ADD OR WHAT?
I’m concerned I may be developing Attention Deficit Disorder. Does ADD only afflict children? Some days my inability to remain focused runs me ragged. Before I can accomplish an intended task, often before I even get started, something invariably distracts me, demanding my immediate attention. Today has been one of those days, and it all began with the phone book. More

FRANCIS NAOMI "FANNIE" SMITH FOX
1873 - 1951
Fannie Smith Fox truly was the representative 19th Century woman.  She lived under the most unreasonable circumstances women of her era and station experienced when finding themselves alone with minor children.  I only knew her as my great grandmother who lived in a little house owned by one of her sons-in-law.  By  then, she was an old lady and looked pretty fragile.  I wouldn’t learn until many decades later about the hardships she endured in her life as a young, widowed mother.  About her strength and  the sacrifices she made in order  for all of them to survive. Read More.

MY MOTHER, JUANITA
1923 -
The first woman I ever knew was Juanita, my mother, therefore she is the woman I have known the longest. Her influence definitely shaped the standards for my daily life, just as her mother's shaped hers. The way I go about my basic household chores, the way I cook, and raised my children (making necessary adjustments, of course), I owe to Mother. And that is only the beginning. Respect shown to superiors ranked high on the list of common courtesies and polite manners, so much a part of life growing up in my little cocoon-wrapped existence of the Fifties. Read More

THE STRENGTH OF THE SPIDER'S WEB
"Scientists are finally closing in on the answers to a puzzle that has perplexed them for centuries: How does a spider spin a web of silk that is five times stronger, on a weight-to-strength basis, than steel?

If we could spin silk as strong as a spider's, we could create all sorts of biomedical devices of extraordinary strength, and make bulletproof vests that might stop a bomb, and create a whole new line of materials for everything from high-performance aircraft to household appliances." http://abcnews.go.com/

Last summer, I photographed a spider spinning its web in my caladiums. Click Here

THE FAMILY
Sitting on the old front porch swing, Julianne waits for the arrival of the unfamiliar, for the seventy-year-old-woman who gave her life.   Gently pushing the toes of her left foot against the floor in rhythm with the suspended motion, Julianne is struck with the profound comfort of her own immobility.  In the midst of the constant procession of life, I wait here, she thought.   Had always waited, it seemed to her now, while her environment ripened around her, touching her, sustaining her, as the patterns of living changed routinely, yet predictably, through the years.

The squeaking of the chain under the weight of the added pounds of her middle age, the high-pitched voices of children hurrying past her house on their way home from school, even the whisper of the wind loosening the leaves of the faithful old oak beside the walkway, blend in her memory with all the other autumn afternoon sounds of life passing in this place.  Identity.  All around her, familiarity.  Yet, inside of her, through her veins, flows the blood of strangers.

Julianne’s husband, Zach, and her brother, Danny, have gone to the airport for Bobbie.  If Danny had not wanted this reunion so badly, she doubts she would have ever agreed to see the woman.  Her letter, the handwriting shaky and difficult to read—post-marked in Evansville, Indiana three weeks ago—had been little more than a note.  Bobbie said she had been searching for the two of them for two years.  Only two years?  Read

A GOOD WOMAN
Time was, a man’s good name was the only collateral he needed at the bank. It was his bond, his security, and his best asset was his wife.  I knew a man whose good name had been squandered, his reputation worthless, for he had fallen upon hard times. Read

MARK FULLER
When Mark Fuller was diagnosed with autism way back in 1975, little was known about the disorder, and only 1 out of 10,000 cases were being reported. Today the numbers are staggering, as a child is diagnosed, according to some accounts, every twenty minutes with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Read

WHAT ABOUT ADULT AUTISTICS?
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is at the forefront these days with emphasis on funding for research and therapy in the area of disabilities and special needs affecting school age children. These new, ever-increasing numbers are both alarming and confusing.   However, Autism isn't a new disorder.  The first cases were diagnosed in the early 1940's, or even earlier by some accounts.  It is frustrating for parents with adult autistics, diagnosed as children,  that there seems to be no information regarding the numbers for this particular segment of the population.  No one seems to know how many diagnosed adult cases there are. Read More

ADULTS WITH AUTISM
The need for residential and other lifestyle  services for higher functioning adult autistics grows more critical each day, especially in Mark's home state of Tennessee.  Since researchers, including me, have been unable to find any record, state or national, of the actual number of autistics over the age of twenty-two living in this country, the real extent of this crisis can not be determined.  However, given the current inadequacies, future demands could be devastating, considering the alarming numbers of children being diagnosed with the disorder each year.

Adults like Mark should be able to live out their lives as happily as possible, with dignity, and purpose, in either a group or supported living environment which meets their unique requirements. These very special people and their parents or guardians, are facing the future, now.  The same will be true in a few short years for others.

"Autism is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain. The exact causes of these abnormalities remain unknown, but this is a very active area of research. . . . The exact number of children with autism is not known. . . . Some doctors attribute the increased incidence in autism to newer definitions of autism. The term "autism" now includes a wider spectrum of children. For example, a child who is diagnosed with high-functioning autism today may have been thought to simply be odd or strange 30 years ago." http://health.nytimes.com/