The World of Grandpa Don  

I asked Ana for a report on her recent mission trip. I will share:

"Hi Grandpa!

I had a great time on the mission trip! It was just amazing! I had so much fun!

The first two days in Mon Valley were work days for my small group. Father Artur was my small group leader and I was happy about that because he is so funny. We went to the Salvation Army and helped with setting up a free distribution and food sale for the community. I also got to read books to Captain Amanda and Captain Mike's (Salvation Army workers) kids, Joey and Rachel. That was a lot of fun. On the second two days my group got to help with Kids Club. The first day of Kids Club started at noon, so we went through orientation with Alyssa, one of the Youthworks staff, until then. Then at noon the kids came. There were about 60 kids and 30 of us. It was very crazy, but the kids were fun to play with. That day was actually kind of relaxing for me because a little two year old girl named Mecca fell asleep on me while I was reading a book to her. She slept for pretty much the whole time, so that was nice. On the second day of Kids Club, we went to Highland Manor before it started at 12. Highland Manor is a group of apartments where most of the kids from Kids Club live. We got to play with everyone there and eat lunch with them outside. I met a little boy named Terry who was almost three. He was soooo cute! He loved to play basketball and wouldn't let go of the one he had in his hands the whole time. He could barely hold it up, but he would not let go of it. Once Kids Club started, we all went to the park which was even crazier than the day before. It was extremely hot outside and the kids were very antsy, but finally we got water balloons. One of our evening activities was going to a Baptist church. That was so much fun. It was the complete opposite of how our church services are run, but I had so much fun there. Another one of our activities was a prayer walk. Two of the teenagers living in the community gave us a small tour of specific places in the town where we prayed for the community and the people affected by the violence within it. It was sad, but it really opened all of our eyes as to what was going on, especially since it was coming from kids living in the community. Overall the mission trip was a wonderful experience and I am definitely going to do it again next year.

Hope to see you soon!

Love Ana"

I had to prompt Ana a little bit by asking ...
But how did it make you feel?  About Life?  About God?    Or is that getting too deep?
Her reply ...

"No that's not too deep. It definitely gave me a new-found appreciation for everything I have. I think that all of the people I met brought out the best in me, especially the kids. I got to see God work in wonderful ways while I was there and I am never going to forget it. I think I am definitely closer to God than I was before the trip."

My granddaughter got to see how "the other half" lives. It can be an eye opening experience and a part of education that many miss. Her mother said that from the minute she got out of the van when they went to pick her up, she talked for two hours without stop. She was all pumped up. These teen groups are a big help to the communities they visit. This was a urban setting in a depressed old steel town. But the participants always seem to gain a lot more than they give. Material things are not plentiful in the places they visit. They are exposed to a different world and find that these are people too and their children are lovable and loving.  Of course this is a different world from the one I remember. This Catholic Youth Group, went to ... and participated in ... a Baptist church service. When I was growing up it was forbidden to go into a non-Catholic church. Talk about insecurity on the part of the hierarchy! All we were asked to do was "keep the faith". Now we know that we must, not keep it, but spread it by helping others and showing, by our example, that we actually are deciples of Christ. And oh yes ... As Ana found, you can have fun while doing God's work. And I think that the satisfaction of doing good stays with you for an extended period of time, not like the instant gratification of some of the other things that we try to use for "fun" and happiness.

Tuesday was Mikey's day to see the doctor. He was due for his rabies shot and I had been dragging my feet in getting him in for it. But late last week he began having trouble with one of his ears. It was time to do something. He got his shot so that is good for a year. He does have a ear infection so he was started on an antibiotic for it. I will need to put drops in his ear twice a day and bring him back in two weeks. He also has a minor skin infection. It was either pills twice a day for that or a shot. Giving him pills is a struggle. He finds more ways to spit them out than Carter's got liver pills. (An old expression ... means "a lot".) The shot was more expensive but now it's done. (It's only money.) I don't look forward to the ear drops ... use an ear flush first, ten minutes later, wipe it out and then put in the medication. I don't much like messing with dog's ears. Mikey doesn't like it either. But, when you must, you do.

It got cold. If it was winter it would be hot. But this time of year, less than 70 is cold. It is also windy which makes it worse. I did sit out on the patio for a while with my coffee after returning from the vet's. The house wraps around two sides of the patio, protecting it from the breeze so it was still comfortable. I needed to take a little time to count my blessings ... I lost count. When I do that, little inconveniences don't amount to a hill of beans. At least I now have turn signals on my car, a defroster and heater that works AND an air conditioner and radio with a twelve CD changer. The windows go up or down at the touch of a button ... no more cranking ... and the door locks or unlocks with a remote control. Wow, I remember not being able to get into the car because the locks had frozen.  I even have a cell phone now. Now that I think of it, the first "mobile phone" we had was the size and weight of an oversized and overweight brick. This one gets lost in my shirt pocket and it is so light that a slight breeze could blow it away. Radios were also big years ago. They used an array of glowing vacuum tubes to make them function and a large variable capacitor for tuning. The tubes, like light bulbs would occasionally burn out but there were radio repair shops all over where the tubes could be tested and replaced.   While in the Navy, I built my own tube tester and checked them myself. The early TV's also had tubes and tuning in a station was more art than science. Then when color came to TV, adjusting the color was another task. The red, blue and green knobs were usually on the back of the huge set and the best way to get the color right was to use a mirror. Of course, if the contrast or intensity had "drifted" off their proper settings you could never get the color right. Get to the back of the TV and adjust those too. Just getting a viewable picture was an adventure. And of course, there was no such thing as a remote control. Don't anybody try to tell me those were the "good old days".

To see what it was like before "my time" see American History. That was in a place that most of us did not experience, in an era of no child labor laws. Obviously, we have made progress. The final photo is something that I remember.

But, all that is water under the bridge, gone ... never to return.  It simply was the way things were and we dealt with life as it was presented to us making choices and discovering things which make this a better world in which to live. That's the goal in this life .. to continually make life, not necessarily more livable, it was always livable, but to make it better, not heavenly, just better. We have to be careful to not destroy the world by contaminating it or depleting its resources while we seek to improve it. We read:

Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while mighty wind wept over the waters.

I tend to think that the earth is still evolving from that early start. God could have created it in its present form, not as described above, but He didn't. It continues to change and we can and do effect the outcome by our use of it and its resources. We have been given this power and ability and the choice to manage things for good or our own destruction, both mortal and spiritual.. We can use its resources to make flat panel, transistorized and printed circuit TV's. We can then use these wonders of our God given talents to provide wholesome entertainment and  a source of news and information or we can chose to use them  for the devil's propaganda. We can carelessly abuse the earth's resources, depleting them or poisoning them or we can use them judiciously, preserving them and renewing them for future generations. We have been given the ability to learn and improve both ourselves and our environment. Right now its a toss up as to which way we are going. Choices! Do we govern our choices from greed and instant gratification or from concern for others and love? We can not easily control the environment in which we find ourselves but we can chose how we will react to it. It is a simple as deciding to just throw another plastic bag away or trying to recycle it. Its a simple as deciding to watch Sex in the City or something like Extreme Makeover, Home edition. Choices!

Tuesday evening, Harry and Carol Lawler met me at my house and Anne Marie also joined us. We were soon off to Rocco's Little Italy for a meal we all enjoyed and and a chance to continue our conversations started at their daughter's wedding reception last Saturday. We came back to the house where Anne Marie and Carol toured the garden. It was a great evening with much to discuss and so little time. They were to return to the their home in the Tampa area on Wednesday morning. Harry used my computer to get and print their boarding passes before we went to dinner. I have been trying to remember where or how we got "Biscus" our resident tropical Hibiscus plant. Carol remembered that is was a gift many years ago from my son Tom and his wife Diane. I wonder if they remember the gift? Carol remembers everything.

Both Harry and Carol remembered how upset his dad was when the family, or Anne and her family, found out about my adoption ... nobody had told me yet. They just assumed I knew and kept the secrete from them. When Anne's aunt managed to get a copy of my birth certificate and adoption papers with the help of a fellow employee from the sealed file at the county building, he was very angry with her for "meddling" and "looking for dirt". Anne's mom was so upset at seeing the birth certificate with the big "Illegitimate" across the face of it she immediately tore it up and threw it away. It may have been one which had the names of my natural parents and if so I wish I had seen it. Or, it may have been one with the names of my adopted parents, I don't know. In any case, the only information on the adoption papers was my original name, Harry Ronald Cecora, my new name and the names of my adopted parents. Without that I never could have found my natural mother so, thanks to Aunt El for "meddling". So, this visit with Harry and Carol contributed a small taste of the "flavor" of my story.

Wednesday was another cool and cloudy day. The breeze had abated somewhat but it was just too raw to enjoy the outside at all. Both Mikey and I are getting more comfortable with me messing with his ear ... once I capture him. When I go to pick him up, he tries to hide under something. I am also getting more comfortable with my insulin shots. With the first couple, I managed to draw blood and even left a burse. I also had some of the insulin follow the needle when I removed it and leave a drop on the surface. Now I have learned that I can stop my pinching of the skin before removing the needle and all the insulin will remain under the skin. Here again is where advanced technology has come to the rescue. A supply of insulin is preloaded into a pen. For each injection a small needle is attached and the amount to be injected is set using a dial at the base. When Anne was using insulin, She needed to use a syringe with a much larger (length and diameter) needle and draw insulin into it from a small bottle. The amount was measured by viewing the printed markings on the side of the syringe. This was much more troublesome and subject to inaccuracy in dosage. The new method uses a needle so fine and short that there is no feeling whatsoever when it is used. My blood glucose readings have been much lower than previously but still above "normal". I was getting the highest readings in the morning and now they are the lowest. I expect the doctor to adjust my dosage and maybe my eating habits when I see her early next week. See Insulin Pen

Alex Kapocius sent "To My Friends" some time ago. Like a lot of things, I set it aside and then forgot about it. Shame on me! It is a gem to be shared and I have added it to my "Inspirations" page. One of the truisms included in this well done presentation is that out of the greatest mistake you have ever made good can be derived. I have seen that many times in my life and it applies to my mistakes as well as those of others. We can let life get us down or we can live with it and make it work for us. It is all in the choices we make. Anne Marie sent a story, an old one but again, worth sharing. Do you sometimes feel like you fall short of your potential? Maybe you are doing exactly what you were meant to do? Read the story of "The Cracced Pot".

It was on July 1st in 1984 that we moved into this home in Orland Park. It started a new phase in my life and even that has evolved in those 25 years. I have been here for almost 1/3 of my life. How could that be? At that time I was only beginning to awaken to my spirituality and then just barely. It took Anne's heart surgery in '86 to give me a big push. Until then it was an uphill struggle, still asking many of the wrong questions and trying to make religion conform to my logic. I gradually came to realize that human logic has nothing to do with it and that I would have to live with not knowing all the answers. Looking back, I wonder how I could have been so arrogant as to think I could know the mind of God. 

We discussed the 12th chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans at Bible study on Thursday. The last line is, "Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good." He had earlier told us the love our enemies, to treat them kindly and never take revenge. This of course is the motto of the Order of St Isidore of Seville, ... "Bono Vince Malum -- Overcome Evil with Good". This is another of the seeming paradoxes of Christian, indeed, wise living. It seems to go contrary to human nature. Sr Gael explained that it does not mean we should lay down and let others walk all over us. But rather stand up to evil and if necessary defend ourselves, passively if possible. However we should not retaliate but try to treat those who attack us with kindness.(for one thing, it blows their minds ...old joke.) It also goes along with my theory that when we attack someone by telling them they are wrong, we attack their ego and it rises up to defend itself in counter attack. The problem is perpetuated, not solved. It was a very good discussion. Who knows ... if we keep studying we may well become real Christians.  

NEWS ITEM:

RiverHawks acquire veteran outfielder.

July 3, 2009 - LOVES PARK, Ill. – On Friday the Rockford RiverHawks signed Anthony Albano, a Frontier League veteran outfielder. Pitcher Kyffin Marcum was placed on the disabled list. Albano, who has 2-Year status, has played for three Frontier League clubs in the last three years, the Windy City ThunderBolts, the River City Rascals, and the Midwest Sliders. He has a career batting average of .268 with 14 home runs and 101 RBI. In 2008 Albano hit .258 with eight home runs and 52 RBI. He also finished third in the league with 29 doubles. The RiverHawks are members of the Frontier League, a 12-team independent professional baseball league that will play its 17th season this summer. The RiverHawks host the 2009 Frontier League All-Star Game at 7:05 p.m. on July 15. Advertising and season-ticket information is available by calling (815) 885-2255. Fans can also visit the RiverHawks online at www.rockfordriverhawks.com. Most games are broadcast live on ESPN 1380, and on the team website.

You can learn mare about the team including schedules and game results at the team's web site. Congratulations Anthony. Have fun! My grandson has demonstrated courage and perseverance in his desire to be a professional baseball player.

This morning was delicious. You could taste the wonderment of nature in the air and I extended my morning visit with God and His wonders on the patio. When, eventually, I came into the house, I found among other things the above quote by my (our) distant cousin JQA. He would know about courage and perseverance having grown up with the American Revolution all around him. This weekend we celebrate our Independence and we are right to be so proud of it and what we, as a nation have accomplished. Sometimes though, we forget about our interdependence. We forget our mother, Great Britain. Without her Magna Carta the seeds of liberty would not have been planted. We forget that in order to gain our "independence" we had to go begging to France for money and military aid and to the Dutch and other European nations for more financial support. No, we didn't do it alone. Furthermore, in these days of rapid transportation and instant communication the earth has shrunk to the point where no nation is an island. What we do here effects the rest of the world and what somebody does on the other side of this globe effects you and I. So let us Americans proudly celebrate the birth of our nation. We have reason to be proud. We, as a nation, have accomplished much and done much to make this world a better place. Pray we continue.

Happy Independence Day here in the US of A and remember ..... 

Grandpa Don Plefka

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Free JavaScripts provided by The JavaScript Source	Anne wanted everyone to be 'Nice'. This button was in one of her dresser  drawers I cleaned out in August of 2004