Share Your World – 2015 Week #24

What’s your favorite charitable cause and why?

My favorite charitable cause is the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. And the reason is easy to understand, considering the fact that not only am I a retired nurse, but I’m also a mother. What better cause could there be than an organization which is dedicated to finding cures for children and saving the lives of children? I have been very fortunate to be the mother of three healthy children and never had to worry about whether they would live to see adulthood, but just imagine if you were the parents of a child who was facing the possibility of perhaps not even surviving beyond their third or fourth birthday? So you can see why I believe this charitable cause is a very worthy one. After all, I hope to be a grandmother some day, and I’d like to take comfort in the knowledge that if one of my grandchildren were diagnosed with what is now considered to be an incurable disease that by then, it will be curable, all because of St. Jude’s.   

What color do you feel most comfortable wearing?

I really don’t mind wearing any color, to tell you the truth. I’ve always worn whatever color suited my mood at the time, although I have gone through periods of wearing just one certain color for weeks at a time, although I’m not really sure why that’s been, and in particular that color was black. I think I did that because black just goes with everything! But I will tell you that my favorite color to wear is pink. I’ve always adored the color pink. It’s so cheerful and it makes me happy. Did you know that the color pink evokes feelings of love, sensitivity, and tranquility? But it’s funny – I really don’t have that much pink in my wardrobe because I can never seem to find the right kinds of clothing to wear that are in the color pink. Now why do you suppose that is? There should be better pink clothing in the world, don’t you think?   

If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? (guest can be dead, alive, famous or someone you just know)

1.  Okay – the first thing you must know about me before I tell you who my first guest would be is that I am a HUGE history buff, and my favorite era in history to study is the American Revolutionary War Era from 1775-1783. Just the fact that the thirteen American colonies, struggling for their independence from Great Britain, were able to hold their own and eventually triumph over the greatest army in the world (that being the King’s British Army) has always amazed me and filled me with a sense of American pride. I know – I’m kind of a geek, right? So, my first guest would have to be Benjamin Franklin. From what I’ve read of him, Benjamin Franklin led quite an extraordinary life. Not only was he one of our founding fathers, but he was also an inventor, diplomat, author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, civic activist, and statesman. I’d have a very long list of questions for him!

 

2.  Being a retired nurse, I’d absolutely have to invite Florence Nightingale as my second guest. Florence Nightingale, a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, was also the founder of modern nursing. She’s most famously known as “The Lady with the Lamp,” a name which she received after making rounds of wounded soldiers at night during the Crimean War (1853-1856). While nursing the soldiers over this period of time, Florence believed that the death rates were due to poor nutrition, lack of supplies, stale air and overworking of the soldiers. She also came to believe that most of the soldiers at the hospitals were killed by poor living conditions. It was during this time that her advocacy of the importance of sanitary living conditions for the soldiers at the hospitals was the greatest contributing factor to the reduced death rate. I would love to interview a sister nurse!

 

3.  For my third guest, I would love to have Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. Eleanor Roosevelt was called “The First Lady of the World” by President Harry S. Truman because of her human rights achievements. She advocated for expanded roles for women in the workplace, the civil rights of African Americans and Asian Americans, and the rights of World War II refugees. During her time as First Lady, she was very outspoken, which didn’t earn her any points with the public, but she didn’t care because she stood up for what she believed in regardless. And on a few occasions, she even publicly disagreed with her husband’s policies. She was the first presidential spouse to hold press conferences, write a syndicated newspaper column, and speak at a national convention. When Franklin became partially paralyzed due to polio, it was Eleanor who persuaded him to stay in politics, and she even began to give speeches and campaign in his place. After he was elected as Governor of New York, Eleanor regularly made public appearances on his behalf. She also shaped the role of First Lady during her time as First Lady and beyond. She was a great lady and I think she would make an excellent guest.

List:  What are at least five places you’ve enjoyed visiting?

Yikes! I haven’t traveled to very many places in my life, but let’s see if I can come up with at least five.

1.  Philadelphia, PA:  Okay, the reason for this is quite obvious. As I said, I love American history, and one of the best places to go sight-seeing, especially for history regarding the American Revolutionary War Era is Philadelphia, PA. After all, there’s Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Declaration (Graff) House, Betsy Ross House, Congress Hall, President’s House, and Society Hill. There’s so much to see in Philadelphia!

2.  Disneyworld:  This was the trip of a lifetime for our family, and it was a place I had only dreamed of going to when I was a child. When the trip practically fell into our laps, I could hardly believe our luck! I’ll never forget the way I felt as we stood on the paddle boat and crossed the lake to Magic Kingdom Park, with my two girls standing on either side of me. I remember that I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as the music, “When You Wish Upon a Star” was playing all around us from the speakers which were positioned above us on the boat. We had a great time that week and made memories that will last a lifetime.

3.  Cabo San Lucas, Mexico:  This was a stop on our 25th wedding anniversary Mexico cruise for my husband and me. We took this cruise with my sister and her husband and my best friend and her husband. When we first arrived at this stop, we took a ride on a glass-bottomed boat, which was quite unique. I could see all kinds of sea life! After that we were on our own and headed for the beach. I’ll never forget how blue the water was. It was absolutely breathtaking and so serene. I really hated to go back to the ship that day!

4.  Black Hills, SD:  Our family has been to the Black Hills a few times, because it is one of our favorite places to go. There are just so many things to see in the Black Hills that I can barely begin to list all of them, but here are a few of my favorites: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Wind Cave, Deadwood, Reptile Gardens, Bear Country, and Badlands National Park.

 

5. See – I told you I haven’t been to very many places! Okay, so how’s this: “To be continued . . . ” 

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week was a great week for me! I’ve been entering my stories/poems at the challenges over at yeahwrite.me for almost a year now, but have never won any awards, but still I continued to post my stories not just because I enjoy the challenge, but because I enjoy writing. Period. Never did I expect to win an award because all the writers are so great over there. But last week I actually won not only one, but TWO awards! Can you believe that? I was so happy that (silly me) I cried tears of joy! The first award was the “Top Three Award” in the fiction/poetry category for my poem, “Pandora’s Box.” And then, best of all, I won “Editor Pick” for my story in the nonfiction category, “My 68-Year-Old- Brain.” I’m telling you, I had to pinch myself because it just seemed like a dream to me and I thought for sure that at any minute I would wake up and find out that it really wasn’t true! I guess it just goes to show that you have to keep trying and continue to do what you love, no matter what, because that’s what will make you happy.

There are two things that I’m looking forward to in the upcoming week. I’ve been having so much trouble with my back; as a matter of fact, this has been a chronic problem which I’ve been suffering from for years and I’ve tried everything to get rid of it – medication, physical therapy, injections, even surgery, and all to no avail. So now I’m going to visit a chiropractor and I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I’m hoping that perhaps he will have a solution. I’m just so tired of my back pain preventing me from living a normal life. Some days I can’t even sit at my piano – and if you know anything about me, you know how much I love my piano! So I pray that this will help.

The second thing is so much better because this weekend is Father’s Day! This means that my son Joe, my daughter Sarah and my son-in-law Axel will be coming over on Sunday to help me celebrate the wonderful man who is their father, my husband Mike. He is probably the best Dad on the planet. He has always put his children first, no matter what – even before me! And that about says it all, right? He would do anything in the world for his kids just to be sure that they are safe, healthy, and happy. And that’s only one of the many reasons that I love him. We’re planning on having a barbecue in the backyard and will spend quality family time out on our deck, and hopefully our Minnesota weather will cooperate. Right now the forecast tell us there’s a 40% chance of thunderstorms, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed!

And I’d like to wish all those Dads out there a very Happy Father’s Day. And remember: Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad.

So now you know a little more about me.

I’m glad we had this time together and I’d like to thank you for spending it with me. I’m so pleased that I was able to share a bit about myself and my world with you and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Best,

 

This post is presented as part of the Share Your World Challenge. If you’d like to be part of this great activity, please click here:

Cee’s Share Your World Challenge