R.I.P. Grandpa

Early this morning, my grandpa died.

This hurts. However, the circumstances behind the hurt are unusual. When I was too young to remember, my parents decided to divorce after several years of marriage. Do I believe that they should have divorced? Heck yes. While I don't condone divorce and wish the term never existed (along with marriages that begin for poor reasons), there are times when it should absolutely be allowed. But it still doesn't mask the pain of losing an immediate family member. After all, if my grandpa had never existed, neither would have my father and, in turn, my sister and I.

Divorce carries with it many myths, one of them being the following:

Myth #1 - Divorce only affects the former husband and wife.

ABSOLUTELY WRONG, especially if children are involved. And it is in that case which I have struggled for a long time. I do sincerely believe that my parent's divorce was a necessity. However, their following actions were not. I wouldn't have cared that they hated each other so much if it weren't for the fact that their despisement of each other resulted in two children never getting to know their biological father. This was not the fault of one parent, but of both.

On tuesday, I will have attended three funerals on my dad's side of the family. For the preceeding two, my mourning for the loss of my family members was overwhelmed by not a mourning of death, but the mourning of a life that I had never really known and never will. Sure, my dad's family (who I only reconnected with after his own funeral) can tell me stories about how my grandparents and my dad were, how they loved me and how they wish they could have seen me grow up and then attend my upcoming wedding. But stories and "what if's" are a poor and incomparable substitute for a genuine relationship.

This coming July I will make a vow to share the remainder of my life with and marry the man of my dreams. And when the words, "for better or worse" are spoken, they will be MEANT and (with God's help alone) acted upon. For my sake, my fiance's sake and for our future children's sake.

This funeral on Tuesday will be the absolute last time I mourn out of guilt for a life never known, and not for a person's precious life.

The Definition of Terrorism

Chris Matthews recently interviewed someone for their opinion on the new nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. He asked if this particular nominee could withstand the "terrorism of the anti-abortion activitists". He later then restated his thought by saying, "verbal terrorism". If you click on the title of this post you can video of his Freudian slip.

During Dubya's Administration it was at one point determined that "Weapons of Mass Destruction" was the most overused phrase of the year. The incident proved that when people overuse words it strips away its meaning and effectiveness. Fast-forward and now Democrats have claimed the word "terrorism" as their own and have completedly voided its meaning by using it to describe anyone who disagrees with a liberal viewpoint.

When 9/11 happened we rarely heard the word "terrorism". I never especially thought that it would become applicable to our country. Televised color-coded security ratings? Forget about it. In the aftermath of 9/11 news anchors were talking about the probability of success with hiding explosives in candy. Yes, we (and when I say, "we", I mean primetime news "reporters") did go overboard with speculation and everyone took the word "terrorism" too seriously. U.S. citizens believed that their lives were in constant risk of being taken by the terrorist who supposedly lives down the street or in the same apartment complex you do.

But 9/11 happened eight years ago. Now the word "terrorism" is a Democratic synonym for "intolerance". If you believe that marriage should be only between one man and one woman, that unborn babies should have a chance for life outside of the womb and that conservative values do not translate into being "old-fashioned" but rather as totally relevant to today's culture, then you are deemed a "terrorist".

Never mind the actual terrorists who we are currently fighting and seeking to destroy us. Never mind the persons behind the four airplanes that were taken hostage and crashed into two national landmarks and a field in Pennsylvania. Never mind those who cheered and danced in the streets when over 4,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. And never mind the people who routinely videotape themselves threatening the United States, desiring a complete massacre of the entire Western civilization. Those people don't matter. To the Democrats, the people who actually desire a chance to save unborn lives are actual terrorists.

The likes of Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Katie Couric, Barbara Walters and all other liberal "journalists" need a new dictionary and thesaurus.

Democracy at it's Worst

I did not vote for Obama. In fact, when I heard that Obama was a possible contender for the Presidential office, I rolled my eyes and knew that I was NEVER going to vote for him. When celebrities and the general news media compared him to Superman and said that on the day of his inauguration that his approval rating was at 68%, my eyes rolled again.

Now my saying that I did not vote for him does not mean that I don't mean him well. God Bless the guy and his family and the future decsions he will make for this country. I cried at the inauguration, in fact. How could anyone watch it and not? It was absolutely historic in more ways than one. When the people sitting behind me were saying things like, "I wish someone could shoot him right now" and "Now more babies will die", I shot them a look that could have killed. And rationally, how can you criticize a President for decisions he has not made yet?

Well, Obama is now our President. And he has been in office for not even one week and I am already furious at the decisions he has made. Yesterday, he reversed a policy set into law by President Bush. Big deal,right? A liberal might say, "You disagree because you believe in the conservative movement and nothing else!". Well guess what? Anyone who believes in the right to life, life at conception and that the United States should be sovreign should be furious at what Obama did on Friday.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/23/obama.abortion/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Obama has basically signed away taxpayer dollars to fund international causes that have NOTHING to do with the United States. Are you mad now? Guess what the "international cause" was? Abortion! Obama says that American taxpayers will now be funding abortions made in other countries! How can anyone look at this and agree with it? I want to hear a liberal's reasoning on this right now! UGH!

A quote by Obama:

"It is time we end the politicization of this issue," Obama said. "In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world."

What kind of "Conversation" did you initiate, Obama, and how did you strike common ground with ANYONE, especially inside the United States? In the last week I have cried twice because of Obama. The first time it was at his inauguration. The second because of this last policy reversal.

Don't believe it when people say that your vote doesn't make a difference. Because of other voter's choices, the money I have earned and will earn in the next 4 years (at least) will now enable some woman in another country to kill her unborn child.

Is this an example of democracy at it's best?

Things I Love

1. Being greeted by a very happy and hyper dog when I get home from work
2. Someone saying "Job well done"
3. Peace and quiet
4. True Friends
5. Being humbled by everything God has done, and His reasons for it!
6. Holding conversations with people over 100 years old
7. My fiance'
8. My family
9. Having the winter off from mowing the lawn
10. A car that starts and runs well
11. Good health
12. Seeing someone smile because of something I did
13. People who are genuine in their caring for others
14. Mourning - it means that I have cared for someone
15. Realizing that someone who has passed is in a better place for all eternity
16. Sitting in a warm bed and reading a good book
17. Seeing an "A" on a report card!
18. Learning something new and incredible
19. Cinnamon-flavored gummy bears!
20. Making lists that make me happy. :)