"Just tell yourself, Duckie, your real quite lucky." ~Dr. Seuss ~

I must apologize for being scarce.  I was in a automobile accident prior to Christmas.  Thank goodness there was no one with me in the vehicle and that other vehicle involvement was avoided. "BLACK ICE" now holds new meaning for me. Without going into great detail, I was hospitalized with a serious closed-head injury and other injuries consistent with what I endured as I took a wild ride on the ice...am now released, & will continue my recovery process at home and through out-patient care. The accident has left physical, emotional & mental impressions upon me. I suppose that is one of the effects of your head busting out an entire window in a half-ton pickup while being bounced like a juggler's ball...I am an avid seatbelt wearer...had I not been, I would not be here to explain anything at all...

I guess what I want to say today is:  I AM ONE LUCKY DUCKIE. 

I will continue with the DOMESTIC VIOLENCE blogs that I had planned during the next week or so...far too important not to be addressed properly.  I'm on no time table! 

With an attitude of gratitude...I am.
Caty

" STINK. STANK. STUNK. " ~from How The Grinch Stole Christmas~

SOMEONE IS MISSING AT CHRISTMAS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu701pewN-o 

As my children and friends played games in the living room last night, I took a call and shut myself in a bedroom. I was receiving the news that one of our MISSING was found deceased. What a contrast. Where is the balance? There is none to be had...because this is so wrong.  So NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!
Plain and simple?  
IT SUCKS!
There is no way to dress this up with designer wrap, shiny bows & beautiful lights. People are gone. 
GONE. 
Daughters.Wives. Husbands. Brothers. Sisters. Aunts. Grandpas. Uncles. Nephews. Uncles. Daddys. Sons. Mothers. Friends. Cousins. 
Lost. Missing. Murdered. Vanished.
Their families left to cope with the empty chair, the empty stocking, the present they did not have to buy. The inexplicable void that sits right down at Christmas dinner and demands to be fed!!!  Crime and injustice put up no boundaries...they creep along the dark alleys and the streets in broad daylight. There is no prejudice. 
My Wish For ALL...
That we become our own ADVOCATES. That HOPE remain alive. That COMFORT be found. That we become the CHANGE we seek.

Wishing solace and strength for each of us this day.
Caty

Thinking of our friends...never forgotten, always loved.
please feel free to add the name of a loved one you are missing this year:

Star Boomer, Jasmine Haslag, Angie Yarnell, Jesse Ross, Brian Barton, Derek Kelly, Robert Spellman, Jason Jolkowski, Branson Perry, Christina Young, Brittanee Drexel, Teresa Butler, Cheryl Kenney, Billy Smolinski, Jeramy Burt, Austin Davis, Joshua Bryan Smith, Susan Cox (powell,) Emilee Hoyt, Brian Schaeffer, Steven Koecher, Casey Scott Berry, Justin Gaines, Billy Baysinger, Jeremy Alex, TRevor Morse, Kyle Fleischman, Ahren Barnard, Derrick Henagan, Bubba Kidder, Brock Holmes, Kristi Cornwell,Carrie Culberson...

"Only you can control your future." ~Dr. Seuss ~

WITH A BROKEN WING, SHE CARRIES HER DREAMS...
MAN, YOU OUGHT TO SEE HER FLY!

5-months pregnant Teri Jendusa-Nicolai was picking up her 2 daughters at the culmination of a court-ordered visit with their father, her ex-husband. Her ex-husband explained upon Teri's arrival that the girls were playing hide 'n seek and wanted her to find them.
She hadn't been inside that house since she'd left him five years before, and her gut told her not to go in there this time. But today seemed like one of his nice days. He was extremely calm. Almost normal, even. 

She relented, figuring it must be one of his good days. She entered his kitchen only to have her head smashed from behind. The next thing she knew, she had been beaten over the head 10-15-20-times? with a baseball bat, duct-taped, stuffed into a  plastic garbage can packed with snow that would inevitably cause hypothermia.
He then drove her in the bed of his pickup truck to a warehouse at his place of employment...a place he could make certain the job was complete, and keep tabs on her remains. She could hear her daughters giggling in the cab of the truck with their dad, ignorant of what was taking place around them.
When she thought of her girls, what he would do with them, how they would be raised, where they would go...her SURVIVAL MODE kicked in and DYING WAS NOT AN OPTION! 
Please read the link below for the story of her rescue.

 http://www.todaystmj4.com/features/specialassignment/92736849.html

TERI CHOSE NOT TO BE A VICTIM BUT TO BE A SURVIVOR! 

She is now a Victim's Advocate who speaks out about domestic violence, empowering others to get out, get help, get safe...LIVE THE LIFE YOU WERE MEANT TO LIVE!  It is within your control.

WITH A BROKEN WING, SHE CARRIES HER DREAMS...
MAN, YOU OUGHT TO  SEE HER FLY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjTO5eAbZY

National Domestic Violence Hotline

"How did it get so late so soon?" ~Dr. Seuss~

MY FRIEND PAM
I graduated High School with Pam Canterbury.
Kind, petite, freckled, smiley...man, she had a great head of hair.
The following link is to her obituary that was in today's paper. She is dead because her husband came into her place of employment and murdered her with a single gunshot wound to the chest 2 nights ago. Pam left behind 3 children who ADORED her and a beautiful grand baby.
We are now learning that Pam Canterbury-Kellner was the victim of domestic violence. Do you know why she is now lying in a morgue?  I'll tell you in plain and clear terms why...BECAUSE SHE FINALLY HAD THE GUTS TO LEAVE!!! 
http://www.newstribune.com/obituaries/2010/dec/19/pam-canterbury-kellner/

HOW DID IT GET SO LATE SO SOON?   
I cringe thinking of the conversations in the homes of Pam's friends, family, co-workers. They knew. They did...apparently he had threatened her for years. He had bullied, acted out, humiliated, and attempted to control this sweet soul for the better part of her adult life. YOU KNOW THEY ARE ASKING THEMSELVES WHAT THEY COULD HAVE DONE!!!  You just know they are.
Where was the intervention?  Where was the support?  Did they try? Did they turn their heads? Did she tell them she would be fine, while they knew she would not?
When did it become too late???  How long ago was too long ago???
We all know a Pam. We have all heard of a Pam.

Hell, maybe we once WERE a Pam...maybe we still are a Pam.
  
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
 The remainder of the month of the December is dedicated to issues surrounding DOMESTIC VIOLENCE of all types...to specific cases, to the injustice system, to the aftermath of families who are torn apart. Most importantly, we will look at our part in this daily disaster. What are we doing or not doing that contributes to this very real, very shameful, very dark piece of society. It touches each us on many levels. Maybe in our own families, our own circles...our own homes. Let's figure it out...

Rest In Peace & Love, Pam.

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. -- Dr. Seuss

PASSIONATE: 

1.having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism.

2.easily aroused to or influenced by sexual desire; ardently sensual.

3.expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; emotional: passionate language.

4.intense or vehement, as emotions or feelings: passionate grief.

5.easily moved to anger; quick-tempered; irascible.

Ummmmm...Guilty on all charges. 

 Is it a crime to be so intense? Sometimes it feels like one...it gets me in trouble. People seem to be either drawn to me or turned-off by me. Did I mention I am a Scorpio?  I am a girl like any other who decided that ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH!  In my own life. In my community. In my world. There had to be a better way to exist. No more excuses. No. More. Excuses. Now it is time to go outside myself. 

This is a blog about you. How far are you willing to go to make changes in your person, in your life, in your community, in your very own home?  I may write about topics that make you uncomfortable...good.   

How much more are you willing to take? To stand for? And Wuddayagonnadoaboudit???

Enter at your own risk. I may curse.  I will be brutally honest. I won't put up with any BS...Feel free to speak your mind, join in, lurk, whatever you are comfortable with. 
*PERSONAL attacks on me or another blogger will not be tolerated. You don't like the rules?  Leave.
  
Love, Light & Laughter 
Caty