To Those of Us Born 1930 - 1979

To Those of Us Born 1930 - 1979

Here is an email I received. It's so true I just had to share this.

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us, WE ARE AWESOME !!!! OUR LIFE IS LIVING PROOF !!!!

At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno. If you don'tread anything else, please read what he said. Very well stated, Mr. Leno.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn'tget tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no boosterseats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.

We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.

We weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.. No one was able to reach us all day, and, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no videogames, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internetand no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, yard sticks, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, share it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, andwith the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Rest in Peace "Grasshopper"

Rest in Peace "Grasshopper"

One of my all time favorite TV shows was "Kung Fu", I think I probably saw every single episode ever made! I was shocked to learn that David Carradine was found dead on Thursday, June 4th.

The 72-year-old actor was discovered hanging naked in a luxury hotel in Bangkok. There are many stories going around about the cause of his death and an autopsy was performed today. Some say he died from autoerotic asphyxiation, which involves intentionally cutting off oxygen supply for strong sexual arousal, others say suicide or murder. It will take a while before the cause of death is determined.

Carradine was the star of the 70s TV series, "Kung Fu" and also starred in the "Kill Bill" movies. He was in Bangkok filming a new movie, "Stretch".

I prefer to remember David Carradine as the soft-spoken,bare-foot, Shaolin Monk he played in "Kung Fu". You will be missed, may you rest in peace "Grasshopper".

Runaway Teens

Runaway Teens

Our 16 year old granddaughter ran away from home in Missouri a couple of days ago. She is not alone.

• One in seven children between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away.
• Some will return within a few days; others remain on the streets never to return.
• An estimated 1.3 million youth are on the streets each day.
• Assaults, illness or suicide will take the lives of 5,000 runaway youth each year.
• The median age for the cycle of running is 14 years old.
• Most runaway youths remain away from home between one month and one year.
• Females tend to return home sooner than males.

We were very lucky. Some of our granddaughter's friends were willing to help and through text messages were able to keep track of her and let her parents know where she was and where she was headed. This enabled us to contact the authorities and our granddaughter was picked up by the state police in New York two days after running away from home in Missouri.

Now the issue is how do we get her back home to Missouri and how will her parents be able to keep her there?

I found an organization that will help out with a FREE bus ticket. It's called the Home Free Program . 1.800.RUNAWAY. There are many other organizations out there that will help in various ways, I am in the process of getting a list together and putting up a website to help people in similar situations.

If you know of any groups or organizations that help runaways or families of runaways please leave a comment or contact me directly at cmmdtp@gmail.com .

A couple of valuable lessons learned here are:

• Know your children's friends and how to contact them.
• Have a recent picture of your child handy for authorities.
• Know where to go for help if something like this should happen

Much more coming soon on this subject as it is near and dear to my heart. If you have helpful info on runaways and resources please let me know.