11-11-11/ Veterans Day

                                                
World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.” 

The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.  -from the Department Of Veterans Affairs official website.

Isn't it cool that this day of the triple 11 is our Veterans Day this year? 

Somehow it just feels right in our busy world to stop and give thanks and think of those who have given so much...and to do it without a 3 day weekend to play and sort of forget the true meaning behind the reflection.

Twisted

It's that time of year again.  No, not about the holiday hoopla coming up.  Instead, I mean the time of year when I KNOW that certain people are not doing so well.  This is the beginning of the time when all of those lovely folks in my family that suffer from some type of mental illness or another go on the prowl every year.  Some years are scarier than others.  It is the season in which I am likely to wake up shaking or screaming.  My poor husband has grown used to this.  I have already heard from one friend who has been called several times to see if her husband can fix a computer- a computer that's been dead for years...  Anything to try to connect with those who cannot legally be contacted.  Thank God for restraining orders and felony probation.  Seriously, let's hope this year is a mild one!

I have to admit that even though I get stronger and wiser over time about how kooky my family can be and how normal and peaceful life is now, my subconscious is not always on board.  So with that in mind, I'll share an especially wild dream from the other night.  I feel this one is special because even I didn't know that my mind was quite so creative. 

In the dream, life is beyond wonderful.  Fabulous really.  Things are good beyond imagination.  It is truly sweet in so many ways.  The colors are sun warmed and lovely.  There is a picnic in the park and the food is magazine perfect.  The temperature is perfect.  The view is gorgeous.  I am surrounded by loving family.  People who have been especially cruel to me are there as well, but they are different.  Very different.  My aunt who is is brash and mean is kind and loving.  My grandmother is no longer a drunk.  She makes a point of apologizing for her past actions and promises to be different from here on out.  Many seem to acknowledge in some magical unspoken way that they are sorry for the way they knowingly left my sister and I to suffer in an unhealthy home.  It is all just so much to take in.  I feel loved and protected and content.  Content beyond anything I can ever remember feeling in my whole life, ever.  There is no hiding, no sadness, no ugliness, no drugs, no lies, no manipulation.

I can only guess this must be somewhat like what people who are addicted to drugs might feel.  That euphoria I have heard of...  Because the next thing I know I am awake and it is cold, sharp, dark.  There is a deep emotional pain that is nearly physical in nature.  I am literally terrified.  

And then I realize- this is it.  The beginning of the season of nightmares.  It is right on time.  It always starts in November, when my mother would be in the process of angering the rest of the family to the point that we would not be welcome for the holidays.  And we would be alone, facing her mental illness at its full brutal force. 

I am able to recognize the feelings I am having and rationalize where they come from.  And then I also manage to see the glaring thing that was missing from my dream.  My mother and my sister were not there.  Yes indeed, even in my wildest fantasies, I know that these two are a lost cause.  Ah, progress...  Maybe next time I won't be fooled at all.

Happy Election Day!

It is your constitutional right.  Use it.  Get out and vote today. 

Every election is important.  Even if your local election does not seem 'exciting', your vote is important.  (And can count for more when there's not as much turnout.)

Not everyone, everywhere in the world has the rights that we do in the U.S.A.  Remember this, and vote!