Life Story Part VI
My Thoughts on Each Child—Annett
I intended to write about each of my children’s births, childhood and early adulthood in connection with their birthdays in this year of 2007 as this is the only year that they will all be in their forties. It is now November and I have yet to write about Annett. I’m not sure why it has been so hard to get this started—somewhere in my brain, I have been hesitant.
Maybe I have just been lazy. I think the problem has been that most of Annett’s history has already been written in my other three children’s stories as her birthday is the last one of the year. Also, very recently, I ran across a history she had written herself dated July 8, 1987 that I found in some stuff she sent to Grandma Nonie. I started to think that I would use it to get me going on her story.
And so, Annett was born on August 13,1960 in Lovell, WY while we were living in the little cement block house next door to Wally’s parents. She is our second child, but a first daughter. She is two years and five months younger than Andy and twenty-two months older than Jay. As Annett wrote in her personal history, we were all very excited to have a little girl in the family. We had struggled with Andy’s birth while in the Army in Virginia so far away from home with no one to help or advise us on taking care of a new infant, so the birth of our little girl right in Lovell was very different. We, as parents, were a little older with a little more experience, and we had Granddad and Grandma next door in case we needed anything.
Her birth was difficult as she was breech, which meant her feet were down instead of her head. I had been going to Dr. Tom Croft, who was the town’s old doctor, for my pre-natal care. As luck would have it, Dr. Croft was out of town at the time of my delivery and the infamous Dr. Story had to coach me in pushing her head around during the labor and delivery. Finally, after a tough time, he gave me a spinal and she was born.
In Jay’s story I have already described Dr. Story as the Lovell doctor who was later convicted of raping his patients. It was a sordid tale of a man with a sick compulsion. He was tried and convicted of several rapes and sent to the state prison in Rawlins for 20 years. The last I heard he has been free for at least the last five (now 10) years and is living in Lovell with his wife.
We had already picked out the name Annette for a girl when we had Andy. I liked the middle name Kay because of the alliteration of Annette Kay Averett. Before we put the name on the birth certificate at the hospital in Lovell, I decided that it would be nice to drop the e on Annette to be consistent with Averett since our last name had no e on the end of it. I guess it was a stupid thing to do as she has had to tell everyone her whole life her name was Annett with no e on the end, and it didn’t matter about Averett when she assumed the Loveridge name after she was married.
Annett came home from the hospital to a little pink bedroom that she shared with her brother Andy. We bought a single bed for him and Annett got the baby bed. Right from the beginning Wally was thrilled with this new little person as he grew up an only child. He wanted to hold her and play with her most of the time when he was home. He got up with her in the night and was always willing to help care for both children. She was such a perfect baby. Andy was wonderful, but Annett was a girl—a whole new experience.
I don’t remember Annett being fussy or difficult in any way. She took her bottle without problems and was soon sleeping through the night. It wasn’t long before she was eating baby food and growing bigger every day. I turned 22 years old in September that year and Wally was 27. We had no problem adjusting to the additional responsibility of another child. We had our little house, Wally had a steady job, our children were healthy, family was close, Lovell was safe and life was good.
Just a month after Annett turned one year old I discovered that we would be adding to our family again. In a way, it was too soon, as she didn’t really have the time she should have had to be the baby after Jay was born in June 1962. At first, she was jealous, but got used to the idea and became very helpful and protective of her little brother. That was a role she assumed during her whole child and young adulthood before she was married.
We soon realized that Annett came to us from the pre-existence with a very special spirit. She loved Sunday School and as a small child always insisted that we go in Lovell. Her disposition was sweet and good from the beginning. Both Wally and I firmly believe that she was born with her special spiritual gifts that had nothing to do with us or how she was raised. As a young child, I don’t remember any situations where she was naughty or disobedient. As a mother of four children, I was totally convinced that girls were much easier to raise than boys.
Being the middle child, Annett worked and played mostly with Andy and Jay. In her personal history she remembers playing on the tall swing set in our big backyard in Lovell. We also had a basketball court and access to the banker Pearson’s tennis court that bordered our lot. Because Wally always had such terrible allergies, Andy was recruited to mow the grass and Annett and Jay together pushed the lawn sweeper to pick it up. One summer Wally built an ice cream wagon pulled by a small tractor that went all over town selling ice cream from a freezer mounted on a trailer. All three kids worked on the ice cream wagon at one time or another.
Lovell still didn’t have a kindergarten when Annett turned five years old, so we arranged for her to go to Mrs. Wessel’s private kindergarten. I can’t imagine it now, but we let her ride her bike to the Wessel’s house across town by herself. That was typical of the independence and responsibility that was always part of Annett’s character. Friends in Lovell were Becky and Chad Cowan who lived next door and Michelle Cook. After Annett started school, she had a group of girl friends who were her age. I remember one incident when she and a friend, Sherry Lundberg, were playing on the playground at school and Sherry fell and injured herself quite badly. Annett, in her usual role as a little adult, picked her up and carried her into the school where she could get help for the injury. Annett just knew she had to handle the problem and did.
In 1966 we moved to Calgary, Alberta where our second daughter, Julie, was born on April 11, 1967. It was a big event for all of us, but especially Annett who had a beautiful baby sister to love and help take care of. I have been so happy all these many years later that Annett and Julie are still close. I can see that they both have similar loving and giving personalities I’m sure they inherited from their father.
Annett was always the best, most willing worker of the three older children. When they were growing up each one was assigned one night a week for clearing the table and putting the dishes in the dishwasher. After we moved to Casper, I rebelled and made them all help with the housework on Saturday mornings before they could leave the house. When I fell and wrecked my knee in Casper, Annett made lunches for herself and Jay to take to school every morning. That was a hard time for everyone as I was in a cast for the next four months and couldn’t do much walking or anything else.
Annett remembers going to at least four different schools before fourth grade. When she was in first grade we moved from Lovell to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Nine months later we were back in Lovell and then moved to Cody where she attended two different schools. Finally, we moved to Casper in 1971. It’s a good thing school was easy for her. She was always ahead of her grade in reading and she got good grades in all her subjects. Her IQ tested in the gifted range.
Annett was active in Distributive Education in high school and also served for a while as editor of the school newspaper. She took piano lessons from Mrs. Layman and organ from Carolyn Duel. Like Andy and later Jay, Annett left Casper early in her senior year. She attended BYU the winter semester before she even graduated from high school. She was only 17 years old but was able to handle the pressures of bad roommates and persistent boyfriends.
Our store Turquoise Unlimited and later Turquoise and Gold in Casper was a big part of Annett’s teenage years. She worked there every summer, every vacation and all day on Saturday as long as we had the store. She was the perfect sales person. I always said that she could sell to people who didn’t even know they wanted to buy something. Annett has the perfect personality for interacting with people. It has been a gift that has helped her throughout her life in her employment and personal relationships. Wally and I always had confidence that Annett would accomplish every expectation that we had for her.
We knew she would pick a worthy man to marry as nothing else would do. And, I think she and Jim are a pretty good match. They waited a long time before Addie came into their lives. Addie was such a blessing to all of us. We love her so much. Then a second miracle occurred when Alex was born. We didn’t think that Annett and Jim could have children, so that was a nice surprise. Alex has added blessings to Annett’s life, too.
Annett writes in her history, “My mother and I are very similar, sometimes I feel like a carbon copy.” Now, twenty some years later, I am sitting here thinking how different we are. Sometimes, I think Annett is trying to repeat my life, but I hope that isn’t the case. Annett was never a damaged person as I have felt at times in my life. Thank the Lord I am emotionally healthy now. Wally was our teacher, helper and best friend. Annett has these same character traits. She is a giver and a peace maker in her family. She is the best daughter I could ever ask for. And, I thank you, Annett, and Jim for the past seven years (now 12 years). I love my little place of sanctuary in your house. I know it’s not easy for you.
I want to end by referring to Annett’s personal history written by her in 1987. It is reassuring to me. She writes, “I am a very fortunate person being blessed with good parents, brothers and sister that love me and a husband that is a wonderful person and makes me a better individual. He loves me. My life started out with a great deal more than others. I feel it is my responsibility to take what I have and do great things with it.” Annett, I always knew you would do just that. There was never a doubt. I love you very much.
Mom
Written November 15, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Obama's Second Term Transformation Plans
I hesitated to put this on my blog. However, after reading a couple of posts on Facebook, I decided to do it. I realize that some voters don't understand what is at stake in this election. I hope and pray that this post will help to educate them.
The 2012 election has often been described as the most pivotal since 1860. This statement is not hyperbole. If Barack Obama is re-elected the United States will never be the same, nor will it be able to re-capture its once lofty status as the most dominant nation in the history of mankind.
The overwhelming majority of Americans do not understand that Obama's first term was dedicated to putting in place executive power to enable him and the administration to fulfill the campaign promise of "transforming America" in his second term regardless of which political party controls Congress. That is why his re-election team is virtually ignoring the plight of incumbent or prospective Democratic Party office holders.
The most significant accomplishment of Obama's first term is to make Congress irrelevant. Under the myopic and blindly loyal leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats have succeeded in creating an imperial and, in a second term, a potential dictatorial presidency.
During the first two years of the Obama administration when the Democrats overwhelming controlled both Houses of Congress and the media was in an Obama worshiping stupor, a myriad of laws were passed and actions taken which transferred virtually unlimited power to the executive branch.
The birth of multi-thousand page laws was not an aberration. This tactic was adopted so the bureaucracy controlled by Obama appointees would have sole discretion in interpreting vaguely written laws and enforcing thousands of pages of regulations they and not Congress would subsequently write.
For example, in the 2,700 pages of ObamaCare there are more than 2,500 references to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are more than 700 instances when he or she is instructed that they "shall" do something and more than 200 times when they "may" take at their sole discretion some form of regulatory action. On 139 occasions, the law mentions that the "Secretary determines." In essence one person, appointed by and reporting to the president, will be in charge of the health care of 310 million Americans once ObamaCare is fully operational in 2014.
The same is true in the 2,319 pages of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act which confers nearly unlimited power on various agencies to control by fiat the nation's financial, banking and investment sectors. The bill also creates new agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, not subject to any oversight by Congress. This overall process was repeated numerous times with other legislation all with the intent of granting unfettered power to the executive branch controlled Barack Obama and his radical associates.
Additionally, the Obama administration has, through its unilaterally determined rule making and regulatory powers, created laws out of whole cloth. The Environmental Protection Agency on a near daily basis issues new regulations clearly out of their purview in order to modify and change environmental laws previously passed and to impose a radical green agenda never approved by Congress. The same is true of the Energy and Interior Departments among many others.
None of these extra-constitutional actions have been challenged by Congress. The left in America knows this usurpation of power is nearly impossible to reverse unless stopped in its early stages.
It is clearly the mindset of this administration and its appointees that Congress is merely a nuisance and can be ignored after they were able to take full advantage of the useful idiots in the Democrat controlled House and Senate in 2009-2010 and the Democrat Senate in the current Congress.
Additionally, Barack Obama knows after his re-election a Republican controlled House and Senate will not be able to enact any legislation to roll back the power previously granted to the Executive Branch or usurped by them. His veto will not be overridden as there will always be at least 145 Democratic members of the House or 34 in the Senate in agreement with or intimidated by an administration more than willing to use Chicago style political tactics.
The stalemate between the Executive and Legislative Branches will inure (harden) to the benefit of Barack Obama and his fellow leftists.
The most significant power Congress has is the control of the purse-strings as all spending must be approved by them. However, once re-elected, Barack Obama, as confirmed by his willingness to do or say anything and his unscrupulous re-election tactics, would not only threaten government shutdowns but would deliberately withhold payments to those dependent on government support as a means of intimidating and forcing a Republican controlled Congress to surrender to his demands, thus neutering their ability to control the administration through spending constraints.
Further, this administration has shown contempt for the courts by ignoring various court orders, e.g. the Gulf of Mexico oil drilling moratorium, as well as stonewalling subpoenas and requests issued by Congress. The Eric Holder Justice Department has become the epitome of corruption as part of the most dishonest and deceitful administration in American history (think the pardon of Mark Rich, Fast and Furious Mexican gun walking, and Black Panther voting intimidation.)
In a second term the arrogance of Barack Obama and his minions will become more blatant as he will not have to be concerned with re-election.
Who will be there to enforce the rule of law, a Supreme Court ruling or the Constitution? (Answer: No one.) Barack Obama and his fellow-travelers will be unchallenged as they run roughshod over the American people.
Many Republicans and conservatives dissatisfied with the prospect of Mitt Romney as the nominee for president are instead focused on re-taking the House and Senate. That goal, while worthy and necessary, is meaningless unless Barack Obama is defeated. The nation is not dealing with a person of character and integrity but someone of single-minded purpose and overwhelming narcissism. Judging by his actions, words and deeds during his first term, he does not intend to work with Congress either Republican or Democrat in his second term but rather to force his radical agenda on the American people through the power he has usurped or been granted.
The governmental structure of the United States was set up by the founders in the hope that over the years only those people of high moral character and integrity would assume the reins of power. However, knowing that was not always possible, they dispersed power over three distinct and independent branches as a check on each other.
What they could not imagine is the surrender and abdication of its constitutional duty by the preeminent governmental branch, the Congress, to a chief executive devoid of any character or integrity coupled with a judiciary essentially powerless to enforce the law when the chief executive ignores them
Conservatives, Libertarians, the Republican Party and Mitt Romney must come to grips with this moment in time and their historical role in denying Barack Obama and his minions their ultimate goal. All resources must be directed at that end-game and not merely controlling Congress and the various committee chairmanships.
-----------------------------------
Steve McCann
May 12, 2012
American Thinker.com
American Thinker.com
The 2012 election has often been described as the most pivotal since 1860. This statement is not hyperbole. If Barack Obama is re-elected the United States will never be the same, nor will it be able to re-capture its once lofty status as the most dominant nation in the history of mankind.
The overwhelming majority of Americans do not understand that Obama's first term was dedicated to putting in place executive power to enable him and the administration to fulfill the campaign promise of "transforming America" in his second term regardless of which political party controls Congress. That is why his re-election team is virtually ignoring the plight of incumbent or prospective Democratic Party office holders.
The most significant accomplishment of Obama's first term is to make Congress irrelevant. Under the myopic and blindly loyal leadership of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats have succeeded in creating an imperial and, in a second term, a potential dictatorial presidency.
During the first two years of the Obama administration when the Democrats overwhelming controlled both Houses of Congress and the media was in an Obama worshiping stupor, a myriad of laws were passed and actions taken which transferred virtually unlimited power to the executive branch.
The birth of multi-thousand page laws was not an aberration. This tactic was adopted so the bureaucracy controlled by Obama appointees would have sole discretion in interpreting vaguely written laws and enforcing thousands of pages of regulations they and not Congress would subsequently write.
For example, in the 2,700 pages of ObamaCare there are more than 2,500 references to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are more than 700 instances when he or she is instructed that they "shall" do something and more than 200 times when they "may" take at their sole discretion some form of regulatory action. On 139 occasions, the law mentions that the "Secretary determines." In essence one person, appointed by and reporting to the president, will be in charge of the health care of 310 million Americans once ObamaCare is fully operational in 2014.
The same is true in the 2,319 pages of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act which confers nearly unlimited power on various agencies to control by fiat the nation's financial, banking and investment sectors. The bill also creates new agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, not subject to any oversight by Congress. This overall process was repeated numerous times with other legislation all with the intent of granting unfettered power to the executive branch controlled Barack Obama and his radical associates.
Additionally, the Obama administration has, through its unilaterally determined rule making and regulatory powers, created laws out of whole cloth. The Environmental Protection Agency on a near daily basis issues new regulations clearly out of their purview in order to modify and change environmental laws previously passed and to impose a radical green agenda never approved by Congress. The same is true of the Energy and Interior Departments among many others.
None of these extra-constitutional actions have been challenged by Congress. The left in America knows this usurpation of power is nearly impossible to reverse unless stopped in its early stages.
It is clearly the mindset of this administration and its appointees that Congress is merely a nuisance and can be ignored after they were able to take full advantage of the useful idiots in the Democrat controlled House and Senate in 2009-2010 and the Democrat Senate in the current Congress.
Additionally, Barack Obama knows after his re-election a Republican controlled House and Senate will not be able to enact any legislation to roll back the power previously granted to the Executive Branch or usurped by them. His veto will not be overridden as there will always be at least 145 Democratic members of the House or 34 in the Senate in agreement with or intimidated by an administration more than willing to use Chicago style political tactics.
The stalemate between the Executive and Legislative Branches will inure (harden) to the benefit of Barack Obama and his fellow leftists.
The most significant power Congress has is the control of the purse-strings as all spending must be approved by them. However, once re-elected, Barack Obama, as confirmed by his willingness to do or say anything and his unscrupulous re-election tactics, would not only threaten government shutdowns but would deliberately withhold payments to those dependent on government support as a means of intimidating and forcing a Republican controlled Congress to surrender to his demands, thus neutering their ability to control the administration through spending constraints.
Further, this administration has shown contempt for the courts by ignoring various court orders, e.g. the Gulf of Mexico oil drilling moratorium, as well as stonewalling subpoenas and requests issued by Congress. The Eric Holder Justice Department has become the epitome of corruption as part of the most dishonest and deceitful administration in American history (think the pardon of Mark Rich, Fast and Furious Mexican gun walking, and Black Panther voting intimidation.)
In a second term the arrogance of Barack Obama and his minions will become more blatant as he will not have to be concerned with re-election.
Who will be there to enforce the rule of law, a Supreme Court ruling or the Constitution? (Answer: No one.) Barack Obama and his fellow-travelers will be unchallenged as they run roughshod over the American people.
Many Republicans and conservatives dissatisfied with the prospect of Mitt Romney as the nominee for president are instead focused on re-taking the House and Senate. That goal, while worthy and necessary, is meaningless unless Barack Obama is defeated. The nation is not dealing with a person of character and integrity but someone of single-minded purpose and overwhelming narcissism. Judging by his actions, words and deeds during his first term, he does not intend to work with Congress either Republican or Democrat in his second term but rather to force his radical agenda on the American people through the power he has usurped or been granted.
The governmental structure of the United States was set up by the founders in the hope that over the years only those people of high moral character and integrity would assume the reins of power. However, knowing that was not always possible, they dispersed power over three distinct and independent branches as a check on each other.
What they could not imagine is the surrender and abdication of its constitutional duty by the preeminent governmental branch, the Congress, to a chief executive devoid of any character or integrity coupled with a judiciary essentially powerless to enforce the law when the chief executive ignores them
Conservatives, Libertarians, the Republican Party and Mitt Romney must come to grips with this moment in time and their historical role in denying Barack Obama and his minions their ultimate goal. All resources must be directed at that end-game and not merely controlling Congress and the various committee chairmanships.
-----------------------------------
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Book Review--What the (Bleep) Just Happened by Monica Crowley
The Happy Warrior's Guide to the Great American Comeback
Monica Crowley is amazing and so is this book. It should be required reading for every American who loves our country. It is skillfully written with great detail and humor. She uses pop culture iconic metaphors and similes to help lift the reality of "What the (Bleep) Just Happened" to our country. In the last section of the book she outlines her Happy Warrior’s guide to the great American comeback (solutions for helping to restore America).Part I, “America, Interrupted.” In this section the concept of American exceptionalism is examined and explained. And, we can only ask again, “What the (Bleep) has happened” to our country? From the time of the Founding Fathers down through war and peace, economic prosperity, recessions and depressions, we “never lost the ideal—and the reality—of American exceptionalism.” What other country has our unique history? Monica deftly details Obama and the Democrat’s “dark vision” away from individualism and self-reliance to dependency on big government by redistributing our wealth, our resources and our power around the world.
Part II, “The Skinny Socialist is a Big Fat Liar.” Here the book takes us step-by step through Obama’s un-vetted rise to the presidency with his stated objective to “fundamentally remake America.” His family background and other associations included Communists, Socialist, radicals and revolutionaries. His objective became redistributionism and class warfare as a means to “establish social and economic justice.” Saul Alinsky’s book Rules for Radical’s taught Obama how to achieve many of his goals of a collective society for the masses vs. individual freedom and achievement.
Part III, “Size Matters” describes the history and philosophy of “Keynesian Economics” that politicians use as an excuse and means to grow the government. The book explains that ideological agendas of both parties caused them to support ever-growing more and bigger government spending so all of us could be supplied with a “safety net.” The ultimate objective, however, is to exert more power and control over our lives. Now we have a cradle to grave nanny state which, according to Monica, has “unfunded liabilities totaling an eye-popping $117 trillion. That total is more than all the registered wealth in the world.”
Part IV, “Dr. Strangeleader or: How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love American Decline.” This is a treatise on Obama’s failed foreign policy. The book describes Obama’s reaction to the jihadists who bombed the World Trade Center as probably coming from (to quote Obama) “a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.” (In other words, it was all our fault!) When, in fact, they were “middle to upper class and highly educated.” Obama soon makes it clear that his belief is that our country is in decline, and by “leading from behind,” he can cleverly “redistribute America’s power to others.” This section will curl your hair.
And finally, Part V, “America Unleashed.” This is my favorite part of the book. It defines the spirit of the Happy Warrior or “We the People”—the fourth branch of government. Happy Warriors must fight back against the tyranny of over-reaching governmental interference in our lives. We must protect the Constitution, our homes, our families and our liberty. And, we are reminded that although we choose to be Happy, we are still Warriors in the war against our enemies—the leftist kooks running our government. We cannot be complacent and dependent if we are to continue to live in “the land of the free.” So, Warriors, now is the time and this is the moment. Go out; fight to restore America using your words, ideas, moral courage and creativity. Good luck.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Movie Review--People Like Us
My sister, Beth, and I like to go to the movies on a Friday or Saturday afternoon (like I did in my childhood years). Lately it has been difficult to find something that wasn’t animated, based on a comic book character, or rated R. Last Friday, we took a chance and went to see People Like Us at the Wynsong Theater in the RiverWoods shopping area of Orem.
It begins with Sam (Chris Pine) arguing with his boss which was not an auspicious beginning. Sam, it seems, is a super salesman in a “bartering” company. He is an aggressive salesman who thinks he has closed a big deal for which he will be highly rewarded (he wasn’t). When he returns home to his fiancée, Hannah (Olivia Wilde), he learns that she received a telephone call with the bad news that his father, Jerry Harper, has died. Sam reacts unemotionally and tells Hannah that he wasn’t close to his father, a recording executive, who was very involved with his career.
After a ruse by Sam to miss their flight to Los Angeles, they finally find another flight but miss his father’s funeral. Lillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), his mother, sits on a row by herself waiting for her only child, Sam. When Sam and Hannah arrive at the house, his mom hugs him and slaps his face, but warmly welcomes Hannah. Later he finds out that he has inherited his father’s huge record collection which is quite valuable.
Now the story starts to unfold. His dad’s lawyer summons Sam to his office where he gives him a shaving kit with his father's initials on it. Inside he finds $150,000 cash money and a note for him to deliver it to a person named Frankie (Elizabeth Banks). He tracks her down at an AA meeting where she discloses (sarcastically) to the group that her father, Jerry Harper, has just died.
Sam realizes that his father had another family that he apparently abandoned. This is a secret that changes all their lives. When he finds out his half-sister is raising an 11-year-old troubled son, Josh (Michael Hall D’Addario), he decides to stay in L.A. and get to know them. The relationship between Frankie and Sam is misunderstood by Frankie when Sam is slow to disclose their familial relationship. When his secret is disclosed the result is anger. The rest of the movie is about evolving relationships with Sam and his mother, with Sam and Hannah, and with Sam, Frankie and Josh.
Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Hall D’Addario are all outstanding and well cast in their roles. The story unfolds naturally highlighting unexpected difficulties that affect individual lives and families. I was surprised that DreamWorks SKG was partially involved in making this movie. I don’t expect it will make a lot of money or be in theaters very long. I will say it was an enjoyable time in a cool theater on an extremely hot July afternoon in Utah.
It begins with Sam (Chris Pine) arguing with his boss which was not an auspicious beginning. Sam, it seems, is a super salesman in a “bartering” company. He is an aggressive salesman who thinks he has closed a big deal for which he will be highly rewarded (he wasn’t). When he returns home to his fiancée, Hannah (Olivia Wilde), he learns that she received a telephone call with the bad news that his father, Jerry Harper, has died. Sam reacts unemotionally and tells Hannah that he wasn’t close to his father, a recording executive, who was very involved with his career.
After a ruse by Sam to miss their flight to Los Angeles, they finally find another flight but miss his father’s funeral. Lillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), his mother, sits on a row by herself waiting for her only child, Sam. When Sam and Hannah arrive at the house, his mom hugs him and slaps his face, but warmly welcomes Hannah. Later he finds out that he has inherited his father’s huge record collection which is quite valuable.
Now the story starts to unfold. His dad’s lawyer summons Sam to his office where he gives him a shaving kit with his father's initials on it. Inside he finds $150,000 cash money and a note for him to deliver it to a person named Frankie (Elizabeth Banks). He tracks her down at an AA meeting where she discloses (sarcastically) to the group that her father, Jerry Harper, has just died.
Sam realizes that his father had another family that he apparently abandoned. This is a secret that changes all their lives. When he finds out his half-sister is raising an 11-year-old troubled son, Josh (Michael Hall D’Addario), he decides to stay in L.A. and get to know them. The relationship between Frankie and Sam is misunderstood by Frankie when Sam is slow to disclose their familial relationship. When his secret is disclosed the result is anger. The rest of the movie is about evolving relationships with Sam and his mother, with Sam and Hannah, and with Sam, Frankie and Josh.
Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Hall D’Addario are all outstanding and well cast in their roles. The story unfolds naturally highlighting unexpected difficulties that affect individual lives and families. I was surprised that DreamWorks SKG was partially involved in making this movie. I don’t expect it will make a lot of money or be in theaters very long. I will say it was an enjoyable time in a cool theater on an extremely hot July afternoon in Utah.
Life Story Part II --Sleeping on a Cold Cement Floor
For some reason sleeping on a cold cement floor is an important event in my life. I don’t understand why I remember it as an event. What I do remember is the event itself and how it affected me then and later on. The memory of how it all started is gone and I don’t remember some of the details. What I do remember is that I was still a child of probably 6 or 7 years old.
It’s hard to recreate something from your childhood when memories get all mixed up with other past experiences, hurts and feelings. I know it was traumatic because even though I don’t remember how it started, I remember vividly 60 some years later how it felt. I know it began with some kind of punishment or reprimand. Maybe it was harsh words as I don’t remember being hit except for one time.
Anyway, we had two bedrooms in the basement with stucco walls and hardwood floors that Dad installed sometime when I was little. One bedroom was on the front of the house and one was on the back. The back bedroom was where I slept for as long as my oldest sister, Joyce, was home. She and Velna (number two sister) shared the front bedroom until Joyce got married in July of 1948 (I was almost 10 years old by then). Frank (my brother) and I shared the back room. I slept in a metal double bed with Grandma Lythgoe’s heavy tied quilt on top. The quilt was warm but not pretty. Frank had metal bunk beds with sagging metal springs where he slept.
Between the rooms was a laundry room with cement floors and walls. It had a sloping floor with a drain in the middle. Every Monday morning Mother washed with the Maytag ringer washer and rinsed in two tubs that she filled from a spigot on the wall with two hoses. One tub always had bluing in it to make the whites whiter. Off to the side of the laundry room was what we called the furnace room. At some point the heat for the house had been converted from coal to gas because behind the furnace was a very ugly coal room. It had a wooden shoot with a small metal covered opening to the outside. Coal had been unloaded directly into the room through the opening and down the shoot. The coal room was now used for storage but I was almost afraid to go in there—it was so dark and awful. The furnace room had some tools and other junk in it. Later Dad put a small sink, a metal shower and a toilet in the furnace room to help accommodate a family of six—including an adolescent (Velna) and a teenager (Joyce) besides Frank and me.
At the time of my event the furnace room was a dark place with a huge old furnace and an old open flame water heater.
What happened? I don’t know. I know it was late afternoon or early evening and I went to the basement to get away. I remember going to bed and just laying there. It was cold downstairs. I remember a small gas stove outside the front bedroom’s door but it didn’t give much heat. The big furnace only had one flue which sent heat to the floor grill in the upstairs hall.
It must have been late when I got up because everyone had gone to bed, but I was still awake. I remember feeling sad. Nobody came down to see how I was or to talk to me. I know I wanted something from somebody. But, that was not going to happen. I wanted to run away so they would miss me. Finally, I went into the furnace room and lay down on the bare cement floor. I remember thinking that someone would surely come and see I was not in bed and find me there in the furnace room. I had no blanket or pillow, only the cold floor. I was miserable.
Well, I wasn’t found until morning. I slept on the cold cement floor all night without anyone finding me. I learned that night that nobody loved me. I believed that if anyone cared about me they would have known I was missing and tried to find me. I needed someone to care about me. I didn’t really feel loved until I found Wally when I was 17. He made up for everything—I could hardly believe he could love me as I didn’t know I was loveable. As a child, I was taken care of but not loved (so it seemed to me). Now I know that attention doesn’t necessarily mean you are loved. But, it sure would have helped that night when I slept on the cold cement floor in the furnace room.
It’s hard to recreate something from your childhood when memories get all mixed up with other past experiences, hurts and feelings. I know it was traumatic because even though I don’t remember how it started, I remember vividly 60 some years later how it felt. I know it began with some kind of punishment or reprimand. Maybe it was harsh words as I don’t remember being hit except for one time.
Anyway, we had two bedrooms in the basement with stucco walls and hardwood floors that Dad installed sometime when I was little. One bedroom was on the front of the house and one was on the back. The back bedroom was where I slept for as long as my oldest sister, Joyce, was home. She and Velna (number two sister) shared the front bedroom until Joyce got married in July of 1948 (I was almost 10 years old by then). Frank (my brother) and I shared the back room. I slept in a metal double bed with Grandma Lythgoe’s heavy tied quilt on top. The quilt was warm but not pretty. Frank had metal bunk beds with sagging metal springs where he slept.
Between the rooms was a laundry room with cement floors and walls. It had a sloping floor with a drain in the middle. Every Monday morning Mother washed with the Maytag ringer washer and rinsed in two tubs that she filled from a spigot on the wall with two hoses. One tub always had bluing in it to make the whites whiter. Off to the side of the laundry room was what we called the furnace room. At some point the heat for the house had been converted from coal to gas because behind the furnace was a very ugly coal room. It had a wooden shoot with a small metal covered opening to the outside. Coal had been unloaded directly into the room through the opening and down the shoot. The coal room was now used for storage but I was almost afraid to go in there—it was so dark and awful. The furnace room had some tools and other junk in it. Later Dad put a small sink, a metal shower and a toilet in the furnace room to help accommodate a family of six—including an adolescent (Velna) and a teenager (Joyce) besides Frank and me.
At the time of my event the furnace room was a dark place with a huge old furnace and an old open flame water heater.
What happened? I don’t know. I know it was late afternoon or early evening and I went to the basement to get away. I remember going to bed and just laying there. It was cold downstairs. I remember a small gas stove outside the front bedroom’s door but it didn’t give much heat. The big furnace only had one flue which sent heat to the floor grill in the upstairs hall.
It must have been late when I got up because everyone had gone to bed, but I was still awake. I remember feeling sad. Nobody came down to see how I was or to talk to me. I know I wanted something from somebody. But, that was not going to happen. I wanted to run away so they would miss me. Finally, I went into the furnace room and lay down on the bare cement floor. I remember thinking that someone would surely come and see I was not in bed and find me there in the furnace room. I had no blanket or pillow, only the cold floor. I was miserable.
Well, I wasn’t found until morning. I slept on the cold cement floor all night without anyone finding me. I learned that night that nobody loved me. I believed that if anyone cared about me they would have known I was missing and tried to find me. I needed someone to care about me. I didn’t really feel loved until I found Wally when I was 17. He made up for everything—I could hardly believe he could love me as I didn’t know I was loveable. As a child, I was taken care of but not loved (so it seemed to me). Now I know that attention doesn’t necessarily mean you are loved. But, it sure would have helped that night when I slept on the cold cement floor in the furnace room.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
ObamaCare Executive Power
This is an excerpt of an email sent to me from my friend Gloria. It is pretty scary. Executive power has been expanded exponentially since Obama was elected president.
The birth of multi-thousand page laws was not an aberration. This tactic was adopted so the bureaucracy controlled by Obama appointees would have sole discretion in interpreting vaguely written laws and enforcing thousands of pages of regulations they and not Congress would subsequently write.
For example, in the 2,700 pages ObamaCare [healthcare bill] there are more than 2,500 references to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are more than 700 instances when he or she is instructed that they "shall" do something and more than 200 times when they "may" take at their sole discretion some form of regulatory action. On 139 occasions, the law mentions that the "Secretary determines." In essence one person, appointed by and reporting to the president, will be in charge of the health care of 310 million Americans once ObamaCare is fully operational in 2014.
Steve McCann
May 12, 2012
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/05/obamas_second_term_transformation_plans.html#ixzz20FJxZg7h
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
ObamaCare--The Supreme Court Ruling (positive possibilities)
This is an email from my friend, Kent, written by Bert Atkinson, Jr. I don't know Mr. Atkinson, but his thoughts are "interesting and positive." It is easy to be negative when positive is so much better.
Subject: Supreme Court Ruling
This provides a simple summary of the possibilities coming our way, but lots can happen in 4 months as we all know. Roberts sure has emerged as a brilliant Chief Justice (a reversal of opinion by the Democrats). You might want to read this and make your own opinion on what happened yesterday with ruling on ObamaCare.
Why Chief Justice Roberts Made the Right Long-Term Decision With ObamaCare
By Bert Atkinson, Jr.
Before you look to do harm (I'm sure he means verbal not physical) to Chief Justice Roberts or his family, it’s important that you think carefully about the meaning – the true nature — of his ruling on ObamaCare. The Left will shout that they won, that ObamaCare was upheld and all the rest. Let them. It will be a short-lived celebration.
Here’s what really occurred — payback. Yes, payback for Obama’s numerous, ill-advised and childish insults directed toward SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States). Chief Justice Roberts actually ruled the mandate, relative to the commerce clause, was unconstitutional. That’s how the Democrats got ObamaCare going in the first place. This is critical. His ruling means Congress can’t compel American citizens to purchase anything; EVER. The notion is now officially and forever, unconstitutional; as it should be.
Next, he stated that, because Congress doesn’t have the ability to mandate, it must, to fund ObamaCare, rely on its power to tax. Therefore, the mechanism that funds ObamaCare is a tax. This is also critical. Recall back during the initial ObamaCare battles, the Democrats called it a penalty, Republicans called it a tax. Democrats consistently soft sold it as a penalty. It went to vote as a penalty. Obama declared endlessly, that it was not a tax, it was a penalty. But when the Democrats argued in front of the Supreme Court, they said "hey, a penalty or a tax, either way." So, Roberts gave them a tax. It is now the official law of the land — beyond word-play and silly shenanigans. ObamaCare is funded by tax dollars. Democrats now must defend a tax increase to justify the ObamaCare law.
Finally, he struck down as unconstitutional, the ObamaCare idea that the federal government can bully states into complying by yanking their existing Medicaid funding. Liberals, through Obama-Care, basically said to the states — "comply with Obama-care or we will stop existing funding." Roberts ruled that is a no-no. If a state takes the money, fine, the Feds can tell the state how to run a program, but if the state refuses money, the federal government can’t penalize the state by yanking other funding. Therefore, a state can decline to participate in ObamaCare without penalty. This is obviously a serious problem. Are we going to have 10, 12, 25 states not participating in “national” health-care? Suddenly, it’s not national, is it?
Ultimately, Roberts supported states rights by limiting the federal government’s coercive abilities. He ruled that the government can not force the people to purchase products or services under the commerce clause and he forced liberals to have to come clean and admit that ObamaCare is funded by tax increases.
Although he didn’t guarantee Romney a win, he certainly did more than his part and should be applauded. And he did this without creating a civil war or having bricks thrown threw his windshield. Oh, and he’ll be home in time for dinner.
Brilliant.
Subject: Supreme Court Ruling
This provides a simple summary of the possibilities coming our way, but lots can happen in 4 months as we all know. Roberts sure has emerged as a brilliant Chief Justice (a reversal of opinion by the Democrats). You might want to read this and make your own opinion on what happened yesterday with ruling on ObamaCare.
Why Chief Justice Roberts Made the Right Long-Term Decision With ObamaCare
By Bert Atkinson, Jr.
Before you look to do harm (I'm sure he means verbal not physical) to Chief Justice Roberts or his family, it’s important that you think carefully about the meaning – the true nature — of his ruling on ObamaCare. The Left will shout that they won, that ObamaCare was upheld and all the rest. Let them. It will be a short-lived celebration.
Here’s what really occurred — payback. Yes, payback for Obama’s numerous, ill-advised and childish insults directed toward SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States). Chief Justice Roberts actually ruled the mandate, relative to the commerce clause, was unconstitutional. That’s how the Democrats got ObamaCare going in the first place. This is critical. His ruling means Congress can’t compel American citizens to purchase anything; EVER. The notion is now officially and forever, unconstitutional; as it should be.
Next, he stated that, because Congress doesn’t have the ability to mandate, it must, to fund ObamaCare, rely on its power to tax. Therefore, the mechanism that funds ObamaCare is a tax. This is also critical. Recall back during the initial ObamaCare battles, the Democrats called it a penalty, Republicans called it a tax. Democrats consistently soft sold it as a penalty. It went to vote as a penalty. Obama declared endlessly, that it was not a tax, it was a penalty. But when the Democrats argued in front of the Supreme Court, they said "hey, a penalty or a tax, either way." So, Roberts gave them a tax. It is now the official law of the land — beyond word-play and silly shenanigans. ObamaCare is funded by tax dollars. Democrats now must defend a tax increase to justify the ObamaCare law.
Finally, he struck down as unconstitutional, the ObamaCare idea that the federal government can bully states into complying by yanking their existing Medicaid funding. Liberals, through Obama-Care, basically said to the states — "comply with Obama-care or we will stop existing funding." Roberts ruled that is a no-no. If a state takes the money, fine, the Feds can tell the state how to run a program, but if the state refuses money, the federal government can’t penalize the state by yanking other funding. Therefore, a state can decline to participate in ObamaCare without penalty. This is obviously a serious problem. Are we going to have 10, 12, 25 states not participating in “national” health-care? Suddenly, it’s not national, is it?
Ultimately, Roberts supported states rights by limiting the federal government’s coercive abilities. He ruled that the government can not force the people to purchase products or services under the commerce clause and he forced liberals to have to come clean and admit that ObamaCare is funded by tax increases.
Although he didn’t guarantee Romney a win, he certainly did more than his part and should be applauded. And he did this without creating a civil war or having bricks thrown threw his windshield. Oh, and he’ll be home in time for dinner.
Brilliant.
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