I’m not used to people not answering my questions.
I found out my mom has a brain tumor on Saturday. I just want the best for my mom. I ask questions for a living. I also research a lot, and so I researched into having brain surgery. I found out Henry Ford is one of the best in the nation.
All I wanted is to ask the doctors at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac questions. It seemed to me no one cared to answer questions. It felt to me as if I was just supposed to go along with their first opinion.
Me asking questions was not popular with anyone on the staff. I got kicked out, and the doctor was offended
This is my mom’s life so forgive me if I am angry, upset and want my questions answered. I was offended by the doctors and the staff at St. Joe’s who brushed me off and obviously do not understand what a family member is going through. I suggest training the staff.
Meanwhile, I’m still trying to contribute to the world, I have made a difference here locally with my reporting. I also went to a water quality meeting in Royal Oak where I stood up and spoke.
Locally, and I believe in every community, the pollution caused by leaking underground tanks at gas stations is an enormous problem.
There are also problems with all the chemicals dumped by the large corporations. It is time for corporate responsibility so America can be more sustainable.
A new funding plan for water infrastructure is proposed. The proposal involves private sector funding. The definition of a ‘Flint? does not escape me. A flint is defined as a piece of rock used with steel to produce an igniting spark. This fiasco in Flint is ridiculous and unnecessary.
Utility lines, including water, can be marked in days by a utility locating company. Michigan has 83 companies and numerous DPW’s, who could team up and section off the city to replace pipelines.
Besides these issues, the education system is also a wreck. It is time we invest in our schools and our children. It is time we invest in the education system because of all the problems.

When I was a kid I used to make my bed. I neatly sorted my occasionally written poem into its own special box. I loved dusting. I loved to scrub all the nooks and crannies. I loved to clean. And when the whole place was clean I wished I could clean it again.
Then a wrecking ball came in and things changed. I began writing a lot more and not even my room had a prayer at being organized.
I realize this is because I focused on all matters internal, and dusting went by the wayside.
I got good at some things. I grew strong at reading people, and my strength in writing grew too.
I got good at flowing into the world, but equally good at shutting it out. Perhaps even better at shutting it out.
You miss a lot of things when you shut certain things out of your world, especially the things that mean everything.
It’s a bit startling to wake up, walk outside, and see a painter ? you would surely take note of the painter, but not that he painted your house purple.
A lot of time passes and suddenly you realize your house is purple….and purple drives you crazy!
Seeing the big picture, you let some very important details slip by. To say with age comes regret is true.
When you realize how fast time passes, and how much you have missed, sad are the moments. A sadness that only grows.
To think of how much time was spent in nothing, and how time keeps passing so quickly. It’s faster than the speed of light, and before you know it, it’s gone.
A lot of gifts can be born in chaos. Life is first about survival.
All you can hope is someday you take gifts from the chaos, and change negative into positive. All you can hope is it does not take you too long time to realize your house is purple.
Standing there bewildered you realize you missed a whole lot more than your house being painted. And your darn house has been purple for a long time!
That’s when you realize you missed the party in your neighborhood that has been going on since your house got painted.
It’s OK, the painter’s gone. Its time to paint the house and join the party.

I’m doing it and it feels great.
I’m getting rid of (almost )everything I own, and starting over. I’m tired of the clutter (they say your environment reflects your state of mind).
I’m at a point where I really don’t want anything. I would be happy with just some clothes and a bag of makeup.
I don’t want three Christmas trees and hundreds of Santa’s and his reindeer. I don’t want a bunch of knick-knacks that I cannot believe I bought in the first place.
Some are just downright ugly, and I’m wondering what I was thinking when I bought them.
I don’t wants the 30 or more pieces or art I have. I don’t want the toms of clothes I have not worn in years. It is time to be rid of that stuff.
I have been feeling this way for a while. I have been wanting to be free from the junk for some time.
One day I decided to just go for it and I set up a garage sale. Each day the garage sale has grown and is now pretty large. I’m thinking of just telling everyone they can have whatever they want.
I want to have a nice organized life, full of a few things I find beautiful.
While going through the stuff I have acquired over the years, I promised myself I will be more particular with the things I buy for the rest of my life.
I have opened the sale just twice. Once I opened on Mother’s Day and then I opened for a few hours last weekend. In addition to getting rid of stuff I love all the visitors.
People always ask you a lot of questions and ask you where you got your stuff.
I did decide to keep two things I had in the sale; one a grandfather clock that hangs on the wall and a beautiful elephant made of wood and fancy shell.
If you are thinking of eliminating clutter from your life?
I encourage you to go for it. It feels great so far. They say it is very liberating.
Although I am not free from all this ‘stuff? yet. I will be.
Oh yes, I will be, I will be free.

No group of ladies work harder than the gals at the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce.
They are spotted everywhere around town. You see them at every event, an event they most likely planned or helped plan.
They help bring in and promote business. They attend ribbon cuttings, and notify Oakland County officials of your new business so you can get your very own extremely fancy proclamation to hang on your wall.
They encourage business and education, they educate, inspire, promote and network, network, network. They plan ribbon cuttings, hold the red ribbon, hand you the big golden scissors to cut the ribbon and mark your important milestone. Then, they take your picture and tell the world about your new business.
They promote online, via snail mail and of course word of mouth. They say good things about your company and lend their vivacious spirit to numerous community functions.
Besides, of course, advertising in The Clarkston News, I can’t think of a greater investment for a business to make than to join the Chamber.
During interviews with recipients of the Clarkston Community Awards, almost every single person mentioned and thanked the CACC. Clarkston Community Church Pastors Greg Henneman and Dan Whiting and Calvary Lutheran Pastor Jonathon Heierman, they all thanked the Chamber for all their support. Even the Youth of the Year recipients thanked the Chamber and realize how valuable the organization really is.
They promote events, people, business and everything else happening in this sweet little piece of America. They host educational meetings and ask the expert type events. They do it all! How do you do it girls? Do you have clones? Some magical formula? They do all this work for over 600 businesses in the City of Clarkston, Independence and Springfield Townships and Davisburg I really enjoyed meeting and talking to all the Clarkston Community Awards recipients.
By the way, Clarkston Lions, you are so very lucky to have volunteer Dan Wung. I watched him stand outside all day long in the pouring rain with a smile on his face. Assistant Publisher Don Rush was nice enough to buy him a coffee and a cookie. Back to the Chamber. God Bless America, and God bless the Chamber of Commerce!

I, like many others in the area, experienced a power outage from the ice storm this weekend. On Sunday night after I got back from The Clarkston News, we started a fire in the wood burner (which I’m grateful for) and lit about eight tall candles.
The atmosphere was peaceful and I could feel stillness in the air. It reminded me (kind of) what life was like when there was no electricity. I’m sure life was much harder and less entertaining for sure, but also a bit more peaceful.
For many experiencing a power outage, maybe they snuggled just a little closer, or interacted with each other more than usual.
I could feel all of the electricity and other ‘signals? missing from the air, and I was thinking about what effect all the many electronics have on us every day.
I also thought that getting a generator would be a good thing to do’especially for businesses’to handle various power outages that have or will happen in the future.
My house was literally the first area to go out of power’I checked the DTE Outage Map as soon as it went out. I was also one of the first to be restored. I was pretty impressed the power was back on because I have first-hand experience and knowledge of the sheer number of utility lines everywhere.
Much of the electrical grid was built decades ago when Americans did not have all the electronics we do today. Those in the know tell me the grid was not built to sustain such an electrical burden.
Anyways, back to the peacefulness of the power outage. I hope Christmas has a bit of this spirit.
I don’t know when it happened, but in my mind Christmas has become very commercial. I know people say the spirit of Christmas is about being together, but something has happened along the way that has taken that spirit away.
If the power is still out at Christmas’perhaps it will be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps people will come face to face with each other and put down their phones, ditch the computer and spend time talking to each other.
Back in the day, if you just had a hot meal, your life was grand. Last night I was thankful for the tall candles’something simple. I hope this will be the spirit at Christmas.

As a kid I would lie in bed at night and think what if there was nothing. No people, no earth, no stars, no sun nor moon in the sky.
Strolling through town on assignment one day, I asked passerby’s of their strange theories. One fellow responded, ‘I worry there is no heaven.?
Next question, ‘What happens when we die??
Modern minds propose perplexing theories. For instance, ‘The String Theory? with which very strange things are possible—even likely. Multiple dimensions, multiple scenarios and multiple you’s and I’s wandering the universe.
Strange things are plentiful.
Like sleepers who have lucid dreams. These souls know they are dreaming — visiting another ‘plane? — a place of learning.
How do they get there?
Imagine feeling yourself fall asleep and feel yourself entering a tunnel. Strange is the vibration as you feel yourself come out of your body and flow into a dream. When you know you’re dreaming all things are possible, grand, beautiful–real.
Recognizing a dream and returning via a beam of light. That’s really something.
I love strange stuff. I imagine other planets contain life we cannot see because their physical laws are beyond our senses. Perhaps another form of life is right here amongst us, but again we lack the senses to see.
During one of my Googlefest’s, I read stories of near death experiences. Described as realer than a dream’and sensing things unexplainable-most who’ve experienced NDE’s’live–never again fearing death.
They sensed their maker, and know in their soul, such a force is real.
I believe all things are possible in our stranger than fiction and more than mysterious universe.
Much goes on we cannot see, but is real like–radio waves. Intuition cannot be proven, but have it or know someone that has it, and you know it exists.
It happens to some.
Just as boiling water transforms to steam, the soul is destined for something great. From a solid state to vapor, perhaps leaving this placed called earth-we travel the speed of light to everything beautiful in our hearts and minds.
Imagine your heaven-to each his own-a place we go I’m certain.
Energy never dies- it merely transforms. That is a scientific fact which leads me to believe–that death-death is like a dream.

I know many people are confused about what exactly ‘Obamacare? or the Affordable Health Care Act is. So I figured I would explain a few facts. More citizens may have become aware of Obamacare as the government shut down occurred on Oct. 1.
Government officials were unable to agree on a budget, and are using the Obamacare as a bargaining chip. So here are a few facts about the new policy.
Info provided by www.obamacarefacts.com:
-15 percent f Americans are uninsured which equals 50 million Americans.
-Large companies will be forced to insure employees and their families by 2015.
-Most with health insurance through an employer or a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid are required to do nothing.
-Those who are uninsured are required to sign up for health insurance by January 1 or face a penalty called a Personal Mandate which will be taken from your tax return.
-Under the act, an estimated 6 out of 10 Americans will have access to healthcare for $100 a month.
-According to the government, ‘Affordable? means paying no more than 8 percent of annual income or 9.5 percent of family income.
-Individuals and businesses will receive tax credits for purchasing healthcare.
-There are different levels of coverage to choose from in the Online Health Care Insurance Exchange. Policies with higher deductibles will offer lower premiums. If a policy is chosen with a lower deductible-it will require paying a higher premium.
-Citizens with preexisting conditions cannot be turned down. However, premiums will be based on age, income, tobacco use, geographical location, family size and other factors.
Learn more about the Affordable Healthcare Act by visiting www.healthcare.gov
On another note, I really enjoyed Santa Clause visiting Clarkston. It was really fun to tell him about all the good things going on around town. Santa enjoyed hearing all the stories, and said he is excited to pay Clarkston a special visit during this holiday season.

War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
Elected leaders seem to forget who they work for. It seems Americans have been doing their job writing their representatives and telling them no to a strike on Syria.
I wonder how many will listen. It’s unbelievable if elected officials who represent us do not listen to the American people, and vote yes to this conflict.
I know how I will vote in the next election if the leaders who are supposed to represent me vote ‘yes.?
I have looked online, read comments on all the stories and talked to a lot of people about the issue and the opposition is heavy. I conducted a People Poll last week, and every single person I asked said no to a strike on Syria-all of them.
In Iraq and Afghanistan the US spent billions of dollars and thousands of American soldiers were lost. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in those countries died too. All that money and lives spent in Iraq, and guess what- Iraq just issued a statement saying they oppose any strike on Syria. Now if Iraq gets involved in the conflict, the US could be fighting against the very army we trained and equipped. History repeats itself again!
I also have a problem with a term used when describing our soldiers.
When I hear the term boots on the ground-I see faces-and I think of a stories. I think about a story I wrote about William Kleinedler, a soldier from Swartz Creek who was almost killed when his Humvee hit an explosive device. He suffered severe burns on 12 percent of his body, and four of his fellow soldiers died. I remember a kid I knew when I was younger, now a paraplegic, whose life is forever changed.
I remember the story I read of Clarkston’s Jenna Beno.
I see stories that may never be told if these ‘boots on the ground? never come home.
I imagine myself on the battlefield facing gunfire and explosions, sweaty, scared and unsure if I will live to see another day. I find these thoughts absolutely terrifying, and I cannot imagine the guts it would take to engage in war.
These ‘boots on the ground? have faces, lives and families. US strikes will destroy countless innocent lives in Syria too.