When he was in his early eighties, my father taught me about the possible depths of his love. I knew my parents had a fine relationship but I never realized how much my father adored my mother. There was little hint of his admiration and passion in their visible every day relationship. Only after my mother sank into Alzheimer’s did my grief-worn father reveal his immeasurable love. Oh he didn’t talk about his feelings: he was, after all, a WWII veteran and a man raised to stoically endure for the sake of his family. But he showed me his devotion every day. Lesson I: “Is ...continued...

Jordan Dixon Chapter 1 ...continued...

The One Legged Snake© Written By: Dewayne Knott I suppose it was the heat of the humid August day that started it all. Tom Trueblood and I were tossing rocks on the roof of the Boxholm School bus barn out behind our house and watching them roll down the corrugated roof. Don’t ask me why this activity was one of the favorite things to do on a summer day…it just was. Perhaps it was because it was too hot to walk do ...continued...

Digging through the anals of my mind takes a great deal of concentration and somewhat frustration....every time its always the same, happy memories, where are you? I think my most fond memories as a child were probably playing with our huge great dane who was such a clumsy clut, but so loving and harmless that like any of us just yearned for some attention and you would have him doing any tricks you desired. He was my horse! Most kids got bicycles to learn to ride, pedalling and balancing, but I had man’s best friend who would let me climb on his back, wrapping my legs ...continued...

The first principal standard of the CLAS standards states one will provide effective and respectful care that is quality. Diverse cultural health beliefs and the language necessary will be used for communication needs. Standards for cultural competence for occupational therapist are very similar. I found principal standard that speaks to effective communication skills, listening carefully and language –oriented with recruiting translators. These two statements are similar to me, because they are providing a statement that says they will offer quali ...continued...

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10459602013003003 The first source I chose was from a scholarly journal. I was able to find it on Sage journals, and considering it being scholarly, I know that it is a reliable resource. Google also let me know that many other people have used and cited this course as well. I believe this source can help people understand the importance of cultural competance. This walks people through the process on how and why we do what we do to ensure that clients will feel safe and comfortable. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/ ...continued...

The Haunting of Leigh Maxwell By Esther Luttrell ONE The wind was starting to kick up, he noticed. Even though the old car provided a cocoon, protecting him from the elements, he was aware of the dip in temperature. It was colder than usual for so early in October. Trees surrounding the big plant where he worked were bending in the breeze, disappearing from sight when shreds of fog shifted across the woods. He hunched down further in the seat, pulling his wool jacket tighter around him. “She’s going to be late,” he said aloud to ...continued...

Our blog is full of lots of posts about how Mark and I joke around to pass time on the dogsled. Not today. Today was brutal. Coldest day yet. It was at least minus 30 Fahrenheit and the wind was howling. There was very little talking other than to confirm that all of our fingers and toes were working. The ice was flat but if you rode the sled, you frooze. Our boots are rated to negative 145 degrees. It did not help. The cold brought a cease fire to the war for limited space on the sled because we had to take turns running next to the sled all day to stay warm. We covered 12 miles. It ...continued...

Our story Our family is a small and new family, whom has been thru a lot. Mother: Kelly, Son: Tony, and Father: Val. Family's Past history. Kelly and Val meet years ago. And moved onto a Tiny boat together 50sq ft trimaran. As time went on they lived on a number of small boats trying to find something that fit them. Presented with a job offer and good life in HI they moved onto a 75' yatch, that was well equipped for the trip to HI. Then Kelly got pregnant, when she was about 6 months along during the move, About 150 miles out to sea the frame of the boat started to brake due to poor ...continued...

Chapter One Dana Gerard’s pulse quickened as she scanned the horizon. The sky glowed the murky greenish-gray color of a bruise, and a menacing wall of clouds rolled in the distance. She knew a possibility of rain had been forecast, and she’d been hoping for a good, steady shower – the kind that sank in deeply, nourishing farmers’ crops, one that would wash away the dirty browns of winter and give life to the budding tulips and iris that had just begun to dot her neighborhood. But that scenario seemed unlikely now. These clouds carried an ominous threat. Pulling he ...continued...

What in Sam Hill? We all know what it means, but where did the saying originate? Idioms, to make a long story short, are actually sensible nonsense, yet hit the nail on the head in a New York minute. We know what these phrases mean; we all use them. But where do these funny and nonsensical statements come from? Since when can you know the ropes, knock on wood, wag the dog, hold your horses, or go the whole nine yards and still know that you didn’t bite off more than you could chew. In my story, An Abduction Revelation, I used many idioms that we use in our every day conversations. ...continued...

Recently I spent the day with one of my granddaughters. She’ll be a senior in high school next year. We spoke of many things, but one stands out in my memory. She told me of accompanying a friend to a Planned Parenthood facility. Her friend’s mother instructed her to go there to get a pregnancy test. I’ll let you hear the conversation we had. “Mandy’s * mother was out of town so Mandy asked me to go with her.” “Why didn’t she get a pregnancy test at the drugstore?” My granddaughter shrugged. “Her mom wanted her to make sure t ...continued...

North Pole ...continued...

Our only source of water yesterday was saturated with salt crystals so we had to drink salty water all day. Had four dog team leaders fired today by Maher. Sadly, he is running out of qualified candidates unless, of course, me and Mike qualify. Mike and I tried the good cop bad cop method with the dogs. I would treat Ersus with kindness and respect (one of the fired leaders), Mike would speak sternly at him. After 2 seconds of Mike's technique, Ersus cowered away and peed on the spot. My favorite of the dogs is Stephy. A huge dog with a good temperament. Stephy traveled with me on th ...continued...

Breaking Wild Horses By Cindy Gray Sometimes my dreams, even the ones I don’t really remember, leave me with a strange feeling of exhilaration. It&rsqu ...continued...