmother enjoyed many childhood activities and that keeping a sense of play in the environment kept everyone happier as opposed to feeling overwhelmed by the adult loses in intellect and interests. After several months, Susan called her closest cousin and asked that she relieve her once a week so that Susan could attend evening church services and go to dinner with friends. A neighbor offered to come in and stay on the high priority bi-monthly support meeting days. Susan began to anticipate with longing the drive to her support meetings and she developed friendships and telephone buddies with a most unlikely group of women who shared very little in common except the common stressors in their lives. She also grew to love late night British television comedies and the early morning chirping of birds in her own backyard as she sipped the most elegant brands of coffee she could brew. Her mother struggled with having hospice in the home, and Susan felt that she could not have them if it was too upsetting to her mother's peace of mind. "Just take each day as it comes," became the statement Susan found herself saying over and over and it seemed to bring everyone relief.
As her grandmother grew less able to be in the home, Susan began the search for adequate long term care and was blessed to find a satisfactory facility not far from her local area. It was a heartbreaking decision and Susan sought pastoral counseling in order to work through her feelings of guilt about it.
As with the dual diagnoses this family received, there were also close dates of death for Susan’s mother and grandmother. She performed the duty of funeral planning and saw all the funeral arrangements through in a very short span of time. Often in situations like this, the caregivers are ultimately left responsible for most all decisions related to the illnesses and deaths of their loved ones. Susan was advised by her pastoral counselor to seek out a local grief workshop and she obliged and found it helpful to deal with the grief that accompanies death that in some ways is seen as a blessing.
In the daily walk of so many caregivers in our country, there seem few opportunities to find care for these unsung heroes in their own lives. Their reward is often intangible and without their own emotional support system, a happy ending is unlikely. Relief leads to despair, which will often accompany the death of the loved one as a result of feelings of guilt. Having the ability to confide in others during the intense stages involved in care giving offers a release and provides the ability for the caregiver to grieve.
It is the intent of this essay to offer ideas and simple solutions that might help in finding the way through such a crisis that can often show up at some point in the lives of good people everywhere.
Name: Jeannie Diane Lehr
Chapter: John Wade Keyes 3035AL
Athens, Al
e-mail: RNbullit@aol.com
Essay Title: Finding Care For The Caregiver
Category: Family Health
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July 28, 2010 |
| John Wade Keys Scholarship |
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Lauren Long, Scholarship Winner
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Lauren Long, daughter of Jamie and Larry Long, is the winner of the first John Wade Keyes DAR Scholarship. She is an honor student at West Limestone High and will attend Auburn University in the fall. She attended Alabama Girl's State in 2009, was elected Most Likely to Succeed from her class, and won a State 4-H Achievement Award getting to attend National 4-H Congress last year.
She has been a member of the West Limestone Scholars Bowl for 6 years, served as an officer for the Junior and Senior Beta Club, been a officer for WLHS 4-H Club for 2 years, served on the Yearbook Staff and is currently the co-editor. She has served as class officer for 5 years, was Reporter for WLHS Spanish Club, and has served as Public Relations Officer for the Student Government Association.
Lauren is a two-year member of the Limestone County 4-H Junior Learders and is currently serving as Historian. She has been a member of the Limestone County High School Enrichment Program for 5 years, during which time she worked with Tanner Head Start and the Birdie Thornton Center. She was chosen to be a part of the 4-H Youth Leadership and Career Development program; in this program she traveled Alabama and learned about different job opportunities in the state. Lauren has volunteered at the Athens-Limestone Public Library for 3 years.
Lauren has also held 4 paying jobs during her high school career. She has worked as a Library Assistant for our library. She has been a tutor for middle and high school students. She has also worked as a babysitter and has worked 2 summers on a blueberry farm.
There were 15 applicants for the modest John Wade Keyes DAR scholarship and Lauren was chosen by an independent panel of judges. "Education is one of the three missions of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and we are delighted that we could help Ms Long with her college goals at Auburn University," said Regent Pam White.
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2011
What is Patri...
2010