Category Archives: Words

A Graduation Speech

Education, Words, ,

Recently, I had the privilege of attending  the graduation of several kinds of  medically related Bachelor’s, Masters, and Doctoral Degree students where the address was given by Cecilia Graham, PT, PhD.

DSC03894 She quoted Maya Angelou’s song that “Happiness Is Truth”.  Dr. Graham considers that happiness involves the elements of Connection, Awareness, Respect, and Engagement, encoded by the word CARE.   A special comment about awareness is that it can be achieved by looking at the face of the person in front of you;  and about engagement she said that it can be accomplished by getting involved.

I like graduation speeches, and find that they provide food for thought.

We do strive to be happy.

A Waste, Comments On a Small Vacuum

Cleaning, Environment, Words,

This small vacuum cleaner was useful sometimes.DSC03893 We got this after Hurricane Ike, so that we could vacuum our temporary apartment, so we would get our deposit back.  I used it a little after we got home.  It was handy and lightweight, and picked up dirt in proportion to its ease of use.  Recently, the little dirt cup snap holder broke off, so I could not use it.  I identified the model online, and it seems that it is no longer available.  Also, I could not replace the dirt cup, so with it being worth $39 new, we are going to take it for recycling, if they will take it.

Though it is too bad that we need to discard the complete vacuum because its vacuum cup cannot be attached,  it will make less cleaning equipment to store at home.  This sure is built-in-obsolescence, which is bad for our environment.  And our other cleaning equipment will suffice.

 

Grief Revisited

Brain, Feeling, Health, Mind, Words,

DSC03768 Dr. Victor Sierpina is one of the excellent columnists of the Galveston County Daily News.    His description of the grief process, based in part on Good Grief by Granger Westfield, goes beyond a shorter list of stages.   The first four stages, shock, discussed in his first  column on this subject, are:

  • Shock
  • Emotional pain
  • Depression and loneliness,
  • Physical distress

DSC03769

The next six include the possibility of :

  1.  Panic
  2. Guilt
  3. Anger
  4. Resistance to life without the lost person
  5. Gradually becoming hopeful again
  6. Struggle to affirm reality

This was illuminating to me as I come upon the 50th anniversary of my mother’s death.    I consider all that pertains to her to be in a special set of connections in my brain.   It took me at least three and a half decades to not break into tears when I mentioned her, or somebody else mentioned her to me, even though I did not feel sad in general, and would quickly recover my composure.