Happy New Year

I have pulled out three of my most important goals from last year that I want to continue to work on in 2013:

I want to grow spiritually, emotionally and mentally, while shrinking physically.
I worked hard to make this a year of change and adventure. I want to continue to have an amazing life journey. And it is time to get serious about exercise, eating right and weight loss, because my broken foot really hampered my progress in 2012.

I want to spend more time with my family. I want to learn more of my family history and share it with my children.
I have spent time with my children and my extended family, I have blogged about a few of the episodes in my family's forgotten history, and I, along with family around the globe, viewed the final celebration og Granny Moore after spending a week sharing treasured stories. Just wonderful. It showed me again how important family really is.

I want to learn how to be content with where my life is at the moment- be in the moment instead of wistfully wishing for a better past/future life.
A work in Progress.... I have taken small steps and plan to keep moving forward.

So what are your goals for the new year?

Where is Santa?

NORAD helps Santa

NORAD is helping folks check in on Santa's progress on this very special night. So if you have little ones, you may want to show them the tracking system set up to help him.

Track Santa

It really is the biggest night of the kid year.

Merry Christmas!

It's the end of the world as we know it...

Only 30 minutes to go...

So a while back, I was talking to my Dad about the Mayan calendar, which is meant to end at Midnight tonight- his sage advice was simple:

"I'd still pay the mortgage"

I don't really think it is happening tonight either. But a lot of people think the end is close at hand. Have you seen the show, Doomsday Preppers? 

The end of the world has been getting quite a bit of press. In fact, NASA came out with a statement to address several of the world ending scenarios:

2012

The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012. The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.

If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will remain in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.

Alignments

There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. One major alignment occurred in 1962, for example, and two others happened during 1982 and 2000. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.

Blackouts from Alignment?

Neither NASA nor any other scientific organization is predicting such a blackout. The false reports on this issue claim that some sort of "alignment of the Universe" will cause a blackout. There is no such alignment. Some versions of this rumor cite an emergency preparedness message from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. This is simply a message encouraging people to be prepared for emergencies, recorded as part of a wider government preparedness campaign. It never mentions a blackout.

Polar Shift

A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. There are slow movements of the continents (for example Antarctica was near the equator hundreds of millions of years ago), but that is irrelevant to claims of reversal of the rotational poles. However, many of the disaster websites claim a relationship between the rotation and the magnetic polarity of Earth, which does change irregularly, with a magnetic reversal taking place every 400,000 years on average. As far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth. Scientists believe a magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia.

   

Solar Flares

Solar activity has a regular cycle, with peaks approximately every 11 years. Near these activity peaks, solar flares can cause some interruption of satellite communications, although engineers are learning how to build electronics that are protected against most solar storms. But there is no special risk associated with 2012. The next solar maximum will occur in the 2012-2014 time frame and is predicted to be an average solar cycle, no different than previous cycles throughout history.

   
NASA addresses "the end of the world"

Of course there is always the "What if?" factor...

So how do you prepare for the end of the world? A party of course. With a countdown to midnight... And if the world ends, I will see you on the other side.

Pissed off at evil...

So I read the Huffington post today.... and saw this:

"In the wake of Friday's massacre in Newtown, Conn., members of Westboro Baptist --- in Topeka, Kan., posted Twitter messages saying they would picket outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The messages provided no information on the time of the planned picketing.

"Westboro 'God hates Fags' Baptist --- is planning to picket at Sandy Hook, to praise God's judgment,'" was posted by Margie Phelps, the daughter of Westboro leader Fred Phelps Sr. Her sister, Shirley Phelps-Roper, tweeted Saturday that the group would "sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment."

--- members also released a video titled "God Sent the Shooter," in which members state that the shootings were God's retribution for gay marriage."

The sick feeling in my stomach mixed with the rage I felt...

HOW DARE THEY?!?!

Pure evil. Plain and simple.

Hateful... Hurtful... Heartbreaking...

God will judge them for what they do and say on this earth...

Sadness...

26 families in Connecticut are in pain today. Grieving an unimaginable tragedy.

I cannot wrap my head around 20 dead 6-7 year olds. Their bright happy faces are everywhere, and I ache for their families. I ache for their community. I ache for those who will be haunted by the memories of that day, because they were there and survived.

I will pray for all of you.

There are not words enough to bring comfort...

I am so, so sorry for your loss...

74 years ago...

My mom, Nuala Elizabeth Moore was born on 12/12/1938, the first child of Eddie and Ellen Moore. She lived and worked on the farm in Annaghkilly until she emigrated to the US in the 50s with her sister Etta and moved in with Brian and Regina in the Bronx.

Originally, she studied to be a secretary at Katherine Gibbs, but did not enjoy the work. Her uncle got her a job at Dollar Savings Bank on Fordham Road. She met Brendan at a wedding and when they dated, they often attended dances at the Armory on Kingsbridge Road.


They married in October of 1964, had their first child, Deirdre, in September of 1965, and after their third child, Ellen, was born, they bought their home in Throggs Neck.

Me and Mom

When their fourth child, Eddie, started school, Mom went back to work at Dollar Savings Bank, this time a little closer to home in Parkchester. She worked there through the Dry Dock merger (and my brief time working at the 59th street branch- I was nowhere near the teller my mother was).

I was in Guatemala when the Emigrant merger happened. Mom was concerned her position would be eliminated, but she stayed on and received several promotions. Later, she considered retiring, but it was always put off till next spring, next fall, next year...

In the summer of 2002, my mom and my family along with my niece Shelly travelled to Ireland for my cousin Colleen's wedding.

Granny Rita and Mom

It was the first time I was in Ireland with my mother since she took Dee and me home after her dad died in December of 1968. My family stayed with Rita, one of Moms sisters, and we had a wonderful time. It was Mom's last trip home.

Today, on what would have been my Mom's 74th Birthday, Shelly is getting married to a good man. And I am sure that Mom, in Heaven, is smiling. I know I am.

Peace Corps Support

Over the past year, I have lost two of my early mentors from The United States Peace Corps.

I was assigned the health extensionist program when I arrived in Guatemala in February of 1992. Dr. Sergio Mack Rivas was my APCD and he was very supportive of the work I did in my little aldea in the hills of Baja Verapaz. He was commited to the work and his country. When I returned to Guatemala in 1998, I was able to sit down with him and talk to him about the political situation since the Peace Accords and the state of the country. We sat and talked as if he had all the time in the world, and no other work to do. But that was Sergio.

I recently got word that Sergio, who had prior heath issues, had a heart attack on March 1st, 2012. He was in a coma until he passed away on Thursday, March 8th 2012 around 12 PM. He was 55.  It is just hard to believe... It makes me sad.

Sergio with us the day we were sworn in.

Kathy Arroyave was the nurse and Medical Director of Peace Corps Guatemala, a post she held for 30 years. She looked after us,was direct, and told us how it was, made sure we were safe, not too too homesick, and she chased away as many infectious elements as she could while we served. Beyond the host ofvaccines during training, she sought us out for gamma globulin (talk about a long ride back home after those bad boys...) and made sure we had access to the medications that helped keep us healthy.
She rounded in the hospital when I was in-patient, and there her kindness was overwhelming- to be sick so far from home... It was a gift to see her each day.I believed she loved us all, as her own. She kept us safe. A great nurse...

She never failed to be kind to me. A gift when you are so far from home. Kathy passed away on July 23, 2012 after battling cancer.

Both of these individuals were role models, mentors to me. I am thankful to have known them.

Stroke Update

Three years ago today, my father had a stroke. He went to a rehab center, and he improved. That Christmas I travelled back to New York and visited with him, and worried about how much function he would get back.

It is hard to look back on that dark time, considering how much improvement there has been.

He is helped by his good friend Maureen, who provides amazing support to him. Her kindness and generosity amaze me- from the beginning she has been at his side, getting him to therapy, helping him with housework, and I think a large portion of the credit belongs to her- he would not have done so well without Maureen by his side.

He got an experimental device for his leg by participating in a study, and it is a huge success. With it he can walk again. He is able to drive, and lives on his own, though Maureen still assists him regularly.

His speech is still affected, and is more noticeable when he is tired. Which seems more often. And he seems so much older three years on...

A War Hero

John Kelly was my father’s uncle. He died in World War I, long before my dad was born. According to the Irish Census my great-uncle was 13 years old in 1911.

John was still a child when England joined the “Great War” in early August of 1914. He and his brothers Patrick, my grandfather, and Ned were being raised by their aunt in Dublin after their dad died as their mother had died when they were quite young. Both John and Patrick were conscripted into the British Army- Ireland was still part of the Empire in those days. Ned was not quite old enough and so was spared.

John was shot and died  in a field in Northern France. My grandfather was with him. There was a story that their younger brother, Ned, saw John in the yard on the day that he died. His aunt knew her boy was dead.
He was buried there.

His family was sent a large bronze medal and a photo of his gravemarker. A few years ago, I had the original photo copied and restored, and gave copies to my dad and his sisters. His sacrifice is remembered.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

by John McCrae

(Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was a soldier, physician and poet)

World Aids Day 2012

Over the course of my lifetime, HIV and AIDS have emerged as a destructive force across the globe. But what do we know now about where the virus came from and it's earliest victims? Long before the 1981 MMWR from the CDC, HIV was moving, infecting and killing.

Did you know:

Researchers believe that sometime in the 1930s simian immunodeficiency virus, SIV, crossed over to humans in central Africa. The mutated virus became the first human immunodeficiency virus, HIV-1.

In 1959, what may be the first known case of HIV in a human occurred in a person who died in the Congo. His preserved blood samples were later confirmed to be HIV+.

In New York City, on June 28, 1959, Ardouin Antonio, a 49-year-old Jamaican-American shipping clerk dies of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, a disease closely associated with AIDS. Dr. Gordon Hennigar, who performed the autopsy found PCP and believes Ardouin probably had AIDS.

It is believed that in the 1960s HIV-2, the variant found in Western Africa, was transferred to people from sooty mangabey monkeys in Guinea-Bissau.

Robert Rayford of St Louis, Missouri is believed now to be the first documented victim of HIV/AIDS in North America. He reported having experienced symptoms since 1966 and died at age 16 in May 1969. He had Kaposi’s sarcoma according to his autopsy, and 18 years aftr he died, his samples tested positive for HIV.

A female baby was born in New Jersey in 1973 or 1974 to a sixteen-year-old girl, an identified IV drug user with multiple sexual partners. At five, the child died. Subsequent testing on her stored tissue samples confirmed HIV-1 infection.
On December 12, 1977, Danish physician and surgeon Grethe Rask died of PCP. It is believed she became HIV + during the time she worked in Zaire (Congo) and she showed symptoms as early as 1974. Her friend and colleague, Ib Bygbjerg (a physician specializing in communicable diseases), wrote in a 1983 letter to The Lancet that "while working as a surgeon under primitive conditions, she must have been heavily exposed to blood and excretions of African patients."

Also in 1977, a San Francisco prostitute gives birth to the first of her three children. Each of her children died and tested positive for HIV, indicating the mother was already infected at the time of her first child’s birth. She died of AIDS in May 1987.              
Source:  Wikipedia

It is a battle still being fought around the world. I am remembering all the lost this day.