Thanksgiving

Me and my Grandpa Tipton.

Last week I survived my 59th birthday. It was quiet and peaceful. No big deal. Lisa and I spent an enjoyable day together in downtown San Antonio. It struck me that I’m on the last year of my 50’s and I’ve been having little flashbacks of my life. It’s like my brain is determined to play back little video clips all the way back to my early childhood. It’s almost like I’m watching another person’s memories because so much time has passed, so much has changed…except they are my memories from my life.


In one clip, I am back to the age of 14. It’s Christmas and my mother and father and my younger brother and sister are all living in our drafty old farmhouse in Central Illinois. My parents are young and I’ve never been married, never gone off to college, never started my first real job, and never started my own family. In this moment of time, THIS is my family…the five of us. It only lasted a second, but in that moment all the sights and sounds and smells of that Christmas came flooding back to me and I was there. But, just as quickly, I am back in my 59 year old body, living with my wife Lisa in San Antonio, Texas and both my parents have passed away. My brother and sister are in their 40’s and 50’s and I have 3 grandchildren with number 4 on the way.

When I am in these flashbacks, they seem so real. It’s a little like Kurt Vonnegut in his book, Slaughter House Five. In my case, I am zapping back and forth between past and present like some kind of time traveler, but only for a second or two at a time. I get a sense of how much I have changed over time, how different I am from who I was back then. In one moment, I am a child living with parents and siblings and the next, I am a husband, father and grandfather. There is a part of me that wants to linger as the child with my parents, but another part of me that can’t wait for the next chapter of my life to begin.

Inside this 59 year old body, I’m still this young, strong, 17 year old boy thinking he is going to live forever until I look in the mirror, until my muscles ache and I feel like taking a nap. The 17 year old tells my body to plant some trees, dig a garden and chop firewood until the 59 year old says perhaps tomorrow. Inside there is this “core being” that never seems to age, but he takes notes on all the changes…and adjusts. Today, I’ll take a nap and perhaps tomorrow…I’ll move the world.

Approaching my sixth decade of life on this planet has made me introspective. You see, Life is all about change. We don’t stay children. We grow up. We don’t stay young forever. We eventually grow old and die. Life is constantly changing around us. People come into and out of our lives. We experience the good as well as the bad. We interact with Life and Life…interacts with us. We grow and we learn and…we adjust.

Each day should be a Thanksgiving for who we are and who we are… BECOMING.

Food for THOUGHT…

How to Fix Congress

A friend forwarded this idea for a congressional reform package from the Internet. I’m sure it is making the rounds and many of these ideas have been out there for quite some time and are not new. Take a minute and look over this proposal:




Congressional Reform Act of 2010

 


1. Term Limits.12 years only, one of the possible options below: 
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.
 A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.


I agree very much with the last statement. In our history, government has stopped being BY the people and FOR the people. It has become a government by the wealthy and powerful for the wealthy and powerful. Even if someone elected to congress does not go in wealthy, the majority seem to come out wealthy and set for life with government pensions, healthcare, perks and connections not available to the average citizen.

It takes a lot of money to be elected to national government and as we have just witnessed with the recent mid-term elections…MONEY talks. The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations and unions to funnel unlimited funds into campaigns and not have to disclose donors have left the door wide open to special interests with hidden agendas. Our election process is for sale to the highest bidder. Those with the most wealth, power and connections get to stay in power and consolidate even more power as they make politics a career, an unholy, but lucrative profession. Their goal is to keep being elected and enjoying the perks and power of their office. Their masters are no longer the people of America, but those special interests who funded their campaigns.

So again, how do we fix congress? We stop making it a career. We limit the amount of money that can be spent and shine a light on who is contributing to the campaign. Finally, we shorten the time they can campaign and make public debates mandatory for all candidates at taxpayer’s expense.

Just one fly in the ointment… to pass this legislative reform act, the people who would have the most to lose by passing it… would be the ones voting on it.

Food for THOUGHT…

Life's Blessings

I came across this picture of my granddaughter, Emma, giving me a big hug during our summer visit to Chicago. We flew there to attend our grandson, Nathan’s, baptism and see my family members. It made me think how blessed Lisa and I are. Can there be anything better than a hug from your grand kids?


I’ve been so wrapped up in politics, work and world affairs that sometimes life seems so full of frustrations and bad news…gloom and doom. But life is a mix. It is a big stew of good and bad, beautiful and ugly, sad and happy. Each day is an adventure.

It’s those hugs we get along the way that remind us of Life’s true blessings. Thanks Emma!

Food for THOUGHT…