I’m not used to people not answering my questions.
I found out my mom has a brain tumor on Saturday. I just want the best for my mom. I ask questions for a living. I also research a lot, and so I researched into having brain surgery. I found out Henry Ford is one of the best in the nation.
All I wanted is to ask the doctors at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac questions. It seemed to me no one cared to answer questions. It felt to me as if I was just supposed to go along with their first opinion.
Me asking questions was not popular with anyone on the staff. I got kicked out, and the doctor was offended
This is my mom’s life so forgive me if I am angry, upset and want my questions answered. I was offended by the doctors and the staff at St. Joe’s who brushed me off and obviously do not understand what a family member is going through. I suggest training the staff.
Meanwhile, I’m still trying to contribute to the world, I have made a difference here locally with my reporting. I also went to a water quality meeting in Royal Oak where I stood up and spoke.
Locally, and I believe in every community, the pollution caused by leaking underground tanks at gas stations is an enormous problem.
There are also problems with all the chemicals dumped by the large corporations. It is time for corporate responsibility so America can be more sustainable.
A new funding plan for water infrastructure is proposed. The proposal involves private sector funding. The definition of a ‘Flint? does not escape me. A flint is defined as a piece of rock used with steel to produce an igniting spark. This fiasco in Flint is ridiculous and unnecessary.
Utility lines, including water, can be marked in days by a utility locating company. Michigan has 83 companies and numerous DPW’s, who could team up and section off the city to replace pipelines.
Besides these issues, the education system is also a wreck. It is time we invest in our schools and our children. It is time we invest in the education system because of all the problems.

In August I began a mental journey which was deeply environmentally focused. It was a process in which I felt funding by those charged with protecting our environment could be much better spent. I have written much in recent columns on how I believe our schools and local governments would handle these funds much better.
I tend to study issues very deeply. While we hear a lot about the water crisis in Flint nowadays, I go well beyond the surface of such issues.
I hear contaminated water, I think of many different causes. For instance, the recent story about gas contaminating a local well. I discovered there are dozens of leaks, in communities everywhere. It’s a serious issue that involves more than gas stations. Sadly I found the dumping of chemical and hazardous waste practices has polluted many once pristine environments and water systems.
The funding which has gone into correcting such issues-tremendous. Actually fixing the issues has been neglected. Underground tanks and hazardous waste at facilities do not always have up to date inventories. Also a recycling system is not in place in every community, and many tanks are dated.
The whereabouts of old landfill and contaminated sites are elusive.
The issue goes so very much deeper to include so called ‘Superfund? sites. These sites have been given tremendous funding, but go unmentioned for years. We have several of these Superfund sites in the Clarkston area. I have called the Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for comment. Some questions are yet unanswered.
Questions are numerous. Issues surrounding clean water and the environment in general are important in every community. The very people that made billions are the same who left wastelands across America. I believe communities must lead this effort and demand funding from the state and federal government to clean up these huge messes.
Communities need grant writers immediately to identify and apply for funding from both the EPA and MDEQ. Funds MUST be released to communities to fix infrastructure, water systems and pollution. One such funding under the EPA is available for non-profits or communities for workforce developments, to train the community and create environmental jobs.
It is a huge mess for which the funding has been huge also. So where did it go?

Santa, I have found this land is no longer my land or your land.
Instead, this land is owned by gas and oil companies, making huge money while polluting communities.
I believe it is worse than we know. People, possibly you, are unknowingly drinking contaminated water caused by environmental polluters as our ‘leaders? make laws that reimburse responsible parties with up to $2 million per claim to clean their mess.
For Christmas I wish federal and state governments would quit mismanaging taxpayers? money. A lot of systems are created to collect fines and fees while nothing is fixed and communities are left to fix messes.
An example is Environmental Protection Agency efforts costing $700,000 to lower pig farts in Thailand. How about state ‘leaders? and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s mismanagement of Flint’s water, blamed for lead poisoning.
It’s either bad mismanagement or pure corruption.
EPA staff and departments should be cut and billions of dollars collected, $19 billion alone from the BP Gulf Spill, be given to communities and schools before it just disappears or is used on stupid research while communities face an environmental crisis’s they don’t even know about.
I propose communities use funds to clean up the huge amount of pollution MDEQ knows is here, the state collected $50 million a year in gas tax, but stopped working on claims intended pay outs until 2004 to claims before 1995.
I propose fruit and nut trees be planted everywhere and schools get gardens to teach farming and cut food costs with healthy food. The EPA should be able to handle major accidents only.
Anyone part of corruption lies and mismanagement at both the MDEQ and EPA be fired, pensions and health care removed.
I also think ommunities band together and create a local gas tax. Despite what big government agencies claim, that favor, gas stations exempt from some taxes including the Michigan Road Tax Fund.
It’s one big collection fest here in America especially if you are a government agency or you own property and pollute. Santa, please wake America up.

I have suffered for almost three years under the good ole’ American student loan scam which is worse than people know.
I attended Mott Community College in Flint for two semesters. They claim I borrowed over $12,000 in loans for 23 credits. I also attended Specs Howard School of Media Arts, funded partially via grant.
During a rough personal time as a single parent, I messed up handling the loans. Creative paperwork transformed my grants into loans.
They have garnished 1/4 of my paycheck every week for almost three years. The government took tax returns for a combined total of $9,000. The paycheck garnishment alone adds up to over $10,000 and is more than ALL taxes and health care fees I pay combined. They still say I owe almost $10,000.
Every time I addressed the issue, I was told to write the US Department of Education for payment records. Companies overseeing loans constantly change, and you are transferred different places and obtaining information is nearly impossible.
With changing interest rates and fees the amounts I owe continuously change. Companies which collected thousands from me – no longer have the loan.
An attorney offered assistance. I discovered no court in place for this garnishment. Government agencies take what they want -when they want.
What I have worked hard for? Projects in foreign countries which don’t exist – like a $45 million gas station in the Middle East. Billions of dollars taken, gone, vanished from budgets. No proof or existence of projects. Lies and waste run rampant, and are funded by Americans like me.
The issue was enormously confusing and frustrating, almost impossible, so I can just imagine what others faced or gave up on.
A few months back the state of Michigan withheld tax returns by accusing people of claiming unemployment falsely. How many people suffered from it?
This struggle, my pain, suffering and stress will be worth it when I expose this scam.
This money grab scandal must end. Americans are working hard for what? To be taken advantage of and ripped off? I personally suffered from this, and I have had enough.

During a meeting with Independence Township Supervisor Part Kittle, he told me a story his friend shared.
“My son has all these degrees and he can’t find a job. I am a woodworker and I have so much work I don’t know what to do with it all.”
There is a lesson there. Right now there is a bill in Lansing which will hold your child back in third grade if they don’t meet the levels some standard test says they should. This is why society is so dysfunctional because people are following the same plan.
Not everyone is cut for one standardized test. Local school officials are fighting this because they know not all students are the same.
I trust local officials way more than I trust agencies so full of wasteful spending and bureaucracy. It’s shameful.
Like Kittle said it’s time we expand more skilled trades like those offered at the Oakland Technical Center.
The Detroit Free Press published a story about the Michigan State Police spying on everyone. Our state and local police should realize this is a violation of the Constitution. To every trooper, officer and deputy; this issue is one at the very heart of America. We are supposed to be the land of the free. You are our citizens, members of our community, you belong to us. Please see what is happening in America and don’t take part in it.
It’s scary our local police are being disbanded into bigger government agencies.
Funding is mismanaged by agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Transportation should belong to my community so we can manage it our own way. We know what’s best.
Our school officials and government officials would spend the cash better than ridiculously out of touch “leaders.”
Shame on those who participated in corruption such as Detroit school officials. I cannot comprehend such greed. This wasteful corruption and bureaucracy must end.
Also, we need to plant more habitat and gardens at schools. It’s time we self-sustain. I have requested two of each tree from Bordine’s to plant at each school – apple, pear, peach, and cherry.
I see where America is headed and it’s not good. Time for change.

I watched fellow shoppers dash for eggs and milk, so unaware and blind to everyone around them. It made me angry. Why?
I thought about all those nights I can’t sleep because of what I see.
Food prices are enormous. Changes are made to farming laws, but few people pay any attention. Little by little American laws are changed in favor of big agriculture.
Birds, bees and butterflies are dying, Earth has lost 50 percent of wildlife since 1970.
The Environmental Protection Agency has big money that is terribly mismanaged.
Michigan Department of Transportation can’t fix roads, but they can fund four cameras per intersection, everywhere. These cameras cost up to $90,000 each to add to the system. Huge towers are being added along 1-75 and everywhere else you look too. But, hey, at least they can warn us if 1-75 in North Oakland County is backed up or at least watch us in the traffic jam.
All this at a huge, huge expense to a system that does not even work right or make any sense at all. Then there are the moments I’m trying to mind my own business, but it’s impossible.
I get a random Facebook message telling me someone I love dearly committed suicide the night before. It was not true, but followed a day after an incident in which this young person took 25 benadryl just because it was there. This IS happening everywhere. Suicide rates are up.
A few hours after this incident I see a 24 year old girl so medicated its disgusting. In fact, the number of young people doctors let get hooked on pills is a crime.
Kids, and adults and society is sad and feeling hopeless. People and systems are broken.
I saw something so creepy, I would not want to burden others talking about it. I tried to help another person as much as I could. I have been so shaken up since, a leaf blowing on the ground made me jump. Getting stronger there.
Someone asks why I care so much. Fact is I have no choice. I wonder how people can be so clueless. In fact that is perhaps why I have to care so much.
America needs to change. It starts here, right here in me. I know one person can change the world. This was my week. How bout? those Lions?

In 2009, I begged leaders at Specs Howard School of Media Arts to create a Positive Psychology class. They requested I create one. I researched for months. I discovered the Positive Psychology movement and Harvard University’s Professor Tal Ben-Shahar, a leader in the field.
I emailed him and insisted every school in the United States should teach such skills. He responded back to me favorably. I also sent emails to board members and superintendents at several schools, including Clarkston.
For People Poll this week, I asked parents what they want for their children as adults. Parents hope their children grow to be happy and help others. Being happy and helping the world requires tremendous internal resources. I was a poor student, especially at math. In my spare time I could be found writing.
Practicing my passion helped me learn forgiveness, acceptance and empathy. I believe it gave me the gift of seeing connections many do not.
The world needs mathematicians and scientists. We also need artists and writers. Mathematicians need writers, and scientists need artists to help deepen connections the other sees. Our diversity is a gift. It is the root of our intelligence. Without it we would not evolve. We must work together, to make life easier, cleaner, happier and more efficient for each other.
We must love our beautiful planet Earth, so very alive and beautiful. We must quit robbing Mother Nature, gouging and pillaging for minerals and oil. If our planet and its creatures die, humans die, too.
Caring for others and Earth, is not important to everyone, but we need everyone to make world a better place.
Working together requires understanding of others, respect and open mindedness. To reach maximum potential, children must learn coping skills and lessons teaching them how to be a productive citizen in the world. If such barriers only holds us down in life were removed we each would be highest self and better able to freely to share our passion and talents with the world.
That’s why I have long believed schools should teach Positive Psychology. Clarkston Community Schools was the first to adopt initiatives that relate deeply to Positive Psychology. Humanity has much to be proud of. We also have a long ways to go. Such revolutionary changes in society will take time. See the connections.

I was invited to visit Motown photographer Jim Hendin’s private photography gallery. Hendin captured the very images and cover photos representing Motown’s music to the world, working there from 1968-1972.
Walking through the gallery, photo after photo continously amazes. On one wall hangs music album covers of so many great artists you can’t even begin to name them all.
Looking closer at the albums you see song after song that cause lyrics and melodies to play in your mind. The meaning and message behind the music so full of meaning and beauty it touched the heart of the entire world.
Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, The Temptations and Four Tops, Edwin Starr, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye to name a few.
He is a piece of all those great creations.
Thinking about how much Motown means to Detroit, about how much the music and photos means on so many levels, you feel a presence of greatness.
Detroit is a city of greatness turned to despair. Many people are working hard on making Detroit great again to serve as an example of transformation and rebirth.
Huge investments and redevelopment efforts are underway in the very heart of Detroit. So many people are cheering for a city broken on so many levels.
As its transformation continues, how do we lift it from deep despair and hopelessness. How do you inspire? How do you save its soul?
Detroit needs help from the world, but the world needs Detroit just as much. Cities across the U.S. are crumbling into the same decay and darkness.
Detroit needs Motown to inspire in the deepest and darkest despair.
Motown manufactured music, the one thing loved universally by all people on Earth.
Berry Gordy founded Motown in 1959.
It was only a year earlier the ‘Spirit of Detroit? statue was placed in the city. It was one of the largest bronze statues created since the Renaissance, a period of cultural rebirth after darkness. In his left left, he holds a ball of celestial light that represents a light from God. The light is aimed at a group of people he holds in his other hand.
Behind the statue is a scripture from 2 Corinthians (3:17) that reads, ‘Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.?

When I was a kid I used to make my bed. I neatly sorted my occasionally written poem into its own special box. I loved dusting. I loved to scrub all the nooks and crannies. I loved to clean. And when the whole place was clean I wished I could clean it again.
Then a wrecking ball came in and things changed. I began writing a lot more and not even my room had a prayer at being organized.
I realize this is because I focused on all matters internal, and dusting went by the wayside.
I got good at some things. I grew strong at reading people, and my strength in writing grew too.
I got good at flowing into the world, but equally good at shutting it out. Perhaps even better at shutting it out.
You miss a lot of things when you shut certain things out of your world, especially the things that mean everything.
It’s a bit startling to wake up, walk outside, and see a painter ? you would surely take note of the painter, but not that he painted your house purple.
A lot of time passes and suddenly you realize your house is purple….and purple drives you crazy!
Seeing the big picture, you let some very important details slip by. To say with age comes regret is true.
When you realize how fast time passes, and how much you have missed, sad are the moments. A sadness that only grows.
To think of how much time was spent in nothing, and how time keeps passing so quickly. It’s faster than the speed of light, and before you know it, it’s gone.
A lot of gifts can be born in chaos. Life is first about survival.
All you can hope is someday you take gifts from the chaos, and change negative into positive. All you can hope is it does not take you too long time to realize your house is purple.
Standing there bewildered you realize you missed a whole lot more than your house being painted. And your darn house has been purple for a long time!
That’s when you realize you missed the party in your neighborhood that has been going on since your house got painted.
It’s OK, the painter’s gone. Its time to paint the house and join the party.

Big issues for locals right now ? a group is petitioning against spending too much cash on improvements to City Hall in downtown Clarkston, and where will everyone park after several new businesses, mainly restaurants, come in?
I can imagine by now there would have been enough cash in a Parking Deferment Fund, created to make developers pay for their businesses parking needs. All the money from the unenforced ordinance could have been spent on a project that would have improved the city and create more parking.
I walked around town for a few hours last week and in my opinion the public lot by city hall could be redesigned and parking could be added along Depot Street to create a ton of new parking. But this all costs money and someone has to pay.
Right now the town is lucky owners of a private lots downtown allow drivers to park. As it goes, one topic led me to research another, and I started learning about all kinds of things city related.
History’s layout of Main Street USA is outdated and ‘walkable urbanism? is in.
In a walkable community, the streets are designed so everyone is happy including walkers, cars, those on bike and even pets.
How walkable a community is depends on several factors including having a ‘center? such as Main Street and providing various amenities to make visitors and residents happy.
Much of this is in the city’s Master Plan. It calls on city officials to create many plans and committees, including one for parking. The parking committee would find ways to minimize and share parking and create additional on-street parking.
Creating a parking improvement plan was thought of to identify parking demands and ‘perceptions? of parking supply, design specific parking lot improvements and utilize signage.
The Master Plan also calls for wider sidewalks for pedestrians, slower traffic, spaces for trees and room for street furniture.
It calls for a lot of work to be done before finally concluding the biggest challenge will be to preserve the quaint and historic community. So much work to do!
It could be worse. Clarkston could have a downtown no one wants to visit, or wait is that what some people want?

It is disappointing that councilman Richard Bisio felt it was best to resign after feeling like he was ganged-up on by other members of council. At a council meeting Monday, Bisio said he felt he could no longer be effective on the council.
Bisio said David Marsh was the only other member of council he felt did not chastise him over recent events.
Bisio, and his use of social media, was placed as an agenda item for the April 27 meeting. Bisio said because an ordinance regarding ethics was in the council packet, he felt it was insinuating that he was acting unethically.
All of this stems from Bisio protesting a closed session meeting, claimed it was illegal.
Its really too bad that Bisio feels the only answer is to resign. You could always count on Richard providing a great deal of information to the public.
I hope he reconsiders. Sometimes you may be the only one to stand up for what you think is right. When you do, you may feel bullied. Still we need people like Bisio to stand up for things they believe are wrong. The ability to have a difference of opinion is why America is a democracy and not a dictatorship. In America we value a difference in opinion. We welcome people speaking up for what they believe is wrong.
During the meeting I was a little taken back, and frankly offended, by Mike Sabol and his tirade. His screaming fits in public is rather offensive. City Hall is supposed to be a professional place, not a place to thrown temper tantrums. Last time, Sabol put on his pouty face and screamed over signs. This time Sabol was yelling right at Bisio. I bet if he could have gotten closer and right up into his face, his tirade would have included a pointed finger an inch from Bisio’s face.
Bisio mentioned he was offended by several email’s going back and forth between council members, so I don’t know the full extent of what was said or implied by other council members to Bisio.
As soon as Bisio sends in his letter of resignation, we will find ourselves with an empty seat on council. Now all the rest of the members can appoint whoever they want.
I hope he reconsiders, but regardless we would like to talk to you Richard.

Ignoring a problem does not make it go away. Recently changed laws regarding prescription drugs has made obtaining opiate prescription drugs harder, so people are ever more frequently turning to heroin, a cheaper alternative.
This epidemic is different than any other drug epidemic in history because you have people, now considered addicts, that would have never become drug addicts before.
These people would not have taken a street drug, but found it acceptable to take prescription medication.
Young people will tell you the drugs are a huge problem in every school-EVERY SCHOOL.
Like doctors and experts say, the face of addiction is much different today.
It could be a simple as your neighbor or husband that had surgery and got hooked on pills. When they no longer felt the effects, or getting pills got harder, they turned to heroin.
There seems to be a pattern in history. Many of societies addictions throughout history have been caused first by doctors.
Prior to the 1990s, narcotic medication was reserved for serious conditions and terminal illness. Thanks intense lobbying by some pain doctors, pain pills were provided easily.
The War on Drugs is focused on one drug after another. The real drug war is withing individual people. It’s a part of a man’s quest to find happiness.
Someone said to me, ‘Everyone just wants to feel good? Why does that have to be so hard?
People find comfort in their addiction.They eat, shop, have another drink, take another pill or worse.
There are answers to happiness, but they are different for everyone.
Some how society has to quit fighting individual drugs and deal with the addiction problem society has.
Schools should identify kids early on in school who may be predisposed to addiction.
At some point we have to get to the root of problem, first by changing how society treats addiction and by accepting that it is a disease.
If you have a problem, do not be afraid to get help, before it gets worse. Even if you do not have insurance there are programs out there that will cover the cost.

This continuous behavior by Clarkston city officials is exhausting.
When you question how they behave, they respond as if your questions are meaningless.
Attorney Tom Ryan, who represents many other communities, led the council into an illegal closed session. Has to make you wonder if he is leading other communities he represents to break laws also.
Its like no big deal to any of them either. Its like ‘Oh we broke the law again.? What happens when they keep breaking rules. Nothing. absolutely nothing. So why would they stop their behavior?
Sure they get bad press. Another round of ‘negative? articles in The Clarkston News but that’s about it.
Laws we have in America were created for a reason. They were created to keep out communities free from corruption. I would imagine if you ran for a seat on city council, somewhere in your spirit you appreciate legal processes that occurs in the United States.
City officials are always preaching positivity, but it is their very behavior that leads us down a continuous road to negativity.
It seems city attorney Tom Ryan and the group he ‘leads? could care less about our American way of doing things. They just do what they want, when they want and then move on as if nothing happened.
We must not forget Mayor Joe Luginski’s statement, ‘we are just a group of volunteers.? You may be just a group of volunteers, but you are a group of volunteers leading a community, collecting and spending their money.
If there was a class on what not to do in government, someone could create a section called City of the Village of Clarkston, ‘Here is what they do that your should not.?
If you are going to lead the community at least make sure you do it right.
Perhaps legal council should be reevaluated too. After all you have an attorney who knowingly led the group into closed session after being informed it was illegal. We have a council who could care less about following the rules, and attorney who could care less about the law.
I tell you one thing for sure, Independence Township officials would never behave this way.

When crushed inside and you punish this world with negative emotion, who gets hurt?
Wonderfully wise Napoleon Hill said any hurt you cause this world comes back to you times ten.
When inner strength feels foreign… how do we relinquish that pain? When lost or broken…how do you begin again? As I write I hear that whisper say “Just begin.?
In my next thought I thank God for the great blessing of my forgiving spirit. Forgiveness lives in beauty and sets you free. In this thought I feel reminded to forgive myself as I do others. Learn from mistakes and shine on.
Inner debate is constant. Shall we seek what’s easy or strive to find our purpose. It is said you alone create you heaven or a hell. This to me is truth. We pay a price, or gain reward. With each decision we stand stronger with good or evil.
Only we chose to break free from pain and fly. To a moment of clarity I listen. Control and restraint of the self, being kind and doing what’s right for yourself and others, creates a brighter future.
Most people seek the light in life, the spark that makes you shine and thrive. Such beautiful things are born in places we find a happiness that awakens our higher self. In this life, wise souls find purpose, and realize each of us are bestowed with struggles. We must face our pain, seek what’s missing, and heal ourselves from within to ignite positive change in our spirit. Or we wither, and die.
A life of pain or beauty is a personal fate we each create. That whisper flow again and I write it… give love, mind your emotions, rise when you fall and be kind to the world.
Choices are ever present. Each move you make leads to a grand dream or a horrible nightmare. We are punished or rewarded by each choice.
Never turn away from what truly matters. Embrace it with everything you have. Even if you don’t feel worthy. You are.
Such action takes work, but choosing the light leads our heart and soul to a beautiful place… where wishes come true…and happiness is a natural element.
Today is the day to begin again. Just begin. Go where you’re meant to go, and you will be who you want be.
P.S….I hope great consideration is given to appoint Mitch Petterson as the new fire chief. In my experience he is always professional and very knowledgeable. And his 23 years serving the community….priceless.

When I listened to Napoleon Hill’s theories, I was captivated. Hill was born in 1883, and is considered one of the great writers on modern thought, personal achievement and success.
Napoleon Hill was a young reporter sent to interview billionaire businessman Andrew Carnegie, a man who led the expansion of the steel industry in the US, and was a great philanthropist. After their meeting, Hill was commissioned by Carnegie to interview over 500 of the richest, most influential and brilliant minds known to man. His mission was to discover what made these incredible people so successful.
Hill’s list of people he interviewed is amazing, and included many lengthy discussions with great minds such as Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford….and a list of great minds that goes on and on.
Through his work, Hill himself grew into a brilliant mind, and great author and speaker. His beliefs paved the way to many modern philosophies on personal achievement. I think old school Hill, is amazing. His thoughts are one best things I have ever discovered after my mom asked me to listen to a cassette tape of his work. Yes, a cassette tape.
His message make sense to me, and his words are directed towards the mind, spirit and soul. Hill said any aid, such as thoughts like his, that can provide assistance and bring peace of mind and success to us on this journey through life should be considered. I agree.
While exploring the concept of ESP with one of these great achievers, Napoleon Hill came to discover he was accompanied by guiding entities he called ‘Guiding Princes.? After he recognized these guides, he gave his permission to them to assist him and promised to work in harmony with them both night and day.
Hill never felt a need to defend his belief in guides. He hoped his mention of their existence would stir awareness and open minds to such a possibility.
Although he was reluctant to confess of his guides at first, Hill discovered nearly all brilliant minds he spoke with also felt assisted by an invisible force. Alexander Graham Bell, in particular, was one of many who believed an invisible source aided him in his work and directly connected him to the source of infinite wisdom, or God.
If you get a chance check out Napoleon Hill, and you may be amazed like I was that the man was so full of wisdom.

Each year we make resolutions to mark the beginning of something new. This time around it’s 2015. Many people make a vow to quit smoking or shed some pounds. Others, they vow to be more productive or successful.
I don’t know about you, but I find it very overwhelming to think about all the things I need to change. I don’t know if you have heard, but the defense mechanisms are fight, flight or freeze.
It used to only be fight or flight, but now the term freeze has been added. This makes sense to me.
I think the ‘freeze? mechanism is the equivalent of hiding under the bed if an intruder breaks in. You can’t escape or run away, so what else can you do but freeze.
Perhaps the people that freeze and get overwhelmed easily, are so busy looking at the big picture, they forget it’s the details that make the big picture a reality. These people are so busy thinking about how much needs to be accomplished or changed, they freeze in place, and do not accomplish or change what is needed.
This ‘freeze? business is accompanied by an inner critic from hell who loves it when you are frozen. I was reading about this inner critic recently, and one of the ways to deal with it is to listen to what it’s saying. Make it your ally.
You make this nasty voice you ally because it is that very voice that wants you to do to your best, and when you don’t do your best watch out because that’s when it is the fiercest.
If you are constantly listening to what this inner critic has to say than it cannot just creep up on you at the most inopportune times and tell you to freeze. So in the end make this inner critic you friend, and listen. If you are the person who looks at the big picture, and is overwhelmed, just try to focus on the details.
And finally, if you screw up, just remember each day is a new day!
So here is a few lines from the hit movie ‘Frozen”:
My power flurries through the air into the ground.
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back; the past is in the past!

Life is always full of inspiration and beauty if you look…even in the midst of things most troubling. I have always believed the most challenging and darkest times in life can eventually bring about the brightest moments and lead you to the path you are meant to travel.
I have known people who hold much pain inside from their past. You can see and hear how this pain eats them up inside…they are unable to forgive, thus remaining bitterly angry.
Forgiveness, to me, is among the easiest things to give. I realize people don’t always say or do things to you because of you, it is often because of where they are at inside.
I too could have been a much angrier and resentful person, but I was fortunate to be blessed by God with my writing. From a very young age, writing is how I expressed myself, kept myself occupied, and made sense of this painful yet beautiful world.
I conclude there is no greater way to express the pain and beauty each of us see, than to be creative.
I also believe each of us constantly feed the light or dark in our spirit. This happens minute by minute, based on our decisions and how we treat ourselves and others. That sharp remark you may make earlier in the day will continue to breed negativity in your spirit all day long.
Create enough of those moments and there you find yourself in a world of crap. We all know feeling bad does not feel good. I don’t think bad and good…light and dark…good and evil worlds mix too well.
It all sounds so simple….feed the light and starve the dark. Too bad this world is not perfect and we are not saints.
I guess this is where balance comes in. To me, a key is finding balance by feeding the light and recognizing the bad stuff to fight off the negativity.
I find profound wisdom in the Serenity Prayer…which is all about acceptance and change…
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”
Is there any greater challenge to humanity than to learn unconditional love? Just how is unconditional love defined? I believe you must find forgiveness and acceptance others, and yourself too.

Saturday my mom and I headed to the wedding of her ex-husbands daughter. Mom worried how people would feel 23 years changed her. Her inner critic screamed. Feeling at ease inside, I tell mom ‘Your beautiful. Don’t worry.”
Rain and construction cause our trip delay. Two roads with one name make us lost and we miss the ceremony. We wait to not interrupt the wedding. The sky spits heavy hail. We finally arrive.
I spot him instantly wearing a bright orange suit. I see him looks towards the road. I think he’s wondering if we’re coming.
I called him ‘Dad? the first 13 years of life. I love him.
Years ago, after something traumatic happened to me, our contact ceased. During an already painful time for me, losing him made every hurt worse. I understand now. I too favor avoidance.
We walk towards the party and Mom begins to laugh hysterically.
Mom now at ease, and I’m suddenly frazzled as we walk towards the party tent.
I leave the tent often to go outside alone, and soothe an overwhelming urge to escape.
I watch as sunshine splits apart a dark sky.
Thinking I must seem strange, and mom may feel abandoned, I go back inside.
Mom is effortlessly confessing she missed and loves everyone. I feel the same. Wanting to talk, I mostly fail, but manage some conversation and a few hugs.
Thoughts bombarded me quickly as I analyze everyone and everything. I usually do this well. Not today. I can’t detach. Uneasy.
I want to leave, so we do.
Anxiety and emotions later consume me. I cry a bit before sleep.
My dreams that night are foggy and distant, but I get the gist. I was covering a story I knew would be the greatest I would ever write. I was shown something very complex and unexplainable, a great connection. Something important made sense to me. I was amazed, and knew others would be too.
I awoke saying out loud, ‘It is amazing how symbiotic it is.? Symbiotic, meaning living together harmoniously .
I tried to figure out why I had bad feelings at the pleasant wedding. Equally hard I pondered the dream.
I knew something unusual happened at the wedding that caused me complete chaos within. Why?
My senses about people and the world are often accurate. In writing especially, sensing and portraying feelings is a gift.
I concluded that I had absorbed Moms anxiety. I am aware this frequently happens constantly and quickly. I was 100 percent sure, the way I felt existed only within me. Emotions were sticking.
A great puzzle within unraveled instantly. I realized that deep wounds built great walls to cope with emotions. Walls so well built, that feelings are dismissed without prejudice.
I have spent years sensing and discarding feelings too quickly to remember why they are important. I forgot that feelings, within myself and others, mean something.
I believe the only thing that could have made me as powerless as I felt that night, was love existing long before those walls existed.
I realize I didn’t fail to speak that night. It was just time to listen.

Our world is sick. Infectious diseases are quickly spreading, and it’s everywhere. Africa has Ebola, one of the biggest problems I feel we face today. I have thought of this outbreak for months, and from the beginning I have been watching and knew this was bad.
I don’t get bitten by mosquitos. I have always been thankful for that, but I realize how especially lucky I am now. In just the past few weeks there have been deaths in the US from West Nile Virus. Dengue Fever, Malaria and Chikungunya. Diseases spread by mosquitos, have exploded in populations around the globe including the US.
Meanwhile as disease spreads, wars are being waged across the world. On the news we hear of beheadings, bombs being dropped, countries invading other countries and people are starving.
The world and its people are divided, as many people suffer because basic needs are not met.
This week, President Obama announced he will seek $1 billion in funding and send 3,000 troops to Africa to combat Ebola. Online people were angry and took on a ‘I don’t care? disposition which included downright nasty comments about destroying the entire African continent.
People may not care now, but when the highly infectious and nasty disease comes to their communities from afar, they will care. Throughout history diseases have spread quickly even before air travel.
A few months ago, tens of thousands of unaccompanied children from a slew of countries showed up at the US-Mexico border. A report later released said these kids were filled with communicable diseases like Tuberculosis, severe respiratory illness, scabies and much worse diseases. It was discovered US Border Agents had contracted diseases from these unaccompanied kids. Before anyone could even respond the kids had been shipped to every US state. People predicted the communicable disease would spread.
The whole situation makes no sense. There must be better ways to help people coming to the border while protecting the American public.
My feelings on these two issues are conflicting, but the final result is the same. It’s the same with the various wars taking place. These issues have to be taken care of elsewhere, so they don’t come to America.
I don’t know why I worry about these things. I can’t really do anything. It’s true, the best thing you can do is wash your hands.

It’s not easy doing this job.
It has been made apparent to me, time and time again, the Clarkson city manager feels I am the main cause of her issues over the past year.
Her comments to me have been down right vindictive, and blame is placed squarely on me.
I have been through this type of thing before, when someone won’t take responsibility for their own behavior, so they blame you as the square root of their problem. Meanwhile, all I was doing was my job.
I don’t want to hear how troubles you cause are my fault. I am not the one who made the cutting remarks to cause the frenzy in the first place.
It was not my action that set in motion the rippling effect known as consequences.
It’s not like I hated the manager, and made it my mission to cause her grief. I rather liked her, and I think she has done the best job she can, and reacted the way she naturally would to critical critics.
Problem is when you take a job as a public official, you are required to talk to people you would like to avoid. Short answers to questions and more cutting remarks are just stirring the pot.
I know someone, who will do anything he can to avoid conflict. This someone says:
How far away, yet so close, are the worries of the world. In this small piece of the universe all is peaceful except for occasional complaints about this or that. Thousands of miles separate troubles, much greater than ours. The close problems easier to ignore, yet even more pressing.
To ignore the true goings on, an avoidance, a learned thing to evade the important for your soul to survive.
A person filled with so many of his own worries, he forsakes his own and takes on instead, some other trouble. Something he can’t touch, and will never touch him.
Such a man is always distant, cold on many levels, almost untouchable to everything meant to truly matter. Flying through the days of life, he watches, not realizing how the days whisk by.
What is important to such a man? It is the big picture only, for the details don’t amuse.
This person does not care who shuts him out, for what troubles him is much greater than you can imagine.

If voters shoot down a library millage on August 5 the Clarkston-Independence library will close.
Books will be packed and music silenced. Enrichment classes, education classes and special activities will be gone.
Officials are asking taxpayers to pay on average about $125 a year for the library.
A lot of residents are in favor of the library too.
Retired Judge Gerald McNally is greatly in favor of a ‘yes? vote to the library because he believes the library is the cornerstone in any community, and I think he said it best…
‘The significance of our spiritual value is reflected in our many magnificent churches,? he said. ‘A library is so much more than a building and books. A library represents how far we have come out of the cave and out of tall grasses. A failure of the library millage would be a setup back to the cave and tall grasses.?
Thinking you may be able to go to a neighboring library if yours is gone? Think again.
Neighboring libraries have a reciprocal agreement with Clarkston -Independence said Library Director Judith Meredith. If the Clarkston Library has nothing to share it voids that agreement and residents will not have any recourses to share so the contract is void.
In 2012 the library was reestablished under the District Library Agreement, and officials get two chances to fund it. If the 2014 millage does not pass under revamped library laws, the library must dissolve and other libraries can deny you.
The millage residents will vote for is an operating millage which pays for everything needed to operate the building.
The library gets 134,658 visits per year (many repeat customers), and spends about $29.20 a week per library visitor.
Clarkston-Independence Library offer patrons many perks. In addition being able to check out over tons of books, music and movies, patrons can also request material from other libraries.
Patrons can also attend numerous classes, educational opportunities, support group and clubs.
A library is place of lifelong learning, education and enrichment.
A library is important to the community in so many ways. Kudos to all the hard work so many community members have put in to support the library. They think you should vote YES, and I do, too!

I would just like to say how much I admire Independence Township Supervisor Pat Kittle for helping soldiers through their trying times despite his own personal tragedy, the passing of his son David, a veteran (see story on Page 1).
Sometimes it’s the people who go through the front lines of any situation, and witness the pain firsthand, who have the biggest impact and are most qualified to help people facing similar situations.
We’ll have more on the story in next week’s edition. I just wanted thank Pat for his honesty in our many conversations about David and how he plans to help veterans. I know it took Pat great bravery to speak out on such a personal subject and I am confident he will make a huge difference. I look forward to documenting the stories and progress. Judge Kelly Kostin picked the right guy for the job.
Yes to the library
I can’t imagine Clarkston not having a library. It seems many people agree with me, too. I went to the library last month, and talked with many members of the community about what the library means to them.
It is obvious when you have a conversation with most residents ? they love their library. How much is the library worth? How much is anything worth when you need it or want it?
What a deal you get with the library. For the average home, the library costs only a couple hundred dollars. What a bargain that is for all the services they offer.
I guess you never really know when you may need the library. Perhaps there will come a day when your Internet goes down and you have something really pressing that needs to be completed. Were would you go? You would go to the library of course.
During many conversations, when I asked about if the library were to close the word ‘devastated? came up a lot. I am positive Clarkston residents will make the right choice on August 5 and vote ‘yes? on their library.
Awesome Parade
Our July 4 parade was awesome, and full of community organizations, businesses, kids and furry friends. The parade was an hour and a half long. My family went with me and said their favorite part was when the Independence Township Fire Department raised the huge flag over the crowd. It was one of my favorite parts too. Good Job!

Some say stories in The Clarkston News about all the issues happening in the City of the Village of Clarkston are nothing but negative. But we have just reported the facts, and the things going on are negative.
A local leader has made comments implying I am personally at fault for ruining her life with the stories written. I am just doing my job, and reporting on issues the community needs to know about.
It is not easy to do this job. It is not easy to put feet to the fire when things go awry. I wish all news stories were good news, but they are not.
If you are in a position of leadership, it would make many a job easier if you do the right things. Leaders should know you cannot delete public records. If you don’t even know that, perhaps you should not be doing the job at all. Public records belong to the citizens of the community.
As a newspaper, the watchdog of the area, it’s our job to make sure our leaders are doing things in the best interest of the community. That is not being done for Clarkston.
Another thing I find ironic is Clarkston’s attorney is just racking up big bills for all the issues that have gone on, yet it took months (and a really bad story) for any kind of response to a citizen and his attorney.
Attorneys are supposed to protect clients right? Rather than advising his client to issue a simple apology, the issue was ignored and the city could be sued.
One attorney told me the proper thing to do would be to issue a statement declaring comments made by the city manager do not reflect the views of the city. This would have been a simple task, and then CNews would not have had to go to such great lengths and force action.
It took a bad story about inaction and deleted records, for the client and his attorney to get any response at all. I even went into City Hall to warn this was going to happen, but could be prevented. I was told this was somehow a personal issue between the leader and me.
The citizen’s attorney is also under the impression that the city attorney is unaware of issues. Yet again, thousands of dollars in bills are being racked up. So, please, attorney, don’t try to plead ignorance. Protect the city and do the right thing’issue the right advice and quit ignoring the issues. Unless the right thing is done, and soon, the fire will get much hotter.

I’m doing it and it feels great.
I’m getting rid of (almost )everything I own, and starting over. I’m tired of the clutter (they say your environment reflects your state of mind).
I’m at a point where I really don’t want anything. I would be happy with just some clothes and a bag of makeup.
I don’t want three Christmas trees and hundreds of Santa’s and his reindeer. I don’t want a bunch of knick-knacks that I cannot believe I bought in the first place.
Some are just downright ugly, and I’m wondering what I was thinking when I bought them.
I don’t wants the 30 or more pieces or art I have. I don’t want the toms of clothes I have not worn in years. It is time to be rid of that stuff.
I have been feeling this way for a while. I have been wanting to be free from the junk for some time.
One day I decided to just go for it and I set up a garage sale. Each day the garage sale has grown and is now pretty large. I’m thinking of just telling everyone they can have whatever they want.
I want to have a nice organized life, full of a few things I find beautiful.
While going through the stuff I have acquired over the years, I promised myself I will be more particular with the things I buy for the rest of my life.
I have opened the sale just twice. Once I opened on Mother’s Day and then I opened for a few hours last weekend. In addition to getting rid of stuff I love all the visitors.
People always ask you a lot of questions and ask you where you got your stuff.
I did decide to keep two things I had in the sale; one a grandfather clock that hangs on the wall and a beautiful elephant made of wood and fancy shell.
If you are thinking of eliminating clutter from your life?
I encourage you to go for it. It feels great so far. They say it is very liberating.
Although I am not free from all this ‘stuff? yet. I will be.
Oh yes, I will be, I will be free.

No group of ladies work harder than the gals at the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce.
They are spotted everywhere around town. You see them at every event, an event they most likely planned or helped plan.
They help bring in and promote business. They attend ribbon cuttings, and notify Oakland County officials of your new business so you can get your very own extremely fancy proclamation to hang on your wall.
They encourage business and education, they educate, inspire, promote and network, network, network. They plan ribbon cuttings, hold the red ribbon, hand you the big golden scissors to cut the ribbon and mark your important milestone. Then, they take your picture and tell the world about your new business.
They promote online, via snail mail and of course word of mouth. They say good things about your company and lend their vivacious spirit to numerous community functions.
Besides, of course, advertising in The Clarkston News, I can’t think of a greater investment for a business to make than to join the Chamber.
During interviews with recipients of the Clarkston Community Awards, almost every single person mentioned and thanked the CACC. Clarkston Community Church Pastors Greg Henneman and Dan Whiting and Calvary Lutheran Pastor Jonathon Heierman, they all thanked the Chamber for all their support. Even the Youth of the Year recipients thanked the Chamber and realize how valuable the organization really is.
They promote events, people, business and everything else happening in this sweet little piece of America. They host educational meetings and ask the expert type events. They do it all! How do you do it girls? Do you have clones? Some magical formula? They do all this work for over 600 businesses in the City of Clarkston, Independence and Springfield Townships and Davisburg I really enjoyed meeting and talking to all the Clarkston Community Awards recipients.
By the way, Clarkston Lions, you are so very lucky to have volunteer Dan Wung. I watched him stand outside all day long in the pouring rain with a smile on his face. Assistant Publisher Don Rush was nice enough to buy him a coffee and a cookie. Back to the Chamber. God Bless America, and God bless the Chamber of Commerce!

I love strange and unusual theories. I wrote a paper in college about ‘The Theory of Everything?. also known as the String Theory. This theory seems to tie in many (about 50) different laws of physics harmoniously. It seems to explain it all. Under this theory, everything makes sense in the universe, everything is working in harmony vibrating on a flat membrane type surface.
It even talks about how matter is like strings that almost play off each other like strings of an instrument. This strange theory leads to the possibility of parallel worlds and multiple dimensions.All of it is made for science fiction stuff.
So strange the theories, scientists say there could be multiple versions of ourselves in these other dimensions. They propose there is one of you somewhere out in the universe that made a decision that resulted in a completely different life than you have now. But yet this you keeps living this life.
Even stranger, real scientists suggest there could be countless versions of ourselves out there.
It really does sound stranger than fiction. The universe really is strange. Far…far stranger than we can even begin to imagine.
Speaking of strange, I am just perplexed by the missing airplane. There are 26 nations out there trying to find it and poof… it just disappeared.
It disappoints me when they have no proof that the pilots did anything wrong, yet they throw them in the spotlight as the culprit. Perhaps they are the heroes.
In between all this interesting news, I’m trying not to freeze.
I can’t take anymore of this cold weather. I’m lucky I did not freeze to death being on propane all winter. Out propane company ripped off out gate to the house and then charged 50 cents more per gallon than they had told us it would be.
Propane companies that gouged this winter when it was already painful–should be penalized.
Anyways, spring is in the air and nice days are almost here to stay. Time for spring cleaning. Get ready for more outdoor activities, beaches, camping, golfing and picnics. There will be those couple people that always complain it’s just too hot!
By the way I loved the Taco Bell commercial where they found a bunch of Ronald McDonald’s to say they love Taco Bell breakfast.

We all make mistakes. We don’t live in a perfect world, and it would be pretty boring if we did. Sometimes when you make mistakes you just need to admit it, apologize and hope you can move forward.
Media is referred to as the fourth estate for a reason. It’s our job, and just a little of our very large obligation to readers, to make sure the government stays transparent, follows laws and responds to residents.
Government officials may get upset with reporters, but we are just doing our job. Nothing personal-really.
Current and former city officials like to say CNews has reported inaccurate facts, but the truth is we have reported on the issues and concerned residents point of view’something the resident feels the city never addresses.
I looked through all CNews editions over the past year, and we have not been asked to make any corrections for stories we have reported on. It seems like asking for a correction would be a top priority if you feel a city resident, or the newspaper is wrong.
Independence Township Conservative Club said they enjoy my columns. They really liked ‘Death by Dog? so they have asked me to speak this week at their March 13 meeting at the Big Boy in Clarkston.
I love all the ribbon cuttings that happen in Clarkston. Our Chamber of Commerce ladies sure know what they are doing when it comes to business. The gals know how to throw a party.
Moving on…
Today, Monday March 8, I felt spring in the air. The birds were singing and I noticed some snow had melted. Bad news is that the National Weather Service in White Lake, told yours truly the cold temperatures will continue this month. April may even be colder than normal.
I know I’m not alone when it comes to how badly I want to say goodbye to winter.
Speaking of weather. I know a young teenager with moods resembling a bad storm. It’s like a tornado, a destructive force, when a good mood turns quickly into a bad mood. I think this kind of behavior is similar to weather patterns, when two fronts combine.
This teen also has two very different parents’with two completely different personalities. It makes me wonder what can help these bad ‘storms? combine more peacefully. After a bad storm, often comes the most beautiful day.

In North Korea if you disagree with the ‘dear leader? one execution method is death by a pack of starved dogs. Thankful you don’t live in North Korea?
Although a bit of an extreme analogy, I wonder is America inching towards squashing freedom of speech. The evidence is everywhere.
Guess what America. ‘The leader of the free world? yes the US is now ranked 46th by Reporters Without Borders in the World Press Freedom Index. RWB cited NSA leaks and attacks on whistleblowers. America fell a whopping 13 spots in the index.
This is bad enough and does not even include attacks on the average citizen, reality star or politicians for some disagreeable remark they made.
Lately there is a definite attack on freedom of speech. Stories are abundant of individuals under attack for voicing their opinion or saying something some group doesn’t like.
I say oh well. I hope people keep talking and expressing their opinions. I hope people keep being whistleblowers when they discover something is not right. This is America’not some oppressed country that you dare not speak up for fear of retribution.
If I don’t like your lifestyle I have the right to an opinion-just as you have the right to keep living your lifestyle. Living whatever lifestyle you want? is another freedom American soldiers have fought for. If you start taking away freedom of speech-what’s next?
If you value freedom of speech, the next time you hear how someone is under attack for something they said-even if you disagree’I hope you find value they can voice their opinion.
I hope you bold, brave Americans have the guts to stand up when someone wants to shut you up. I will. It’s my job.
Since when are people perfect anyways? I’m sure each one of us has had a misstep or insert foot in mouth moment that we said something we knew we shouldn’t have.
Countless men and women have fought for America’s rights’one being freedom of speech. America has fought too hard to let such rights fall by the wayside. America is supposed to be the leader of the free world, and it’s our job as Americans to protect such rights.
This means if someone says something you don’t like’get over it!
Or move to North Korea-and if you say something they don’t like’you may face death by dog.

Before joining The Clarkston News, I had a job in which I had to work in the city of Detroit. I worked in many neighborhoods near Six Mile and the Southfield Freeway. To be honest, I was terrified.
The job was checking for gas leaks for DTE/Michcon which entailed parking on the end of a street, walking up to every house and asking people if I could go into their basements.
Most everyone let me in, and I went in a few thousand houses. I never had a bad experience in the city. I even went into neighborhoods full of abandoned houses’still I had no problems.
I canvassed many neighborhoods, went inside houses and spoke with many residents. I stopped at many gas stations, stores and restaurants.
I did have people tell me I was brave, or look at me like I must be out of my mind, but over all my experience was good and led me to think Detroit is not as bad as it seems. To be sure the city is full of eyesores, blight and a depressing sort of vibe. Your environment is an important aspect to well-being.
While I was there, being the curious person I am I always asked questions and I came to discover there are way more good folks than bad. Way more. My experience is full of many great conversations, and interactions with great people.
It may be true that many residents are dependent on government assistance, but it seems that lifestyle is hard to overcome if you are constantly just trying to survive. When parents cannot even provide for daily needs of their children attention goes elsewhere and children go astray.
When you can’t get ahead you fall behind. With no job prospects, crime goes up. Without adequate education you can’t prosper. When no one believes in you’you give up.
Detroit has a lot of resources.
Create sponsored neighborhoods via support from individuals, businesses or perhaps an affluent county. With these sponsorships provide jobs, help people create a better environment, plant more gardens to feed the hungry. Breed hope in the hopeless.
Some of the greatest stories and lessons come from periods of despair. Some of the most beautiful things are born after rebuilding from destruction.
I am rooting for Detroit. With a little help I believe Detroit will rise from the ashes with a beautiful story to tell.

I wonder often on human nature. I wonder why people do the things they do, why they are the way they are and what made them good at certain things.
I think of human nature and psychological related issues often. As a reporter, over the years, I have seen the kids that are always in the community volunteering or doing something for a good cause.
More often than not these kids have been involved in sports and parents taught them or encouraged them to volunteer in community events. These kids are the ones you often see in the newspaper, doing good deeds or signing their letters of intent for some major college.
These kids will grow up and save the world, help others and be successful and motivated.
For parents, this takes a considerable amount of dedication and work. For some like single parents with no help, that kid of dedication is easier said than done when you have to work long hours and put dinner on the table.
But isn’t it worth it? It is 18 years of dedication for another 60 years of helping produce a successful life.
It is the biggest and most important job you will ever do.
I think of how some kids are spending their times’playing video games, texting, or sitting in front of the television screen and I wonder what kind of motivation these kids will grow up and have.
When you are a single parent tired from the stress of a long day, sometimes you feel unable to spend one ounce of time doing anything.
If you truly think about the importance of molding a life, it is always worth every ounce of energy even if you don’t have it. Eighteen years to raise a child may seem like a long time, but really it goes by in just a blink of an eye. For sure the 18 years is much easier than spending the next 60 years wishing you would have done a better job.
My hope and wish is you always find that little bit of energy to give the most important person in your life.
Hopefully, at night when you have nothing more to give you keep in mind that these 18 years are really worth 60.
Each day everything you give will make a soul the person they become, how they treat the world, how motivated they are and how they care for themselves.

I, like many others in the area, experienced a power outage from the ice storm this weekend. On Sunday night after I got back from The Clarkston News, we started a fire in the wood burner (which I’m grateful for) and lit about eight tall candles.
The atmosphere was peaceful and I could feel stillness in the air. It reminded me (kind of) what life was like when there was no electricity. I’m sure life was much harder and less entertaining for sure, but also a bit more peaceful.
For many experiencing a power outage, maybe they snuggled just a little closer, or interacted with each other more than usual.
I could feel all of the electricity and other ‘signals? missing from the air, and I was thinking about what effect all the many electronics have on us every day.
I also thought that getting a generator would be a good thing to do’especially for businesses’to handle various power outages that have or will happen in the future.
My house was literally the first area to go out of power’I checked the DTE Outage Map as soon as it went out. I was also one of the first to be restored. I was pretty impressed the power was back on because I have first-hand experience and knowledge of the sheer number of utility lines everywhere.
Much of the electrical grid was built decades ago when Americans did not have all the electronics we do today. Those in the know tell me the grid was not built to sustain such an electrical burden.
Anyways, back to the peacefulness of the power outage. I hope Christmas has a bit of this spirit.
I don’t know when it happened, but in my mind Christmas has become very commercial. I know people say the spirit of Christmas is about being together, but something has happened along the way that has taken that spirit away.
If the power is still out at Christmas’perhaps it will be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps people will come face to face with each other and put down their phones, ditch the computer and spend time talking to each other.
Back in the day, if you just had a hot meal, your life was grand. Last night I was thankful for the tall candles’something simple. I hope this will be the spirit at Christmas.

I can see why the Clarkston Wendy’s was voted best fast food restaurant during the Clarkston News Best of the Best in 2013. I can also see why Cherry Hill Lanes North has been around forever in Clarkston.
All it took for me to facilitate a lunch at Wendy’s was a quick phone call to the Clarkston owners, whom I had worked with to write their stories. The owners called me back within five minutes and said they would love to host ‘Key of Hope? Children’s Choir from Durban, South Africa.
It’s a similar story with Cherry Hill. I found out the choir went bowling before they came to Wendy’s, and after I told owner Jim that the kids had never been to America, and I told him their story, he refunded their money back. Cherry Hill and Wendy’s gave these kids an experience they will never forget.
The Clarkston News also worked with Halo Burger, promoting their new restaurant in Clarkston, and they too have agreed to give the kids 30 $10 gift cards. What awesome contributions to these awesome establishments.
Our crew from Clarkston TV recorded a full length interview about the choir at the Clarkston church, and their experience at Wendy’s. Our first interview featured talks with Rachel and Dan Smither, founders of Key of Hope and then an interview with some of the kids.
Our second interview features the fun Wendy’s outing. Kids are interviewed then too while eating, and then an awesome bag of candy that Holly Lawn Care and Bridge Lake Market made to the kids.
This was a great experience to learn about people who come from a much different way of life than we have here in America. We are lucky to be sure. Some of the kids live in shacks, and have trouble finding food and water. A few of them even told me, here in America you can find whatever you want whenever you want it.
These kids even if they are from a troubled existence are intelligent and great to talk to. They have a sweetness in their eyes and thankfulness in their heart. I have learned something from them indeed, and that is to always be thankful for what you do have.
I have also learned why it is people give themselves to good cause. There is no other feeling on Earth like you feel helping someone who needs it.

As a kid I would lie in bed at night and think what if there was nothing. No people, no earth, no stars, no sun nor moon in the sky.
Strolling through town on assignment one day, I asked passerby’s of their strange theories. One fellow responded, ‘I worry there is no heaven.?
Next question, ‘What happens when we die??
Modern minds propose perplexing theories. For instance, ‘The String Theory? with which very strange things are possible—even likely. Multiple dimensions, multiple scenarios and multiple you’s and I’s wandering the universe.
Strange things are plentiful.
Like sleepers who have lucid dreams. These souls know they are dreaming — visiting another ‘plane? — a place of learning.
How do they get there?
Imagine feeling yourself fall asleep and feel yourself entering a tunnel. Strange is the vibration as you feel yourself come out of your body and flow into a dream. When you know you’re dreaming all things are possible, grand, beautiful–real.
Recognizing a dream and returning via a beam of light. That’s really something.
I love strange stuff. I imagine other planets contain life we cannot see because their physical laws are beyond our senses. Perhaps another form of life is right here amongst us, but again we lack the senses to see.
During one of my Googlefest’s, I read stories of near death experiences. Described as realer than a dream’and sensing things unexplainable-most who’ve experienced NDE’s’live–never again fearing death.
They sensed their maker, and know in their soul, such a force is real.
I believe all things are possible in our stranger than fiction and more than mysterious universe.
Much goes on we cannot see, but is real like–radio waves. Intuition cannot be proven, but have it or know someone that has it, and you know it exists.
It happens to some.
Just as boiling water transforms to steam, the soul is destined for something great. From a solid state to vapor, perhaps leaving this placed called earth-we travel the speed of light to everything beautiful in our hearts and minds.
Imagine your heaven-to each his own-a place we go I’m certain.
Energy never dies- it merely transforms. That is a scientific fact which leads me to believe–that death-death is like a dream.

I know many people are confused about what exactly ‘Obamacare? or the Affordable Health Care Act is. So I figured I would explain a few facts. More citizens may have become aware of Obamacare as the government shut down occurred on Oct. 1.
Government officials were unable to agree on a budget, and are using the Obamacare as a bargaining chip. So here are a few facts about the new policy.
Info provided by www.obamacarefacts.com:
-15 percent f Americans are uninsured which equals 50 million Americans.
-Large companies will be forced to insure employees and their families by 2015.
-Most with health insurance through an employer or a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid are required to do nothing.
-Those who are uninsured are required to sign up for health insurance by January 1 or face a penalty called a Personal Mandate which will be taken from your tax return.
-Under the act, an estimated 6 out of 10 Americans will have access to healthcare for $100 a month.
-According to the government, ‘Affordable? means paying no more than 8 percent of annual income or 9.5 percent of family income.
-Individuals and businesses will receive tax credits for purchasing healthcare.
-There are different levels of coverage to choose from in the Online Health Care Insurance Exchange. Policies with higher deductibles will offer lower premiums. If a policy is chosen with a lower deductible-it will require paying a higher premium.
-Citizens with preexisting conditions cannot be turned down. However, premiums will be based on age, income, tobacco use, geographical location, family size and other factors.
Learn more about the Affordable Healthcare Act by visiting www.healthcare.gov
On another note, I really enjoyed Santa Clause visiting Clarkston. It was really fun to tell him about all the good things going on around town. Santa enjoyed hearing all the stories, and said he is excited to pay Clarkston a special visit during this holiday season.

War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
Elected leaders seem to forget who they work for. It seems Americans have been doing their job writing their representatives and telling them no to a strike on Syria.
I wonder how many will listen. It’s unbelievable if elected officials who represent us do not listen to the American people, and vote yes to this conflict.
I know how I will vote in the next election if the leaders who are supposed to represent me vote ‘yes.?
I have looked online, read comments on all the stories and talked to a lot of people about the issue and the opposition is heavy. I conducted a People Poll last week, and every single person I asked said no to a strike on Syria-all of them.
In Iraq and Afghanistan the US spent billions of dollars and thousands of American soldiers were lost. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in those countries died too. All that money and lives spent in Iraq, and guess what- Iraq just issued a statement saying they oppose any strike on Syria. Now if Iraq gets involved in the conflict, the US could be fighting against the very army we trained and equipped. History repeats itself again!
I also have a problem with a term used when describing our soldiers.
When I hear the term boots on the ground-I see faces-and I think of a stories. I think about a story I wrote about William Kleinedler, a soldier from Swartz Creek who was almost killed when his Humvee hit an explosive device. He suffered severe burns on 12 percent of his body, and four of his fellow soldiers died. I remember a kid I knew when I was younger, now a paraplegic, whose life is forever changed.
I remember the story I read of Clarkston’s Jenna Beno.
I see stories that may never be told if these ‘boots on the ground? never come home.
I imagine myself on the battlefield facing gunfire and explosions, sweaty, scared and unsure if I will live to see another day. I find these thoughts absolutely terrifying, and I cannot imagine the guts it would take to engage in war.
These ‘boots on the ground? have faces, lives and families. US strikes will destroy countless innocent lives in Syria too.

As beautiful as humanity can be-it can equally ugly – but these kinds of things must be talked about.
I know this girl who was severely sexually abused for quite some time as a child by her mother’s boyfriend. The man was sentenced on the girl’s birthday to 40-60 years in prison, but the worst part for the girl was yet to come.
In an article in a large publication, at the man’s sentencing the reporter documented the mother telling the judge, ‘I just want him to get help and come home.? That’s right, the mother stood by the man’s side. Even though the mother was not married to the man when he was convicted, she married him while he was in prison.
Each week for two years after the sentencing, the girl was forced to accompany her mother to Jackson Prison, a very scary place for an 11-12 year-old. Some of the things she saw while visiting the prison she would like to forget. In one of those visits, the perpetrator and the mother got married, the victim sat and watched the ceremony.
The man wrote the girl letters, and had similar types of prison friends write her letters too. He signed the letters, ‘dad.? Behind closed doors the mother blamed the girl for what happened, and would call her every nasty name a girl could be called.
As you can imagine the girl grew to not trust others, and was also emotionally detached.
She never received counseling for several ordeals, which are far too many to be explained here. She ignored her feelings for a long time, and she pretended it didn’t bother her much. As she grew older she realized the wounds she always tried to ignore were much deeper than she knew. Still she remembers how he threatened to kill her, or chased her through the woods, or all the other bad things. Memories that would never fade.
The girl has a message to others who have faced similar circumstances. Don’t wait until you are older to seek help. If you do it will damage your life in ways you can never imagine. It effects everything – every relationship, connections to people close to you and the connection you have to yourself.
Get help while young or things like these will keep hurting you.

Finding a higher purpose is part of life’s journey. At times this journey is a rough dark ride-full of trials and tribulations. Be careful of the company you keep, and surround yourself with good spirits.
Life is hard enough without allowing saboteurs in. Beware of toxic personality types, for they can poison your spirit and halt positive progress.
Emotional manipulators are quite possibly the worst type of spirit. These wolves in sheep’s clothing will try to wreck you. Disguised as ‘willing helpers? these spiritually wise imposters always know the right path. They seek to control and destroy, and always perceive themselves as victims. They fight dirty, overreact and feast on spreading hurt. They force themselves into lives-often uninvited. Steer clear of these negative spirits.
Anger and Negativity; Everyone wrongs this person, life and people are always unfair and they see no good in anyone or anything. These types will drain your energy and leave you weary. They break spirits- when handled incorrectly. Worse yet, the negativity may rub off on you, and change your prospective and lead you to the dark side. These people often feel unloved-acknowledge their feelings-and offer them love. When possible try to get them to see the bright side of things.
Bullies; Aggressive, abrasive and argumentative-these people feed on trying to overpower others. They throw tantrums, are condescending, rude and exude an air of superiority. Psychologists say bullies are insecure and often suffer from emotional troubles. Maintain your composure, but stick up for yourself. There are a variety of negative personality traits from those that are judgmental to people who are insincere or just want to crush your dreams.
It’s important to set personal boundaries for what you will and will not accept, stand up for yourself and realize you are worth being treated well. If this means you must distance yourself from the person than sometimes that is the best thing you can do. If you can’t expel the toxic soul from your life-love them through it, and both of you may grow and learn.
No one is perfect, and each of us can be exhibit toxic behavior at times. Life is about making mistakes, admitting them, finding ways to fix them and becoming a better person. Hopefully through reflection, soul searching and hard work we can all realize the err of our ways and live a better existence.