Welcome to my June 2005 “Father’s Day” issue
of “Hope, Health & Humor”
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Hope:
I once heard that if you give up hope on
someone, you are slamming the door on the face of God.
Have you ever done that? Have you ever
thought “Oh, he’ll never change.” I know I have. One
example is how I felt about my father.
I often joke about English being a second
language to both my parents. Spanish being my mothers first
and English being a second language to my father, because he grew
up in Louisiana. The southern part of Louisiana.
Therefore I am not bi-lingual but I am
multi-lingual. It is just that anthropologist have not yet
given a name for the languages I am actually capable of speaking.
However, if someone were to say “He was a
ripplin’ and a cutting up, a hackin’ and a hewin’.” I would
know what they were talking about. Do you? Okay then.
That should count for something.
Most of my memories of my father have him
doing something, fishing, watching T.V., or fixing something but a
beer was always close in reach. Not mine, but his. Even in
all the old black and white photographs. There is dad, just
as handsome as can be, with a cowboy hat, t-shirt, jeans, boots
and beer bottle in one hand and holding on to a child with the
other.
My father didn’t have many outside interest
beyond fishing and hunting. If you want to add insult to
that injury, know that God blessed him with six daughters, not
sons.
You grow up thinking things are normal until
you are old enough to compare your family with the families of
your friends and realize your family is different.
Normal families had cats, dog & birds as
pets. We had them too, but we also had chickens, turkeys &
goats. They served two purposes. One, the kids can
play with them and two, when times get rough you can eat ‘em.
Did I mention that we didn’t live in the country but in the
suburbs?
The children also participated in the
slaughtering of these animals, who at one time were thought of as
pets. Not the children, the animals. My father grew up poor
and these were survival skills he was passing on, which is great,
because now if a wild goat ever wonders in my back yard….. well,
I’ll know what to do.
We loved and enjoyed our time with our father
when we were small but there comes a time when teenage girls go
their own way and Dad’s are left to themselves.
Unfortunately, my dad spent way too much time alone and seemed to
miss so much going on around him, even when he was invited to join
in. He preferred the isolation and the beer.
Two years ago my father fell and could not
get up. He was alone and on the floor for three days before
being found. He had broken a shoulder and was in such poor
physical condition he couldn’t move. I can’t tell you how
terrible we all felt for not having checked in on him.
He spent months in the hospital, due to
discoveries of multiple health challenges and surgeries. It
was a long road to recovery for him to get back home.
I was grateful that hospitals don’t allow
patients to drink but they do allow family members to visit, and
the family rallied around him.
My father came home and regained his health.
Life without drinking has opened up a whole new world for my
father. He enjoys visiting with his grandchildren and
sitting in for a family game of poker.
He takes walks, makes friends with his
neighbors and LOVES to shop. He is constantly buying
everyone presents, almost to a fault. He is funny, friendly
and enjoyable to be around.
This last Christmas he joined the family and
it was the first holiday, in twenty-eight years, we had both mom
and dad in the same room. He is making his peace and our
lives are more enjoyable with him.
Yes, sometimes we do slam the door on the
face of God but the good news is God is still able to re-open the
door, long enough to show us what is on the other side.
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Health:
Since this is my “Father’s Day” issue lets
talk about men’s health. Each year approximately 220,000 men
get diagnosed with prostate cancer. Hey, these are big
numbers and need to be paid attention to. What can men do
about this?
Eat garlic. Lots and lots of garlic.
Apparently Mediterranean men do not get prostate cancers
nearly as much as those in the U.S., and researchers are looking
at their diets as a reason why. It takes about three cloves
of garlic a day to reduce rates by 50% in studies.
Also, red wine, which is a staple in European
diets, is loaded with resveratrol. Resveratrol is a special
antioxidant that is believed to help prevent heart disease as
well.
Researchers at the
Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical
Center in New York City recently found that a blend of herbs
including ginger, oregano, rosemary, and green tea reduced
prostate-cancer cell growth by 78 percent in the lab.
Then there is good
old “Saw Palmetto”, a wonderful herb known for centuries to
help prostate and urinary disorders.
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Humor:
When I was a baby my father used to throw me
up and then answer the phone.
-Rita Rudner
My father used to say “Eat your peas.
It’ll put hair on your chest.” Okay, I’m five, I’m Italian.
I already have hair on my chest.
-Maria Monozzi
If you ever want to torture my dad, tie him
up and right in front of him refold a map incorrectly.
