Marketing, oh yeah, this is why we eat turkey for Thanksgiving.

Do you know why you eat turkey every year for Thanksgiving dinner? No, it’s not because that is what is on sale that week. No, it is not because the Pilgrims and the Indians ate turkey. You eat turkey because the turkey growers all got together and promoted the selling of turkeys for Thanksgiving each year.

Don’t believe that? Well, I was there and saw it all and heard what was said, so I know first hand how we all came to eat turkey for Thanksgiving dinner each year.

A couple owned a grocery store a couple of blocks from my home when I was a kid. At that time, neighborhoods all had a local grocery store  on a corner every few blocks. This one was a regular grocery with a butcher behind the big glass counter and a cash register near the front door and a few cans of everything imaginable. They also stocked fresh bread and milk and eggs. My mother went to town each week on the day she kept the car. She drove down to Main Street where she bought the bulk of her groceries for the week. Then when we ran out of something during the week, she would send us kids to walk to the grocery store and pick up whatever she needed. It was usually that bread or milk. She had her own chickens, so it wasn’t eggs that’s for sure.

Anyway, the couple sold their grocery store and started a turkey farm. This was the only turkey farm I had ever heard of. When you grow turkeys, you have to make cages that sit up off the ground. That is where the turkeys are housed. The cages are different looking, so when you drive out in the country and see the turkeys in their jacked up cages, you know instantly what they are.

Well, this lady and her husband had gone into the turkey business in a big way. They had lots and lots of cages all around their property out in the country.

After about a year or so, the lady called my mother on the telephone and asked if she could come by and talk to her. This was in early Fall of that year. Being a kid, I was running in and out of the living room while mother and the lady talked. Seems the lady came by to convince my mother to order a turkey for her Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey would already be killed, of course, and plucked, and ready to roast. Mother listened to all the lady had to say. The lady said that the turkey growers had gotten together in this country and were promoting having turkey for Thanksgiving dinner each year. All of them were out taking orders right now. Mother had prepared different meals for Thanksgiving over the years. Mostly, we just had a chicken hen out of the chicken yard. One year, mother prepared a goose and it was truly awful. But since my daddy worked on Thanksgiving Day just like any other day of the year, Thanksgiving dinner was not a priority at our house anyway.

But since the grocery store lady was a sort of friend, Mother decided to order a turkey that year.

Soon after that, Mr. Roosevelt made a speech on the radio saying that Thanksgiving Day would henceforth be an official holiday for these United States.

And you know what? After that, we began seeing pictures in the newspapers and on billboards and in books of smiling, happy people eating turkey for Thanksgiving dinner every year. And sure enough, turkey is what most people expect to have for Thanksgiving dinner every single Thanksgiving. And that is why you eat turkey every year for your Thanksgiving dinner.

You can read this story and many others like it in my books. Only $5 each, they have a wealth of humor, information, and history in them. Try one.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Presidents

I have been around a long time. I have lived through many an administration, but never have I seen an administration that could compare with the current one. Administrations in the past had their faults, no doubt about that. Both Republican and Democratic have been depicted as tyrants at times and at other times as complete idiots. Both representations were true at the time I am sure.

I remember when Franklin Roosevelt was President and everyone hung onto his every word as though it were gospel. He had been in charge so long that people actually revered him. Many a tear flowed on the day he died. He had been in ill health for several years and really should have resigned, but it was said, ‘you don’t change horses in midstream’. Truman was depicted as an idiot by the media. Of course the media didn’t carry as much weight as they do today. But they reported every single idiotic thing that Truman did. And Truman eventually came to be known as one of our better presidents.

I have lived through the shortages of Eisenhower’s time. I don’t remember any of the reasons, but we had shortages of meat, bacon, sugar, coffee, and just about everything else. The shortages came one after another. And prices soared. It was difficult to buy groceries because everything was in short supply and cost more than normal. But somehow we lived through all of it. Kennedy jumped in on the Bay of Pigs fiasco and got the Vietnam War going full steam. Of course Lyndon Johnson did his fair share of causing trouble by promoting the Vietnam War. Being an old time politician, he never saw a bill he didn’t like and so he passed them constantly. Tried to change everything in the country. Most of it just caused more and more problems. After that of course was Nixon and all his problems. He stopped that horrible war though and everyone was grateful for that. Then came Ford and he wasn’t allowed to do much of anything except set the speed limits on the highways because of the oil shortage. Then Carter came along with his higher and higher taxes.  He was getting 90% of every dollar for awhile. It was truly awful. Didn’t pay to even get up and go to work during his time. But thank heavens for Ronald Reagan who brought some sensibility to the Presidency. He was about the only one that had a good head on his shoulders and really put the country on the right track. In fact, he was probably the best President I had ever seen. Then came George Bush Sr. and I thought he was truly a great president. He faced a Democratic Congress which would not let him pass even one single bill. The Democrats thought that was a funny thing to block the progress of the country. And of course the press was on the side of the liberal Congress and they thought that was funny, too and supported the liberal agenda all the way. Right up to Clinton and his slick ways. He was another one that wanted to change everything and everyone. But he was too slick for his own good and did not manage to change much of anything. George W. Bush was next and again, he faced that Democratic Congress and the liberal, liberal press. And they did the same thing to him that they had done to his father. And they all laughed once again. So very funny to choke the progress of the United States.

And now we come to Barack Obama and his czars. As I said, I have lived through a lot of administrations, but have never seen one like this. The Obama administration has come into office with a full agenda of not only planning to change America, but with a full plan of how to do this. They have in mind to take away your right to bear arms and then will come the destruction of free speech. If both these are taken away, it is easy to take away all the other freedoms from all the people. We have seen it happen in all the countries of the world. I remember Hitler and his ways. The world watched while he not only destroyed a country and its neighbors, but he also destroyed a whole race of people. He was determined that all in this world should belong to him and him alone. And he just about managed to accomplish all of his desires. He had Poland, France and Belgium and all their nearby neighbors. Mussolini in Italy helped him with that section of the world. It was help or be destroyed. And on the other side of the world was Japan and all its glory mongers.

No one thought any of this could happen, but it did. And now no one thinks these things can happen in the United States of America, but they are happening right now. Pay attention. Get that Democratic liberal Congress out of there as quickly as possible. If Obama cannot accomplish his plan within the next couple of years, he is finished. Pray that he will be finished.

Pray constantly for our country. You do not have to go to a church to pray. Just pray in your mind. Ask God to help us all. He will if we but ask.

Forever War

I remember it like it was yesterday – or maybe today. That usual nice Sunday evening. We had gone over to my parents to visit awhile. They had invited us to stay for dinner and so me, my husband and our children had opted to stay for a quick dinner. It was pleasant and fun for all. Our children were young, too young for battle. The Vietnam War had been raging on for awhile. We all hated that War. Even today, there is never any agreement that we should have been there or done anything in that region of the world at all. We had all had enough War to last us for awhile. But seems that some men never get enough of war. Our politicians just keep right on planning one war after another, over and over again. There was the World War I before my time. But I have heard my parents and grandparents talk about that War to end all Wars. And then after that was the Great Depression which I have also heard my parents talk about. And then about the time people recovered from a little bit of that or perhaps to help the people recover from that, we had the great World War II. That one war was enough to last me for the rest of my life.  I was not very old, but do remember many of the pictures and battles from that one. And then here we come right after that with the Korean Conflict – didn’t want to call it a war at that time. And right on the heels of that ‘conflict’ was the Vietnam War. Enough!!!!

I was listening to a history tape the other day wherein Winston Churchill bemoaned the fact that War had lost its glamour. It was no longer a gentlemen’s game. No longer a place where young gentlemen were honed into wiser old gentlemen who could then sit around with their drinks and cigars and talk about the old days, the glamourous days of their particular war. Their necessary war.

But this particular Sunday evening, we all settled down in the living room after dinner to watch the President of the United States make an important speech about the War in Vietnam. We were all expecting he would say it was over and the men – those that were left – were coming home at last. I was much more tuned into raising my family than I was in the upcoming speech, but I sat down to watch anyway. And then here he came, the President of the United States. He cleared his throat like he always did when he wanted to say something  important. And then he dropped the bomb of the century. He had sent more troops into Vietnam. A lot more troops. And bombers. And all the other stuff that goes into the making of Wars.

All my family, my parents, and my own small family were speechless. How could he do this to us? How could he continue to send our young  men into harm’s way and sit there like it was nothing. How could he possibly justify any of this. And then the short speech was over.  My Dad had been a staunch Democrat all his life. But now, he just got up from his chair and walked out of the room. He had nothing to say in support of the President like he usually would have. There was just nothing to say at all. Not by any of us.

When we did finally regain our composure, we all agreed that we could not understand how any of this could be done. Didn’t make any sense to  us. And we must have been representative of all the other households in our country that Sunday evening. Almost everyone  that we talked to was against the War. None of us agreed that our young men should be sent over and over into that hell of a place way on the other side of the world. We had nothing to gain there and an awful lot to lose. Why was our President doing this awful thing to us again and again.

And then on this Sunday evening many years later, I am watching the news and hear that our current President of the United States is considering sending thousands more troops into Afghanistan. To be slaughtered for no gain once again? The news also gave the tally for today’s fighting. Seems there were eight killed today. Just think of those eight mothers and wives who will mourn every day of their lives on this earth. Think of the tears shed over and over again. Think of that gaping hole left in their lives and in their families. Think of the children left fatherless. And then explain to me once again why we need another War. Why send more troops into that place of horrors full of rocks and mountains where our men will have to fight and defend a position that none of us is quite sure of.

I agree wholeheartedly in protecting our country from terroristic activity. I think our borders should be made more secure. And our agencies should be allowed to do their jobs to find these terrorists and convict them and get them off the streets and out of our country. But I do not think Afghanistan is worth the life of even one of our young men. Protect us at home. That is where we are. Bring our young men home. Get out of Afghanistan. Stop fighting one war after another in this world. It is time for the so-called necessary wars to become unnecessary.

And maybe, just maybe it is time for all of us to pray more and fight less.

C’mon, open your heart and…

Do you remember when – it was o.k. to just relax and enjoy the day?

I remember when the news was just that – news of the day. It was not necessary for three or four people to give their opinions on every issue. We just watched the news in the evening and then made our own comments.

I remember when my children played all around the neighborhood. They could play in and out of houses for a two block area and no one even considered that they might be in any danger whatsoever. How nice that was for us and for them. They played army for days and days. They pretended to make movies of everyone in the neighborhood. They wrote a newspaper and played cowboys and indians and cops and robbers and no one found fault with their behavior. The girls played dressup and Mother May I. And House.

It was really fun to just sit outside and watch the sun set or maybe sit on the carport and watch the rain. Drink a slow cup of coffee and listen to the sounds of the neighborhood. A neighbor might drop by and join in with a cup of coffee, too. Or another time, after we had done our washing and ironing and cleaning and mopping and cooking for the day, we Mothers might visit with each other over a cup of coffee and a cookie. And maybe watch our kids playing in the sandbox or jumping rope or riding their bikes.

I remember when Dad went off to work and earned a good living. And Mom stayed home and cared for everyone and all their needs. It was a satisfying and full life for all concerned. Dad was not expected to care for the children – that was Mom’s job. Mom was not expected to earn the living – that was Dad’s job.

We used to read a magazine or a book in the evening. We used to just sit and talk the evening away. We enjoyed one another. We were a family. Sometimes, we had a card table set up with a jigsaw puzzle on it. Some one would sort the pieces, turning them right side up. We might stop for a minute and help put the border pieces on. Everyone in the family would help put the puzzle together. It might take a week or more, depending upon how much time we had. Or we might be busy playing cards together. That was when I learned how to play ‘Sol’. And Concentration. And Hearts. Lots of fun. Many a night spent together.

If it was a good night for television, we might watch the sitcoms together. But they were clean and pleasant and full of laughs for us all. That was before the sitcoms began to have a message for us all. You know, like Dad is stupid and Mom is dumb. Or Dad always wears a suit at home and never actually goes out to work. And Mom has on her high heels and perfectly coiffed hair. And she never has anything to do at all. But we all knew this was  just pretending anyway. So we could laugh at the jokes and enjoy the evening – together.  That was the point. We were together. We spent our time as a family. And we all enjoyed every minute of it.

That was a nice time. Such a nice time for everyone. I remember when.

Take a look at some of my books. You will enjoy them. They are full of some of those ‘remember when times’ together. Thanks.

Sneak Peak of New Book

And now for the preview……

He bent down and carefully placed the almost smashed package of cigarettes under the step. He wanted to make sure no one could see them. Didn’t want Mama to know he smoked. He was all of 18 years old, but he still didn’t want to offend his Mama. She meant the world to him. They had been together, just the two of them for years now. Daddy left when he was 5 years old. When he was 7, he had to quit school and go to work delivering for a drug store so he and Mama could eat. Everyone has to eat you know. She couldn’t work at all now. She had a hard fall and broke her hip and well, you know that old story. Can’t hold down a job now.

He hurried into the house, tired as usual. He had progressed now to a better job than delivering on a bicycle. He was an apprentice and was learning a new trade. He worked long, hard hours and was ready to hit that bed as soon as he got home every evening. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he slipped into his room and hurriedly took off his shoes and socks. Then he checked the soles of his shoes. Always checked to see if they were still holding up o.k. Couldn’t afford new soles just yet. As he slipped off his shirt, he was thinking about that cigarette he was going to have tomorrow morning. Just as soon as he ate breakfast, he would slip out and get one out of the package, light it up and really enjoy it. His friend had only three left when he gave him the worn out package, but that was alright. Better than nothing you know.

As he lay his tired body on the bed, he relished the thought of that cigarette next morning. Would be worth the wait.

He drifted off to sleep in a deep, tired sleep.

And then he heard the rain pattering on the steps out front.

…..This is a small excerpt. Interested? Please visit my site.

Economics and Prices

When I was young which has been some time ago, prices were much, much lower on all goods, services AND salaries. Most people do not seem to realize that all economics is relevant.  In other words, as has been said, expenses always rise to meet income. This is always, always, true.

As example, when I first went to work, I earned $150. a month. But it cost $.10 to ride the bus, $.60 for my lunch, $5 for a pair of shoes, $15 for a nice dress, and $40 per month for an apartment. So money was relevant.

When I married, my husband made $45 per week. Those young people who were really setting the world on fire made $60 a week. We envied them that big salary. Then when my first child was born, the doctor’s bill was $120. Gasoline was $.30 a gallon and we rented a 3 room, all utilities paid apartment for $50 a month. And we lived on a very strict budget. Life was pretty good.

In my working days before I became a Mom, I worked for a firm of accountants who were considered to be above average in salary. Each one made $5000 per year! I was making $175 a month at that time. Several years later, my husband was making $10,000 a year and was considered to be in the upper echelon of salesmen. Can you imagine? Actually making $10,000 a year! It was mind boggling. But the guy across the street was working for the new computer type business and he was making a lot more than my husband. We had 2 cars by that time. Only those doing really well had 2 cars. My husband traveled all the time to make that $10,000 so I had to have a car in order to run my household. We were really living well!  House payment was $65 a month, water bill about $1.50.

Later on, when my husband was even more successful, he made the remark one day that he was actually worth $20 an hour. Now that is really mind boggling. Imagine being worth that much. What is this world coming to.

So what is it really coming to after all. The more salaries rise, the more expenses rise. Even though a person is making $100,000 a year now, his house is costing him twice that much, his car is half that, plus all the expenses that are truly mind boggling. $2.50 for a gallon of gas? Utility  costs $1000 a month?

We have all just learned to count a little higher, but we have changed nothing. Just  able to talk in bigger figures, but still the same old relationship between salary and expenses. So all economics is relevant. As my husband used to say, a pound’s a pound the world around. And it is whether it comes to economics or other issues. All is relevant. Nothing has changed. Only the sound of bigger figures has changed.

Expenses still rise to meet income. And always will. That’s just plain old everyday economics.

Let Us Never Forget the Price……

Do you know what price has been paid for your freedom?   Have you ever heard of the Sullivan family who gave up five of their children during World War II?   I do not remember where they were from, but the family had raised five boys and one girl.  Four of the boys were not married.  The youngest, fifth boy in the family, married and had one child.  When the War years came along, all of the young men decided to join the services together, including the one who had married and had the child.  Together, they decided to join the Navy.  All five were assigned to the same submarine.  While they were serving, their submarine was hit by a torpedo and sank to the bottom of the ocean.  All five Sullivan boys perished at once.

There was a movie made about this terrible tragedy.  I do not remember if it is just called The Sullivans, or the Sullivan Family, but I am sure it can still be obtained somewhere.  It is one which everyone should watch.  William Bendix played their father in the movie.

After this terrible incident, members of the same family are not allowed to serve together in the Armed Forces.

I cannot imagine the horror of losing five members of a family, especially young men who had not even truly lived their lives yet.  Such promise snuffed out in a moment of time.

Just think about that terrible price that the Sullivan family paid so that your freedom is assured today and every day.  When you see the proud young men of today serving our country in various ways, remember the Sullivan boys and pray such a price will never have to be paid again.

Bataan Death March

Do you have any idea what price  has been paid for your freedom?  Freedom is not just the flying of the flag, or the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance or even the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.  Freedom is Choosing how you want to live every day.  It is Choosing what town you want to live in, what house you want to live in, what clothes you want to wear today, what car you want to drive, and where you want to spend your working hours.  You are free to do all of these things plus Choosing how you want to worship your God, Choosing the friends you wish to be with, Choosing whom you wish to marry, and even Choosing how you want to act in your life every day.

A lot of people have died for that freedom.  I read just this past week where  an official from Japan apologized to the survivors of the Bataan Death March for the terrible atrocities which were inflicted upon these  survivors.  It has taken Japan 67 years to get around to saying they are sorry.  As human beings, we are obliged to forgive.  However, we cannot and should not ever forget.  All of the following facts about the Bataan March are verified in postwar archives including film reports.

The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in the Phillippines.  In April of 1942, against the specific orders of General Douglas McArthur and General Jonathan Wainwright, the general commanding the Luzon Force in Bataan, Philippine Islands, surrendered more than 75,000 men to the Japanese.  This was the largest surrender of a military force in American history.  There were approximately 67,000 Flipinos, 1,000 Chinese Filipinos, and 12,000 Americans.  These men had been fighting the Japanese in the Phillippines for 3 months.  They were starving and disease ridden men by this time.  When the general surrendered, he was assured by the Japanese colonel that the Americans and Filipinos would be well treated.  The prisoners were immediately robbed of all their personal belongings and then forced to march almost 60 miles from the Bataan peninsula to the prison camp where they would be held.

There was extreme physical abuse.  Murder consisting of beheadings, cut throats and casual shootings were the more merciful.  If a prisoner fell down, he was subjected to being run over by Japanese trucks.  Or sometimes the Japanese riding in the trucks would stick their bayonet out and cut the throats of all they passed.  If a prisoner protested in any way or even if he attempted to help a fellow prisoner, he was subjected to disembowelment, rifle butt beatings,  rape, or bayonet stabbing.   Some were forced to carry heavy packs.  Others were beaten randomly for no reason, many were denied promised food and water.  The roads were littered with dying men and those who were begging for help.

The prisoners had to march constantly for almost a week without food and without any water in the extreme tropical heat.  Prisoners were beaten to death for refusing to take another step when they simply could not.  By that time, some prisoner’s feet were devoid of all flesh and nothing but a bloody mass.  If a prisoner could not walk another step, he died at the hands of the Japanese.

Approximately 25% of those forced to march died.  Even more deaths occurred once they had reached the internment camp.  I knew one of the men who was forced to march in that horrible Death March. He shook all over constantly all the rest of his life.  He worked as a salesman, supporting his wife and family for many years while he shook.  It was said he suffered from Beri Beri.  He never talked of his terrible sufferings, but I know he must have tired of shaking every moment of his life on this earth.  His shaking was not comparable to someone with Parkinson’s.  It was more generalized and more constant.  It was a pitiful thing to see.  But he endured until his mid-fifties when he passed away.

So tonight when you lay your head down to get a peaceful night’s sleep, remember those prisoners who gave their life on that horrible, terrible Bataan Death March tor you so  that you can Choose where and with whom you wish to live.  And tomorrow when you put on your shoes, remember those prisoners whose feet became a bloody mass and they  could not take another painful step.  When you step into your car and turn that key on,  remember those who were forced to walk for a week without food and water.  When you go to work where you Choose to work, remember that man who shook all over every moment of his life while he tried to earn a living for his family.  And when you get an opportunity, go by your Chosen church and say a prayer of thanks to Almighty God for those brave men who have given their lives for our freedom.

Long live the U.S.A.

Respect Our Country and Stand Proud

All the time I was growing up, I was taught to be proud to be an American.  I stood proudly with my hand over my heart when the Star Spangled Banner was played or when the American Flag was raised or lowered.  I was always proud of being who I was and where I was from.  I have traveled all over the world and never, ever was ashamed of being an American.  I knew I stood out sometimes because I was ‘different’.  But I was always very proud to proclaim  United States of America when asked where I was from.

Then in the early 60’s, those in the media began making fun of America and the American ways.  It was really funny when they made fun of the President of the United States.  And laughter was abundant when they sang songs railing against our Country, our Families, our Values and our God.  Then it became the way of the land to have complete disrespect for all that the United States of America had stood for during all the  previous years.  Family values were laughable.  Morals were old fashioned.  Anything goes.  As long as you don’t get caught, everything is o.k.

I watched in horror some evenings as complete disrespect for all I had held sacred was trampled right in my own living room.

We have fallen a long way down that hill. Now it is time to begin to climb back up and reclaim our rightful place in this world.

We should be proud to be Americans whenever and wherever we happen to be.   We should hold our heads up high, stand tall with our hands over our hearts when our National Anthem is played or our beautiful American Flag is raised or lowered anywhere in this world.

We should work hard to reclaim our rightful public respect for our Country, our Families, our Values and our God.

Plant your feet firmly on the American soil and proclaim for all to hear that you believe in all the sacred values of our Land.  Turn off that media when it tramples on your beliefs.  Teach your own children to be proud Americans.  State your Values and stick to them, no matter who or what tells you that you are wrong.

Be proud to be an American!!!

Three Remedies

When I was a child, no one in my household ever got sick.  We knew better.  My mother did not tolerate sickness.  Period.  If I complained, I was told, ‘Go outside and play.’  If I still complained, I was told, ‘Hurry up and get ready, you will be late for school.’  These two remedies worked miracles.  Very soon, I would forget I had even thought about being sick.  If I did complain a third time, though, she had that special remedy called Castor Oil.  She would give me a spoonful of that miraculous medicine and I would be very sorry I had ever mentioned being sick.  When the Castor Oil finished sandblasting my insides, I was more than happy to be well once again.  Such was life.  And it was a truly great life.       Read all about it in my books.  Thanks.