by Susan
Today bloggers all over the Internet are uniting to write about refugees in many different situations. I have chosen to make my article for Bloggers Unite about all of the evacuations in my state of Missouri during the historic flooding in the Spring of 2008.
Many peoples’ homes were destroyed or heavily damaged as their occupants had to evacuate to higher ground. Lives were disrupted in ways many Missourians never dreamed they could be. On March 19th, 2008, President Bush declared a major disaster in Missouri and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in areas struck by severe storms and flooding.
Missourians were displaced to shelters, relatives homes, hotels and motels until they could return to their homes and begin the painful process of recovery and cleanup. Some Missourians weren’t that fortunate as there were over a dozen deaths in the Midwest in the early Spring floods.
You can view an MSNslide show which shows you the extent of the damage and disruption caused by the flooding. Evacuations, displaced persons and property damage were rampant and all of this was accompanied by waves of depression and fear as the rain kept falling. Here in Missouri we were happy when the heat of Summer arrived and we experienced the end of a long season of devastating floods. 
Archive for the ‘Bloggers Unite’ Category
Facing the Trauma of Domestic Violence……by Susan
Friday, June 6th, 2008Some of you know I recently wrote an article for Bloggers Unite for Human Rights. Shortly after writing that article, I happened upon a blog that caught my attention. I’d like to introduce you to this blog. The author is a fairly new blogger, is 36 years old and living in Australia. Her blog is called, Svasti: A Journey from Assault to Wholeness. She is attempting to unravel the mess that was created in her life by a single incident of violent physical assault in 2005.
According to the blogs author, “Fortunately, I’ve been prompted to deal with this situation head-on. The messages weren’t gentle and they weren’t easy to understand (initially at least). I feel so much gratitude for this ‘prompting’ because many people go through their lives and never get the opportunity to face the traumas they’ve experienced. Suppressed trauma can and will come out in other ways – such as physical or mental illness. So as much as it hurts, I’m now strong enough to handle whatever needs to come out.”
I think her writing is very open and heartfelt. She said, “one of the reasons it has taken me so long to confront what happened to me is because I was very busy telling myself that it wasn’t so bad….compared to what others have gone through.” I’m looking forward to reading more by this blogger.
You can find a link on the blog to another site, Women Against Domestic Violence, which can provide good information for anyone coping with domestic violence and the accompanying depression and other mental health problems.
Please visit:
Ozzieblackcat’s home page
Bloggers Unite for Human Rights……..by Susan
Thursday, May 15th, 2008I’m writing today about Domestic Violence for ”Bloggers Unite for Human Rights”, because it is a human right for all of us to live our lives free of fear and free of abuse. Domestic Violence happens in all kinds of families and relationships. It’s devastating to all who are involved. I know this from my own experience in being raised by parents who engaged in some domestic violence. It’s very confusing for a child, in addition to being extremely frightening and dangerous.
When my parents started fighting, my sibblings and I would disappear to our rooms or outdoors. Mom and Daddy were oblivious to where we were or what we were doing. Oddly, none of my sisters have ever talked with me about our history of living with domestic violence. I guess for them, it’s still our “family secret”. I’m happy this topic is now publicly discussed and there is hope and help for the victims of domestic violence.
No one deserves to be abused, be it verbally or physically. Men, women and children can be victims of abuse. Physical violence even among family members is wrong and against the law. It could be happening in the house next door and you may never know it. Too often it is a well kept “family secret”.
Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence. Both men and women can be abused though most victims are women. Children in these homes are also likely to be abused. Sometimes the people being abused don’t see themselves as victims because they think it only involves hitting, but domestic violence can be psychological, emotional or sexual abuse as well.
According to http://domesticviolence.org , in addition to pushing, hitting, slapping, choking, kicking and biting, the following are other signs of domestic violence:
1. threatening you or your children
2. threatening suicide to get you to do something
3. using or threatening to use a weapon against you
4. keeping or taking your paycheck
5. putting you down
6. forcing you to have sex
7. keeping you from seeing your friends or family
8 keeping you from going to work
These abusive behaviors can happen repeatedly in any kind of relationship and are often followed by a period of making up until the next cycle occurs. If you are being abused please know that you aren’t alone, it’s not your fault and help is available. It’s your human right to be free of domestic violence. You can find a list of helpful groups and their website links at Internet Resources.
>
Bloggers Unite in Acts of Kindness
Monday, December 17th, 2007A White Cat For Christmas
Early in the Fall, a skinny, scrawny, white cat showed up in our yard. She was just about the most pitiful looking cat my husband and I have ever seen. She was obviously starving and our hearts went out to her……….
My husband, Gary, always complained about the three cats we’ve had during our forty years of marriage. Two of these consecutive cats lived to approximately 13 years of age and the third is now four years old. When we lost one cat we would wait a short time and then the kids and I would soon rescue another animal from the local shelter or save a stray in the neighborhood.
We currently have Ozzie, our black cat. He is declawed and lives in our home…..ruling our home. During the past several months, Ozzie and the white cat hissed at each other through the patio doors but Ozzie seemed to enjoy keeping an eye on the white cat. Gary began to feed her and take her fresh water twice a day. I was very surprised that he initiated the care and feeding of the white cat.
Ozzie soon came running to us and meowing when it was time for the white cat to be fed. He still hissed at her and she hissed back at him, but Ozzie wanted her fed on time!
We began to worry about this white cat when the weather started turning cool. It can get really cold here in Missouri. Now, the white cat had filled out and was looking a lot better. She stayed within our fenced yard most of the time which seemed a bit strange to us at first, but I believe it was her safe haven from other animals. She had been declawed and dumped!
We decided the next step would be to put her in the garage and apply some medication to kill the many fleas she had. Gary built her a little house and padded the floor of it with old towels. He sat it on some cardboard boxes to keep it off the cold concrete floor. She spends a lot of time in her new little house. Ozzie often holds conversations with her through the door which leads to the garage.
I started thinking of names for this white cat and have recently been calling her Mandy after one of my favorite Barry Manilow songs from years ago. It just seems to fit her. My grandson thinks she looks like a sphinx……probably due to the fact that her head has an unusual shape with a very pointed face.
Mandy is soon to become our white Christmas cat, joining Ozzie indoors. We never planned on having more than one cat in the house, but sometimes you just have to reach out and help another living creature in need. Saving an animal was my act of kindness and I’m so very glad my husband and I have added Mandy to our family. I sure hope Ozzie will be glad too….. when his new adopted sister begins to share his domain.
Mandy
