I am fed up with politics. The U.S.A. is overdue for election reform and term limits. According to the Center for Public Integrity, a Pulitzer Prizing winning news site, in the 2016 presidential election, more than $1 BILLION was spent campaigning. It was a brutal election. Each year the diatribes against political opponents becomes more bitter, filled with half-truths and outright lies. Campaigning is less about what good can come of electing a particular candidate and more about the ways the opponent is flawed.
Fewer voters go to the polls. Electing a candidate is often based on who a voter doesn’t like rather than who can do the best job. Knowing who can do the best job is difficult to determine. Weeding through the rhetoric to find a kernel of truth takes an enormous amount of work and political savvy. And the money spent is mind boggling. One billion dollars? I can’t fathom that amount of money. Those dollars could have been better spent for education, economic development, health care, or workforce development.
Representation “by the people and for the people” has all but disappeared. Congress is largely made up of lawyers who have little or no contact with their constituency outside election campaigns. Everyday folks can’t afford to run and if they do and are elected, how will they hold their own in a city where cost of housing is more than they make in a month? My cynical friends say it’s because everyone in Washington is on the take. Please let it not be so! I want to believe there are still elected officials who have integrity, and who have the best interest of the country as their priority. I don’t see a lot of that, but I remain hopeful.
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(NewsUSA) – When scientists first read the entire genetic code of a human being in 2003, the monumental achievement promised a new era in medicine.
What diseases we get, and how we respond to drugs, depends in large part on our own individual genes. Knowing our own genetic code, therefore, makes it possible to design specific treatments that work best for each person – an approach known as personalized medicine.
This personalized approach turns out to be especially important in cancer treatment. Tumors that seem to be of the same type can actually have very different underlying genetic mutations. And because many of today’s drugs are designed to target particular genetic vulnerabilities of cancer cells, a drug that is effective for some tumors will fail for others.
Realizing the enormous promise of personalized medicine hasn’t been quick or easy. It has required major scientific and technological advances to prove the links between genetic variations and diseases, and to dramatically lower the costs of identifying and sequencing genes.
But recent progress has been impressive. In the last few years, more than one-quarter of all new drugs approved by the FDA have been personalized medicines. And by 2020, the total market for targeted therapies and gene tests is expected to top $149 billion per year.
One of the many companies that have been driving this rapid progress is Pittsburgh-based Helomics. The company has developed clinical tests for key genes and other biomarkers in a whole range of different cancers. Studies show that a personalized approach using Helomics’ ChemoFx test brings a 14-month improvement in overall survival in patients with gynecologic cancer. The BioSpeciFx test, for example, examines the genes that are active in cancer cells to reliably inform the patient’s tumor response to drugs.
Helomics is also expanding its reach with a new technology it calls D-CHIP™ and a strategic collaboration with Skyline Medical (NASDAQ:SKLN), which markets an innovative system for collecting and disposing of fluids from patients. So more and more in 2018, your drugs will be personalized just for you.
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My sister died unexpectedly but peacefully in her sleep sometime New Year’s Day morning. As far as her caregivers – my other sister and her husband – knew, she was not ill, and yet she quietly made her way out of this life and into the next on a schedule only God knows. She was 69.
Patty wasn’t known to many. As a child, she was diagnosed as mentally retarded, back when that was a common phrase for special needs children.
From the moment I got it that she was different from other children, I thought of her as an angel waiting to make her way back to heaven. She is there now, of that I have no doubt.
When she was little, my parents did everything to help her, to get an answer for how they could make her normal. We had little in the way of money, but they spent what they could on countless trips to doctors in search of answers. The trip to a children’s hospital in Hot Springs, NM (Truth or Consequences), was the last straw for my dad. When they came out after the visit, my mother was in tears, hugging Patty and rocking her. My older brother and I sat in the back seat of the car, listening to her sobs. “No more,” my dad said. “We can’t do this anymore!” We knew enough about our dad to know he was furious, even though he didn’t raise his voice.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned that someone – a doctor or administrator at the hospital – told my parents that children like my sister shouldn’t be allowed to live. It caused too much suffering for the family. My parents loved my sister as much as they loved each of us. She was not disposable because she was different. No wonder my mom wept and my dad was angry.
Patty was a walker and talker. She had boundless energy. My parents stopped taking her out to church or to the store when it was clear her behavior couldn’t be managed. As she grew into an adult, it became necessary for her to have a medication plan, or she wouldn’t sleep.
She could be really funny. She loved the song Silent Night, and would pester my dad to sing it. Now, the family pretty much agreed my dad was no singer, but after she bugged him enough he would belt out the quintessential Christmas song with all his heart. Patty would clap her hands over her ears and say, “Don’t sing, Daddy, don’t sing! You’re hurting my ears!” and then laugh, her bright blue eyes like twin suns sparkling with delight.
Patty made us better people. Because of her, we grew up to be less judgmental, more compassionate, kind, and forgiving. We learned the importance of accepting people as they are, warts and all. Do we live those lessons all the time? Probably not, but we are not angels. Patty was and is.
In memory of my sister, Patricia Louise Conkle. I love you. And thank you to my sister Melissa and her husband Fred, for taking good care of her for these many years.
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It has been years in the making, but the book of historical Las Vegas photos, sponsored by the Friends of the City of Las Vegas Museum, is in the final stage of approval for publication. This has been a long process and a costly one, but the Friends had a worthy goal in mind and set forth with determination. The following is a reprint, used with permission, of the a Friends’ article from the winter issue of the organization’s newsletter, which outlines the journey. My brief review of a draft copy of the book tells me Las Vegas, New Mexico, 1835-1935 lives up to expectations.
The first printing will be for 2,500 copies at the cost of about $20,000. The books is a “coffee table” style book in terms of size, and contains many photos and a whole lot of history. If you would like to be part of this exciting effort, you may become a member of the Friends of the Museum at the Sponsor level for $100, and receive a copy of the book once it is published.
From the Friends newsletter, winter issue…
New book title page. Edwina P. Romero, author and editor; designer Christian Kenesson (Kenesson Design, Inc.)
In the fall of 2009 the Friends of the Museum Board accepted the challenge of making public the large collection of photograph images archived in the city museum. It was agreed that a book was the appropriate format and a book subcommittee was established with Margaret Vazquez Geffroy, Kenneth Mares, Ginny Gable, Jay Harris, Linda Gegick, Nancy Colalillo, Kayt Peck and Elmo Baca as early book author.
The charge sent to the subcommittee the following December stated: The Subcommittee on the Las Vegas Photohistory Book Project shall formulate policy and procedures for the publication of a new photohistory book of Las Vegas, NM, a book that shall include a significant number of photographic images in the City of Las Vegas Museum collection and other photographic images, if needed.
Fourteen book themes were identified by the subcommittee and offered to selected local experts requesting historical essays on the given theme. In addition, the Friends sent out a request to the public for submissions of personal historical writings, photographs, Spanish language documents, and literary memorabilia related to the themes established. Later, a request for proposals for a book designer was publicized, and Kenesson Design, Inc. of Albuquerque was selected.
Because this process evolved over several years, subcommittee members changed and the author changed. New life was breathed into the project when Edwina P. Romero was contracted to serve as book editor/ author. Subsequently, the book was reevaluated, and changes in its structure, content, and focus were adopted.
The book, in its final round of copy editing, includes about 200 images with extended historical captions, connective narrative text, essays, sidebars, and a timeline of major events. Following are some excerpts.
– March 28, 1835—Juan de Dios Maese, Manuel Archuleta, Manuel Durán, and José Antonio Casados, of San Miguel del Bado, on behalf of themselves and 25 additional men, petition the town council for the land known as Las Vegas Grandes en el Río de las Gallinas [The Large Meadows at the Gallinas River]. – 1840 Plaza de Arriba, later known as Upper Town and San Antonio, becomes the second community on the land grant settlement.
– 1846 August 9—Captain Cooke leading an advance party of the Army of the West reaches the Nuestra Señora settlement. Cooke meets with Alcalde Juan de Dios Maese.
– 1852 January 9—San Miguel County is established by act of New Mexico Territorial legislature.
– 1860 New Mexico Territorial Legislature passes a bill making public education compulsory. Teachers receive fifty cents per pupil per month.
– 1879 September—Monte Verde, (alias Monte Holman, alias Dame Belle Siddons, a Confederate spy) arrives and sets up as a dealer of faro and monte (card games) at the Toe Jam Saloon on Center Street (later Lincoln Avenue). She departs before year end.
– 1880 In one decade (1870–80), population increases from 1,730 to 4,697. The Agua Pura Company is formed and provides water for homes and fire hydrants.
– 1881 March—Shakespeare Society is established. – 1882 July—east and west sides of the Gallinas River incorporate as one municipality. – 1888 Christian Brothers’ De La Salle Institute, a private Catholic school for boys, opens.
– 1895 November 25—East of Shoemaker, NM, AT&SF Train # 4 collides with #35. Three railway workers killed. “In those days we never got any train running orders. We ran exclusively by smoke and headlight,” said one engineer.
– 1897 United States Supreme Court rules that Las Vegas common lands of the Las Vegas Land Grant belong to the community known as the Town of Las Vegas, which as yet does not exist.
– 1904 First automobiles appear …
– 1913 Obaid Maloof builds the Mutual (later Campus, later Kiva) Theater for movies.
– 1916 New Las Vegans elected: Ezekiel C. de Baca elected governor and A. A. Jones, U. S. Senator.
– 1920 Penney Dry Goods and Ilfeld Hardware stores move to the City of Las Vegas (east of Gallinas River).
– 1922 Kiwanis Club organizes local chapter. – 1923 New Mexico Normal University crisis, president dismissed.
– 1924–25—Las Vegas Maroon baseball team wins state championship.
– 1928 Charles Lindbergh visits Las Vegas.
– 1932 the City rejects the Town’s consolidation proposal.
– 1935 March—Cornerstone for new building at New Mexico Normal University is laid, made possible by the Federal Works Progress Administration. Designed by John Gaw Meem, Rodgers Hall would house the University library.
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Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.Matthew 6:19–21
There is only one treasure worth having.
It is not out of reach.
It grows every day, not by what we get,
but by what we give.
Generosity is immeasurable.
A little kindness has the same value
as a great gesture.
The widow’s mite was as good
as the rich man’s plenty.
Gifts given in earnest
and without thought of recognition
or fanfare
have the same value
as the check for one million written by a rich man.
The treasure we have on earth matters not one whit;
it is what we do with our lives that make the difference
in the here and now,
and in the hereafter.
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I am old but it pisses me off… makes my blood boil… grinds on me… is a rude awakening when people treat me like I’m old. Even worse, I recall treating old people the same – or worse – when I was young. The following is a short list of comments I would prefer people keep to themselves.
Isn’t she sweet. Puleeze. Some of the crotchiest people I know are old and they have every right to be crotchety. Nothing works the way it used to. Sometimes peeing is the priority and there is NO BATHROOM IN SIGHT! Your kids rarely call. You spend way too much time wondering how time got away from you. The bucket list sprung a leak a long time ago and all your dreams drained away. You would be crotchety, too.
She sure is feisty.What the hell does that mean and why is is applied more often to old women than anyone else? People with a few miles on them have learned the value of persistence, hard work, dedication, and self-denial. There’s nothing “feisty” about that. It’s plain common sense.
Let me get that for you. Yes, it is nice for people to lend a helping hand, but sometimes it makes older folks feel helpless and hopeless. Age-related changes become more evident when you can’t bend over and pick up something you’ve dropped, or the door to the post office is too heavy for you to open on your own. You appreciate the courtesy of kind gestures, but it irritates you as well because someone decides you can’t do it for yourself. Go figure.
Is that appropriate attire for a woman your age? Oh, it’s never said that way outright, but subtly raised eyebrows or a snicker behind the hand conveys volumes without a word being said. I’m delighted the fashion of the ’50s that put women in house dresses with no thought to style has come and gone. Women no longer must fit a mold. I don’t care if leggings are only meant for young skinny women; I’ll wear them anyway. Life is too short to let anyone dictate one’s style.
You don’t look your age.Gloria Steinem famously said to the person who told her she didn’t look 40, “This is what 40 looks like.” This is what aging looks like. Telling someone they don’t look their age when they clearly do, is an insult. Mom used to say, “I’ve earned every wrinkle and gray hair.” So have I. Life is good, even joyful most of the time. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. No one does. I do know I will be about the business of living fully and with anticipation. I believe that no matter what age you are, you can have hope for new adventures, even when the adventure is a trip to Charlie’s for a cup of Starbucks.
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…and (he) said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.”
Like little children. What does that mean? Well, children are truthful because they have yet to learn how to lie. They are loving because they have yet to learn how to hate. They are trusting because they have yet to learn suspicion. They are kind because they have yet to learn how to be cruel. We can take a positive lesson from the negative things we have learned along life’s way. In this season of celebration, I choose to let go of all that holds me back, or has the potential to mire me in fear and frustration. I choose to be more truthful, loving, trusting and kind, gifts easily passed along, and they don’t cost a thing.
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Here sit my good intentions. In most years, by the first week in December, all of my baking and candy making has been done, wrapped and ready for delivery. Not this year. I kept thinking tomorrow, I’ll get to it tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is here, and I have the ingredients. Time to get to work.
Christmas time in my home growing up always involved lots of food prep. So I associate family and fun with food. Mom and my dad’s mom were amazing cooks. They had distinct favorites and passed them on to us. They also had weaknesses. My grandmother didn’t think it was fit to put on the table if it wasn’t fried. She more than gladly let Mom prepare Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys. Mom didn’t like – or maybe didn’t know how to make – cranberry sauce. She purchased the canned jellied kind. Ugh. However, in all fairness, everyone in my family but me, loves the stuff!
Here are recipes from me to you, personal favorites I hope you enjoy.
FANTASY FUDGE
(A Kraft recipe, commentary mine)
3 cups white sugar 3/4 cup margarine (It’s better with butter) 2/3 cup evaporated milk (I prefer Carnation brand) 1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme (Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme) 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I prefer real vanilla)
Here is the result of a five-hour marathon of baking. You would think there’d be more product, wouldn’t you? Anyway, these are some of my favorites. Recipes follow.
Butter a 9×13-inch pan.
Mix sugar, margarine, and evaporated milk in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a full boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. (You want it to reach soft ball stage. Sometimes 5 minutes is not enough.)
Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted and thoroughly combined. Beat in marshmallow creme, walnuts, and vanilla extract. Transfer fudge to the prepared pan and let cool before cutting into squares.
CRANBERRY FUDGE
(A variation on Fantasy Fudge)
3 cups white sugar 3/4 cup butter 2/3 cup Carnation evaporated milk 1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate morsels (Nestle is good) 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme (Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme) 1 cup Craisins 1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter a 9×13-inch pan.
Mix sugar, margarine, and evaporated milk in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a full boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. (You want it to reach soft ball stage. Sometime 5 minutes isn’t enough.)
Remove from heat and stir in white chocolate morsels until melted and thoroughly combined. Beat in marshmallow creme, Craisins, and vanilla extract. Transfer fudge to the prepared pan and let cool before cutting into squares.
APPLESAUCE DATE NUT BREAD
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped dates
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons Crisco shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
Mix walnuts, dates, soda and salt. Add shortening and applesauce. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 9″ loaf pan.
Beat eggs and blend in vanilla, sugar and flour until combined.
Mix with date mixture until well blended. Pour into pan and bake 2 hour 5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Remove to wire rack to complete cooling.
Wrap in foil and store in refrigerator overnight before slicing. (Freezes well)
Serve plain or with cream cheese or butter.
Variation: Substitute dried candied fruit for the dates. Tasty at Christmas.
You can make mini-cakes with this recipe but be careful of the timing. It usually takes about 30 minutes baking time.
Apricot balls, Fantasy Fudge and Cranberry Fudge
NO COOK APRICOT BALLS (Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1978)
1 package (8 ounces) dried apricots ground finely or cut up
3 1/2 cups flaked coconut
3/4 cup Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cups finely chopped nuts (you may need more)
Mix apricots, coconut and evaporated milk.
Shape mixture into 1-inch balls.
Roll balls in chopped nuts.
Let stand until firm. (About 2 hours.)
Variation: Mix nuts into apricot-coconut mixture then roll in powered sugar.
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It looks worse than it is. Sort of. Okay, it looks Frankenstienish. Praying for an amazing outcome of the reconstructive surgery.
In August 2016, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The doctor caught it early and – after removing all my reproductive lady parts in September 2016 – I was deemed to be cancer-free and not in need of chemo, thank the Lord. In May 2017, Bob fell and broke his femur, had surgery and spent five weeks in rehab and another eight weeks in physical therapy. He is much improved, but continues to require the security of a walker, although he can use a cane for short distances.
A couple of weeks prior to Bob’s May accident, I was diagnosed with a basal cell cancer on my nose and prescribed a topical treatment, which I began to apply the same week of Bob’s fall. I used it as prescribed, but between going to the rehab center and keeping up with things at home, I ran out of steam and quit using it after about three weeks, but not before it had severely “burned” my nose, which took almost a month to heal. That should have told me something. Right?
Bob came home from rehab after five weeks and began physical therapy. I somehow managed to sustain a sacral fracture that pretty much took me down for about five days, and I had to do PT for a month, two times a week. I improved rapidly and was walker-free within two weeks. That would have been sometime in June.
Come August 2017, my oncologist – who had been keeping an eye on my innards – found a troublesome lesion on the vaginal wall. Mr. Cancer was back. The doctor excised the lesion in an outpatient procedure in September. At the follow-up visit, she recommended focused radiation to make sure the cancer was eradicated.
In November, I went for a dermatology appointment and learned the cancer on my nose was more serious than first thought and Mohs surgery was recommended.
But first I had to do the radiation treatments. One thing at a time, please. I had five brief but intense treatments in late November and early December. Very little in the way of side effects, but by the end I knew I’d been fairly well blasted from the inside. It’s over – but not – as I have some internal “expansion” I must do to assure the tissue doesn’t scar over. Believe me, you don’t want to know. Suffice it to say, I’d rather go on a long vacation.
And then came the nose cancer surgery. It’s called Mohs, after the fellow who came up with the procedure. It was supposed to be easy peesy, scrape and check, scrape and check, close… except that the tip-of-my-pinky-sized spot turned out to be dime-sized and had four or five “fingers” that radiated out. Let’s just say the result of the surgery is not a pretty sight. They tell me (the doctor and tech), that it will be okay after reconstructive surgery, which will take place in about six or seven weeks. In the meantime, I’m wearing a bandage that hides about 15 stitches and a lump of skin from my smile line that’s heaped on the spot on my nose the doctor dug out to get rid of the cancer. Are you still with me? In a week, I get the stitches out and six weeks after that, my nose will be reshaped to what it was before. I pray that is the case.
Interestingly, the cancers that were more worrisome have turned out to be the least of my concerns and the one I thought would be a piece of cake has turned out to be more like burned toast.
Why am I writing about all this? I haven’t been doing much in the way of original work for my online magazine, One Roof Publishing. And I backed away from my freelance writing gig with the Optic, so I could concentrate on Bob’s health and mine. And now it occurs to me, given our ages – 73 and 87 – if I wait to write until we’re 100 percent healthy, I’ll never write another word!
So. I know my saga is no more dramatic or important or life altering than yours. This is not a “poor me” diatribe. In fact, it’s a story of resilience and thankfulness. Bob and I have excellent medical care, fabulous insurance and supplemental, and caring friends and family. Our faith has kept us going when we both thought we’d had quite enough, thank you very much. But the truth is, we have been blessed and the last thing I want to do is complain.
So. I have a few things in the works, including a novel, Blind Curve, with a target publication date of Jan. 15. My serialized sci-fi novel, which will be available through One Roof Publishing, will launch around the first of the year. The opening episode will be free. Following episodes will be available to paid subscribers exclusively. When the novel reaches its conclusion, it will be published in paperback. Subscribers to the online serial will receive a signed print copy. And I’m getting back to writing articles for One Roof Publishing, combining my original work with news and information from around the web. If you have an interesting story idea for me, or if you’re doing something interesting and would like to share, please e-mail fsharon@msn.com. I’m looking for great stories and engaging Q&A articles.
More to come.
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Becky Christmas, a Wagon Mound, N.M. woman, has been actively involved in American Gold Star Mothers Inc., for many years. Following the death of her son, Capt. Todd Tyler Christmas who died while serving in the military, she wanted to affiliate with an organization in which she could serve others and honor her son. Christmas has served on the national board of American Gold Star Mothers and will soon step up to the role of president. Below she responds to questions about the organization.
By presidential proclamation, the last Sunday in September each year is designated as Gold Star Mother’s Day, but the proclamation is more than a recognition of selfless women who devote their time and energy to support soldiers, families of deceased veterans, and each other; GSM recognizes the impact mothers have had in shaping who we are as a country and the value of patriotism to sustain hope. The proclamation, written in 1936, is printed at the end of this Q&A.
ORP: Becky, talk about how American Gold Star Mothers has effected your life. Becky:American Gold Star Mothers made a huge impact on my life when I first met other GSM members in New Mexico. Some were Mothers from the Vietnam era. They showed me they had lived full lives and had also continued the mission that their child could not, by helping others. I was not looking for a grief organization and that is not what we are. I began to feel that I could make a difference in veterans’ lives and other families of the fallen, once I met other Gold Star Mothers. It has changed my life a great deal and helped me step out of my comfort zone to help others.
ORP: What would you like people to know about the organization they may not know? Becky:American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. is a service organization. We are the first Veterans Service Organization-VSO. Our number is 001. Not all Gold Star Mothers join AGSM. It is similar to the American Legion or VFW. Not all veterans choose to join those. We began in 1928.
On Nov. 11, 2017, the 35th Anniversary of The Wall was observed. Laying the wreath for the American Gold Star Mothers were Mary Byers, Past National President from Tennessee and Becky Christmas, 1st National Vice President, New Mexico. At their side is Kate O’Hare-Palmer, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Vietnam, who spoke during the ceremonies.
ORP: What was the genesis of American Gold Star Mothers? Becky:When the United States entered World War I in 1917, American George Vaughn Seibold, 23, ended up serving in the British Royal Flying Corps. He corresponded with his family regularly. His mother, Grace Darling Seibold, was inspired to do community service by visiting returning servicemen in hospitals. When mail from George stopped, the family was unable to learn what happened to him. Grace continued to visit hospitalized veterans in the Washington area, clinging to the hope that her son might have been injured and returned to the United States without any identification. While working through this time, she helped ease the pain of the many servicemen who returned so war-damaged they were incapable of reaching normalcy. On Oct. 11, 1918, George’s wife in Chicago received a box marked Effects of Deceased Officer 1st Lt. George Vaughn Seibold. The Seibolds also received a confirmation of George’s death on Nov. 4, through a family member in Paris. George’s body was never identified.
Thereafter, Grace devoted her time and efforts to working in hospitals and extending the hand of friendship to other mothers whose sons had lost their lives in military service. She organized a group of these special mothers, with the purpose of comforting each other and giving loving care to hospitalized veterans confined in government hospitals far from home. The organization was named for the Gold Star families hung in their windows in honor of the deceased veteran. After years of planning, on June 4, 1928, twenty-five mothers met in Washington, DC to establish the national organization, American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. We began with a few mothers from WWI in the DC area who wanted to turn their grief into something positive and it continued to grow. There have been many years when the membership was in the many thousands. Now we have around 1,000 members.
ORP: Why do women join this volunteer organization? Becky:Most women join to give back, to continue the mission their child cannot. They want their child remembered but they also want to support their child’s friends who came home. They want to make a difference in the lives of veterans.
ORP: Not all mothers of deceased veterans choose to be a part of the organization. What do you think holds them back? Becky:I think some women only want a grief organization; some think they will have to go to meetings all the time; some think they will have to volunteer at hospitals all the time. There are many reasons. Some do not see that they can help and make a difference.
ORP: Gold Star Mothers is a national organization with chapters across the country. How does one become affiliated with a chapter if there isn’t one in the town where you live? Becky:Most states only have one or two chapters in their state. In New Mexico, for example, we only have one chapter. It is located in the central part of the state. We have members all across the state. Many cannot attend a meeting in person but they can attend events in their area and volunteer in their area. Each new member is assigned a chapter and department by the National Service Officer. Our New Mexico chapter tries to have a conference call meeting, every other month, and of course email is a great way to communicate. We try to have our members attend and volunteer in their areas.
ORP: Is there a cost to join and what is the money used for? Becky:The cost for National membership is $30/year. Those dues cover the cost of putting out the newsletter six times a year and helps maintain our headquarters in Washington, D.C. Chapters and departments also may have dues. Most are only $5.
ORP: What types of volunteer work do Gold Star Mothers do? Becky:AGSM members volunteer as representatives at a VA hospital or clinic. We try to have a representative for each state. We also have a deputy representative. We can also volunteer at a VA Center, Wreaths Across America, help in Fisher Houses, memorial parks and cemeteries, donate items at the VA hospitals, volunteer and donate at veteran nursing homes and any veteran event. We help with Stand Down for Homeless Veterans, Horses For Heroes, Paws and Stripes, memorial walks and runs and numerous other activities. We raise money that goes to veterans. The main focus this year is suicide awareness.
ORP: In what way is the organization affiliated with veterans’ organizations? Becky:Many of our mothers are American Legion Auxiliary members and we are a Veterans Service Organization under the Department of Veteran’s Services.
ORP: What is the significance of wearing white? Becky:Wearing white is a time-honored tradition of the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. While black is a traditional color of mourning, the decision to wear white, rather than black, denotes the celebration of our children’s goodness, innocence and sacrifice. President Wilson also asked the GSM to wear white with a black armband, with a gold star, as the nation had endured so many deaths and it was mourning, but by wearing white, they could show there may be light ahead. The Gold Star Mothers are easily recognized at events because of their attire. Also, the Gold Star wives, wear a gold jacket and the Blue Star Mothers wear navy blue attire.
ORP: What challenges does the organization face as it looks to the future? Becky: One of the biggest challenges now, is that a great majority of membership applications are from mothers whose child committed suicide. Sometimes the family does not have a document that states that the suicide was a result of service or many times the stigma of seeking help for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury, prevents the servicemen and women from seeking help, especially at the VA. For a parent, the tragedy of a suicide means they will always seek the reason why. By the VA and military recognizing the results of combat and multiple deployments, we can help these families.
For several days leading up to Veteran’s Day, reading of the names on The Wall took place around the clock. These Gold Star Mothers are pictured right before they read names. Front row, Sarah Taylor, National Banner Guard, Mary Byers, Past National President, Carol Resh, Flag Bearer, Jo Ann Maitland, National Service Officer. Back row Sue Pollard, National President, Mona Gunn, National 2nd Vice President and Becky Christmas, National 1st Vice President.
ORP: As the incoming president, what are your hopes and goals for the organization? Becky: My hope is to reach out to all Gold Star Mothers and to continue the mission that was started this year of Military Suicide Awareness and Prevention. I also want our membership to be aware of legislation that affects our veterans, military and the survivors. I hope to continue the principles of Americanism, patriotism and service. I also want every American to remember the fallen and the sacrifice that service to our country takes.
We are mothers who come from all over the United States. A tragedy has brought us together but I have truly been blessed by these strong and sincere Gold Star Mothers. We help each other while we are helping our veterans.
For more information about American Gold Star Mothers call 202-265-0991, or email agsmnso@gmail.com.
PROCLAMATION – GOLD STAR MOTHERS
“Whereas the service rendered the United States by the American mother is the greatest source of the Country’s strength and inspiration; and “Whereas we honor ourselves and the mothers of America when we revere and give emphasis to the home as the fountainhead of the State; and
“Whereas the American mother is doing so much for the home and for the moral and spiritual uplift of the people of the United States and hence so much for good government and humanity; and
“Whereas the American Gold Star Mothers suffered the supreme sacrifice of motherhood in the loss of their sons and daughters in World Wars” and
“Whereas the said Public Resolution 12 provides: “That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the Government officials to display the United States flag on all Government buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag and to hold appropriate meetings in their homes, churches, or other suitable places, on the last Sunday in September, as public expression of the love, sorrow and reverence of the people of the United States for the American Gold Star Mothers.”
“Sec. 2. That the last Sunday in September shall hereafter be designated and known as “Gold Star Mother’s Day,” and it shall be the duty of the President to request its observance as provided for in this resolution.”
________________________ Photos Courtesy of Becky Christmas
I am fed up with politics. The U.S.A. is overdue for election reform and term limits. According to the Center for Public Integrity, a Pulitzer Prizing winning news site, in the 2016 presidential election, more than $1 BILLION was spent campaigning. It was a brutal election. Each year the diatribes against political opponents becomes more bitter, filled with half-truths and outright lies. Campaigning is less about what good can come of electing a particular candidate and more about the ways the opponent is flawed.
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– When scientists first read the entire genetic code of a human being in 2003, the monumental achievement promised a new era in medicine.
My sister died unexpectedly but peacefully in her sleep sometime New Year’s Day morning. As far as her caregivers – my other sister and her husband – knew, she was not ill, and yet she quietly made her way out of this life and into the next on a schedule only God knows. She was 69.
Thoughts on aging
Like little children. What does that mean? Well, children are truthful because they have yet to learn how to lie. They are loving because they have yet to learn how to hate. They are trusting because they have yet to learn suspicion. They are kind because they have yet to learn how to be cruel. We can take a positive lesson from the negative things we have learned along life’s way. In this season of celebration, I choose to let go of all that holds me back, or has the potential to mire me in fear and frustration. I choose to be more truthful, loving, trusting and kind, gifts easily passed along, and they don’t cost a thing.
Sharon Vander Meer 