This morning started out like any other morning. I was half awake, in my pajamas, outside feeding the rabbits and chickens. And then my husband shouted from the garage door "There's an opossum in the cat food!"
It was suddenly not an ordinary day, and I was very awake.
Turns out a very young opossum had gotten into our garage and into the cat food bag.
First of all, Happy
Mother’s Day to all the mothers, and to the future mothers. The work of motherhood is not easy and often overlooked. Second, this post is a long overdue … because it describes why I run for charity. Today seemed like the perfect day to explain it… you see, I run because of my mom.
My childhood was not an easy one. I was in two foster homes for a while. And from time to time my mother and I lived in a house with no power, or were homeless. This childhood made me angry at my mom for a long time. I know… this is probably not the Mother’s Day post you were hoping for… but please keep reading as I explain why I run for charity.
Now that I am older I realize the problems of my childhood were not necessarily my mother’s fault. The homelessness, the foster homes, the house with no power… for a long time I blamed her. It is hard for children to understand when their mothers fail. More importantly, it is hard for children to understand when their mothers are victims. My mom was the victim of domestic violence. Now that I am older, I understand that she was a victim… and she fled from my father with me so that I might have a better life. She tried to live with my grandfather, but when my grandfather died things were pretty rough for my mom… raising a kid on her own while keeping a low profile from an abusive man was not easy.
That was in the 1970s, when domestic violence was only mildly frowned upon… you know, like spilling a cold beer. The resources for mothers who fled from domestic violence situations were limited in the 1970s. The resources for mothers (and women) who flee from domestic violence today are better, but still limited.
I run for Womenspace because they do their best to help women dealing with domestic violence. If there had been better resources for my mom when I was a kid, maybe my childhood would not have been so rough. It’s hard to know since I don’t have a crystal ball. What I do know is that Womenspace, the local domestic violence resource, is struggling financially and had to close some of its services for women. I am not a millionaire, but I will certainly do my best to help them by raising money through marathons. When it first popped into my head to use my marathon running to also raise money for a charity… Womenspace was one of the first charities I considered.
I run for women. I run for mothers. I run for my mom.
My first marathon raised $74… which Womenspace received approximately a week ago. I hope you will support me as I support Womenspace. Your donations are 100-percent tax deductible and go to a worthy cause. To donate, you can click here: Running for Charity.
Thank you for reading. Wishing you a Happy and Safe Mother’s Day!
Greetings. Each week I try to post at least one comic strip or graphic that makes you (or me) think. The above graphic shows who is the highest-paid public employee for each state. Public employee means they work at a state institution funded by public money (taxes). This is not a debate I am well versed in, but I thought the graphic was interesting and I wanted your thoughts about it.
Does anyone know if the above graphic is accurate? I have no problem accepting that a coach is the highest paid employee at a college. That is pretty easy for me to accept. I’m not sure if the graphic is accurate because of the contribution of athletic boosters. It is true that several colleges lose money because of their athletic programs. But, at least for the big time programs, there is normally a megarich booster (or several boosters) who support a lot of the athletic programs. Does it still count as being a public employee when so much of the money comes from private funds instead of taxes? This is more semantics than anything. The main argument presented in this article is that having a big-time athletic program that generates millions in revenue doesn’t really matter because the coaches’ salaries prevent this money from going back to the college.
Perhaps the more disappointing part of this graphic should be that it reflects American priorities for education. The highest paid person at many colleges is not a professor… but an athletic coach. The potential investment in our nation’s future does not go into teachers, research or technology… but to coaches.
What are your thoughts?
What happens when old school goes head to head with new school in a battle of speed and wits? Leonard Nimoy takes on newbie Zachary Quinto and his all-new Audi S7.
Only the coolest people will appreciate the sheer awesomeness of this commercial. Nothing against New Spock… but of course I am cheering for the Old Spock (my Spock) to win.
This bird house does not make me feel guilty for anything I’ve ever built… but it does make me more conscious of things that I do in the future. I hope the impact is the same for you.
Think sustainable, not profitable.
