Legal Drug Addiction

Before I became concerned that I was becoming a little  too happy with my pain pills and quit going to the Pain Clinic  to which I had been referred  because of unremitting and chronic pain, I always referred to my appointments as  a date with my drug dealer.

I used that description because my prescriptions were always ready and waiting for me when I arrived...before we even had a discussion on how I was managing my pain!  And we are just now deciding to have a discussion on the painkiller problem in this country?! Talk about shutting the barn door after the livestock has taken off...

Somehow, we decided that being an addict wasn't really all that bad if the drugs came in a bottle with our names on them and signed off by someone with an M.D. behind their name.  Uh...wrong answer.  Then look at our kids. They see Mom and Dad sucking down opiates like vitamins so of course that becomes the go-to answer for them when they have any type of challenge or they just become bored with their current lives and want to enter an altered states.  Now, I won't lie and say that I sometimes prefer an altered state because after all, who really wants to walk around as a 127 pound ball of pain; so I do understand.

I eventually went back on the opiates because the pain just insists on being a part of my life, but I have chosen to stick with my regular clinic because the dosage is regulated by the Army, and there is a maximum number of milligrams per pill.  When I need more than what is prescribed, I just have to suck it up like a good Airborne soldier and tell myself to just work on getting through one more minute.

I fully realize that what I've done sounds easy. It wasn't a walk in the park, but it wasn't that difficult because I decided that I didn't want to identify myself as a drug addict and that I could make the choice while I still had enough strength to do something about it.  Some people are further gone than I was, but where there is still life, there is always hope; and I firmly believe that there is always someone out there who is willing to help you to get to where you want to/need to go.

Lastly, please don't judge us for wanting to live a pain-free life, even when we end up in much deeper water than we ever would have imagined. Have some empathy and learn what you can, then do what you can to help, one person at a time.

Looking at Mama

My Sassy Mama

To look at her, you would just see a woman who believes in looking sharp, no matter her age (she is nearly 89 years old). I show you this image to introduce you to the face of Alzheimer's/Dementia.

POTUS /Trayvon

Our President has shared a very salient opinion with the American public concerning a subject that many like to pretend does not exist:  Inequality between the races in the USA.

Unfortunately, many people have thought that President Obama should be President of Black people, rather than President of all the people; thus he has avoided overt references to the pernicious and persistent racism that is still very much a part of the American fabric.  In speaking his mind about the recent unsurprising verdict in the Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin trial, the POTUS has very simply stated what he and we have always known, that being identified as a Black male in America can sometimes be a very dangerous position in which to find oneself.

I am always hesitant to immediately jump to the "race card," but sometimes ya' gotta call it what it is. While I cannot be one hundred per cent certain that Zimmerman killed Martin because of race, I do believe that Zimmerman would have been much more likely to adhere to the instructions to remain in his vehicle if Trayvon Martin had been of the Caucasian persuasion, so it is very likely that race did play a major role in the killing of that young man.

In speaking his mind, the POTUS simply spoke the truth and hopefully opened some eyes and ears to the reality of inequality among the races rather than the fantasy of total equality.

Summer Nights

Standing outside on a hot summer night

The sounds of...are they conversation; chatter; mating/dating mating calls; happy hour

I don't understand insect

But it all sounds wonderful to me

Their voices mingling and co-mingling.

I'm not yet fluent in their languages

But it all sounds more than wonderful to me

Keeping Your Style

Hmmm. I subscribe to a number of magazines, Instyle being one of my favorites, but I must pan the August issue, which is something I haven't done in quite a while.

This particular issue is just TOTALLY lacking. Olivia Wilde is gorgeous, as she always is, but even having her on the cover and an inside feature on her couldn't save this issue. Instyle editors, you fell asleep on the job. Hope you got lots of rest and are ready to bring it for the September issue.

Now, I know that I don't need a magazine to tell me how to get my Style on, but Instyle  Mag is a fun publication and I do enjoy it, even though I have come to realize that I only recognize one-fifth of the "famous" people they put in the pages. Yeahh, I know that I am probably not in their target audience, but folks need to realize that true style and elegance is ageless. So, show me some Cicely Tyson; some Judi Dench; some Denzel Washington; some Sidney Poitier. Believe it or not, those titans are still relevant to a great many of us. Heck, I might even want to know how R2D2 is styling these days! (Shoutout to uber Star Trek fan,  Nancy Curtis!!)

Alright, I do have a great tip for you regarding mascara: "They're Real" mascara, by Benefit is a smashingly great product. You don't need to spend fifteen minutes trying to get you eyes to pop. If you only have two seconds to hit your eyelashes up, this is the product that you want to use. Yes, I know that the so-called  make-up artists to the stars swear by Maybelline's Great Lash, but let me tell you that Great Lash ain't got nothing on They're Real. It costs a little more, but hey, you get what you pay for, right?

That's all for now, Folks. Create yourself some fabulous moments to replay down the line.

Peace and Love.

The Truth of Beauty

Someone once said that "beauty is as beauty does"

I've learned that a face which is pleasant to behold suffers no detraction with the passage of time -- 

  for beauty knows no age

The slender, boyish build that becomes a bit softer and rounder with age is defined as womanly and

  voluptuous

Youth does have its strong points

Never doubt it

...and maturity has finally come into its own

                c/Sarah L McCormick

Ode to Nico

Such ecstasy at just a smidgen of attention

How heady to see pure worship and love in another's eyes

How long have you been so perfect

To acknowledge that his sun rises and sets on you

And it is that way with him day after day

To know that whatever you do is forgiven and forgotten

in the blink of an eye

And to think that all of this

Comes from a little bit of fluff on four legs

Who weighs in at under five pounds

True love is indeed boundless and just a little bit insane

    c/Sarah L McCormick

Wine

...just a drop or two

I inhaled the sweet aroma

And thought of you

  c/Sarah L McCormick

Togetherness

Jesus held my hand

Side by side we watched

The calming waters of the sea

Our toes playing in the sand

He whispered to me

"I am always by your side

"I am always within...you"

I looked at him

And I saw me

We smiled and as I looked around me

There was a throng, a multitude

People with all different faces

From near and distant places

I knew... They are also me

    c/Sarah L McCormick