Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tough Decisions

Posted on August 3, 2021 | Leave a comment

In high school I shared a bedroom with my sister, nearly two years my junior and a general pain in the butt back then (she’s OK now). I’d get up in the morning and she wouldn’t get out of bed. I’d use the bathroom, get dressed and she still wasn’t out of bed. I knew the minute I selected what she would wear, she’d hop out of bed and be dressed in time to go downstairs for a quick breakfast before walking to school. Did I want to tell her what to wear? No way!

I knew that if I went downstairs to breakfast alone, I’d get in trouble for not getting my sister up and out of bed on time for school. She knew that too, which is why she started this charade of making me her wardrobe arbiter so I was damned if I did, damned if I didn’t.

That’s how I feel about COVID-19. This is just one person’s opinion, but I hate that this killer disease was politicized in the USA from the get-go. I did everything right, stayed home, learned to grocery shop online and thanked my delivery people with a good tip and a “thanks for being there.” We took a major hit financially that will, as of next month, begin to ease. We got the vaccine the first day it was available for all. Now, with the new Delta variant, our state is up there in new cases and I wear a mask indoors.

I don’t like that governments lean toward punishing the people who did everything right, who kowtow to and even reward those I call “vacc-idiots.” There are good folks who can’t get the vaccine for health reasons. I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about the so-called “red states” who now have residents hospitalized or in morgues because they think it’s wrong to take the vaccine because Trump won’t like it (he’s vaccinated) or because Biden will get some kind of credit for it.

Ii read of secret rooms in hospitals where Republicans to go get vaccinated so they won’t be shunned by their friends. C’mon people. Get the shots for you, for your family and friends, and for the supermarket checker and mailman who have been so nice to you for years. Get it for your kid’s classmates and teacher.

My husband has to go overseas this month to complete his training so that he can earn a living. With the way things are going with the Delta variant, even vaccinated Americans won’t be welcome in the EU unless things turn around quickly. Our lives, literally and financially, depend on America’s herd immunity before new variants emerge that our vaccinations don’t know about and we have to start this fight all over again.

COVID-19 is one sly bug. It doesn’t care about your politics. I’m for everyone showing a negative test or proof of vaccine to get into work, a store, restaurant or event. Or on public transportation. I won’t take UBER because only their senior office staff is required to be vaccinated, not their drivers. It’s really scary to think that I could get it from an anti-vaxxer who is running around mask-less, be asymptomatic and give it unknowingly to someone without a vaccine, who could die. I don’t want that on my conscience.

Governors who are banning masks, vaccine requirements/”passports” are doing it to get re-elected or in Gov. DeSantis’ case, running for president. To those who won’t get a vaccine, look at who’s telling you not to get one. You can be reasonably sure that they’re vaccinated. Don’t trust people who talk out of both sides of their mouth. Please get vaccinated. You’ll help save us all. Dee

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The Clock is Ticking

Posted on July 31, 2021 | Leave a comment

It’s almost time for Lucy, of Peanuts fame, to set up her booth and sell advice for a nickel. Those targeted in this post should be watching, because you don’t have much time.

Remember in Casablanca when the dirty cop Louie couldn’t have Rick allow the young couple to win last the two blank visas out of Morocco? Louie loudly shut down Rick’s casino operation, stating that he was shocked, SHOCKED that gambling was going on, as he collected his winnings.

This is the hour for Congressional Republicans to unite and shout from the rooftops that they’re shocked! Shocked!!! That Trump and the White House were trying to steal a free and fair election from right under their noses. Shut it down! The Big Lie is no more!

They’re not going to send Lucy the nickel, even though they got the advice for free. It’s all in writing. There was no big steal by Joe Biden, his voters or the independent vote counters, the courts, poll watchers or secretaries of state. The only steal being planned was by Donald Trump. Just say it was corrupt and leave the rest to me, indeed.

People will have a hard time forgiving the lie if you give it up now, but if you don’t this house of cards is going down, and all the liars with it.

It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s literally now or never. My name is Dee and I am a patriot. Think about that, party of Lincoln.

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Critical Thought

Posted on July 23, 2021 | Leave a comment

Permit me to take a few moments to burst a few bubbles. This summer it appears that a significant number of elected leaders have initiated full-scale scale campaigns to frighten Americans about three things. Two are indicative of serious problems. One is just instilling fear to lose fewer future votes.

Let’s get to the non-issue first. As I know it, and I am no scholar and I’m not African American, critical race theory is a theory that’s been around for half a century that is taught as an elective in several law schools. Yet we’ve parents yelling at school board meetings, all riled up by right-wing media that we’re teaching hate in elementary and high schools. This is not the case, at all.

Why did the right bring up critical race theory now? Let’s think about that. For the past 18 months I’ve been terrified of contracting COVID-19 and we’ve had little outside income aside from the federal government. The nation’s kids have been out of school, learning from home via Zoom. Their teachers have been trying to adapt to this new environment to best serve the educational needs of their students. It’s easier to teach in front of 30 live kids than thirty icons on a computer screen. How else would you know that John is asleep in class or that Tess and Millie are texting each other again, right in front of you.

Two years ago was there a massive push to educate teachers on the nature of critical race theory and how to teach it in an inappropriate setting such as primary and secondary schools? Or whether any fruits of such theory can be passed along in such a format? NO. I imagine that for the past 18 months teachers have been mostly concerned with getting COVID and teaching their students remotely. Have schools rushed to implement CRT into their curricula? NO. Right now our kids are enjoying their friends for the first time and preparing to go back to the classroom for the first time this fall. Critical race theory is not an issue, period.

Let’s get to the important ones. After a lifetime of voting, I’ve always marveled that voter fraud is minuscule. Now, after a presidental election that was won by 7 million votes, we’re expected to think that our system failed on a massive scale. Fifty states and over sixty courts, including our Supreme Court deny that such fraud ever existed in the 2020 Presidential election, plus our then Attorney General and the head of our nation’s cybersecurity oversight agency.

Yet all the people who were elected or re-elected last November were elected without any voter fraud. Only the presidency was compromised? Just think about that for a minute. Some people who voted for Biden voted down-ballot for Republicans not because they cheated, but because they didn’t want Trump as President yet liked the rest of the Republican candidates! Now these same elected officials are pushing election “reform” and “accountability.” That is a ruse to pass laws that keep people they don’t like from voting and if they do find a way to vote, to refuse to count votes for the winning candidate if said candidate is not on their political slate. They’re stealing our constitutional right to vote in plain daylight, and right now we’re letting them get away with it.

Now let’s go to COVID-19, which started with the White House saying forget about it, it’s only happening in “blue states” so let them die. So much for a nation of the people, and for the people! Well now it’s happening in red states because why? Because COVID is a crafty little bug and if people in blue states are vaccinated it’ll go where it’s welcome. We quickly got a vaccine, thanks in part to operation Warp Speed, but now Trump supporters will not get the vaccine. The Delta variant is set to cause much death but no, any effort at vaccination is an assault on my liberties. Please think about this. I guarantee that the people who are telling you not to get a vaccine, have gotten the vaccine to protect themselves. Ask them to tell you the truth then ask your doctor if you should be protected against this awful disease, if not for yourself, for your family, friends, community and health care professionals who will treat you when you’re on your deathbead. Ask to see the Fox News vaccination policy for its staff.

Think about it. We sometimes take it for granted that we live in the greatest democracy in the world, but we’re ready to throw it away and believe lies from people who stand to gain power and money from these lies. Donald Trump has raised $75 million in the past six months to “Save America” and “audit” election results to reinstate himself as President, yet has not parted with a penny of it towards any of these efforts to discredit the good people that have worked our polls since our nation was founded.

The vaccine will not hurt you if you get it. You’ll fare far worse if you get COVID-19 and die from it. Even some right-wing media is coming around and advising viewers to take the vaccine. Do they do this because they care about us and our health? No way. People dying from a preventable disease hurts viewership. It hurts the conservative voter base. It hurts the stock market. That’s why they want you to take it, which is why you should listen to your health professional instead of Facebook and get a free vaccine.

Let’s pull together, Americans. If you want to think about something good to cheer for, try the Olympics. Our athletes need us now, because we can’t be in Japan to show solidarity in person. One America. United. With liberty and justice for all. And health, God willing. Cheers! Dee

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Indivisible?

Posted on July 4, 2021 | Leave a comment

I hope so as I harken back to our 200th anniversary in 1976 and wondered where I would be for the 250th, coming up in five short years.

1976. My parents’ oldest child (moi) had just graduated high school. Mom was a Canadian citizen her entire life, keeping her Green Card for over fifty years. Her younger sister, my Aunt, took the leap and became a United States citizen that year, a momentous occasion. Apropos of her being an English teacher and the first college graduate of her family of three sisters, she gifted me, for graduation, her 1957 Smith-Corona portable electric typewriter, the first portable electric ever, in hopes that it would also get me through college (it did, along with many of my dorm-mates, pre-laptop) and persuade me to write.

I believe it was 18 of us close family that day, at a long line of card tables festively set up in our Buffalo backyard. Never ones to miss a party, the Canadians drove down for the day, including my grandfather and great-aunt. We marveled at our country’s birthday and how far we’d come as a nation.

Forty-five years later, I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong. I remain optimistic but much must be done, especially as our divided Supreme Court seems hell-bent on throwing out the Voting Rights Act when it is needed most.

The Pandemic should have brought us together as one people, but it did not. Gross mismanagement and politicization killed over 600,000 Americans and drove us further apart. Add to that the Big Lie of Mr. Trump not fairly losing the presidential election, and the second Bigger Lie that the insurrection of January 6 of this year was just another tourist day at the U.S. Capitol and we’re in deep trouble.

Challenges are to be overcome. If there’s a will, there’s a way. In the past 45 years, I’ve moved countless times, always with the heaviest “laptop” in the world, my 1957 Smith Corona typewriter. I even know where to get rare ribbons for said machine. I did become somewhat of a writer, though I prefer a full key-sensitive backlit keyboard attached to my Macbook Pro with a 30″ monitor to do so.

I will concentrate my efforts on voting rights. My swing state is doing everything in its power to keep city residents like me from voting and that must stop. Federally we desperately need H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Then, we need a workable version of the For The People Act. By this summer/fall at the latest. It’s a heavy lift, but Congress needs to know that the people want this.

Locally we have to make sure candidates believe in the Constitution and our right to vote. If not, we must vote them out until things are set on an even keel once again. Now is a perilous time for our representative democracy and it’s about time it represents we, the people. We pay you folks to represent us. You can’t change the Constitution, at least not easily and not without talking to us and each other, which you seem unable to do at present. If you don’t work for us we can and will fire you and hire someone who will allow us a living wage, affordable health care, drivable roads and bridges, wi-fi, childcare tax credits and a livable planet for our kids and grandkids. Not to mention making sure guns are not available to those inclined to take out fellow citizens at church or school or Wal-Mart.

My vote counts. So does yours, and our neighbors’ as well. Let’s make our votes count for something. I cannot imagine the alternative if we do not stand up, say “I’m here!” and be counted. Happy 4th! Dee

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Thank You, Poll Workers!

Posted on May 26, 2021 | Leave a comment

I sent a letter, first time ever, a year ago to our local election administrator thanking them for their service. COVID was rampant, the weather was crummy most days, and the number of polling places had been taken from over 150 down to five. Remember seeing that stock photo for the past year with a voter standing in an interminable line with a sign that said “This is ridiculous”? That’s our town.

It was time to send for my first-ever absentee ballot, because I was terrified of getting COVID. I couldn’t believe that these brave souls were going to mask up and brave interacting with the general public on election day, and paid poll workers and volunteers were going to spend time with each other, potentially falling ill, afterwards to count the ballots. So I thanked them in advance.

I’ve been voting for over forty years and have always gone to the polls. Sometimes they see me walk in and have their finger on the page on my name, ready to sign, sometimes they don’t know me from Adam. I expect a Republican and a Democrat probably sat at that table together for years. Perhaps they see each other only a few times per year, and they pass the time on breaks asking about each others’ families.

My adoptive grandmother, recently deceased at age 93 was active as a poll worker in my husband’s home state until her late 80’s. She knew everyone in town and took pride in her volunteer efforts for over fifty years.

Yesterday we got the news that there were 41 fraudulent ballots cast in our state. Out of 3.3 million votes. Half were mistakenly addressed to voters at their UPS store. All in the same area, I’m guessing it’s a rural area and that’s where they have a mail box. While it’s legal to have a drivers license sent to a UPS store, it’s not valid as a voting address. A quarter of them were illegally sent to nursing homes. State law requires a poll worker to personally deliver a ballot in certain cases to nursing home residents and last year, the law prohibited any visitor to any nursing home in the state because of COVID. One was a person with dementia who had voted seven times in the past three years and was not allowed to vote because of, you got it, dementia.

Our votes were counted twice and certified. Then the Trump Campaign paid to have our votes and those of another “Biden County” recounted for a third try. Nothing changed.

Now 48 states are changing their voting laws to basically prohibit “the wrong people” from voting and having politicians take over the count and certification if they don’t like the result. And Republicans are running for election-running offices so that they can control the counts and eliminate undesirable voters and their votes.

It’s normally a boring enterprise, as I recall when my legislative committee handled legislation pertinent to the Department of State. It included elections/reapportionment, fire and building codes, and licenses for non-medical or legal fields, such as cosmetologists, financial planners et al. Nothing earth-shattering back then.

Keeping the minority in charge for a few more years may require the shenanigans that are happening with election tampering and voter suppression, with an insurrection thrown in for good measure. We can hope that our nationally elected legislators and new President will keep things from going too far, them and the courts.

In this political maelstrom, a whole lot of people have been given short shrift, not only not thanked for doing a thankless task, but being accused of tampering with ballots. We expect some recounts, but not repeated recounts in only certain districts that voted “wrong” and certainly not anything like the debacle going on now in Arizona.

Poll workers deserve our thanks. They are patriots, willing to get their hands dirty a couple of days a year and do their civic duty. They are hard-working, honest people who keep our country running. This year, America has done them a grave disservice. This must be rectified, from the big cities to the smallest towns. Any ideas? Cheers, Dee

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V Day?

Posted on April 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

D Day? I don’t know and I don’t care, it’s time to celebrate. I lift my sore arm to type to you that this is Victory for Dee Day as it is Vaccine for Dee Day! Yes, I got my second shot of Pfizer and in two weeks all my immune system will be full speed ahead to fight this COVID-19 plague.

I’ve heard such disinformation on the news of late, from folks like Tucker Carlson telling strangers to call Child Protective Services on mothers whose young children are wearing a mask, to someone I’ve never heard of telling his large audience not to get the vaccine.

Tell you the truth, I believe the doctors and public health professionals. That’s why my husband and I got our second shot today. And no, people don’t want to prolong this pandemic by asking for masks and distancing for just a while longer, they’re just trying to keep us safe. I’d rather be safe than lose a family member or friend, or die of this horrible virus.

Truth-seeking as I’m hearing on the news that 40% of Republican men won’t get vaccinated, I asked my nurse today if there was any problem in having people return for the second dose. Granted this is just one clinic around the nation, but she said that mostly it’s first timers who aren’t showing up. That would make sense as we had appointments two days early for shots given two days after everyone over 18 was eligible (now it’s age 16) and back then, what seems like a long time ago, people had to make appointments at several clinics to make sure they could get in, then they took the first available date and forgot to cancel the others.

If you’re using social media that is tailored to your likes/dislikes please check out your local news for info on why it’s necessary to get the shots, that it’s not scary, and where to go with/without an appointment. You’ll save your life and many others. Better yet, call your doctor.

You’ll say this is none of my business, but it is because I’m your co-worker, your neighbor, your friend. I care about you and hope you feel the same. Whether we like it or not, there will be vaccine passports that will be used by private businesses that you may want to patronize, like going to a concert or taking that vacation to Europe. If you don’t take the vaccine, you won’t be allowed to go. And don’t go blaming it on the concert promoter or airline.

I’ve been involved in privacy law for nearly forty years and I don’t want any business knowing my full health history for the last six decades but I don’t have a problem with a QR code that says I’m current on my COVID vaccines. Foreign governments won’t accept the hand-written CDC cards we’re now trying to clumsily (because of its size) carry in our wallets. Think about it. Right now I’m sharing my happiness with you that in two weeks I’ll be able to walk my dog without a mask. Cheers! Dee

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Lots of Treats

Posted on April 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

There’s been a lot of talk about COVID-19 mental health and what the pandemic has done to us and our families. I really haven’t taken much time to think about it. Togetherness has been both a blessing and a burden. My husband is usually on the road five days a week, so having him home for the past year, because no-one’s hiring road warriors and no-one can fly, has been a challenge. Cramming into a small space is not easy for him, and losing my independence has been a challenge as well. I’ve taken to asking him, of late, to set up an appointment to speak with me about at length about work issues because in addition to what I do, there’s the dog and cooking three meals a day…

At first it was pure fight or flight response. Make sure my family is OK and makes it through the pandemic. Wash everything. Find masks. His mother sewed and mailed us our first cloth masks because we couldn’t get any. The dog was a year old and has to go out at least four times a day and we have to take a shared elevator to get there. There really wasn’t much time to think about how that made us feel.f

Let me switch topics to pets for a moment. Many adopted a companion animal durning this time. It’s wonderful that the shelters emptied out and unwanted dogs and cats came to a new home. It’s important to keep them once things begin to get more normal. That requires time and effort. And patience.

Lulu was in training, which was curtailed. She’s smart as a whip but now chooses to obey when she feels like it. I met a cute pup a few months before we got Lulu. He was a gorgeous and playful Airedale Terrier. Whereas Lulu’s training took a bit of a break, Rufus’ owner finished the job. There is such a dichotomy between this perfecly trained gorgeous dog and my Lulu it’s embarassing. Rufus and Lulu greeted, old friends, the other day, then Cody came along. Lulu’s been spending a lot of play date time with Cody, an Aussie mix, during quarantine and the two of them go at it like it’s WWE wrestling. Chest to chest, body slams, teeth playfully gnashing, you get the picture!

All Rufus’ owner had to do is quietly look up at my husband and say, “Lots of treats.”

Leaving the house with your new canine friend alone in the house will be a challenge so please plan for it. My husband had a seminar in one state one week, and a funeral in another two weeks ago. Both times Lulu mourned for him when he left but was well behaved and slept through the night while he was gone. Then she was ecstatic to see him upon his return and went back to getting him up at three in the morning all over again.

Yes, I have to finish training Lulu before I can get her a live-in buddy. Especially now. One of her best buds is leaving town in a couple of months and she’ll really miss him. She and Otis are practically inseparable these days.

I guess the reason I don’t dwell on me and my mental state at every moment is that there’s always something to be done, something to accomplish even though it may not seem like much. Bored with daily dinners? Change it up a bit. Spouse out of town? Get the dog to sleep through the night. Ordering in the same old groceries? Mask up and go to the store to see what Spring has brought in and change the menu. Think about planting some herbs after the last frost (snow forecast for this week, still).

We got our first vaccine nearly two weeks ago and I expected to feel euphoric. I’m holding out for two weeks after the second shot, then I can feel OK about my husband getting on an airplane again. His client will be safe on the other end and I’ll be safe from COVID here at home. Then I can “Spring Clean” and do some other things I’ve wanted to do during quarantine.

It would have been nice if Lulu had been able to be a therapy dog at a nearby hospital but that’s just not in the cards. She could be trained to be one if I tried really hard, but she might lose her sunny personality in the translation. It would have been fun to see her warm the hearts of sick people but she’s so happy she likes to jump up, hop on her hind legs and give a hug and that’s not allowed. And that’s her. Kids love her because she’s so much fun. I don’t want to take all the joy out of her life. Then again, maybe it’s possible, but I’l wait a year or two and it might be right after she’s calmer.

We all look forward to getting back to normal, whatever we’ll find it to be. Until then, lots of treats. Cheers! Dee

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Character

Posted on April 7, 2021 | 1 comment

Sometimes people have to make decisions. At seven I was a wide-eyed 2nd grader joining Brownies and my mother was the leader. It was fun. After my “flying up” ceremony that sent me into Girl Scouts I lost my wings, literally. It was an omen for things to come.

Our Troop leader was a mean, fat lady who didn’t encourage us to do anything at all, except not to bother her. I worked on my first badge, sewing. I knew nothing about it and my mother didn’t help me. When I finished my project I showed it to the Troop leader and she laughed at me. She then called over all the girls and they all laughed at me. I was mortified.

I stayed to sell cookies, back in the day when the girls went out in their neighborhoods and rang strangers’ doorbells. I thought it would be a lot of fun, but it was not. So I quit Girl Scouts and never looked back.

This morning I ran into a neighbor who was also in Girl Scouts as a youngster. Her friends started leaving, not because of a cruel Leader but for their own reasons. She stayed on because she didn’t want the Leader to feel bad.

After my story she asked if that incident had marred me for life. I said no, not at all, but I still remember it and have always been kind to fellow misfits (for whatever reason) throughout my life.

She did what she did because that’s who she is, some sixty years later. She’s the kind of friend anyone would be lucky to have. We see each other at neighborhood events and walking outdoors with our dogs.

I don’t think there was anything I could have done as an eight year-old about my situation. Today I would have responded differently. I’m not a quitter, but there was no “win” for me at that time and place. Thank goodness for the Sandys in the world! Cheers, Dee

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For The People

Posted on March 31, 2021 | Leave a comment

Why is this important? First, I’ll tell you a story. You’ll be hearing a lot about H.R. 1 and Senate 1 over the next few months. Here’s my analysis.

Right out of college I went to work for the State Assembly Speaker’s Office. I was first an assistant, then moved right on to my own committee as a legislative analyst. I was given what I called the “grab bag” committee, a huge task, 750 bills all by myself with no assistance and no computer or internet. Grab bag because whenever someone had something that didn’t fit anywhere else, it came to me. Thus legislative ethics (talk to me about that being an oxymoron later), redistricting, Native American land claims, cable television franchising, ADA, casino gaming, fire and building codes, human and civil rights, privacy, land sales, and lots of other stuff.

Also involved were two very important things, oversight of the Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Act. For anyone who’s heard of the bad old days of smoke-filled back rooms and politicians making secret deals, both these laws tackled the issues deftly. You have to publicly schedule a meeting with time and date and invite public attendance, and set an agenda so that people know what the government entity is going to be voting on. And, everything is available to members of the public.

The theory, a good one, is that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Let voters know what you’re doing, when and make it available for everyone to read and decide whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing town councils, legislatures, governors are voting on.

But this is high school civics. Let’s start at the very beginning with our ABC’s. I’m a citizen in good standing (that means I’m not in jail serving a felony sentence and I’m eighteen years of age or older) so I can vote. The Voting Rights Act and the courts since 1965 have made it easier for all American citizens to vote. So I can easily register to vote, vote in person or by mail, and my vote will be properly counted and certified. Sounds easy, right? I will opine and add another wish I have for all voters: that they should know what huge donors are backing each candidate.

Now you’ve a bunch of states who have acted badly in the past, making it difficult for mainly people of color to vote. Now the Supreme Court has said that’s OK, until Congress changes the law. This past year, COVID messed everything up and with hospitalizations and deaths rising, it became a challenge to vote so some states tried to make it easier through extended early voting and addition of drop boxes.

Then President Trump lost the election. Now 43 states are trying to make it more difficult, once again primarily for Black and brown voters, but for disabled and the elderly as well, to vote. The only reason my state isn’t on the bandwagon is that it’s already difficult to vote here since 2016 with requiring photo ID and eliminating polling places in mainly neighborhoods that vote heavily for Democrats.

For The People Act will make basic rules for states to follow in conducting elections. It is my fervent hope that they will also fund and provide technical support for states and localities for upgrading equipment, so that a poor staffer isn’t stuck in a broom closet in a town hall with a 286 computer trying to input voter information.

It also requires that sunlight shine on what is called “dark money” which has proliferated of late because of new laws and loopholes. Basically, it says that everyone who is eligible to vote should be able to do so with a minimum of fuss; their votes should be counted correctly and fairly; and that voters should know who is funding candidates.

It’s OK to send $20 to the candidate of your choice. That is to be encouraged. What this bill does is make it more difficult for billionaires to buy elections secretly. Statehouses used to be part-time and include farmers, shop owners and school teachers. Now it’s all lawyers and rich folks who want power or something to do with their time.

Since Election Day (November 3, 2020) and especially the Capitol insurrection (January 6, 2021) our nation’s democracy has been severely threatened. If the majority of states pass laws like Georgia’s voter suppression act we won’t have time to quibble about Open Meetings or Freedom of Information statutes because there won’t be any.

Please look into the For The People Act on your own. There are primers online, you don’t have to read the entire thing. Just look for a balanced analysis by a non-partisan source. I’m partisan, vote Democrat, Republican or Independent depending on the candidate but I am 100% for democracy and our Constitution and will work hard to make sure we don’t throw away our Republic.

This past six months a number of lawsuits in my state threatened to throw out my vote and our state legislature and one US Senator toyed with throwing out our entire state’s votes just because they didn’t like who won the presidential election. Sorry to say this but that really ticked me off. No-one tosses my vote and gets away with it. To readers who want to retain a government of, by and for the people, I salute you. Cheers! Dee

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All Good Things

Posted on March 27, 2021 | 3 comments

Originally French, attributed to pseudonym Violet Fane, “Tout vient a qui sait attendre.” Technically, all things. I added the word good because in my life, the best times have been the result of a wait.

It took twenty years after college to meet my life’s mate, my dear husband. Yes, I had to kiss a few frogs along the way but he was worth the wait. Along with him came a great surprise.

On our bedroom wall is a photo of my mother, my grandmother (Dad’s side, Mom’s mom had already passed) and me. I was just out of the hospital, a few days old. It was to be the last time I saw that grandmother as she died before I was six months old.

Two months before we decided to elope, we flew to meet his parents. They were OK with my husband’s choice of spouse, as my parents were with mine. Then we went to meet his grandmother. She interviewed me at her home, was very gracious, and welcomed me to the family. She said that since I never had a grandmother, she could be mine, too. That meant a lot to us, to my husband because his Nanny had sat him on her lap as a two year-old and read from the Encyclopedia. She always indulged his love of learning and that it took him to a degree in physics.

So, for twenty years I’ve had a grandmother, of whom I speak of today as she is laid to rest. She was ninety-five when she passed earlier this week, and while COVID will diminish the number of people who gather to see her on her journey, she knows that she has the love of family and friends. She got to spend time with her great-great-grandkids and not many have a chance to do that in life. God rest your soul, Nanny.

Let’s see, there are other good things worth waiting for, like wisdom. I’ve always thought it humorous when a teenager pens an autobiography when their life has barely begun and they haven’t had time to pull all the pieces together to see what they mean in context.

It took me nineteen years to get my husband to register to vote. Last year, he finally did. He still has yet to visit a polling place, but that’s because we dropped off our ballots as a result of COVID.

And then there come our dogs. The first fifteen years we had Zoe, an Australian Shepherd mix from the pound. She was a sweetheart loved by all, who only needed two people to be happy, us. Now at two years is Lulu, a full miniature Australian Shepherd who is still bouncing off the walls unless she has several play dates with other neighborhood dogs each week.

Ah, here she is helping make the spaghetti. We’ve thought of getting her a buddy, but my husband’s been stubbornly insisting that it be a large, sedentary dog who will calm her down. My view is toward a dog of similar type and energy level so they can play, tire each other out and then can hang out and watch Netflix before bedtime.

It took two years of waiting, but just the other day he backed down and said he thought we “needed another.” So good things do come to those that wait! I’ll start looking as soon as things get back to normal, whatever that might be. We’re still awaiting COVID vaccines. There may be a relocation on the horizon so we’ll just wait. After all, everyone is waiting for normal to return, and hoping it’ll be good news. Cheers! Dee

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