In Phoenix, Arizona, a 26-year-old mother stared down at her 6 year old son, who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent, she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible… The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son’s dreams to come true.

She took her son’s hand and asked, “Billy, did you ever think about what you wanted to be once you grew up? Did you ever dream and wish what you would do with your life?” “Mommy, I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up.” Mom smiled back and said, “Let’s see if we can make your wish come true.”

Later that day she went to her local fire department in Phoenix, Arizona, where she met Fireman Bob, who had a heart as big as Phoenix.

She explained her son’s final wish and asked if it might be possible to give her six-year-old son a ride around the block on a fire engine. Fireman Bob said, “We can do better than that. If you’ll have your son ready at seven o’clock Wednesday morning, we’ll make him an honorary fireman for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, go out on all the fire calls, the whole nine yards! And if you’ll give us his sizes, we’ll get a real fire uniform for him, with a real fire hat – not a toy one, a yellow slicker like we wear and rubber boots. They’re all manufactured right here in Phoenix, so we can get them fast.”

Three days later Fireman Bob picked up Billy, dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook and ladder truck. Billy got to sit on the back of the truck and help steer it back to the fire station. He was in heaven. There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Billy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedic’s van, and even the fire chief’s car. He was also videotaped for the local news program.

One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically and the head nurse, who believed in the hospice concept that no one should die alone, began to call the family members to the hospital. Then she remembered the day Billy had spent as a fireman, so she called the Fire Chief and asked if it would be possible to send a fireman in uniform to the hospital to be with Billy as he made his transition.

The chief replied, “We can do better than that. We’ll be there in five minutes.

About five minutes later a hook and ladder truck arrived at the hospital and extended its ladder up to Billy’s third floor open window. Sixteen firefighters climbed up the ladder into Billy’s room. With his mother’s permission, they hugged him and held him and told him how much they loved him. With his dying breath, Billy looked up at the fire chief and said, “Chief, am I really a fireman now?”

“Billy, you are, and the Head Chief, Jesus, is holding your hand,” the chief said.

With those words, Billy smiled and said, “I know, He’s been holding my hand all day, and the angels have been singing.”

He closed his eyes one last time.

Life changes that are unusually difficult include divorce, death, career, moving and babies.  The two categories that should be addressed are changes by choice, and forced change.  All of us resist change because we like our comfort zones!  Growing up never ends at age eighteen or high school graduation, because the rest of your life will present experiences to learn and grow.

Whenever something happens that you had no control to prevent, such as the death of your spouse or child, your immediate environment is changed.  Yes, you can be angry for the loss, but in spite of those grievous feelings, you have choices to make and adjustments to your lifestyle without them.  The frustration will pass into an abyss of memories that blessed you when you didn’t even know how special those moments were!

This is your life that is happening, and you are unique, individual and special.  YOU get to choose how you live every day.  Examine the choices you make today, from the smallest, like what to wear, to the biggest, like having sight to enjoy God’s painting all around you!  Your freedom to choose how to feel today, between gratitude and despair, is available anytime.  Just be yourself!  Remember that you are special, that everyone you meet is special.  We are learning and growing, changing and becoming, whether we like it or not!

No, I am not free, because the bills have to be paid!  Remember the rule:  There is no free lunch.  So freedom is a different kind of subject, one that involves individual thought and desires.  Who do you want to be?  How do you want to live?  What do you like to do?

We are unique and separate from all others.  No one can crawl inside you and know you, just as you will never really know another.  We fall in love and bond, marry and get used to each other.  Someone wrote that a couple who has been together for a decade grows closer because each one adapts to the other’s ways, thus, they become one.  I can disagree with that for my own personal experience, but that’s another tale.  In truth, a couple must share with each other all aspects of who they are, what they want, and how they live.  Agreeing on decisions for long term goals and working together toward them will create a relationship that is rock solid.  The basis of this premise depends on communications.

This is the freedom:  discover who you are, then choose what you want to change and commit to changing it!  As you are the only one in charge of your desires and decisions about what you like and dislike, you are responsible for your personality, your health, your social life, your career, your finances, and politics.  YOU make those choices and become who you want to be.  Just remember that it’s easier to slide backwards than to get ahead, because the nature of man began in the Garden of Eden where everything was chillin’!  In our era we must work hard to maintain status quo, but that includes reaching the goals.

The constitution is under attack when you get an oligarchy within the judicial system.  An oligarchy is a government ruled by a few. How does this happen and why?

First you have to understand politically what we mean when we say left-wing or right-wing.  Left wing refers to your liberal politicians who want to change things.  Right-wing refers to your conservative politicians who want to keep the constitution as it is.  It was common knowledge in the 1960’s that your left-wing extremists were the communist sympathizers.  Oswald, who killed President Kennedy, was referred to a left-wing extremist.  The FBI went after them and jailed them.  Now left-wing extremists are accepted.

So what does this have to do with our judicial system?  If you can get enough judges in place that don’t rule according to the Constitution, but according to how they want to change the country to conform to the New World Order you hear about on the news, the Constitution is under attack.  When it is no longer the law of the land, the oligarchy of judges become the new law of the land.  This is why it is careful who you elect as your President and Governor.  They determine whether you have strict interpreters of the Constitution, or those who will mold it to fit a new mold.

It all comes down to being an informed voter.  Know what the voting records of your congressmen and women are.  Don’t let politicians play on your feelings with platitudes and empty words with no facts to back them up.  Those with good critical thinking skills know that decisions are to be based not on who is right and who is wrong.  Rather, decisions are to be based on what is right and what is wrong.

If we value our freedom at all, keeping America safe is everyone’s responsibility.  We will have to learn to break out of our own little narcissistic world we live in and start caring about our country and taking responsibility for it.

I remember a month after 911, a lady in SW U.S. was on TV and said “we have our own problems to deal with here.  We can’t worry about what goes on out east.  They will have to solve their own problems.”  Is this the attitude you want to have?

So, how can we as individuals value our freedom enough to get involved in keeping America safe?  I think the most important thing we can do is to get to know our neighbors.  It doesn’t mean you get nosy and want to know everything about them.  It simply means you get acquainted and make some general observations.  Everybody has a right to their own personality, so don’t prejudge them just because they may not be as sociable as you.  Do they seem to have a life?  Are they adaptive to life’s problems?  Do you observe any unusual or suspicious activity that the average person doesn’t engage in?

Lastly, keep your local police informed of any suspicious activity.  Crime out numbers the police at least 10-1 if not more.  They need your help.

It has been said that “evil prevails when good people sit back and do nothing.” If you do NOT care about your freedom, do just that.

As we grow through adulthood, the early years may be hectic and frazzled with socializing and working, not to mention raising a family.  During those years we may slide backwards a bit on some things that don’t seem very important, such as eating three squares a day, brushing after meals, and paying attention to symptoms our body displays about personal health.  This really happens to most of us, the exceptions being people in the military, or weightlifters, or athletes.

One thing that impressed me throughout high school and college was a common thread, “Balance all things.  Keep track of how many times you chew your food, and remind yourself how many servings you need of each item in the pyramid.  As often as you get angry, frustrated or sad, insist on doing twice as many activities that result in laughter, accomplishment and enjoyment.”

Yes, that’s a tall order!  But when you seriously consider those statements in terms of the ups and downs of life, it makes sense.  Personally I applied those practices to every aspect of living.  When my children were little, and discipline was necessary, they got it, and I balanced it with much more tenderness and happy playful moments.  Whenever a spat occurred with my husband, I bit my tongue and listened, and later on approached the subject calmly with a simple question like, “Why did you react that way?”  On those occasions when I was mouthy about something foolish, he would simply take me in his arms and plant a big kiss to shut me up, holding it until I went limp and giggled.  That was balance!  We need to come down to earth about living, after we have chosen a lifestyle, by thinking about how the small things are really important, like flossing!  Just do it!

If there is one thing I couldn’t be any happier having in my life, it would no doubt be my freedom. America especially in these times isn’t always doing so great. Economy wise people are struggling getting jobs, paying taxes, and you name it, but we should always be thankful that we at least have our freedom. Not many countries have the same freedoms as we Americans do. Many places in Africa for instance have very little to no freedom at all. Darfur which is a country in Sudan is going through a genocide mainly because a lot of the people there are of a different religion. Consider Iraq and Afghanistan, what kind of freedoms do they have there with all of the American soldiers around watching and guarding them day in and day out? So as I was saying, not everyone gets to enjoy the kind of freedom as we do. Why do you think people from Mexico and Africa are doing whatever they can to come here to America? A lot of it has to do with their poverty, but that’s why they can make it here. They can go out and find any kind of job they want and rent a home and live a better life than they ever could have had back where they’re from. So just remember that even though you think times are tough, at least you have your freedom.

Humans as we know have been walking around the earth as Cro Magnons for at least 250 thousand years, and horses have been apart of every culture since the beginning… in one form or another. One of my friends interesting enough worked as a waitress in a restaurant called Palomino (a type of horse). At the time she and her husband dreamed of owning there own land, and she couldn’t visualize ever having horses as she could barley afford her rent on her small apartment. Slowly as her child grew and her husband developed as a carpenter they made more money… and she was increasing able to stay home more and more to take care of the home and their three children. After buying a house and moving to the country, their dream of home ownership had finally come true. But she made an unexpected trade… independent working woman with friends in the city to a house wife on 10 acres of land. Slowing I noticed her demeanor changed as she spent more time alone with less friends, it was almost like she was slightly depressed. So I did some research and with a quick Google search I found that there are many sources for free horses!!! They adopted two horses and it was like night and day. I was amazed to find horses have a very similar social circle as humans; they were literally friends to her. Wow, they also love to hangout with humans and display affection and loss. To see her now with her favorite animal has been an inspiration to us all. She has decided to work with at-risk young ladies and the effect on the inner-city girls can not be compared to anything but a miracle of social and environment change, forever altering the course of their lives for the better. Thanks for reading.

The power of freedom can be in the form of both ways a positive and a negative.  Having the freedom to do anything desired without any interference from anyone.  The will to do anything imaginable without the power of others.  To speak, smile, laugh, or the possibilities in having to hop, jump, run, or walk without having to be asked.  No one to control your every move or tell you to perform a certain task.  Determined to will yourself to carry out anything imaginable and prepare to handle the consequences of one’s actions.  There are so many things that can go wrong of having the freedom of doing anything desired without any civil action.  Let me qualify, in civil civilization people tend to act appropriately with others and act accordingly.  Some people take freedom a little too far and tend to make others to follow through in harming others.  People can’t just run up to someone and start physically harming others or at the brink of constantly being offended and at the last resort is to succumbed to violence.  There are other methods of handling situations such as first have a friend in need to talk about it out loud.  So the victim can come to a solution in properly handling the situation.  You see freedom can come in different forms it depends on the will of others to keep it in a civil manner without causing conflict.

Life in the sixties was grand!  I graduated in 1964 and went on to build my life with enthusiasm and pride.  My generation was brought up to believe in American tradition, that we could accomplish anything we wanted to do.  Our lifestyle in that small town was filled with patriotic tradition, and many of my classmates enlisted to serve in Viet Nam.

Now I am living the sixties again, at age 63!  My lifestyle has always been enthusiastic, and filled with faith.  I chose to live well, not extravagant, and to help others whenever that need crossed my path.  Today, that same lifestyle reigns!  Having learned that the mountains in the path turn into bumps in the road, this economic disaster in our country is just temporary, and will become a bump!

Having a solid income is the basis for any lifestyle.  That income determines the level of lifestyle, but regardless of the income per month, everyone has an opportunity to better themselves, and build for the future.  My children chose college, although my financial help wasn’t possible.  I did whatever to help them, babysit, host family dinners, and co-sign for loans.  They learned how to set goals and reach them, beginning in early childhood.  It was important to me that they leave the nest knowing I was their biggest cheerleader!  However, their lives depended on what they did, what they chose, and how they lived.  As they grew into adulthood, parenting, and careers, my reward was getting those phone calls with progress reports on their goals.

Now my lifestyle is a little different, because the family has grown, and no more fledglings lean on me.  Freedom, yes.  Pride, yes.  My time is more easily managed and my growing continues.  We learn every day of our lives, and remember always the path we chose is filled with goals that we set and reach!