Is This Goodbye?

My mother is in the hospital, in "critical and tenuous" condition. We were all there all day. We were confronted with numerous terrible decisions. My mother has never spoken of her end-of-life preferences. We felt uncertain that the gravity of the situation would be clear to her.

Toward the end of the day, two of her grandchildren went in to say goodnight. To one, she said, "You keep on being the best musician ever." To the other, she said, "You stay the fine and sensible young woman that you are."

My mother was born in Lancashire ('Lancs'), England, in 1930, and she survived the Blitz (bombing raids), which could be seen and heard from her tiny home. She lived for seven or eight years in Barbados in the 1950s. There she worked in a convent school and at an early rock-n-roll radio station as a DJ. She moved there as the wife of an Afro-Caribbean man, the father of her eldest child. They divorced, and she married an American sailor. They had another three children together. She has since lived in the states of Michigan, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, the last 14 years in the city of Gloucester. She is a retired State of Michigan schoolteacher. She is at Beverly Hospital.

Instigate ~ Escalate ~ Aggravate

Reagan was a doddering, dangerous politician. As the source of Palin's position-of-the-day ('criminals alone are responsible for what they do'), Reagan is yet again revealed to be as deluded as was Ayn Rand, the fantasist of the Right.

I am not saying that criminals are =not= responsible for their criminal acts. They absolutely are, and they need to pay the price. But bear with me.

In the classrooms that I have led, I and staff have reinforced for the children that instigating, escalating, or aggravating a classmate or situation is not acceptable. They each need to gain familiarity with those ideas if they expect to achieve personal success and stay out of trouble.

Sea Change

People keep pretending that the political environment has not changed. They pretend that, where lefties painted Bush as Hitler 5 years ago, righties painting Obama as Hitler is a given, or is excusable as posturing.

I know that there has been a sea change, and here is how I know: When Bush was president, never once -- not one single time -- did anybody feel like they needed to poll all the parents of schoolchildren before permitting the children to watch Bush make a speech. NEVER.

RIP, Christina Green

The Arizona Tragedy and Mental Health Care



Statement by
Michael J. Fitzpatrick, Executive Director,
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI National)

NAMI is an organization of individuals and families whose lives have been deeply affected by mental illness.

We share the sadness of other Americans over the Tucson, Arizona tragedy and extend our sympathy to the families of the six individuals who died. We pray for the recovery of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the 13 other persons who were wounded.

Representative Giffords is a NAMI friend who has served as co-chair of the NAMIWalk in Southeast Arizona and has supported our missions of education, support and advocacy.

When tragedies involving mental illness occur, it is essential to understand the nature of mental illness—and to find out what went wrong.

The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that the likelihood of violence from people with mental illness is low. In fact, “the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in society is exceptionally small.” Acts of violence are exceptional. They are a sign that something has gone terribly wrong, usually in the mental healthcare system.

Nationwide, the mental health care system is broken. Arizona, like other states, has deeply cut mental health services. Arizona has a broad civil commitment law to require treatment if it is needed; however, the law cannot work if an evaluation is never conducted or mental health services are not available.

In specific cases such as this, authorities and the news media should seek to objectively determine every factor that may have contributed to the tragedy—so that we can act on lessons learned.

Was there a diagnosis?
What is the full medical history?
When were symptoms first noticed?
Did family members receive education about mental illness and support?
Did the person or family ever seek treatment—only to have it delayed or denied?
Was the person seen by mental health professionals? By whom? How often?
Was treatment coordinated among different professionals?
Was the person prescribed medication? Was it being taken? If not, why not?
Was substance abuse involved?
What may have triggered the psychiatric crisis?

Unbelievable

I missed an appointment this morning with my therapist (a very necessary appointment) because I had offered to care for my mother this morning and didn't realize I was double-booking myself. My mother requires care round-the-clock, at least near term. I'm sleeping over tomorrow night to provide both evening and morning assistance with dressing, bathing, and toileting. I need a release valve, and I missed it!

Cards

So, if you were looking for a card from me, it's coming. I just finished the pile. The ones that I wrote out before Christmas wish you a merry one; the ones that were completed after the 25th bear new year's greetings. But either way, you know that I and we wish you the best one ever!

Cocoa-Peanut Butter Oaties

A friend says that she really enjoyed these no-bake cookies, so I'm posting the recipe.

Boil together over medium heat for 2 minutes:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
4 tbs cocoa (unsweetened baking cocoa)

Remove from heat and stir in:
2 tbs vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick rolled oats

Spoon onto wax paper and let cool.

Courtesy of JoAnn Brown, via her daughter Molly Dumas.