Birthdays, Family and Appreciation

August 27, 2008

LuLu

LuLu is suffering through the warm weather. She has always loved to sit on the bare wood floors; (she has lots of fur to keep her warm). She does her best to find a cool spot on the wood floor or near the AC ducts. We have been gone lots lately so she is requesting a lot of attention. As long as we leave plenty of food and water, she gets along fine, when we are gone.

We recently celebrated my mother-in-law and stepfather in law’s 90^th birthdays. Although, they have their chronic illness, they manage to live independently. Many of their old friends attended from all over Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. It was a great celebration. Many of us will be living well into our 90’s due to the advances in medical care. If we take care of ourselves throughout good nutrition, exercise and attention to our mental health we will joyfully live out those years.

We had a wonderful mini family reunion on Mackinac Island. My grandnieces (who live on the island) are growing up fast. One will drive soon but not on Mackinac unless it’s a horse. Of course, some of our family did not make it. We missed our sister Florence (lives in California) and Mark, Natalie, Claire, Mitchell and Jack. We hope to be together again soon for the Winter Holidays. Research shows that these deep family connections lead to a longer and more meaningful life.

Alan, my husband, and I went with the St. Johns Camera Club on a photographic weekend to visit zoos. We visited the Detroit zoo and the Toledo zoo and some wetlands and botanical gardens in the Toledo area. Although, I generally do not like zoos, this trip showed me how important they are in America. We saw people from every walk of life at the zoo, African Americans, Hispanics, Orthodox Jews, Amish, Muslim, and Eastern Indians. There were many young families along with grandparents with young children as well as older people.

During that weekend, we celebrated a cousin’s 60^th birthday. Although, we had not been close to this family in many years, we were surprised to discover many similar family traits such as the lack of athletic ability. But we also discovered that our cousin had the same ability as my family regarding talking with and connect ing with people.

We have been big supporters of the One book-One Community project of E.Lansing and Michigan State University. This project encourages East Lansing residents and the MSU incoming freshman to read a common book. The book chose for 2008 was They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky," by co-authors Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Benjamin Ajak with co-author Judy A. Bernstein.

This book tells the story of three"lost boys" who made the trip across Sudan to escape the war between the North and south in Sudan. The San Diego Union Tribune says The soft plainness of the young writers' voices, combined with their moral insight, throws the surreal danger and strife into sharp relief. They speak for the Sudanese who cannot, to attest that 'although people always hoped and prayed for peace, peace never came. As part of this program, the authors came to East Lansing and provided several opportunities to meet with the students and the community. We also attended God Grew Tired of Us at the East Lansing Library. This is an award winning story of four boys from Sudan as they embark on a journey to America after years of wandering Sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety.

The book and the movie have made a profound effect on those who have attended. The boys have grown into wonderful young men who have a fierce devotion to their families and their country.