The way my mind works

So, this is how my mind works. One thought leads to another…and then another…

As soon as the dead body of the election results got cold last week, the media moved on to the next drama lurking on our horizon here in the U.S.A…the fiscal cliff. As soon as I heard the phrase “fiscal cliff,” I thought of another cliff that I have read about. The cliff of which I speak comes from the book of Mark in the Bible, the earliest gospel, where there’s a story of Jesus casting demons into a herd of swine, or pigs, as we call them today. Jesus met a man who was demon-possessed and when he commanded the evil spirits to leave this man, he then sent them into a herd of pigs. The writer of Mark describes it like this: “There was a large herd of pigs near by, grazing on a hillside. So the spirits begged Jesus, ‘Send us to the pigs and let us go into them.’ He let them go and the evil spirits went out of the man and entered the pigs. The whole herd, about two thousand pigs in all, rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.” In this story, we see that the evil spirits got what they asked for. It is also the first recorded recipe for deviled ham.

And then, when I thought about this story, I was reminded of another occasion a couple of days prior, when I looked up something else in the Bible. I had heard a story on the radio about a young man living with Down syndrome named John Franklin Stephens who wrote an open letter to Ann Coulter on the Special Olympics blog because she had recently called President Obama a “retard” on her Twitter account during one of the presidential debates. That story about this man and Ann Coulter inspired me to go online and read his letter after which I found the interview by Piers Morgan of Ann Coulter about this tweeting incident. During the interview, she indicated that she was tired of the “word police” going after her. I thought, “Word police? I guess she didn’t have a mama like mine!” My mama punished me and my siblings for name-calling in our home. And, Ms. Ann Coulter, even before there was the Mama Word Police, there was, once again, Jesus doing something crazy and word-police-y like telling people not to call each other names. Being reminded of that prompted me to go look that story up. And Matthew writes, quoting Jesus, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ [a derogatory term back in that time] is answerable to the court.  And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” WOW! I recalled how it was scary to my sister and me to read that, since that was what my mother was trying to get us to stop doing. (We were also calling each other ‘stupid idiots’ and my mother was trying to put an end to that, as well.) Then, after thinking back to all of this, I remembered how we tried to get around this on a technicality…we started calling each other “loof,” which is fool spelled backwards. My mother, though, was on to us very quickly. That new name for each other didn’t last very long, since the intent to be hurtful was still there. And, I imagine that if Ann Coulter had grown up in our house, she’d have much better manners and might even be sweet, like my sister, brother and I usually are. Not that we are perfect…far from it! But my mother understood that name-calling is hurtful, just like sticks and stones, just in a different way, and she tried to teach us that. Words are very powerful. They can be used to cast demons into a herd of wild pigs or disrespect the President of our country. AND, those hurtful words like the one Ann Coulter used on Twitter, can be used to hurt others who might not be presidents or famous people, but who are PEOPLE, fellow human beings, co-travelers in the journey of life. I thought to myself, there are lots of  label-wearing people out here, Ann. My fellow XLH-ers are some of them. (I was called some nice names too, in the interest of full disclosure…Teddy Bear was one that was given to me in fifth grade by a classmate who told everyone that I had been born with polio. Where in the world she got that from, I’ll never know. But she called me Teddy Bear because I was little and cute.) In fact, almost all of us have been called a name or two in our lives. Many of the negative names have been forgotten, but some of them have wounded us and then made us stronger. Not that I recommend that as a recipe for strengthening people…and I confess, I had a name for you, Ms. Coulter, after I saw in that interview that you DEFENDED your use of that word, and even said that the word “retard” means “loser.” Then, I immediately felt really sorry for you, and wondered if there is any love whatsoever in your life…a family? A friend? A dog? (Cats, well they only love themselves, let’s face it.) I honestly hope there is some love in your life. In fact, I found myself hoping that really you’re just a VERY GOOD ACTOR, worthy of an Oscar even, and one day we will all find out that you’re really just a big ol’ marshmallow, just like Jane Lynch who plays the bullying cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on the TV show, “Glee,” and you were just paid a huge amount of money to be mean, but you gave most of it away to a charity that everyone likes, regardless of their political persuasion. That’s what I imagined for you, Ms. Coulter. “Oscar-winning actor” is your label. Or maybe “Teddy Bear,” like me in fifth grade.

And that is where my thoughts took me in span of about 10 minutes one day last week.

Copyright S.G. Hunter and Banjogrrldiaries, 2012-2017

Mother’s Day

Today, in the U.S.A., we celebrated Mother’s Day.

I can’t pass up the opportunity to say that my mother is and has been one of the most inspirational people I have ever known. With regards to XLH, it is highly probable that I inherited this disorder from her, though she has never had the tests specifically for that. She is short, like me, but she has about an inch on me. Otherwise, she does not present with the “normal” symptoms usually found in XLH, except the pain she has.

I have always thought of her as being like the “Energizer Bunny” that we see in TV commercials…still going and really, always going! She has taught me to live life not thinking about myself first, but thinking about the well-being of others first. Well, she has tried to teach me this. I am pretty sure I’m not nearly as thoughtful as she is.

At the age of 75, she drives her friends to their doctors’ appointments, bakes bread for them, runs errands for them and, in general, treats all of her friends as if they are her sisters that she is looking out for.

I know that she is in pain, because I just know. And sometimes, we even talk about these things. Some may look at her swollen, stiff hands and wonder but don’t really have any idea of what she feels. But beyond that, what they see is her radiant smile and gifts of her freshly baked bread.

She has shown me how to laugh and how to see the humor in life’s experiences. And her humor is not dark or sarcastic…it’s just funny. She has helped me to learn to laugh at myself, too. Which, the older I get, is an endless source of amusement.

So, here’s to my mother…short, sweet, smart, beautiful and loving. I hope that I will someday be at least half the woman she is!

© S. G. Hunter and Banjogrrldiaries, 2012-2017