A New Year's Memory...

For those of you who may not know, I am originally from South Philly.  We moved to Southwest when I was about five, and moved back to South Philly when I was 16.  But for every year, no matter where we lived, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were very special.

On New Years Eve, my grandmother Angela (Dad's mother) always had a big open house party.  She lived (for most of those years) on 1121 Tasker St.  All her sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews would come. There was LOTS and lots of food, drink and laughter.  My grandmother, in those years, was a wonderful, fun woman.  And her talent.... well, she was a commercial artist, a dressmaker and an interior designer.  I can't draw a straight line, and can't sew a button.  All I got was her temper!  But that's another story for another time.  Those New Years Eve parties were enjoyed for many years, until I guess she got tired of them.  When she moved to 12th St., they ended.

But another tradition lived on for many MORE years... On New Year's Day, there was this little parade on Broad Street...  Of course, the Mummers.  When I was little, I thought it was called Mummer's Day because that's what I always heard.  I thought everyone in the world came to it, and thought that every city had one.  Only later did I learn that the Mummers are distinctly and only Philadelphia.  I love my city (even though it's changed and I don't live there anymore!)

My dad's uncles, Ralph and Paris, would get their prime spot on Broad St. directly across from the St. Agnes Hospital.  They always brought a ladder, and the nieces and nephews always had a prime viewing spot.  And Dad always had a thermos full of "special" coffee... spiked!  I remember him letting us sip it when we got too cold.

When it would get unbearably cold, we would walk back to Grandmom Rucci's house on Iseminger St., where you were sure to get laughs, and hot chocolate and cookies.  Then when you were warm, you would go back out to Broad Street in time for the String Bands.  Then you would go back to Grandmom's where there would be food, laughs, fun, card games and (mostly friendly) arguments!  Great times.

This went on for most of my youth, up till I was in my late teens.  The memories are burned into my mind, and they are sweet memories of a family long gone.  The only of my grandmother's siblings still alive is Aunt Chets... she is in her mid 80s and looks fabulous.  The Ruccis always held their age remarkably well.

Since those days ended, we had many other New Years Eve parties, some at Mom's house (one of which lasted three days because the parade was canceled!) and some we celebrated with the Archer Epler drum corps brothers and sisters.  All good times.

Maybe its a sign of age that New Years Eve and New Years Day are now just days to me.  I prefer to stay in now, and prefer to not travel far even on New Years Day.  I'm happy to stay here, warm and comfy, maybe in the company of a few close friends, maybe not.  And I'm happy to see in the New Year quietly, and stay home and watch the parade without having to trek a couple of blocks to get warm.

I prefer to let those memories flow and keep me warm.  I truly value the family I have, the friends I've made, and the traditions that once graced our lives.

Make yourself some good memories.  Even though Grandmom Rucci, most of the aunts and uncles, and Dad are gone, they live in our hearts, and most of all, in our smiles.

Happy New Year, everyone.  Be safe, and make sure you tell your family and friends you LOVE THEM.  Say it, Mean it, Show it!  Good night.  <3  I love you all.

It occurred to me that I have my own blog so I can rant about this effin snow...

Hey if you love snow fine but know this:  I hate winter, snow, ice and being cold.  I love the change of seasons, but would be glad if winter lasted oh, maybe ONE day.  I am happy when December 21st passes because I know that after the winter solstice, the days start getting longer again.

Anyway, here's the latest rant.

My husband drove a tractor trailer for thirty five years.  In all kinds of weather, and every day, winter, summer, spring and fall, and on almost every holiday.  When he drove in this kind of weather, I wasn't worried about him, as he was (and is) a professional driver.  I worried about all the other asshats who don't know how to drive in dry weather, let alone this snow crap.  I spent alot of sleepless nights when he worked, even when I had to get up myself the next day for work.

That is part of the reason I hate winter.  Now, a son of a very close, dear friend of mine is a tractor trailer driver.  And Lou is a volunteer fire policeman.  So they both get to be out in all kinds of weather.  Here's the thing...  Some people are out in this, thinking "Oh boy, wheee it's snowing and I got four wheel drive so I can go ANYWHERE and do ANYTHING just like its dry outside because NOTHING can happen to ME."

Well guess what, dumbass.  ICE is not picky about what kind of vehicle you're driving.  An 18 wheeler fully loaded can SLIDE on the ice.  YOU cannot drive your almighty four wheel drive like some invincible a-hole.  You will endanger yourself, but most of all you endanger PEOPLE I LOVE.

Anyone who knows me knows this:  If you do ME wrong, well, fine.  If you lie to me, I have not a second to spare you.  But if you hurt or do wrong to someone I love...  you might as well be dead because you are, to me.  So I'm NOT ok with you four wheel drive idiots out there endangering those I love.

Maybe now, if you care, you will understand why I carry on so when it snows.  And I don't care that people make fun of me for hating winter...  this is why.

So yeah, it looks pretty but if you don't know how to drive in it, please do everyone including yourself a favor, and stay the #(*&*#@ home.  Don't endanger yourself or SOMEONE I LOVE.

If you do have to go out, if you see signs saying ROAD CLOSED, or ROAD FLOODED or DO NOT ENTER... yes, the sign means YOU too.  Don't endanger first responders' lives because you think you're so effin special that your stupid four wheel driving ass can drive anywhere.  You can't.  So don't.

Lastly... I hate winter.  So there.  :)

Merry CHRISTmas!

Hmmm.. Where to start...

Merry Christmas!  I know it's not Thanksgiving, but at this time of year, there are so many things for which we should be thankful.

Thank God for our military, past, present and future without whom we might be speaking Japanese or German.  And not of our own choice, either.  I hope that our military people who are away from their loved ones at Christmas will return safely and make up that time and more.

Personally, I thank God for so many things... for letting me be born in THIS country, for giving me the family I was born into.  My brothers and I had the greatest, most wonderful Dad, who is spending his 9th Christmas in Heaven.  We are blessed with a wonderful, independent and strong Mom, who continues to be advisor and friend to all of us.  I have two brothers who I know are there for her, me, and each other at ALL times, every time.  I was lucky to find a good man to marry, and a great family to marry into.  Loud, boisterous, partying and loving.

I have many wonderful friends.  And my "faves".  They know who they are.  I love each and every one.  They have been 'adopted' into our home, and into our lives, and they know I would do anything for them.  And I know they're there for us.  Always.

I retired young (55) from a wonderful, fulfilling 37 year career with the U.S. Marshals Service.  They sent me many places (good and bad) for many reasons (good and bad) to transport people (good and bad) and to work for many people (yep, good and bad!).

So, Please...  if you can HELP someone less fortunate than you... do it.  If you have had good fortune this year, pay it forward.  And for heaven's sake... tell your loved ones TODAY that you love them.  We don't know the hour or minute that circumstances can change lives forever.  Don't wait.  DO IT NOW.  SAY it, MEAN it, SHOW it.

REMEMBER what CHRISTmas is all about... A Holy night, the Holy Virgin birth to a King in a stable, surrounded by the barest of circumstances... but heralded by Angels... adored by shepherds and the Magi.  Follow the star in your own soul.  It's there.  Let it shine!

I hope that each and every one of you, friends and family, have a wonderful, blessed Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

I love you all.  <3

BOY, there's a lot for me to say these days...

As I've said in other posts, I am not a (biological) parent. However, I know a bit about kids because I used to BE one!  But, hey guys, if you have a kid, and for whatever reason, need him to be occupied for awhile, do you think sitting him in front of the boob tube with a violent bloody video game is the answer vs a babysitter?  NO, I don't think so.  And before you start on me about video games not being the cause of violence, hear me out.  Not that they're the solo cause, but...

It is my opinion that exposure to many hours of violent movies, tv or video games will desensitize anyone to REAL life violence.  Especially if we're talking about a very young, impressionable mind.  Add to that the fact that some parents think its peachy to sit in front of the boob tube and play the game or watch the movie WITH the kid.

Ok, now take that scenario, and add to that the fact that the kid may not be required to behave, they may have no consequences for misbehavior.  "Oh look, little *insert name here* has just pretended to kill the cat, isn't that cute?  Let me get my camera!"   Therefore, the kid has no 'fear' of repercussion or any kind of discipline (and we're not necessarily talking physical discipline).  They must not be dealt guilt, because that's bad for self esteem.  They must not be allowed to lose at games, because that's bad for self esteem.  They must not be scolded on what's right or wrong, or REAL OR IMAGINED because you don't want to screw around with the kid's self esteem.  I call bullshit.  How else is the kid ever going to learn that NOT always 'feeling good' is the consequence for doing the wrong thing?  It didn't kill me!

Now add to that volatile mix the possibility of there being a firearm in the home.  Well, if you ain't going to educate the kid on right vs. wrong, bad vs. good,  you better not be leaving a GUN around that he could get to. He won't know he isn't allowed to touch that, because... it might be bad for his self esteem?  NO, because he may do HARM to himself or others.

It is incumbent of the ADULT in the situation to take matters into his or her hand.  Right from wrong, real from imagined.  In other words, teaching the kid about Personal Responsibility for his actions!  Do you spend time with him?  Talk with him about his day?  Have any kind of dialogue with him?  Or do you let him sit at a dinner table (if you can get him to) with his Iphone in his hands, earphones and maybe earrings in his head???  How is he going to learn to live?  Not like that.

While I'm busy pissing people off here, let's go one step further and introduce GOD and PRAYER into the situation.  Do you teach the child that there is an Almighty, Benevolent and Merciful GOD who loves him and us beyond all measure?  That you can talk to Him anytime, anywhere?  That there is certain accountability in this life which will lead to where you spend the next?  Does the parent know this himself?  There are choices to be made, some of which are bad and others good.  And the choice matters!  This life is but a speck of time on the face of eternity!

I was taught from a very young age what was right and wrong, about God and the Devil (who is very real!), and real and imagined.  I didn't win every game, didn't win every argument, didn't always get my own way.  If I did wrong, I was disciplined.  I knew it was going to happen, so I planned accordingly and didn't do much to offend my parents.  I had a healthy fear of being smacked in the ass.  And that was the extent of the physical discipline as opposed to beatings.  I knew one LOOK from my father was enough!

I was taught faith, hope and charity, and that you did unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Be nice to others because you want to be treated nicely.  I didn't always understand, but grew into the understanding.  I had to consider the path I chose, knowing that I was responsible for choosing, and living with the choice.  I praise my parents for their love, faith and perseverance.  Many parents now would do well to emulate them.

Oh, and I did (and do) have a temper.  But I learned to dispel my anger at an early age by writing, drawing, yelling, stamping my feet, and periodically throwing stuff (and that continues to this day).  I am a law abiding, level headed, responsible, permit carrying gun owner.  I WILL shoot to kill anyone who enters my home with intent of harming anyone I love.

I don't know if this made much sense to anyone.  But my writing dispels my unease and bad humor over what's happened in CT this week.  It helps me, and hopefully, some kids will take my path rather than the path of the unspeakable evildoers we have encountered in our world.

Thank you and good night.  Peace be upon your homes, and God be with us.

I could NOT have written or expressed this any better.  God bless Mike Huckabee.  I wish he would have run for President, but that's water under the bridge.  I know this is long, but his words are ABSOLUTELY TRUE and I don't think anyone (with sense) including those who have unfriended me because they couldn't handle my opinions, could argue this.

"I’ve said some controversial things from time to time, but none which prompted such a backlash as when I stated that the horrific shooting in CT of school children and teachers couldn’t be blamed on God because we’ve systematically marginalized God out of our culture by removing Him from all aspects of the public square. The vicious attacks that have resulted, most of all of which are based on total ignorance of what I actually said have actually validated my point, but I’m quite certain that was not the intent of both the professional and amateur critics who have demanded everything from my being banned from ever speaking in public again, or wished me a slow and painful death.

On that alone, I wish to acknowledge that the left has again shown that it defines tolerance and diversity as being tolerant only of that with which it agrees, and diverse only to include slight shades of the orthodoxy of liberalism to which they adhere. They abhor censorship of their own profanity, obscenities, or graphic violence, but are the first to demand that a voice that invokes the name of God to be silenced. A specific act of violence is rarely the result of a specific single act of a culture that prompts it. In other words, I would never say that simply taking prayer and Bible reading from our institutions or silencing Christmas carols is the direct cause of a mass murder. That would be ludicrous and simplistic. But the cause and effect we see in the dramatic changes of what our children are capable of is a part of a cultural shift from a God-centered culture to a self-centered culture.

We have glorified uninhibited self-expression and individualism and are shocked that we have a generation of loners. We have insisted on a society where everyone gets a trophy and no one loses and act surprised that so many kids lack self-esteem and feel like losers. We dismiss the notion of natural law and the notion that there are moral absolutes and seemed amazed when some kids make it their own morality to kill innocent children. We diminish and even hold in contempt the natural family of a father and mother creating and then responsibly raising the next generation and then express dismay that kids feel no real connection to their families or even the concept of a family.

We scoff at the need for mothers and fathers to make it their priority to train their children to be strong in spirit and soul and responsible for right and wrong and exalt instead the virtue of having things and providing expensive toys, games, and electronics that substitute for parenting and then don’t understand why our kids would rather have ear buds dangling from their ears, fingers attaching to a smart phone, and face attached to a computer screen than to have an extended conversation with their family at dinner.

And we don’t teach them there is a Creator God who sets immutable rules, a God who is knowable, and to whom we are ultimately responsible. Instead we teach that God was not involved in our origins, that our very lives are biological happenstances and in fact are disposable should they be inconvenient to us, and that any outrageous behaviors are not sin, but disorders for which we should be excused and accommodated.

I realize my viewpoint sounds out-dated and archaic, but when that world view was the foundation of our nation’s social contract, we got in trouble at school for talking in class, chewing gum, pulling a girl’s pigtails, or slouching in our school desks. We took guns to school, to be sure, but they were in the gun racks of our trucks and we used them to hunt before and after school. It never occurred to us to use them to murder our teachers and fellow students. So yes, I can stand the contempt and criticism of the left.

I’ll gladly accept their scorn as they substitute creative language with a steady stream of profanity-laced tirades that I’m an idiot, a throwback to the past, and a person who should be forever silenced. But when we as a nation feared God, we didn’t fear that a 20 year old with a high powered rifle would gun down our children in their schoolrooms."

I don't think tonight is the right time for political ranting and raving about gun control. HOWEVER...

The guns used in this murder were legally purchased. That said, these guns (and ALL guns) should be LOCKED and completely SECURED in any home, especially a home where there are children. I fully believe in the right to bear arms. I also FIRMLY believe in a LONGER waiting period and a more st

ringent requirement to buy them, ONE AT A TIME. I do NOT believe that ANYONE but the military should be permitted to purchase ANY assault weapon. FOR ANY REASON. I think the NRA for the most part, are a bunch of old crazy bastards. And don't tell me crazy shit about collecting them, either.

I own several guns LEGALLY and I know how to use them. I have a concealed carry permit. I would NOT hesitate to use deadly force against someone who breaks into my home intending to do harm to me or mine. I do not believe that any more gun control laws will help. We MUST enforce the ones on the books. When you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have them. PROSECUTE the violators and throw their evil sorry asses in JAIL. Mandatory sentences, maximum security, NO early release or parole. Yes, cruel and unusual punishment arguments be damned. No gun control laws will STOP EVIL. There will ALWAYS be evil in the hearts of some, and no weapon or lack thereof will quell that. One strong weapon against evil is PRAYER. I believe it should be in homes and in schools. I believe in PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, and in doing time for crime.

AND I believe that sitting your kid in front of a tv with a violent, bloody murderous video game or movie WILL desensitize them toward REAL violence. They need to be nurtured and TAUGHT the difference. How you explain to your kid what happened today is UP TO YOU to do it how you see fit, without lying to him or making him scared to death to go outside. For God's sake try not to project YOUR fears onto him. If you believe in God, PRAY. HE is with you always whether you think you need Him or not. If you don't pray, maybe you should think about starting. It can't hurt.

I'm not a biological parent but that doesn't make me stupid, cold, or unfeeling. Don't tell me I don't understand. I spent 37 years of my life in law enforcement. If I have offended anyone by my HONEST opinion, tough shit. If you think I'm a right wing nut, I'm not. Feel free to unfriend me, block me, or whatever you want. I will not entertain any discussion after this post. Don't try to bait me into argument. It won't work, and nobody will change my mind. That's all. Goodnight and God bless us all. WE NEED IT.