Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

 Today’s Announcement

 Don’t forget to order your copy of Angels Watching Over Me, the story of an ordinary woman facing less than ordinary challenges.  Angels Watching Over Me is a story of family love, sacrifices, poverty and an undying faith that makes heroes out of all of us. Here is the link in case you have forgotten it: http://www.lulu.com/content/964306

Important notice: Storytime Tapestry is a free e-zine, however donations are always needed to help with the operating expenses of running the newsletter and to keep Storytime Tapestry the quality newsletter you are so accustomed to.   You can make your donations to paypal at: winterose@videotron.ca, or if you would prefer to use the mail system contact the publisher at the same email address: winterose@videotron.ca

Today’s Stories

NUMBER OF RELIGIOULY UNAFFILIATED CONTINUES TO GROW

Duane Bates

A recent survey of 35,000 Americans by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life indicates that 16.1% of Americans, or about 48 million, are either atheists, agnostics or respond with “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious affiliation.

The other important finding of this survey is that Americans are quite willing to change to change their affiliation when they find a religion that is more in tune with their beliefs and needs.  The survey states that as many as 40% of adults have changed their faith since childhood, a radical change from the past when you generally died within the same faith as you were born.  This clearly shows the importance of creating a free society where a person is free to choose their belief, or non-belief without restriction.  The separation of church and state is a very important condition to having true freedom of belief.  America has hundreds of different religions, something that would be impossible in a nation that does not have respect for human rights at its core.

Christians of all persuasions still dominate the religious mix in the US totaling about 75% of the population, but there is a substantial movement between the many denominations that make up Christianity.  Mormons and Jews make up about 1.7% each, with a number of other religions of the world making up the balance.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO FREE SPEECH?

Duane Bates

MySpace, that supposedly free-wheeling Internet networking site has twice deleted a 35,000 member atheist and agnostic group during the past two years according to Freethought Today.  It was deleted after complaints by Christian, restored and then deleted again in January 2008. 

Army Spec. Jeremy Hall, an atheist, is suing the Department of Defense, alleging that his promotion was blocked and Constitutional right violated because he attempted to hold a discussion group on atheistism while deployed in Iraq. A link to the full article is posted below.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23490989/   

Duane Bates

secularhmnst@aol.com   

batesduane@yahoo.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23228640

 ~**~**~

 SICK:  LIVING WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE AND FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME, Part II

I am not entirely sure when all of this started. It's kind of like trying to figure out if the chicken came first before the egg or "Who came First" on the baseball field. But hindsight is always 20/20 and as I look back upon my life, only then can I remember the strange symptoms I began to have when I was an 18 year old college student. Although I was healthy and rarely sick then, there were some days when my legs felt like lead after I'd climbed the steep hill back to my room from the college's post office after collecting my mail. Though I was slim and in good shape from dancing, my legs felt as if they weighed ten tons, so heavy were they to lift I felt like crawling to my room instead. Once back in the safe confines of my room I'd lie on my bed to rest from my journey, so sore and drained one would think I had just trekked the steepest slope of the Himalayas.

There were days when I woke up so stiff, sore and achy I actually thought I had the flu, but I didn't. One time these symptoms were so bad I collapsed in an exhausted heap while dining with friends in our campus pub and had to be carried back to my room. The college's physician had no idea what kind of virus this was but advised me to stay in bed, which I did. After I recovered I never experienced that kind of fatigue again, or if I did, I paid it no mind.  By virtue of youth's folly and ignorance, any symptoms I had that might have been the harbinger of things to come were ignored or attributed to my leading a typical residential college student's life. Like most kids, I stayed up far too late, ate poorly and partied a wee bit too heartily most of the time. Now I wonder if that was when the chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia began to emerge.

In my early thirties I discovered that I had areas on my legs that were so excruciatingly painful to touch one would think I'd fallen so hard as to be deeply bruised. On close examination there were no bruises, no outward signs of injury, but inside there was deep pain lurking beneath the fairness of my skin that only massage could release and relieve. I ignored it then, choosing instead to attribute these symptoms to a peculiar allergic reaction  that was instantly relieved the moment I took a Benadryl tablet and slept through the night. Now these areas have spread throughout the whole of my body as if seeking unchartered territory. Where once only my legs were affected, my neck, the base of my skull, my arms, shoulders, back, hips and chest are now ravaged by this pain. Little did I realize that these painful tender points were the hallmarks of the illnesses that were to come  some twenty years down the road.

In the last few months, after years of fruitlessly running back and forth to my regular physicians - the internist, Rheumatologist and gynecologist - to find the root cause of my symptoms that might reveal their interconnected nature - a belief I intuited throughout these difficult years - I decided to see a holistic endocrinologist and internist to see if they could find what was really wrong with me. As I suspected, recent tests of my entire bodily systems have revealed a host of medical issues that do scare me. I learned that I was actually exposed to the Epstein-Barr virus that causes mononucleosis and sets the stage for chronic fatigue syndrome. While there is no way to ascertain when I was actually exposed to it, how long it has resided in my system or when or if it would erupt again in full force, at least I now know none of this is "all in my head" as so many suggested. At night, before I drift off to fitful sleep I wonder if my college illness was actually a mild case of Mono. It would make sense given the recent diagnosis of chronic fatigue I received a few months ago. I wonder if the emergence of the chronic fatigue is the reason why I was so exhausted last summer, or the reason why the fatigue I already have with the fibromyalgia seems worse than it was before. I wonder how long have I really been sick and if there was a way I could have stopped their course had I paid more attention to my health and self care. The questions I have cannot be answered. It simply "is what it is" and I have to learn how to live with it.

Living with chronic illness is not something I'd wish upon anyone, including my staunchest enemies, naysayers, competitors and adversaries. Although I am grateful these conditions are medically defined as " syndromes" rather than life threatening diseases like Lupus, the fact remains that I am, in some way, sick and trying to cope with the effects of debilitating fatigue and unrelenting pain on a daily basis. Each day I am forced to define how I feel and what I can do based on my symptoms, which can and do change at a moment's notice, like a sudden storm on a sunny day. This routine is wearing and stressful to deal with because, frankly, I have far better things to do with my time. I have other things I want to address beyond the scope of these chronic conditions, but I can't. They are constant distractions and reminders I'd give anything not to have to address each day of my life.

Until the medical community finally decided to recognize fibromyalgia last year as a "real" condition rather than something psychologically created to call attention to one's self, I have been accused of "making it up", being "a baby, a whiner and a complainer", a liar and an assortment of other hurtful monikers that have served no purpose but to devalue me as a person. Now with proof in hand that I am suffering from two real debilitating conditions there is a part of me that feels good about it. At least now I have proof to show when people attempt to mock me, as much as I can show them articles about the validity of both conditions. Despite the pain and fatigue, this proof is a small victory for me and all the others who suffer from these conditions.  

Pina Martinelli

Pina1101@aol.com

Poetry Corner

~**~**~

In My Dreams

Cynthia Groopman

In my dreams, my brown eyes sparkle and joyfully dance,As they gaze at the world in visions of awe and elegance.In my dreams, I can drive a car,And enjoy the exquisite scenery from afar.In my dreams, I can run as quick as a flash,And earn a great deal of cash.In my dreams, the sky is so beautiful and blue,And my eyes marvel at the sunshine shining brightly, too.In my dreams, the stars twinkle and wink at me,And the beaming face of the smiling moon, do I joyfully see.In my dreams, I can read a print book.And at photos and beautiful paintings I can look.In my dreams, everything is gloriously clear,And I can focus on the marvelous sights both far and near.In my dreams, I can see every color of the rainbow,And bask in nature's picturesque visual glow.For in my dreams, I am able to see with my eyes,And when I awaken, I still encounter blindness,
Which is indeed an unwelcomed surprise.

Cynthia Groopman
Copyright ©2005 Cynthia L. Groopman

  cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net

~**~**~

Always Singing

Cynthia Groopman

When winter's gloom is so tight,

Singing songs of joy add mirth and delight.

When sadness's doleful frowns harshly grip our face,

Singing happy songs, gleefully enfold us into majestic smiles' radiant embrace.

As we celebrate a memorable time,

We rejoice and bask and sing in the glorious sunshine.

Summer, winter, autumn and spring,

We lift our voices and melodically sing.

Unlike birds who can only wait till spring,

We can hum a musical tune and always sing.

Cynthia L. Groopman

  cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net

~**~**~

  
 The World We Can Change

Cynthia Groopman 

Have you ever stopped to think step by step the world you can all change,

This is not far fetched or strange.

In our own neighborhood, we can improve conditions of life,

Advocating for those suffering from grief, or anxiety's strife.

A person who is all alone,

We can cheer up by daily conversations on the phone.

A visit to a homebound elderly friend,

Of course, a broken spirit or heart will certainly mend.

Social action to achieve the public good, we can all promote,

By signing petitions, calling legislators and of course by the vote.

Sitting idly by and doing nothing to help a person in need

Of course, is absolutely wrong, indeed.

Apathy must not enter our souls and our heart,

For to change the world, each of us can do our small but most important part.

Cynthia L. Groopman

  cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net

Readers Feedback

~**~**~

  Social Insecurity is the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the American
people. It's a scam, a pyramid or Ponzi scheme. If you or I tried to
start an identical thing like it they would put us in prison. Just look
at how the government defines it. A mirror of Social Insecurity.http://www.sec.gov/answers/ponzi.htm

My thanks to Duane for his intelligent discussion of Social Security problems and solutions of funding.  What a sadness that our government is unable to move in any direction to solve problems or even to intelligently discuss solutions. Its irresponsibility is shameful!  It is obvious that there are too many vested interests at stake in every corner.  The status quo is easiest!         On the short term.            Louise

Dear Carol:

After reading Duane Bates article, I had to respond.  Have you forgotten Al Gore??

We,  the People, elected him. The Electoral College, which should be phase out, and the Supreme Court, put Bush in.

So, why oh why, bother to even vote.  It counts for NOTHING.  The very rich and powerful OWN America now.   5years of war, over a trillion dollars spent, and Cheney says "So?" when asked about the Iraq War. 

Now what do we do get back our freedom to pick our president and elected representative?

PJ

Carol,
    I am still getting used to having my own column my friend.
I really feel blessed having my simple words shared in such a wonderful way.  I hope that you have a blessed and beautiful
Easter.  Wishing you every joy, Joe

Here is our Storytime Tapestry Angels: Also, I would like to thank those of you who chose to be a silent angel and gave an anonymous donation to keep Storytime Tapestry up and running.

Clara Westerfer, Mark Crider, Rosanne Catalano, Paula Booher, Kay Seefeldt, Mariane Holbrook, Mary Ellen Grisham, Louise Nomani, Sharon Bryant, Angela Walker, Hart and Helen Dowd, Keith Ready, Ginger Morgenstern, Ellie Braun-Haley, Surinder Jandu, Bob Shaw, Carol Meeks, Charlotte Hilliard, Marilyn Sink, Victor Buhagiar, Clarice Hinson, Conrad