BENEFITING : THE MULTIPLE SYSTEM ATROPHY COALITION | Terry Shepherd’s Fundraiser

https://www.crowdrise.com/givingtuesdayformsa

What a wonderful Gift to Receive

December  1st  is  the big day. The day to help my brother .  I  posted  last evening  but now  have to  give  you  the  proper  address .

 

Https://  www.crowdrise.com/givingtuesdayformsa/fundraiser  /terry shepherd

 

Thanks  dear friends

Terry Shepherd

 

Remember My Brother , Al Miller?

December  1st  is a huge day,  not only  for me, but for many who  are suffering  from  a rare illness  called MSA ,  and let’s  not  forget  my brother  who passed away  last year  from thi111s ugly, terminal  illness.

On Tuesday  I’m  asking  each of  you to donate  money of the value  of  eating  out for one lunch. There are foundations  who have committed  to match  our donations  up to $150,000. ♡. Now  in my eyes  that is a lot  of  money.

Only December  1st  will our donations  be matched .  Please help in honor  and memory  of  my dear brother ,  Alvin Miller, who suffered terribly  from this.

The body  shuts down  in the end by slowly  taking away the use of speaking ,  eye sight, and body movement. There is terrible  pain that even with  the strongest  medications ,  my brother  remained in pain.

The memory  is  usually  left in tact, so imagine  how embarrassed  Alvin  was when he had no choice but to have total care. So please help me find a cure, or at the very least  some rhyme  and  reason to MSA .

The address to  donate  is;  https://  http://www.crowdrise.com 

Turkey Be Gone

I hope you  all had a nice Thanksgiving .  We wait  and wait for those delicious  meals and before you  blimk, the day is gone and thoughts  turn to Christmas .

The day after Thanksgiving ,  we went Christmas  shopping .  I didn’t  see anything  that I couldn’t  live  without ,  so anything  I purchased  was done stress-free. That  evening we went to the zoo about forty-five  minutes from home and looked at all the Christmas  lights.

Yesterday  we went to a Christmas  auction. That lasted  about three  hours .  I  bought a few things  but mainly chatted with friends and played with  the grandkids. Today was much slower. I  tagged along with family  and looked  around  while  they bought  groceries .  I can officially  now say I am sick of turkey! 😯

So tell me what you did on this holiday .

THE TONGUE

THE TONGUE

Behind the mask of a beautiful  moon
Lies another face; no shine, all gloom
It snarls, it shows it’s  ugly side
Shows all its sides, no place to hide.

The hearts who happen to be around
Find feelings  turning upside  down
The hole  that holds the guilt inside
Suddenly  appears from clouds so wide.

The smiles  once  shining on the face
Disappear, go running, taking  up precious  space 
If only thoughts would run  first base
The tongue would burn, no harming race.

The Little Town That Could

Maggie had been the eldest child of a family  of eleven. She had helped raise many of her siblings. She  could whip up a white  cake in less time of a blink of an eye.

At 10 years young, she was not only helping  mama, she was helping  papa clean the chicken  coop, gather eggs without  dropping  one.  She could use a pitch fork almost  as good  as papa.

At 14 year old, she learned the trade of cooking for several people  in the  only cafe  the small town  had. She learned how to rely on God when the stress became too much from every  table being full.

She met and married one of her customers  and gave up her job to raise a family .  The newlyweds  built a house  about a ten minute  walk from her parents.

They worked the land. They grew soy beans and corn. On Sundays they went to his parents  home for dinner. As each child arrived, Maggie used her experiences  from her childhood  to make new clothes . She used her imagination  to create new menus  for her ever growing  family.

They didn’t  have much, but they were blessed with love and food on the  table. Life was good. The kids were doing  good  in school .  They had good neighbors, and they belonged to a good church.

It was one Saturday  morning when shivers went down Maggie’s  spine. She heard the horrific  scream. She recognized  the voice of her husband, Mac.

She yelled at the oldest  child to tend to the younger ones as she tore off her apron and ran to the voice. Her mind was racing as she saw a bear tackling her man.

She screamed, “Hold on Mac, hold on. I’m  going  to fetch the gun.” She turned and ran faster than she ever had. She threw open the  door and grabbed the key. Unlocking  and grabbing the shotgun ,  she quickly  locked the cabinet and raced back to her husband .

The only thing she could  see was blood. Blood covered Mac. The bear had blood soaked teeth. Her husband  was trying to fight the bear off, but was becoming  too weak.

He went to the ground  with the bear hovering over him. Maggie aimed and fired .  The bear stood his ground. Maggie fired again, hitting the bear in the side. The bear let out a loud groan, but didn’t  go down without  his trophy.

Maggie had to tell the children  about the accident .  The parlor had to be notified. There was a line of people paying their respect  and food covered the table.

The winter was rough. Money was tight. Maggie couldn’t  seem to rouse  herself  to do more than care for the children. Visits from friends came and in time slowly faded. The holidays came and went.

The beautiful  Christmas  tree that usually  garnished  their living room was replaced by a small spruce one of the kids had cut down. Somehow  they made it through  the holidays  and soon it was Spring .

Along with new hope also brought  sickness to Maggie’s  worn down body. The older kids took over her chores. The eldest was hired in the same cafe her own mama had worked.

Month after month became the same more difficult .  Food was sparse in the pantry. Meals were made and eaten, but tummies were not full anymore.

By Fall, mama could barely  get out  of bed. The cafe owner was sending the extra food home after her employee got off work. The meat store sent a small bird to Maggie’s  home, which the children  did their best to fix a nice Thanksgiving  meal. Mama ate a few bites, but then went back to sleep.

Christmas  was coming but Mama was leaving. There was no tree this year, no strung popcorn, no joy. It was one week before  Christmas  when mama went to see Jesus.

Six children ,  two being old enough  to look after the others  but no one old enough  to keep  the house  and land going.  It was snowing outside. It was the only light coming  through the dark windows .  The children  were watching  the snow when they saw a person  walk up to  their door.

They opened the door, letting the minister in. He motioned to the others  outside, and one by one  each came  in with a gift. A decorated  tree, food, wrapped presents.

The children  smiled for the company  that had arrived. The visitors sat down with  the children  and holding  hands they prayed for the food and the kids.

After most of the food was eaten, a knock came at the door. The minister opened the door and let two of the town’s leaders come in. The two sat down at the table and without  hesitation  explained  why they were there.

“We came here today because we hope you  can help us. You see, money can’t  buy everything .  We have so much. We have money, a nice home, many wonderful  friends. The one thing we don’t  have is a family  of our own. We have all those extra  rooms, but they stand empty. We were wondering  if all you children  would give us the biggest  gift of all; would you come live with us and let us be a part of your  family . ”

One by one each visitor stood up and waited to see what the kids were going to do. The kids looked at each other, and they looked around their home. They loved their mama and papa, but they were  sad and lonely . Together they nodded and got up and gave their new parents  a big hug.

It’s Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas

The time is nearing  the  holidays .  Every  day  it looks  more like  Christmas  inside my family’s  home. With  two levels of  living space, it takes awhile  to complete  the look.

I go downstairs  to the family  room and a glowing  tree catches  my eyes  immediately .  Standing with smiles beside the tree is Mr. And Mrs. Santa Claus .

Decorating  the fireplace  mantle is silver tinsel  with flickering lights all in a row. On the main floor, a Christmas  tree  ornates, the window. A tiny tree decorated  with candy cane lights  sits upon the television .

When I  lookout my bedroom  window in the still of the night, I smile at the decorative  lights softly shining through  the  glistening  snow.  If I   was not feeling  well for this day, thinking about how my grandchildren  see the decorations  through  their eyes, puts a smile on  my  face.

It is so different  being a grandma  and putting mom as second. I  don’t  have to worry and stress  throughout  the holidays like I  used to. Now, I  just ask a few questions  and make my purchases  and in no time at all, I  have made my edibles for the table .

It is almost Thanksgiving  so I  need  to slip away and head for the kitchen. One of the foods I am making is my grandmother’s  recipe for her dressing. I want  to do whatever  I  can ahead of  time  in case Thanksgiving  would happen to bring along with the good food, my nasty tremors.

Are you  decorating  for the holidays  yet? Are you  beginning  the preparation  for Thanksgiving  Day?

Thankful for Each Other

The first cold morning
Where the snow glistens
The streets  crunch
You shiver leaving the house
Wishing Christmas  shopping  was done.

Stores are wagging gala music
Sparkle blinds your  eyes
Is that a trick; hoping
I will overlook those price tags?

Looking inside my purse
Know  I placed them there
You know; the aspirin, the cure-all,
Oh, I   knew this was going to happen 
Too many shoppers, need my quiet space.

He’s  going  to kill me when he sees this
The receipt ,  it’s  a mile long, better hide it
But then again, if he had come with me
Instead  of watching that stupid game
Probably  could have had less stress  and did a  better  job.

I enter our driveway , and he meets  me at the door
He helps  me, while telling me his team loss
I mourn my sore feet, he mourns his loss
He pours us a drink

Holding my hand, he walks
Towards the sofa and we put our feet  up
The remote turns soft music on, and we
Gaze into the crackling fire and sigh
Each silently thanking God for the other.

An Award, The Book Award

https://utesmile.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/book-award.png

I was nominated  for  this book award by a person who has remained  by my side ever since  my brother  was so ill from Multiple  System  Atrophy . Her name is Ute. She is one of the  most  positive  people  I have ever  met. Make sure to check out  her blog .

Unfortunately ,  I  can’t  do as much on my  tablet  so I  can’t  make my own page telling  you  all  the things about  me through  the  questions  asked ;  but I  can say a a big thank you  to you, my friend. Thanks  Ute for  thinking  and sharing the Book Award with me.

Thanksgiving Day

It saddens😯, my heart and yet in some small place inside of me; I  understand .  Thanksgiving  Day; without  the biggest share of the family being together.

It was an unspoken  understanding  when I was growing  up: the entire family  would be sitting down together  for a family meal. Oh, I  know and have heard so many voices speak about  why this doesn’t  happen  anymore . 

Businesses  are open. Split families, too many places to go, have to work, couldn’t  get the day off. Times sure have changed. Maybe, people expect others to understand  when this one or that one doesn’t  make an appearance .

This doesn’t  stop here either .  It continues  into the Christmas  holiday also. Is the word family  as important  to us today as it used to be?

All I  know  for sure, is this year, I  would give my right arm to have mom, dad, my brother sitting by my side at the Thanksgiving  meal. I miss you three. I wish I   would have appreciated  the little  things  more back then. I  learned  too late, but it isn’t  too late for you to be thankful  for everyone  who is taking  the time to sit next to you on this special day. Tell them you are  so thankful  for there presence .