Buy that lettuce and those tomatoes!

I received an e-mail that I am sure is circulating around the country because it had strong political overtones.  It is far too long to include the piece here.  It is about the feelings of a teacher in a school in California.

The entire e-mail was a tirade on what immigrants (especially those ungrateful tomato and lettuce pickers) and the poor are costing the rest of us.  She cited free school lunch, rent subsidies, free medical benifits, and on and on.  I have never read a most spiteful, angry, opinionated, piece in my life.  She would not teach a child of mine because that goes against everything I tried to teach my children.  She does not belong in a classroom.  She should change professions, maybe join the border patrol, get an AK47 and take them out before they reach our side of the border. If she attends church the message of love, respect and “we are our brother’s keepers,” is not reaching her.

I am a descendant of immigrants just as I am sure many of you are – and that probably includes the teacher in California.  My grandfather was of German descent having been born in Austria, and my grandmother was of English descent.  When they arrived by steamer in New York, they were given medical care, food coupons and housing coupons to stay at a local church refugee holding place.  While there, they were given free counsel as to where they wanted to relocate in the United States.  After scanning the cities that were extending open arms to immigrants, they chose Louisville, KY.

In a few years , with the help of the Episcopal Church and the city of Louisville, they were provided all necessary help to get established as Louisvillians.  My grandfather or grandmother never forgot the helping hands of New York City  and Louisville, Kentucky.  Boat after boat arrived the same way with immigrants  with the same need: a helping hand.

Our country was built to be great by the immigrants who came to our shores and migrated to the cities and towns across our land.  I am proud to be the granddaughter of two of those immigrants.
When we lose our compassion for those less fortunate then ourselves we become a self-serving population.

Hate is the most costly commodity a country can have. Thank goodness we still have the right to buy those tomatoes and heads of lettuce!

A Christmas Memory

The trees along our downtown street are lit with tiny white bulbs.  I look out my third floor window and memories come floating by.  I heard today a very necessary way to shop for Christmas was being resurrected this year.  Layaway for Christmas.

I was 9 years old, it was the beginning of the end of the depression years.  You had to drop your Christmas hints in July because money was hard to come by, therefore, my mother, like most everyone, would use the layaway plan to shop for that special day. You shopped for Christmas gifts in July, put a dollar or less down and they were held in layaway until Christmas week.  From July to December you had to make a payment every week in order to have them paid off before Christmas.

My brother and I would start saving our pennies and nickels in mid-summer so we could shop for our aunts and uncles, close friends, each other and especially our mother.  Come December we gathered up our change and walked downtown, about two miles to a store named Jefferson Dry Goods.  In the store’s basement they had tables: one was a two cent table, one a three cent table , one a 25 cent table and if we hit it lucky there would be a penny table.  We had our list, with our money pretty well figured out. We clutched our list and our money and it took us hours to spend about two dollars. Warren Buffet never felt as rich as we did on our Christmas shopping day.  I remember we bought our mother a pink flowered apron off the 25 cent table. She wore that apron just about everyday.  In 1937, the great flood came.  The water flooded our house and washed many things blocks away.  We found mother’s pink flowered apron hanging on a tree branch a block from our home.  We brought it home, she washed it and continued wearing it until her death in 1941.  Today the pink flowered apron hangs in my daughter’s kitchen as piece of kitchen art……and so here I am some 74 years later, having wonderful Christmas times with my children. However, I wish I could walk one more time around those tables clutching the pennies and nickels and feel the excitement and Christmas joy my brother and I felt on that shopping day, even though it was a depression Christmas- that never crossed our mind.

Don’t despair. Times are a little rough but go forth, layaways are back. Shop the best you can, choose your gifts to give with love, and maybe, just maybe it will be a Christmas you will remember when you are 84 years young.

When, oh, When will we truly believe in Brother and Sisterhood?

I was going to bed without writing in my blog tonight. The election coverage today was enough to sicken any American who truly loves their country. I just wanted to cover my head and forget that we still have, after so much time, many stupid, ignorant, citizens who call themselves patriotic, true Americans and God-fearing.  The mud slinging and out and out lies coming from the McCain headquarters and being echoed by their candidates are an insult to intelligent voters.

Barack Obama’s most impressive attribute is his calm, upbeat attitude.  His mother and grandparents did a wonderful job of teaching him to never get down in the gutter with dirt or all you will get out of it is dirt.

The sad part of all this is that most of these spineless biggots cannot even be honest about why they won’t vote for Obama.  They use all the two-bit lines like “inexperienced”, “lack of foreign country knowledge”, “wants to talk to our enemies first and shoot only if all else fails” – unlike the other bunch.  Have guts enough to come out with it and be honest, the reason is “he’s black.”

Now I said it for you. Quit hiding behind your “I’m not prejudiced crap.” We all know you for what you are.

Now I can go to sleep!  Good night!

Making a Difference

I want to share with you a bit more about the joy of volunteer work with school children.

I have had many opportunities to work with children in my 62 years as a active member of the PTA. Many years ago I assisted a number of children who were having problems with reading. I was assigned one small boy when he was in the fourth grade.  His name was Michael.  Michael had a serious stammering problem and he had a great deal of trouble with his L’s and F’s.  As kids will do, they made fun of Michael and he never offered to answer questions in class and became very quiet and withdrawn. I worked with Michael the entire year, twice a week.  He made progress and became much more assertive in class.

At the end of the school year, each class had a “Thank You” party for the volunteers that had assisted in their classroom that year. The children thanked the volunteers for the many types of ways their class had benefited.  I was standing in the back of the room and I saw Michael raise his hand.  He asked the teacher if he could thank a special person and the teacher said he could, and Michael turned, walked to the back of the room and took my hand and walked me to the front of the class.  Michael with his head of red hair, a big grin, minus two teeth, ears far to big for that precious face looked up at me and said to the class, “This lady is Mrs. Key, she is my friend and I love her.” I reached down and hugged him and he whispered in my ear – “two L’s and an F.”

I had, on occasion, run into the principal of that school and we reminisced about all the people who were willing to help the children.   It was some twenty years later she told me that little Michael, who at one time would hardly speak in front of the class because of his inability to be understood, was now a baseball announcer in San Diego, California.  My case in point, friends – one person can make a difference in the life of a child.  You never know as you sit next to a child who needs your help and encouragement what life may have in store for him or her.  Be a part of it…not apart from it!

School Days are here again-Join your PTA!

Be a school volunteer.

Most every elementary school has programs to help students improve their reading skills. While helping a child you are telling the child they are important, they are worth the time you give them, and in return, the child accepts you as their friend. Working with children reminds me of something I read many years ago; when helping a child, they don’t care how big your house is, or what kind of car you drive, or how much money you have in the bank, they just know you care about them. Do yourself and someone else good, be a school volunteer.

Words, Words, Words

Again last evening during the debate, Sen, McCain had to taunt Sen. Obama about his eloquent use of words. News flash Sen. McCain: he does use words eloquently, however, he also understands how to use them and bottom line he knows what they mean.

The Face of Politics-Hope or Hostility

Watching politics from 8am to midnight every day can put you on overload.. however I don’t dare miss a day.  Waiting for the debate, I have some strong reactions to the last week’s events.

First, I wish people of my generation would move out of the way and let the younger generations take over.  We have had our time, we are nearing our golden sunset.  The future belongs to the young.  We had our chance, we did some good things and we had our screw-ups. Never has the future needed the young minds more, their beautiful acceptance and tolerance for each other and their passion for the environment.  They are going to do a better job of that then we did.

Also, when a candidate for president will allow remarks like, kill him, off with his head and other evil words, and does not reprimand the shouter, he is condoning the words.  In my eighty some years I have never heard such venom spewed by so called good Americans.  I still have a vision and I still cherish hope for an America that will call each other brother or sister regardless of skin color, religious belief, whatever your choice of dress, or the language spoken. We don’t know how we will be judged on our day of judgment -will it be the good works we did or that which we did not do?

back at ya

Tonight I want to reply to Kate who responded to my original blog. Kate, when I read your words about your mom it really struck a responsive chord.  I loved it!  Have you told your mom how you feel about her ability to still be interested in and so able to process what she hears?  If you haven’t, please do. A  compliment from a child to their parent on their ability to be so in tune with life and events around them, it is not only a compliment but most important, you validate them as someone who still has much to give.

And now for Rick in Chicago, who also responded to my early blog.  You wrote it helped you to better understand where Tara comes from. Thanks for the compliment, she is just as I had always hoped she would be. Tara has never lived in gray areas. It is black or white, gray areas denote indecisiveness and that does not equate to Tara. Sometimes the sharp edges come out, which means she is using them to cut through the BS.  Thanks Rick,

a good day

What a gorgeous day this Columbus day was here in Louisville, Kentucky. Enjoyed walking in and out of stores, managed to get my clothes on without feeling like something was twisted or in the wrong slot, which it often does. Just a great day!

Then I could not let well enough alone, I turned the radio on. Some old geezer was spouting off about the fact that Christopher Columbus never discovered anything especially America. I wanted to slap his face- bottom line is, he is one of my heroes from grade school. Why is it some people delight in tearing down our heroes? Is it for self gratification, or the joy of building someone up, only to delight in tearing them down. Enough of that. Call up a friend, just to wish them well and you will sleep a little more peaceful tonight. Cheers

Listen Up!

I’m a new Blogger.  My name is June C. Key, I’m 83 years young and determined to live to at least 90-100, just to aggravate those who think I should give up and cash in my chips.

Of course, if Washington keeps screwing around with my chips I won’t have enough to pay my way into the big Disneyland in the sky OR Dante’s hot spot.

Cheers!