Graceful Parenting in Austin

I’d like to introduce you to my new baby girl, Alana Michelle. She is pretty amazing so far, very sweet and cuddly and not any trouble at all. I can’t wait to see how things go and where we end up.

I’m not going to blog anymore. I’m going to write in some other way, just not this way, not for now. Thanks for hanging out with me.

Love, Carol Ramsey

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Let me tell you the story of my first love, the man who touched my soul, who made me believe in the beauty, power and glory that could be my life…

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Written by Noel

I was one of those kids who kinda enjoyed getting sick because you got to miss school. Getting sick was a little bit like a paid vacation for me because I never really got anything that serious. A little lice and I got 3 days off!

But recently, I have changed my mind.

The last three illnesses I’ve had have been my worst right alongside chicken pox. I caught a terrible stomach bug about a year ago and threw up all over my friend’s bed at a sleepover. Then, after my father picked me up at 2:00am, I threw up 3 more times only making it in the bucket once.

Over this recent Christmas break I got my second stomach bug and a chance to lose my dinner two more times the day after Christmas.

Today, I am writing this post on the last day of my very worst illness.

Last Friday, I took a day off from school because I had a minor fever and felt terrible. That day I closed the curtains, turned on the TV, and laid 3 blankets over myself all the while muttering, “It’s freezing in here!” My dad had said that I would probably be better by Saturday and he took me out to lunch.

That night, my mom picked me up and basically told me that my forehead could fry an egg. She was pretty close, when we checked my temperature the thermometer beeped at me saying I was 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course it was wrong, and we used a different one after that and it told me I was 102 degrees.

After a night of barley 6 hours of sleep, I woke up barely able to walk. My mother found me on the toilet crying with a blanket on my head. I asked her to help me up and she popped the thermometer in my mouth for the 600th time. One-hundred and four degrees.

We rushed to my doctor’s appointment early and they diagnosed me with the flu and bronchitis.

I guess I should be more careful about what I wish for.

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I was in the back of the house. I heard him come through the front door. I had planned on killing him, but I got distracted, so I wasn’t ready…

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I’m sitting here watching the live coverage of President Obama’s inauguration. His speech. The luncheon where Sen. Edward Kennedy collapsed. The parade. I look forward to the broadcast of the inaugural ball tonight and the celebration with my church community.

As I watch all of this and I reflect on Obama’s inauguration speech, though, I can’t help think of Dicken’s famous opener to A Tale of Two Cities:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

The world has seen these times before - perhaps even worse. It’s hard to not read the paper, listen to the radio, or browse the internet and hear that things are worse than we’ve ever known. That the hill is a bigger hill than we’ve ever had to climb. That the tasks before us require sacrifice that we’ve never known. But let’s face it, this just isn’t so.

There’s certainly work to do and there are certainly people that need help, but there have been harder times. The system is broken and the ethics in our political arenas and board rooms need serious mending, but there have been bigger economic and political collapses. Some of us have faced these challenges. For some of us (like me) there are sacrifices that will have to be made that we’ve never had to know.

I for one want to be optimistic. I want to believe in the hope and the positive expression of the American promise that Obama speaks about. I’m tired of the politics of fear and divisiveness. I’m tired of being able to visibly see the dividing lines between family members, co-workers and friends. Are you with me? Or are you not? It’s this a “safe” place for me? or should I bite my tongue?

The America I believe in and am proud of is so much bigger than this. It’s the America I want for my children and my children’s children. I hope we find our way.

Thank you President Obama for re-introducing us to ourselves and our ideals. God bless you and the horse you road in on.

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