Life With Us...

Dottie George Prof. Ryterband English 3A 26 November 2019 Mentoring I believe mentoring is very important. Children don’t learn to be adults simply by being given a bunch of rules to follow. They learn by choosing to follow the leading of adults they love and respect. Mentoring can be formal or informal. There are programs like Big Brother Big Sister of America that pair kids with mentors. These programs are great and can make a difference in the lives of children, but sometimes the child can feel more like a project, like the adult mentor is trying to fix them. I believe informal mentorship is far better, perhaps because I greatly benefitted from it myself. As a high-risk teen from an abusive and neglectful home, I was fortunate to encounter several people who took me under their wings and showed me my life could be different. The four that made the biggest impact are those I call Grandma Lady, Grandpa Man, The Mom-Type-Person (or Mom), and Dad. Of these four Grandma Lady reached out ...

Dottie George Prof. Ryterband English 3A 13 November 2019 Aging in Place In America, as we age, we sometimes joke about being kind to our children because they are going to select our nursing home. I’m not sure where the idea that putting our parents in someone else’s care is the best way to care for them came from, but it’s not the best idea.  “According to AARP, more than 90% of senior citizens want to remain living in their homes as long as possible” (Home Matters: Aging in Place Housing Survey par 1). That alone should motivate us to help them make it happen.  “Aging in place means a person making a conscious decision to stay in the inhabitation of their choice for as long as they can with the comforts that are important to them” (par 1). It has been my observation that seniors who are able to age in place do better, living longer, healthier, more productive lives. Some people argue aging in place prevents seniors from getting as good care as they would get in a nursing ho...

Dottie George Prof. Ryterband English 3A 08 October 2019 Homeschooling When our children reach school age, we as parents need to make the best choice, we can for them. I believe the best we can do is teach them ourselves. Homeschooling is becoming more and more popular these days. Opponents suggest things like diversity, socialization, cost, and qualifications to teach as good reasons to go with public or private school instead. I believe the freedom, independence, individualized instruction a child can receive at home, and the blessing parents get from seeing their children learn is unmatched by any reason to send them outside the home to be schooled. Proponents of sending children to public school boast about the diversity the students enjoy at school. “Students are more apt to be exposed to students from different cultures or income levels. They may learn to work with other students with mental and physical disabilities” (Chen par 3) Though that opportunity may be there, my experien...

Dottie George Prof. Ryterband English 3A-01 19 September 2019 Fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia is an autoimmune disease that affects millions of Americans. How a person gets this disease is widely debated. Many people don’t believe fibromyalgia is real; others know it’s real because they have it. Some doctors think fibromyalgia can only be managed, keeping progression at a slower pace. Other doctors believe fibromyalgia can be treated, allowing for a semi-functional life. Then there are a few doctors who believe it can be cured, giving patients the hope of returning to the quality of life they had before fibromyalgia invaded their lives. What is fibromyalgia? “Fibromyalgia feels different to everyone” writes Dr. David Dryland (Dryland 6). The most common symptoms include, but are not limited to “widespread pain, fatigue, stiffness, restless sleep, pain exacerbated by exercise, non-inflammatory pain that doesn’t respond to medication, increased sensitivity to allergens, confusion or difficulty...

Dottie George Prof. Ryterband English 3A 03 September 2019 When Ruby Said Goodbye I was 13 years old. Ruby was one of the few constants in my life; a beautiful grandma figure to me, her hair white as snow, always flawlessly done and one of the brightest smiles I ever saw. My childhood was full of neglect and broken promises. Disappointment came from every adult I knew, except one. Ruby. She was the only person I knew who always meant what she said and never broke a promise made to me. I knew if Ruby said it, it was true. In January or February, Ruby was diagnosed with leukemia. I really didn’t understand what that meant, but I knew she was sick. I had heard adults talking, and some were saying they didn’t think Ruby would survive the cancer. We went to visit her one evening. She was resting on the couch. I remember her smile was as beautiful as ever.  I told her I didn’t want her to die. She promised me she would be okay, that she was going to get better and we would go to lunch at...

T onight as I settle in for a night at the parents' house. The last night of a rough... Six months.  I can only praise the Lord my God. Six months ago when Dad woke up with a cold and the plan for me to tag along with him (while Mom had an ablation to quiet  irritating nerves, so her heart could beat correctly) changed to my going in his place with her on that day, I never imagined that it would become the adventure it did. The ablation could not be done. She had too many nerves that were misfiring, if he quieted them all, she would need a pacemaker, and she wasn't interested in that. So we spent a 12-hour day at the hospital, pretty much for nothing. She had to lay flat for 6 hours. She had to be fed food and drink, and couldn't sit up for that whole 6 hours, plus another couple after that. I had to fetch nurses for bedpan help, and any thing else she needed. I was fine. Glad I was able to be there! I couldn't imagine how miserable it would have been if she hadn...