Journal Entries for Kathy L Peckham
Special Request
September 3rd, 2007 4:54 am MDT
September 3rd, 2007 I hope that this is OK with the kind folks here at URNotAlone. Even if this can only stay here a couple of days. I want to make a small request to all who may read this little note. It's simple, make a donation to the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association). This is a cause that is close to my heart. For several years I was a LPN working for a home health care company. I was pretty much fresh from nursing school with not a lot of experience in the field. It wasn't long before I started working with muscular dystrophy patents. Now, they say that as a nurse you're not supposed to get too close with your patents. If you have any heart at all, it's impossible not to get close to your patents and their families. I also got to know the MDA very well. I saw first hand their dedication to helping people with muscular dystrophy. I also got to see first hand the devastating effects of the disease. I watch helplessly as this disease took the lives of its victims. I found out, during that time, that the government contributes mere pennies of each budget year for medical research. In the years sence the time I did home care, there have been great advances in the care and treatment of neuromuscular diseases. We still need to find a cure. A few months ago, I lost an aunt to a muscular disease. It can strike down any one from young children to seniors adults. For more information, please go to the mda.org web site. And PLEASE make a donation.
Labor Day Weekend
September 2nd, 2007 2:42 pm MDT
Yup, it's Labor Day weekend. In truth, Labor Day is a time to take note of ones labor. And a time to take a moment to remember the labors of our parents, grandparents and all those who work for our daily existence. The farmer who's labor gives us the food we eat. The miner who's labor gives us the coal, iron and other minerals for the many uses that they provide. The truck driver who's labor brings the products we use every day in every way. Grounds keepers, teachers, office workers, factory workers, construction workers the list goes on and on. This weekend is set aside to reflect on the people who labor for the things we need and use. Though It is a weekend that we mark as the unofficial end of summer activities. It really is a time to take note of those who have worked for what we as a people have. I took a moment today to think about this. And I began to remember the many years that my father got up at 4 am to start the day's work. I also think back on the many years that I got up at 3 am to go to work. I can still see it, in the darkness, one by one the lights of the houses come on. The people inside are getting up to start about their daily routines. Day in and day out, good weather and bad , people arise each day to manufacture, build, repair, grow, mine, and transport the things we use every day. So take a moment on this holiday weekend to reflect a little on your labors and the labors of your neighbors. To give a little thanks for the labors of those who grew the food you eat, made the clothes you wear, built the home your in, the road you drive on, the car you drive in. Good Job America.
talking helps
August 25th, 2007 5:37 pm MDT
When I was 12 or 14 or even later, a big help for me would have been just to talk with others like myself. Just to know that I was not alone and that something CAN be done to help me be what I truly am. For years I thought of myself as “a little crazy”. OK, maybe more than a little. It actually took a transgender support group to prove to me that I was not totally insane. Meeting others and talking to them proved to me that I was not alone and that I did not have a severe mental problem. I finally became aware that I am really no different than anyone else. I was just born the wrong gender. Like anyone born with a problem of any health level, physical or mental. If there is a way to deal positively with that problem, by surgery and/or medication it should just plane be done, and done as soon as practical. The persons ability to pay for it should not even be an issue. It should just be done. The end result can only be good. Now, for 12 years, besides a regular job as a truck driver, I was a volunteer with a local Fire Department/Ambulance. I responded to 98% of the calls we received during that time. In 1998, I became a LPN, a job that I enjoyed very much. I do not regret being in the fire department or being a nurse, except that I would have been a happier “me” while doing them as a woman. (special note: I transitioned while working as a LPN in 1992.) I enjoy helping people and will continue to help any way that I able to. I am NOT a therapist or psychiatrist or doctor. I am a person who has experience, a will and a heart. If they want to think of me as a mother (or grandmother) and they just need to cry, yell or a hug. I would do this because I believe that if everyone with a little will and a little heart took five minuets to talk and listen to someone with a problem, this world would be a little better place.
