Life's Memorable Moments

The memorable moments in life:
- when my husband proposed to me
- seeing my daughter for the first time
- feeling a giraffe breathing on my face
- seeing Dave Brubeck perform "Take Five" in person
- a meal at Ecco, owned by Mario Battali
- clear mammograms, every time
- sitting atop Mt. Sinai with my cousin, after climbing 1,000 steps to the top
- watching my daughter at her Bat Mitzvah ceremony
- "The Eagles", live, in concert, over and over again
- seeing my husband again after we have been apart.
I feel lucky... and hope to be able to add more moments to this list....

They Need More to Think About

A recent survey from Health magazine asked people: "What is is that you wouldn't give up, even if it meant sacraficing a part of your daily routine?"
Responses were a bit odd, in my mind:
- Television: 28 percent
- Coffee: 25 percent
- Exercise: 22 percent
- Sex: 19 percent
Sounds to me like a lot of the respondents need to attend a Dr. Ruth seminar or read one of her many books. She is remarkable, as well as educational and entertaining.

Food Allergies

I had some food allergies when I was a child, but, thankfully, I outgrew them. Having food allergies as a teen, or an adult for that matter, make you different than those around you and draws (what is perceived as) negative attention to you.
Not surprisingly, most of the teens in a recent survey did not tell their friends about their food allergies and would knowingly eat something containing an allergen just to fit in. They did wish that their friends were made aware of the allergies and how to treat them (i.e., epi pen), but by someone other than them. For a teenager, struggling to fit in and make the right decisions, a food allergy could be life-threatening yet embarrassing.
For an adult, it also calls attention to you. It means stringent label-reading and asking questions before ordering or purchasing take-out foods -- many times people are not understanding when you have to ask what the soup stock is made of? I can only imagine a teen asking for their order made with something different. Eating an allergen to fit in is scary, but no less so than drinking alcohol or taking drugs to fit in?
Peer pressure is huge, but getting through your teen years is a challenge to both kids and their parents.



The full story is available at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060313/hl_nm/food_allergic_dc

Accidental Reading Made Me Think

I was reading the headline story about a PTO Treasurer that absconded with some funds while in office (now I know why two signatures are needed) and the story continued on the page that happened to be the Obituaries. Sometimes, I get stuck on that page, reading about the various people who passed away. It was an ordinary day (it happened to be Valentine's Day), but the page was filled with people that were anything but ordinary. I was struck by the accomplishments and testaments written about this random group of people. There was:
- a decorated veteran loved by many;
- a physician that was born in the slums of Mexico and became a cardiac surgeon dedicated to care for poor and underserved Latinos;
- a career nurse; a lifelong teacher; a retired manufacturing executive;
- a Grammy-winning Latin jazz percussionist;
- a fisherman/woodworker that died from surgical complications;
- a special friend and teacher;
- a dedicated husband and father nicknamed "Sleepy";
- a champion of Native American education;
- a man was a miniature golf pioneer by creating elaborate obstacles and custom courses;
- an organized-crime figure;
- a frozen-food pioneer that developed frozen non-diary topping from soybeans;
and last, but not least, a woman that created an non-profit emergency roadside clinic (Wings of Angels) in Rocky Point, Mexico after her daughter died there in an automobile accident.
Since then, I have wondered what people would be able to write about me when that day comes. I only hope I can leave one small portion of the legacy those folks left behind.
Approaching the five year point, post-breast cancer, it is hard for me not to think about that day, whenever it comes.