Dec 17, 1947, I was born to Lorane Joyce and Daniel Quintin Boje, in Memorial Hospital, Spokane, Washington. Twins had died the year before I arrived, making me, the first born, that lived. My dad married my mom, though she was pregnant with those twins from another man. I know this because, when I was fifty years old, she fessed up and showed me her picture outside the church, and you could see she was well along. My dad told me after his divorce from my mom, to read my birth certificate carefully. Thinking I must be adopted, I studied it. Turns out, he was unemployed, and listed as a labore ...continued...

Staying home alone was popular long before the movie. In the country, when there were only two choices: a. go fishing with my parents until the wee hours of the morning, or b. stay home alone, I pretty much always chose to stay home alone. I needed my alone time since much of the fishing trips were about my Mom and Dad gritching at each other over which eddy to fish or how going to shore was too costly to the numbers of fish to be caught. Staying home alone meant that i could listen to the Whiper Will without interruption. The frog ...continued...

The lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people. (President Grover Cleveland, while vetoing a bill offering financial aid to the poor, 1887) Collyfoxing By coincidence I happened to see a YouTube video put up by Jon Ritzheimer a few weeks back, one of the gang leaders that occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and who is now in jail. He stood in front of a table piled high with dozens of dildos that his detractors had sent. What struck me, however, was the seemin ...continued...

~~In the Nighttime To the individual working in near darkness, the place felt like a basement at midnight, illuminated only by a dim light bulb at the top of the stairway. No. Better. It felt like a mortuary in the middle of the night, the perfectionist mortician preparing a corpse for a starring role at its own funeral. An undertaker is an artist, after all, who must exult in the unveiling of the handiwork—or creative artwork—as gawkers pass by the open casket. The lone figure’s grin appeared as grotesque as the thoughts in its wearer’s head, illuminated as it wa ...continued...

The Marvels of Movement Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! ~Constanze: During my mom’s dementia journey, movement often inspired and connected us. Here is one of those magical moments, excerpted from my book, Love in the land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey. The story is set in my mom’s memory care unit. ** Rochelle, the activity director, sticks in another tape and soon Stardust is playing. images “Let’s dance,” she says, motioning everyone to stand. Mom looks up and I offer her my hand. ...continued...

I found this week's module very interesting. I am personally apart of both the disabled and LGBTQA community. I have always experienced the client's perspective and not the providers perspective so it was eye-opening to me. I think it is important to put people before their disability, especially since everywhere else you go, it seems you are defined by your disability. Cultural competence is being, not "tolerant", but understanding and sympathisizng for every cultural difference. Being tolerant sounds too negative. Since I work in IT, I need to work with all different people ...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...

I have been a certified nursing assistant (CNA) for the past 6 years. I have many responsibilities as a CNA regarding all patient’s physical, emotional, and mental well-being. I am expected to handle culture and religion issues with respect, kindness, and understanding. I have been in situations where my clients believes in a different religion then I do, and they contact my boss to tell them that that they don’t want me to be there caregiver anymore due to differences in religion. As a CNA I recognize and believe that spiritual beliefs are different, in which r ...continued...

After review of the course syllabus, learning goals, and the results of my self-assessment, my learning goals for the rest of this course are: 1. To gain more knowledge about numerous cultural beliefs, practices, attitudes, and ways of communicating as to better understand how this effects people’s view on medicine so I can become more aware of how to best serve patients of all different cultures in my future. 2. To understand my own cultural experiences and how these influence biases that I possess and work to overcome these biases to become a more culturally competent ...continued...

The statement that has resonated with me the most throughout this class is, “cultural competence is a journey”. This has become increasingly clear to me as we continue to study different population groups, each with unique beliefs and practices. And the groups we are studying in this class just scratch the surface of the wide variety of population groups that I will serve as a future healthcare professional. I firmly believe that cultural competence requires dedication and life-long commitment. One must continually work to understand cultures different from ...continued...

Watch Out For Bears Read any literature from Yellowstone National Park today and you’ll find all sorts of warnings about feeding the bears or otherwise interfering with their normal beary kinds of activities. Occasionally you may see in the news a sad story about some unwary hiker, or worse a tale of some misguided nature nut who thought he could commune with the wild beasts, who gets mauled by a bear. People know, for the most part, anyway, that they need to stay out of the bear’s comfort zone. Which is why I just can’t under ...continued...

Driving down the road on a beautiful pre-Autumn day, the large red sign catches my eye. "Estate Sale 50% Off"…. I am torn, yet curiosity draws my car to the curb. As an avid garage sale seeker, I often enjoy the victory of the bargains I find while rummaging through items no longer wanted by the owner. But the items of my garage sale victories are most often found outside on the hard cement driveway or garage…unattached to story, emotion or the life that shared its journey. This Autumn day I find myself entering the E ...continued...

As dad reversed mom came flying down wit a bag of snacks for the road. She gave it to me; we said our goodbyes and the journey began. A journey started with fear uncertainty and indecision How rude of me I didn’t introduce myself I’m Yasmin recently turned eighteen and right now on my way to my probable school of higher lea ...continued...

My metamorphosis from English man to Irish man took place between the ages of 10 and 14. In the early 1960s, my father brought me to my first England v Ireland rugby match in London. I was then supporting England but I didn’t mind if Ireland won because I did not want my father to be unhappy. It was a magnificent experience, one which has left an indelible impression on me. Our seats, which were just in front of the touchline, were positioned a couple of feet below the level of the pitch; as a result, whenever play came near, the players seemed like giants, except for the English r ...continued...

~As he made his way down Columbus Avenue in the city of Middleton, Dr. Jameson was sure she was following him, hiding in the shadows, waiting patiently before making her move. The restaurant, his destination, wasn’t much further. Dr. Jameson wondered if maybe he should have phoned for that taxi, but it was a warm September evening and the walk would do him good. He could turn back; he was only a block from home, but he pressed on despite his uneasy feeling. The disturbing quiet of a usually busy city rattled him. It was as though he was the last survivor on the planet. A noise s ...continued...