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#I know my family has a history of thyroid problems on my mom's side and that can cause tiredness
ante--meridiem · 3 years
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pizza-soup · 3 years
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Sorry I've been missing in action.
Long story short I got very injured at the labs, but I've been making a fast recovery. For the more detailed, graphic version, you can read below. Warning: Mention of hospital, blood, car accident.
As I mentioned, I got really injured at work beginning on February 21 at around 9 PM. It was during a routine check at some of the sites, one in particular needed our higher clearance because there had been a breach at a fence that past week, so I, and two other guards went to check out any tampering of the fence again. They say it might be vandals but a lot of them say it was some kind of large animal. The road to those sites are a single path through the woods, lit with a few lights, no curves, just a flat road with a hill on one side. It hadn't snowed that week either, so no fear of ice or anything. It was just a routine jeep trek.
It happened so fast. Our vehicle was knocked over, I'm not even sure how, but we were rolling in the dark down a hill, hitting trees. I remember the shouting, holding fast, and the glass. I remember crawling toward a tree and trying to sit up against it or maybe I was put there by the other guard, Dolores, I remember her telling me to stay awake. I asked her if I was dreaming. It didn't feel real. I asked what was happening to me because I couldn't move right, everything felt so slow and muffled. I passed out by the time they got us into the medical ward. I don't remember them putting me in a gown or putting in an IV. I woke up later, I buzzed the call button out of fear and pain. My whole left side was throbbing. A nurse was relieved I finally came to. She gave me pain meds and called the doctor in.
I was told there had been an accident, that much I already knew, but no one was killed, just injured. I lost a lot of blood, my uniform was soaked in it and they had to cut it off me. Part of the metal from the door frame folded in and pieced my left shoulder and I had minor cuts on my hands and arms from the glass. My blood pressure dropped so low they were scared my heart might've stopped. I was given blood, hooked up to a lot of things and I would have to stay under watch for a few days. There was a lot of tests they needed to do to figure out just how bad my injuries were.
For the next few days I was just sleeping, I couldn't sit up without feeling dizzy. I had to lay semi flat, my blood pressure was still very low. My left side was still throbbing and the stitches itched. A lot of bruises developed from being tossed around like I was, mostly on my arms because I was shielding my face and head. My minor glass cuts stung while batheing. Nurses came in every few hours to check my vitals, help me use the restroom, shower, help me eat, ect. I got so tired from the smallest things. I couldn't call anyone, my phone was in my locker. I finally got someone to help me call my brother to tell him what happened. My brother was naturally scared, he thought something happened to me and he was sad to know he was right. He wanted to see me, but he couldn't, I was in the medical ward on lab property. He wanted to call our mom to tell her but I told him to wait, there was a possibility that I might be transferred to a local hospital where they can visit me, and I didn't want her panicking and trying to drive up here in bad weather. It's best she waited til things cleared up.
After the first week I was transferred to a local hospital after getting a bunch of tests done. No brain trauma, no broken bones, no blood sugar issues or thyroid problems. I could sit up in bed by then and eat on my own. I still couldn't walk very well without feeling really dizzy, again, low blood pressure. A lot of minor bruises were fading away. I never had my anemia officially confirmed, but they confirmed it and had me take daily iron and placed on a blood building diet in the new hospital. I was tested for covid, I came out clear.
My brother and mom visited me daily, and the other doctor said I was recovering really quickly, that gave us a lot of hope. I could be out of there by a few days, though my blood pressure was worrying her. Seems it wasn't so much the blood loss, but that it might have been an underlying condition already linked to my untreated anemia. She would get the in-house dietitian to include a bit more natural sea salt to my iron rich diet, as well as tell me what I should eat at home and that I need to drink a lot more water than I normally did. This is a problem I've had for awhile, I forget to drink enough water. The doctor warned me I better remedy that immediately especially with low BP. My mom was already taking notes. She really wanted to just take me home already. I really liked her being there, I'm not that shy about my body, but I honestly felt better having my mom bathe me and comb my hair instead of strangers doing that. She was also a lot more gentle around my stitches and bruises.
Eventually I did come home, I still needed a lot of rest and help getting out of bed. I had to fight the urge to clean house, help with groceries, ect. I'm so used to being self sufficient. I felt so frustrated that just walking around the room would tire me out, when I'd hike for miles just a few months ago. I was tired of sleeping and sitting down. But there wasn't much else I could do. I did a lot of origami, my bro got me a coloring book, I watched a lot of movies, took my iron -which is nasty btw-, ate meals that were saltier than I normally would prepare but my taste buds would have to adjust. I was happy my new diet included a lot of fish though.
I did have some close calls. I really thought I could stand up in the shower instead of sitting, and wound up calling for my mom to help me up after collapsing. I collapsed again when I was trying to cook dinner for myself. My face, according to my mom, was drained of color and my breathing was shallow. I felt so dizzy and nauseated. She nearly wanted to call the hospital again. My bro said I was pushing myself too hard and I always had a problem with not asking for help. That I needed to learn to stop being so damn stubborn and rest. To anyone else, that sounds harsh, but he knows me way too well, probably better than our mom. I do have that problem, I do push myself too much. After that, I decided to be more patient with myself. I was sick and might be sick for awhile.
This week I'm doing a lot better. I can do my daily things now, I even went to get groceries and take a little walk to the river. But I can't over do it, I can't stand up or walk for too long, and I can't lift anything heavy, otherwise I get bouts of dizziness and need to sit down. The pain isn't as bad on my back anymore though it's still very sore, my arms, especially my left side, have a dull pain. I can't sleep on my back and left side, only my right and on my stomach. A lot of the cuts on the back of my arms and hands have scabbed over, minor bruises are gone but major ones on my shoulder and neck are still pretty dark and tender. I'm still finding glue spots on my chest and stomach from the medical tape and the EKG patches they put on me, but a bit of lotion is taking it off. My stitching, according to my mom, is definitely going to leave a pretty bad scar above my shoulder blade, but it's fine. My body has a lot of scars here and there from close calls, but I consider them ' Marks of Life'. They're proof I survived and thrived.
It'll take time for me to really feel like I'm back to normal. My mom refuses to go back home until I make a full recovery. She hasn't tended to me like this for a long time, mainly because I rarely get sick. I trait from my dad's side. We don't get colds or flus for years, no history of cancer, heart issues or diabetes, and his family usually remain active to their elderly years, not to mention our graceful aging. My dad used to say it was our native blood, we're just built tougher. The only thing that could kill us is getting injured like this. God, he'd be so worried about me though. I remember how he'd fuss over me when I skinned my knee as a child or got my allergies. If he was alive, he'd probably refuse to let me do anything out of bed, but then that's exactly what I should be doing anyway.
I got a report on the other guards health yesterday. Dolores and Elijah. She was the least hurt out of all of us, just a dislocated arm, mild whiplash, and some really bad glass cuts on her chest and arms, she's home recovering with her husband and kids. Elijah was the driver and got knocked unconscious with a bad concussion, his entire left arm was sliced by glass and metal, he lost a lot of blood like me and is recovering just as slow as I am. He opted to stay in the lab medical ward because he doubts his roommate can care for him at home, he's on a lot of pain meds, so he sounded distant on the phone. I think out of all of us, he's going to take the most time to recover. I told him I'd pray for him and if he wants, I can visit. He appreciated that a lot. I thanked Dolores for helping us that night, she was the one trying her best to keep us alive and sent the distress signal on our ARK devices so they could find us in the dark. Without her, I think we would've bled to death.
God, it feels like a distant nightmare. I still can't figure out how we were knocked off the road like that. Something hit us out there and it was strong. I felt the impact in the backseat, but I didn't see it. Dolores says it looked like a bear, but bears aren't that strong. Eli says he saw horns, so maybe a bison. Bison are that strong, especially against a little jeep. The incident is still under investigation. The lab is also very concerned about how this happened. It's possible the same thing that hit us, has been tampering with the fence.
One less thing to worry about is the hospital bill, the accident happened on lab grounds, everything is taken care of through them, probably because they don't want to get sued. They are giving us another two weeks before we report back in to the doctor for another round of tests and physical tests, as well as check to see if my stitches were still secure. Our return to work solely depends on our results, we may not be able to come back until late April. They really want to be sure we're okay. Because I'm an 'Ophanim' aka Tier 3 guard, I'll also be given a mental test before being hooked back into Selene. They just want to be sure there's no cognition issues and I can sync properly to her. I may have to do a refresher since I've been away for so long, but I'll worry about that when it comes.
Well, if you read this far, thanks. I hope I didn't scare you all too much. I am doing a lot a better though, I promise. I'm getting stronger everyday, though activity on this blog will be slow. Send me some prayers, good vibes, whatever. I'd really appreciate anything. Hope you've had a good month, better than mine hopefully.
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theoneworld · 3 years
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Post Natal Depression
Pregnancy is such a holy time. That constant feeling of a little one growing inside you, nurturing the growing one, feeling excited and confident, ready to shower all your love. Isn't that what all to-be mothers feel at the onset of pregnancy?
And then comes the grand finale day when you become a mother, celebrate motherhood, hold your baby, and are the happiest person in this world.
But what if these feelings don't occur the way people and books have been narrating?
Many of us are not aware of the fact that this mental state of being happy might not come naturally to mothers. They might not feel happy and elated the way they should after their child's birth. This is where we talk about depression; postnatal depression specifically.
Within the year after delivery, 1 in 7 women find themselves in a deep, dark abyss of depression.
Depression and Postnatal depression
Depression is not something that you would want to happen to you even if you are not pregnant. It is a state of mind that undergoes a lot of highs and lows and other associated mood swings.
Postpartum depression is a complex state of mind that involves a mix of physical, emotional, and behavioral changes in women after childbirth. It is a form of depression that occurs within 4 weeks after delivery. The condition can be measured on the length of time between delivery and onset and also on the severity of depression.
While postnatal depression is a common affair, there are several causes and changes in the mental state of a new mother.
Mothers at risk of postnatal depression
New moms often experience disturbing maternal mental health after birth. The risk factors for such a condition increases if:
You have experienced depression in the previous pregnancy or at some other time in your life.
You have a family history of depression.
You have suffered from bipolar disorderThere has been stress in your job, complications in pregnancy.
Your baby is born with special needs or health problems.
You have a strained relationship with your spouse.
There are financial problems in the family
You are undergoing an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy.
These are a few of the many factors that can lead to postnatal pregnancy. Expecting mothers should try to eliminate these risks for smooth childbirth and a happy, stress-free period post the delivery too.
What causes postnatal depression?
There are no exact causes that can specifically be called the reasons for postpartum depression, but there are a few factors that can contribute to the condition. The reasons can be physical stress or emotional discomfort or a combination of both.
Physical factors:
One of the major physical changes after childbirth involves the role of hormones. During pregnancy, your estrogen and progesterone levels are higher than usual; and they drop back to their previous state within hours of giving birth. This change is sudden and might cause depression. Other physical factors include:
Low thyroid level
Improper diet
Presence of a previous medical condition
Lack of sleep
Emotional factors:
Emotional stability is an important factor during pregnancy. Mothers are more likely to have postpartum depression if there are mood swings or mood disorders in the past or someone else in the family is suffering from the same.
Emotional stress factors include:
Financial burdens
The other child having some health problems
Recent divorce or death of a loved one.
Financial pressures
What does postnatal depression look like?
A mother might feel moody or cranky or tired after giving birth to a baby. But postpartum depression is much more than that. The symptoms vary from person to person and the following might be the indicators:
Feeling sad or crying a lot without reasons
Feeling exhausted but unable to sleep
Drowsy and sleeping too much
Binge eating even if there is no interest in food
Unexplained illness or aches in the body
A feeling of disconnection from the baby and no joy as you had anticipated throughout the pregnancy period.
Not opening up with people in a fear that they would judge you, or think that you are a bad mother; and just withdrawing.
Thoughts about harming yourself and the baby.
These symptoms start showing up within a few weeks of delivery and might not surface until a few months. These symptoms can be handled well and treated if a mother reports any of these feelings.
How to deal with PPD
Seeking help is the first step towards healing yourself and bringing things back to normal. Once you have identified that you are suffering from postnatal depression, you can do the following things to deal with the condition:
1. Talk to people
While one part of you wants to keep everything to yourself, especially for an introverted person; but it is always a good option to talk to people you trust about your feelings and emotions. You will discover that you are not the only one going through this phase and that there are people who will listen and help you come out of this situation.
2. Fight isolation
You might not feel like sharing your feelings with anyone and try to cut off from people as well. But this will only feed the depression. You might not have a social life, but at least talk to your closest relations so that you don't feel isolated.
To avoid isolation, join depression group supports; especially for new moms. The group activities, discussions will keep you active and let you focus on other things that relieve stress.
3. Chores can take a back seat:
Not all mothers are into chores. If you are one of them, let the chores be. Just take care of your and baby's basic needs and take help from relatives or household help to get the chores done.
4. Resting is the key
Childbirth is a tiring process. Take a good night's sleep; try a hot water bath to relax. Meditation and massage also help ease tension and help fall asleep.
Medications for maintaining maternal health include the use of antidepressants and hormone therapy which might have their side effects on the overall health of the mother. However, physical exercise, proper diet, and nutrition, mindfulness practices, mediation, etc can help improve the symptoms.
How is postnatal depression different from baby blues?
While talking about maternal mental health, it is important to mention a much heard and known term, baby blues which differs from postnatal depression. An example to highlight the difference;
The moment I delivered my daughter, my heart was filled with intense love and emotions that I never knew existed within me. I could die for her, it was love at first sight. But the emotions that came along the post-delivery period were both awesome and awful. It is both beautiful and exhausting to know that I could love everybody so deeply.
Such feelings tend to fade away in a few weeks and are usually called baby blues; whereas postnatal depression stays for months together.  
Mothers are the best gifts from God to this world; and entering motherhood is a blessing too. It takes courage to talk about the feelings that you are going through. Only a strong mind can bring up strong babies. At our Childbirth masterclass, we educate mothers about postnatal mental health and ways to stay calm and healthy during pregnancy.
Postpartum depression is treatable with the right knowledge and a good support system. Reach out to Baby Sutra to enroll in our masterclass 9 months and beyond if you have planned your baby.
To Read more about Mother and Baby care Click The Links Below
https://www.babysutra.in/blog/what_is_postnatal_depression
https://www.facebook.com/babysutra
https://in.pinterest.com/Babysutra/
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whereoblivionreigns · 7 years
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i am very bored
A – Accidents 01. Have you ever been in a car accident?: No 02. Do you have a lot of scars?: A few on my arms, one on my right knee cap and one under my right eyebrow 03. Have you ever been in a fist fight with someone?: Yes 04. Have you ever seriously hurt anyone by mistake?: Sort of.. My sister and I were fake boxing once and I accidentally knocked her out cold 05. Have you ever had stitches? Where?: Yes, knee and eyebrow
B – Beauty 06. Do you consider yourself beautiful?: Still working on that 07. Are you self conscious of how you look?: I learned to not care about that shit long ago. 08. Do you put on a lot of makeup?: Not usually 09. Would you ever consider getting plastic surgery?: How rich do I look 10. What do you think makes a person beautiful?: Their aura, and the way they talk about their passions
C – Consequences 11. What was the longest amount of time you’ve been grounded for?: A week probably 12. What would you do if you got pregnant, keep it or have an abortion?: Abort 13. Do you ever think about how your actions affect other people?: Always 14. What do you think is the worst punishment someone could give you?: Putting me in a cage 15. What is one thing you wish you didn’t do, just because it wasn’t worth it in the end?: Chase after a boy
D – Dealing 16. When you are mad at someone, how do you show them?: By either ignoring them or taking the bitch up a few notches 17. Name a time when you had to be strong: An ex passed away a few months ago.  It’s been tough but I have a great support system. 18. Have you ever dealt with a divorce or parents fighting? Any kind of abuse at home?: Divorce, fighting, physical abuse, emotional abuse. 19. When people at school don’t accept you, or have problems with you, how do you react?: Keep doing my thing 20. Have you ever lost someone to death? Explain how you got through it: My aunt when I was 11 and my ex recently.  Lots of positive reflection, friends and drinking.
E – Experience 21. Have you ever had a job? Any volunteer jobs?: I’ve had several kitchen jobs and I had a co-op in an elementary school last semester. 22. Do you think that you are sexually experienced, or not at all?: I’d say I am pretty experienced. 23. Have you gone through a lot emotionally, or has life been easy thus far?: I have been through a hell of a lot. 24. Do you think you are ready to be on your own (have your own home, job, etc.)?: I am on my own, focusing on getting through school. 25. How old do you act?: Sometimes 12, sometimes 20, sometimes 60.
F – Family 26. Is there anyone in your family you don’t talk to? Why?: Not for any negative reason, only because we are all busy living our own lives 27. If you had to choose, family or friends?: My friends are my family 28. Can you tell your parents or one of your parents anything?: I can tell both of my parents anything 29. Do you have any siblings? One younger sister, 2 step sisters 30. How often do you spend ‘quality time’ with family members?: Not often
G – Growing 31. How tall are you? How tall do you wish you were?: I’m 5'3.  Wish I were a few inches taller so I could reach the steel bowls at work. 32. Do you think that you have grown more in the past year than any year before that?: I’d agree yes. 33. As a person, do you think you are mature for your age or still act childish?: A good mix of both for sure, but mature for the most part. 34. Are you scared to think that one day you will turn 30, then 40, then 50?: Trying not to think about it. 35. Do you believe you still have a lot to learn?: Of course
H – Hope 36. Love – real or not?: I suppose it can be real 37. Are you a pessimist of an optimist?: More so an optimist 38. Do you believe in fate, that everything happens for a reason, or do you think that our actions lead the way?: The things we do bring us to where we want to be, but some things are certainly beyond our control 39. Do you think that after we die our spirit is still alive?: I don’t think I believe in an afterlife. 40. What gives you hope when you just feel like dying?: Music.
41. Do you suffer from depression or constant sadness/loneliness?: I have a colourful history with depression, it comes in waves these days.   42. Do you have any type of disease or disability?: I have a thyroid disorder, as well as a disease called chronic autoimmune urticaria, which causes me to break out in uncontrollable, painful hives and there’s nothing I can do about it.  The two are likely linked but my doctor has no clue how to deal with it. 43. Are you currently in a hard relationship or have bad luck with the opposite sex?: Can’t seem to find the right one. 44. Do you think that you are alone in this world?: Not at all, though sometimes I’d prefer to be. 45. How often do you think about death, suicide or running away?: Not often, though the prospect of running away is a delightful one.
J – Jokes 46. Say a word or phrase that would not be funny to anyone but you & one of your friends (an inside joke): “Rock me like a fuckin’ train” 47. Are you usually the one who makes people laugh, or the other way around?: A good mix of both. 48. Do you cry when you laugh hard?: Always 49. Write down a hilarious moment you had with someone that makes you laugh to this day!: My best friend and I had a bucket list we wrote a few years back, and one of the things on it was to “punch some faces if Orange Goblin doesn’t come back in the next 3 years.” It’s been 3 years. 50. Do you ever get in trouble for laughing or talking a lot during class?: No
K – Knowledge 51. The purpose of school: to learn, to cause trouble or to hang out with friends?: Highschool is about hanging with buds, college is about learning. 52. Do people refer to you as smart, dumb, or average?: Smart. 53. What was the highest grade you have received (full course mark) ever?: I got an A+ in my elective last semester  54. What was your last average? This year would you like to maintain it or aim higher?: It’s definitely not happening this year aha 55. What do you find the most interesting subject to be (to study or to talk about)?: Psychology & History.
L – Love 56. Are you currently in love? If not, have you been before?: Not currently. I have been once, with someone who is no longer alive 57. Do people around you show you a lot of love (tell you they love you, hug you, kiss you, etc.)?: Yes, my friends and I are huggers for sure 58. Is love worth it?: This is yet to be determined for me. As of now, no. 59. Do you hate it when girls in their young teenage years say they ‘love’ someone that they’ve been dating for a few months?: Love is a very individualized concept. If it feels right to them, who am I to challenge it? 60. Does it take a lot for you to say you love someone, or is it just a word?: It takes everything in me.
M – Money 61. Do you believe that money makes the world go round?: Unfortunately 62. Is your family on the poor side, average, or above average when it comes to money?: On the poor-average side.
College or University, or planning to?: I’m in my second year of college
64. Would you rather win millions of dollars & be set for life, or find the perfect person to marry & start a family with?: The first one. The second part is easily achievable afterwards 65. On a scale of 1-10, how important is money to you?: Would be a 1 if I didn’t need it to live
N – Naught 66. Are you a virgin?: No 67. What do you think about doing sexual things with someone you’re not going out with?: Previously I would have been cool with it. These days casual sex is off the table for me, I just end up feeling horrible about myself. 68. Do you know anybody you consider a ’slut’? What makes you say that?: People should be allowed to fuck whoever they want without being razzed for it. 69. If you could, would you erase some things you did in the past or make it so you did more?: There was a guy I dated for about a month a couple years ago. It was a mistake on my part of get into it, and I ended up breaking it off before I moved out of town for school.  He went crazy on me over the next couple months -  called like 50x per day screaming stuff like that.  I’d erase it if I could, we could have been good friends. 70. Do you consider yourself more nice or more naughty? You can’t say both!:  Nice.
O – Openness 71. How long does it take for you to open up to someone?: Very long 72. What does it take for you to fully trust someone?: Years of not fucking me over. 73. Are you generally untrusting towards people because of past experiences, or any other reason?: Past experiences and a general distaste for the human race. 74. When are you comfortable with someone sexually?: Frightfully quickly
Family and close friends, what’s the limit of what you can tell them?: I tell them everything, except my mom who doesn’t know that I am fond of illicit drugs
P – Positive 76. Have you ever had an experience with someone that didn’t necessarily end positively? If so, would you rather erase the memory of that person because of the sad times or keep the memory of thatperson because of the good times?: The thing I mentioned previously. I’d rather erase it. 77. Do you agree with the saying:better to have loved and lost than not have loved at all?: Nope 78. Are you more optimistic or pessimistic? What do you try to be?: Mostly optimistic, I strive more for realism 79. Do you agree that something good can come out of everything?: I have a strange tendency to pick out the good in everything. 80. Have you ever had a time where something really bad happened, but something really good happened because of it? If so, please explain what it was: Every year when roll up the rim comes around I develop a Canadian gambling addiction. Sometimes I win so that’s good I guess.
Q – Questions 81. When faced with a problem, do you ask for help or try to figure it out yourself?: I usually try to figure it out myself at first 82. Do you often question the world and how we came about? What are some things you would like to know about creation?: I don’t really care to be honest. 83. Do you think the government is truthful? If you could ask the president one question, what would it be?: The government is sickening. I’d have nothing to say to them. 84. When someone does something wrong to you, do you confront them and ask them why they did it or just let it go?: Depends on the severity of the issue and who it is I’m dealing with. 85. What is one unsolved mystery about the world that you want answers to?: Where the fuck they got Loki chained up
R – Respect 86. How do you show respect?: I listen. 87. What can someone do for you to lose all respect for them?: Act as if they are in any way superior to another human. 88. Do you respect your teachers, parents, and other authority figures?: Parents and Teachers, yes 89. When you are disrespectful to your parents, what is the punishment?: Usually just a sick verbal smackdown  90. If someone is mean to you, are you mean back or do you kill them with kindness?: I am either mean back or ignore them
S – School 91. If you are still in school, what grade will you be going into?: I’m in 2nd year of college 92. When will you graduate high school/college?: 2014 93. After high school, what did you do/are you planning to do?: I took a year off to work and party my ass off. It was great but still trying to shake some of the habits. 94. Do you like or hate school? What do you like/hate about it?: I love to learn, but the school environment and structure sucks. It’s oppressive 95. Have you ever been suspended, expelled, or dropped out of school?: No
T – Temptation 96. Have you ever done something wrong, knowing it was wrong, because something inside of you said it was okay?: Yeah, I’m sure I’ve said some nasty things to my parents that I knew I shouldn’t have. 97. Has anyone ever pressured you to smoke or drink? Did you do it?: Beer pressure is a common theme among my friends. I don’t need to be pressured haha 98. Did you ever cheat on someone? Why did you do it?: Once. I was obscenely drunk and I’ve never forgiven myself for it. 99. Did you ever want to do something sexual with someone you didn’t really know or love? What did you end up doing?: Many many times. I followed the liquor. 100. Do you give in to temptation easily, or are you more independent and strong willed?: I have a pretty low impulse control to be honest
U – Unique (where’s the question 101?) 102. Do you do a lot of things because your friends are doing it?: No, unless its drugs or drinking. But even still I do it because I want to. 103. Do you follow trends, wear whatever you want, or wear really unique pieces?: I wear what I want 104. Do you give in easily to peer pressure? Do you do things such as smoke, drink, or have casual sex?: Peer pressure, not exactly. Everything I do is of my own account. Smoking and drinking occasionally, not casual sex these days. 105. What makes you different from people your age?: I know the actual meaning of St. Patrick’s Day and choose not to celebrate it.
V – Value 106. What’s the most expensive thing in your room?: My vest
107. What’s more valuable: your life or the lives of your loved ones? Would you sacrifice your life for other people?: Their lives.
108. What is something you value not because it cost a lot, but because it means a lot to you?: The stupid little things my ex used to bring me that I still have laying around
109. If there was a fire in your house/apartment, what is the first thing you would grab?: My laptop because I need it to pass school
110. Do you think past memories and experiences are more valuable than what could possibly happen in the future?: I have a tendency to romanticize the past, but I think the future will have more to offer
W – Wishes 111. If you had three wishes, what would they be?: Nice cabin on a Norwegian fjord, a pound of magic mushrooms and about 9 dogs 112. Would you rather wish yourself to be happy, or your loved ones?: If they’re happy, I am happy 113. Do you believe that wishes come true if you really believe in them?: No. 114. Have you ever had a wish come true? If so, what was that wish?: I wished I’d win on a roll up the win a few weeks ago - I did. It was a coffee 115. Do you find wishing for things a waste of time because everything that’s meant to happen, will happen?: Yes.
Y – You 121. Are you more independent or social?: Independent 122. What is something that makes you very mad when you see it?: Ignorance 123. Do you think that you have potential to do great things?: Yes. 124. Do you think people are born a certain way, or develop their personalities based on what they go through in life?: I believe experience shapes who we are 125. Do you think people are generally good?: No.
Z – Zest 126. Are you currently happy with your life? Why or why not?: So/so. I’m mostly just bored and tired. 127. Do you go on FacebookCraze.com to get facebook surveys and quizzes like this one?: I wonder how old this thing is 128. When change occurs, do you get scared or are you excited for it?: I generally embrace change 129. Do you like to try new things, meet new people?: Yes and yes 130. What is the most motivational thing in the world? Folk metal.
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rickcaleb82787-blog · 5 years
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What Are The Causes Of One Side Of A Thyroid Ending Up Being Enlarged?
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investmart007 · 6 years
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HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/DEj5pN
HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
HOUSTON| April 17, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) Barbara Bush, the snowy-haired first lady whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretense made her more popular at times than her husband, President George H.W. Bush, died Tuesday, a family spokesman said. She was 92.
Mrs. Bush brought a grandmotherly style to buttoned-down Washington, often appearing in her trademark fake pearl chokers and displaying no vanity about her white hair and wrinkles.
“What you see with me is what you get. I’m not running for president — George Bush is,” she said at the 1988 Republican National Convention, where her husband, then vice president, was nominated to succeed Ronald Reagan.
The Bushes, who were married Jan. 6, 1945, had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history. And Mrs. Bush was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams.
“I had the best job in America,” she wrote in a 1994 memoir describing her time in the White House. “Every single day was interesting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun.”
On Sunday, family spokesman Jim McGrath said the former first lady had decided to decline further medical treatment for health problems and focus instead on “comfort care” at home in Houston. She had been in the hospital recently for congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2009, she had heart valve replacement surgery and had a long history of treatment for Graves’ disease, a thyroid condition.
“My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was,” former President George W. Bush said in a statement Tuesday. “Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.”
George H.W. Bush held his wife’s hand all day Tuesday and was at her side when she died, according to Jean Becker, chief of staff at George H.W. Bush’s office in Houston.
Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately released.
“Barbara Bush challenged each of us to build a better world by empowering people through literacy. As only one of two women in American history who can be called First Lady and First Mother, she was matriarch of a family that remains as dedicated to public service as it was to politics,” said former Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff James Baker III.
The publisher’s daughter and oilman’s wife could be caustic in private, but her public image was that of a self-sacrificing, supportive spouse who referred to her husband as her “hero.”
In the White House, “you need a friend, someone who loves you, who’s going to say, ‘You are great,'” Mrs. Bush said in a 1992 television interview.
Her uncoiffed, matronly appearance often provoked jokes that she looked more like the boyish president’s mother than his wife. Late-night comedians quipped that her bright white hair and pale features also imparted a resemblance to George Washington.
Eight years after leaving the nation’s capital, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as president. They returned four years later when he won a second term. Unlike Mrs. Bush, Abigail Adams did not live to see her son’s inauguration. She died in 1818, six years before John Quincy Adams was elected.
Mrs. Bush insisted she did not try to influence her husband’s politics.
“I don’t fool around with his office,” she said, “and he doesn’t fool around with my household.”
In 1984, her quick wit got her into trouble when she was quoted as referring to Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, as “that $4 million — I can’t say it, but it rhymes with rich.”
“It was dumb of me. I shouldn’t have said it,” Mrs. Bush acknowledged in 1988. “It was not attractive, and I’ve been very shamed. I apologized to Mrs. Ferraro, and I would apologize again.”
Daughter-in-law Laura Bush, wife of the 43rd president, said Mrs. Bush was “ferociously tart-tongued.”
“She’s never shied away from saying what she thinks. … She’s managed to insult nearly all of my friends with one or another perfectly timed acerbic comment,” Laura Bush wrote in her 2010 book, “Spoken from the Heart.”
In her 1994 autobiography, “Barbara Bush: A Memoir,” Mrs. Bush said she did her best to keep her opinions from the public while her husband was in office. But she revealed that she disagreed with him on two issues: She supported legal abortion and opposed the sale of assault weapons.
“I honestly felt, and still feel, the elected person’s opinion is the one the public has the right to know,” Mrs. Bush wrote.
She also disclosed a bout with depression in the mid-1970s, saying she sometimes feared she would deliberately crash her car. She blamed hormonal changes and stress.
“Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings,” she wrote. “I almost wonder why he didn’t leave me.”
She said she snapped out of it in a few months.
Mrs. Bush raised five children: George W., Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. A sixth child, 3-year-old daughter Robin, died of leukemia in 1953.
In a speech in 1985, she recalled the stress of raising a family while married to a man whose ambitions carried him from the Texas oil fields to Congress and into influential political positions that included ambassador to the United Nations, GOP chairman and CIA director.
“This was a period, for me, of long days and short years,” she said, “of diapers, runny noses, earaches, more Little League games than you could believe possible, tonsils and those unscheduled races to the hospital emergency room, Sunday school and church, of hours of urging homework or short chubby arms around your neck and sticky kisses.”
Along the way, she said, there were also “bumpy moments — not many, but a few — of feeling that I’d never, ever be able to have fun again and coping with the feeling that George Bush, in his excitement of starting a small company and traveling around the world, was having a lot of fun.”
In 2003, she wrote a follow-up memoir, “Reflections: Life After the White House.”
“I made no apologies for the fact that I still live a life of ease,” she wrote. “There is a difference between ease and leisure. I live the former and not the latter.”
Along with her memoirs, she wrote “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. Laura Bush, a former teacher with a master’s degree in library science, continued her mother-in-law’s literacy campaign in the White House.
The 43rd president was not the only Bush son to seek office in the 1990s. In 1994, when George W. was elected governor of Texas, son Jeb narrowly lost to incumbent Lawton Chiles in Florida. Four years later, Jeb was victorious in his second try in Florida.
“This is a testament to what wonderful parents they are,” George W. Bush said as Jeb Bush was sworn into office. He won a second term in 2002, and then made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Sons Marvin and Neil both became businessmen. Neil achieved some notoriety in the 1980s as a director of a savings and loan that crashed. Daughter Dorothy, or Doro, has preferred to stay out of the spotlight. She married lobbyist Robert Koch, a Democrat, in 1992.
In a collection of letters published in 1999, George H.W. Bush included a note he gave to his wife in early 1994.
“You have given me joy that few men know,” he wrote. “You have made our boys into men by bawling them out and then, right away, by loving them. You have helped Doro to be the sweetest, greatest daughter in the whole wide world. I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara’s husband.”
Mrs. Bush was born Barbara Pierce in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. After attending Smith College for two years, she married young naval aviator George Herbert Walker Bush. She was 19.
After World War II, the Bushes moved to the Texas oil patch to seek their fortune and raise a family. It was there that Bush began his political career, representing Houston for two terms in Congress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In all, the Bushes made more than two dozen moves that circled half the globe before landing at the White House in 1989. Opinion polls taken over the next four years often showed her approval ratings higher than her husband’s.
The couple’s final move, after Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, was to Houston, where they built what she termed their “dream house” in an affluent neighborhood. The Bush family also had an oceanfront summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
After retiring to Houston, the Bushes helped raise funds for charities and appeared frequently at events such as Houston Astros baseball games. Public schools in the Houston area are named for both of them.
In 1990, Barbara Bush gave the commencement address at all-women Wellesley College. Some had protested her selection because she was prominent only through the achievements of her husband. Her speech that day was rated by a survey of scholars in 1999 as one of the top 100 speeches of the century.
“Cherish your human connections,” Mrs. Bush told graduates. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.”
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By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)
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endlessly-elizabeth · 6 years
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It’s strange how each day feels so long and sometimes like it’ll never end, and then you reflect on one thing that still bothers you and you realize it happened a couple months ago. The concept of time is crazy and I’ll never be able to fully grasp it. Wasn’t I just at a house party celebrating New Year’s Eve with my best friend and the guy I was in a situationship with? Nope. That was 2017.
This past year has both blessed me and bruised me. I shared new experiences with some people I don’t talk to anymore, but I’ll always remember and think of fondly. I continued to be a good friend to many. I made new friends, kept old ones, and lost some along the way. But to sum it all up--it was a year of growth. 
I kept the same job that I’ve had for the past (almost) four years, and felt relatively fulfilled. I quite enjoy my job. I meet so many different people in a given day--people I likely wouldn’t talk to under other circumstances, and I got to give them decorating advice, share a laugh with, and at times, be a therapist to these people. It’s amazing how much people will share with you about their lives if you’re kind and patient. I was just recently named Sales Associate of the Quarter at the end of the year, and that makes four total in my years working at Pier1. I’ll be sad to see it go, but I am finally starting to not feel as happy working there. I’ve been feeling stagnant and have been growing more curious about what else awaits me when I finally commit to leave.
I went on many drives this year. Some with friends--listening to good music, reminiscing on the past or excitedly (and nervously) talking about the future. Some on small roadtrips to visit friends that I don’t get to see on a regular basis. And, of course, drives to clear my head. My car saw many different sides of me this year. It saw me laugh with friends as we talk about embarrassing stories from our past or one of us says something stupid. It saw me kiss two people. It saw me nail some solos as I sang along with new music. And it saw me break down and cry.
I had some of my best memories of 2017 at happy hours or nights going out with friends. My best friend and I go to a happy hour once a month where we get super dolled up to have a fancy meal at the Melting Pot and get shamelessly hit on by an old bartender we befriended. I drank at bowling alleys and ate greasy pizza with friends. I had many beers at country concerts during the summer. I became a bit of a regular at one bar and one restaurant where the waiters/bartenders remember my face and my name, and it somehow made it feel more homey to me.
I went on my first real job interview in 2017. I was encouraged by my parents and friends to create a new resume and to search for a new career path--to put myself out there and see what a difference I could make for another company. This was by far one of my biggest struggles of the year. I felt so lost with what I wanted to do and so comfortable with what I had been doing that I didn’t want to do anything to change my job. But I’m realizing that I have more to offer than what I’ve been doing for the past four years. I’m still terrified of having a full time job and failing at it, but I know that my life will change for the better when I commit to having one. 
I lost a couple family members this year--my cat and a cousin. My cat had been losing weight at an alarming rate and we found out that she had a large mass in the abdomen that was likely cancerous. We put her down that same day. My family got her (and her sister) when I was 12. I remember being so excited to hear that my mom was coming home with a kitten and when I opened the box to meet her for the first time, there wasn’t one pair of eyes staring at me, but two! I loved that cat and shared so many happy memories with her, but it was her time. Earlier in the year, I got the terrible news of my cousin, Katie, passing away. She had a decade-long battle with drugs and succumbed to her addiction to heroin, and it makes me sad knowing how much life she still had to live. How many lives she had yet to touch. I can’t imagine how my aunt, uncle, and cousin, Megan, could cope with that. I pray that she’s finally at peace and I wish I could tell her that she’s no longer a victim to her addiction.
I had a couple health problems of my own. I went to the gynecologist on my birthday and was immediately recommended that I see someone at advanced radiology the next day because of a bump that I had ignored. I was so mad at myself because I let myself be plagued by the fear of “what if?” What if the bump was cancerous, and that I’m dying? What if it’s something so bad that I can’t have kids one day? Instead of being proactive to solve these problems and getting checked out by the doctor, I continued to wait. Why else would I actively choose to spend my birthday at the gynecologist? I bucked up all the courage I had to go, went to advanced radiology, and then was told that I have an ovarian cyst, and another cyst. Luckily for me, the doctors were not overly concerned about it once seeing my test results, but urged me to be aware if I feel any sudden, intense pain because the cysts could rupture. I went to the doctor for an annual checkup and she was concerned by my lethargy and ordered many blood samples for me. I went to the endocrinologist and was sent to advanced radiology (again!) for my thyroid, and I have a low-functioning thyroid. I now have to be aware of my thyroid levels because I am on the cusp of an autoimmune disease. I think I went to about 15 doctor’s appointments throughout the month of December, and it was a stressful time for me.
This year was an interesting one for my love life. I had two guys confess their feelings for me and tell me they wanted to be with me. The same two guys disappointed me. I started 2017 by sharing a New Year’s kiss with a guy I was loosely “seeing.” He wasn’t my boyfriend, but we had made an agreement that we would only fool around with eachother. We had been in that situationship for a couple months, and a couple days into the new year, I realized I didn’t want that. I wanted to date someone. I wanted to fall in love. So what did I do? I broke it off with him over the phone. I explained to him that I had fun doing what we were doing, but I wanted more. I wanted the strings, I wanted the attachment. I think I always knew, deep down, that nothing too serious would happen with him, even if we did plan on losing our virginity to one another. (Yes, you heard it. There are still mid-twenty year old virgins in the world). 
We stopped talking, and I found myself quickly being swept up in a guy from my past. I’ve written about him on here before. I christened him “mistake” and then lifted that title to “my first love.” The past between us isn’t worth getting into. All you need to know about it is how complicated and messy it was. We had a lot of bad blood and animosity towards eachother, and I was hoping that our past wouldn’t have any impact on our future in 2017, but that did not happen.
I think 2017 was all about trial and error when it came to myself and romance. I made mistakes. I was led on. I did some leading on. And it all blew up in my face in the end. Or maybe I’m putting too much emphasis on me--I think it all blew up in the three of our faces. The guy I started my 2017 with was a sweetheart, for the most part. He liked me but didn’t want to lead me on, so he told me that he wasn’t ready for a relationship and if that’s what I wanted, then we could stop hooking up and we would be friends. I was relieved, because I had already started having feelings for someone else (the guy from my past). I took that time away from my situationship to focus on talking to the other guy. I honestly don’t even know how to write about this without giving away names and confusing any person who tries to read this.
I’ll say this. One of the guys hurt me a little. He could’ve had me at one point in time, but he told me we were acting too much like a couple and suggested we cool off. I sat in my car and cried in the parking lot after we hung up. He said he was going to call me later to finish talking about things once we had a little bit of space and time to reflect and think about things. We went a month and a half without talking before I texted him to wish him a happy birthday. That’s when he told me that he had a pit in his stomach every single day we didn’t talk and how he wanted to give our feelings a fair shot and finally commit to one another. But he was too late. I had been talking to the guy from my past, and at the end of the day, I knew my feelings for him were stronger than the guy who finally realized how worthy I was to date. He pleaded with me and told me he liked me the whole time and that he was just scared! I told him I wanted to be with someone else.
That definitely put a strain on our relationship. He and the guy from my past were friends-ish. They are part of the same friend group, but neither of them were particularly close to the other. I still wanted him in my life, even if it was just at a friend level. It worked for awhile... until we would FaceTime eachother a couple times a week (even if it was mostly platonic on my end). I say “mostly platonic” because I think there is always some shred of residual feelings when you try to go back to being “just friends” with someone you have had a romantic history with. This was probably the worst thing I did all year. I led him on. 
I didn’t mean to. I really just wanted him to be in my life because we were friends and had been close for the past three years! But i should’ve known that things get too sticky when you’ve had conversations about feelings and you know someone is still invested. Whenever I was feeling down, he was always a text message or a phone call away. I didn’t shamelessly flirt with him or anything like that. I actually tried to be more than honest with him about the other situation I was in with his friend. We tried to talk about it loosely. Enough that he was in the loop, but not extensively to the point where he’d know the ins and outs of my love life. I still feel a bit guilty for talking to him as frequently as I did, and I hope I get to tell him that I’m sorry one day.
I don’t think that day will come any time soon, though. He has made it impeccably clear that he wants nothing to do with me. It’s almost like he’s tried to erase me from his life and everything that we once shared together. He deleted me from all forms of social media. His friends won’t invite me around out of respect for his hurt feelings, and quite honestly, most of them just tolerated me because they knew he had feelings for me. I’m honestly disappointed in the way he handled things. He told me that we would remain friends through it all, even if he might need some space from me. It was to the point where he wouldn’t even open a snap story of mine because he didn’t want to see my face. A few weeks go by and then he deleted me altogether. K--I hope you know that I still care about you as a person. I always will. I just wish we could’ve actually made it work as friends, but if erasing me is what helps you through everything...then I guess I will suck it up. I hope you’re well.
The real bruise from this year happened with the next guy. My first love. My biggest what if. My biggest heartbreak (and heartache). We started 2017 with me in a situationship with someone else, but you told me you wanted me for yourself. You told me that your biggest fear was that K would realize what he had and make it official, but when you had the chance to make things official with me...you couldn’t. There wasn’t one chance. Or two. Or three. There were too many, and I never made the cut. I tried to be patient. I wanted your feelings for me to catch up to my feelings for you. I wanted you to want me; to “Be With Me.” 
We hit way too many bumps in the road. We both still held onto some reservations from the past. (Slight backstory--we met in 2014, kissed a couple times <mostly drunk>, and we both said we liked eachother, but nothing came of it. He didn’t want to be with me, I hung out too much with his friends, and he never really got a break from me. Then I started kissing his friends. I found out later, that he kissed one of mine. We were hot and cold. Very on/off. It was messy. We started seeing other people in 2015/2016. We did what we always seemed to do--gravitate back to one another.) He said he was over-committed with working a full-time job and having grad school two nights a week. He didn’t think he could prioritize me. We stopped talking. We started talking again, then he found out that someone else wanted to date me, and he got scared and told me he didn’t want to lose me. He had me and lost interest when he saw his ex-girlfriend out. They started talking again briefly. I started talking to K again.
It was a vicious cycle. Equal parts emotionally draining and exhilarating. But by the middle of June, things seemed to calm down. He wrote me a letter where he explained his feelings for me and told me how he had been lying to me because he actually DID want to be with me. The things he wrote in the letter were probably the most romantic, honest confessions he had ever said to me. I thought we were going to finally take the plunge and be together! But, boy, was I wrong. He danced around the subject for many months, telling me that he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend, but he wanted to do it his way. He said that we were dating, but not quite in a relationship. (When have you ever told someone you loved them and then not been with them?)
I was so blinded by my feelings for him. I just craved his attention and his affection. I had friends give me many talks about how I needed to walk away if he couldn’t commit to me, but the pattern continued. I still think, to this day, that he will always be my Kryptonite. I’ve never felt someone have a hold over me the way that he did. It was almost like I imprinted on him and just wanted to be in his presence whenever I could. And it was unhealthy. My attachment to him was unhealthy. But I couldn’t shake the idea that we were meant for something great. That we could have this epic, passionate love story. We were meant to find eachother.
I had never been in love before, until 2017. I had strong feelings for people in my past, but nothing quite matched the way I felt this year. I spent many sleepless nights thinking about when I fell in love. How did I know? When did it happen? And I think I finally have the day pin-pointed. I was getting glammed up to go out for dinner and a drink with a friend at one of my favorite restaurants. I was wearing a blue dress. And I was absolutely smitten.
We had stopped talking in September, only to talk again. Every time we said we shouldn’t talk anymore, we couldn’t get out of the car and wound up crying. We were just so pathetically sad that we couldn’t seem to make things work. I remember having a text conversation with him before I went out that late September evening. It was a couple days after Sunday in the Country. I texted him saying I hoped he would find someone better than me one day, and he said he didn’t want to and that he never would. I got a little mad at this point and told him that’s exactly what he was doing. He was choosing for us to be unhappy! He was choosing to love someone else and for me to love someone else, by not allowing us to be together. He told me he didn’t realize that ending things with me (can you even call it that?) would shatter him the way that it had. He said he had had two life-saving surgeries in his lifetime so far, but that was easier to get through than losing me.
I told him to focus on class and I went out to dinner with my friend, like I was supposed to. I had a great night, despite being a little sad at the way things unfolded. I got a little tipsy and drove myself home, and he had already beat me to it. He was on my street waiting for me when I got home. I parked and got out of my car and just looked at him. And he just looked at me. It was such a clear night that you could see hundreds of stars. There was a gentle breeze. He just looked at me and grabbed me and hugged me like he didn’t want to ever let me go. (LOL HERE COME THE TEARS AS I TYPE THIS). He kissed my forehead. He kissed my cheeks. He kissed my neck. And my collarbone. And my shoulders. And we just started dancing under that cloudless, September night sky. There was no better place I could be than in his arms, dancing, and looking into eachother’s eyes. And that’s the night I fell in love. 
He didn’t kiss my lips for awhile. We just swayed along with the breeze, and then he kissed me and we couldn’t stop kissing. It was one of those moments that you wish would last forever, and I replay that night in my head more often than I’d like to admit. But it was real. It was magical. And I still haven’t recovered from losing him. I don’t know if I knew I had fallen in love right then and there. I think I realized it a day or two later when we were texting. He got made fun of by his mom for kissing me with lipstick on that night (which is something he absolutely hated), and I realized that things were different. That night was soft. Sincere. Gentle. Pure. And that’s how I knew. There wasn’t anything remotely sexual that happened. It was a moment of pure romance, and it’s like the last brick from the wall guarding my heart finally crumbled. 
I don’t know why we aren’t together. I mean, I know why. He wanted to live in the city, he wanted me to have a full-time job, and I needed the title in order to be satisfied. He told me he had been scared. He told me he wanted me, he wanted us. But words are words and actions are actions. His words may have said one thing, but his reluctance to make me his girlfriend showed me that that’s where he ultimately stood. This has been the longest we’ve gone without talking in months. I actually caved two weeks after we agreed to stop talking in November and reached out to him, but we didn’t meet up. I saw him for the first time two weeks after that at a mutual friend’s birthday party. I longed to talk to him. It was weird being around him and somehow feeling like I was a stranger. Consequently, my birthday was the next day and we talked then. That was the last “real” conversation we have had.
I saw him yesterday and it was hard. We said hi, but that was about it. We talked to different people in our same(ish) friend group, and we hugged when he left, but that was it. In all seriousness, that’s probably the last time I’m going to see him for another month or two. I think we purposely avoid situations where the other person is going to be...not because we have a problem, but so the feelings don’t come creeping back. I can’t speak for him. I don’t know if he still has feelings for me or if he’s found himself in the same kind of emotional pain that I’ve been in. There’s probably no point in me wondering--we aren’t together. But I wish there was some kind of sign for me to know he still cares, or I wish I found out that he was talking to and/or seeing someone else because it might allow me to move on faster.
It would break me to find out that he’s with someone, or that he’s hooked up with someone. But that’s not my place anymore. I can’t be mad at him or hold it against him if he has because he deserves to be happy. We both deserve to be happy, even if that winds up not being with one another. But the one thought that lingers more than any other is--was he ever in love with me? I know he loved me, but there’s definitely a difference between loving someone and being in love with them. Sadly, I remind myself that if I even have to question whether or not the magnitude of his feelings mirrored mine, they probably didn’t.
So, I loved and I lost in 2017. I cut ties with one guy who I could’ve lost my virginity to and fell hard for the guy that I wanted to lose my virginity to. In the end, I lost them both and quite a few mutual friends along the way. 2017 was definitely a year of emotional hardships, but, hey. I’m still here. And it caused me to evaluate parts of my life that I am actively trying to change in 2018. I want to work out at least three times a week in order to tone up and feel more confident. I’m tired of being insecure and body conscious. I want to eat better and grow stronger, and it’s been a bit of a mental struggle, but I’m also realizing the mental strength that comes with it. I want to finally get that full-time job and stop being so afraid of failure. (Easier said than done, I know). I want to find something else that I’m good at and thrive at that job. I want to make a living for myself. I got a new phone and am on my own phone plan, which is one step closer to actually adulting. I don’t want to settle for shitty guys this year. If someone is going to enter my life, he needs to have the best intentions with me because I’m still a little fragile.
I met someone through a mutual friend who is interested in me and expressed the desire to want to take me out on a date, but I just can’t do it yet. I don’t feel ready. I had downloaded Tinder towards the end of 2017, mainly because I found out my first love had downloaded and been using it. I stopped using it after a couple days, which means I stopped letting matches validate my worthiness. I met a random guy last night who wanted my number and to take me out, but I didn’t give it to him. I only want the best, and right now, that’s me. I’m working on making this year one of no apologies, and one of change. It’s my metamorphosis year. It’s a year of not settling. Of not getting treated poorly. Of not allowing people to stay in my life longer than they should. Of not putting myself second. 2018, please help me be a better human. 
0 notes
investmart007 · 6 years
Text
HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/DEj5pN
HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
HOUSTON| April 17, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) Barbara Bush, the snowy-haired first lady whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretense made her more popular at times than her husband, President George H.W. Bush, died Tuesday, a family spokesman said. She was 92.
Mrs. Bush brought a grandmotherly style to buttoned-down Washington, often appearing in her trademark fake pearl chokers and displaying no vanity about her white hair and wrinkles.
“What you see with me is what you get. I’m not running for president — George Bush is,” she said at the 1988 Republican National Convention, where her husband, then vice president, was nominated to succeed Ronald Reagan.
The Bushes, who were married Jan. 6, 1945, had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history. And Mrs. Bush was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams.
“I had the best job in America,” she wrote in a 1994 memoir describing her time in the White House. “Every single day was interesting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun.”
On Sunday, family spokesman Jim McGrath said the former first lady had decided to decline further medical treatment for health problems and focus instead on “comfort care” at home in Houston. She had been in the hospital recently for congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2009, she had heart valve replacement surgery and had a long history of treatment for Graves’ disease, a thyroid condition.
“My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was,” former President George W. Bush said in a statement Tuesday. “Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.”
George H.W. Bush held his wife’s hand all day Tuesday and was at her side when she died, according to Jean Becker, chief of staff at George H.W. Bush’s office in Houston.
Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately released.
“Barbara Bush challenged each of us to build a better world by empowering people through literacy. As only one of two women in American history who can be called First Lady and First Mother, she was matriarch of a family that remains as dedicated to public service as it was to politics,” said former Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff James Baker III.
The publisher’s daughter and oilman’s wife could be caustic in private, but her public image was that of a self-sacrificing, supportive spouse who referred to her husband as her “hero.”
In the White House, “you need a friend, someone who loves you, who’s going to say, ‘You are great,'” Mrs. Bush said in a 1992 television interview.
Her uncoiffed, matronly appearance often provoked jokes that she looked more like the boyish president’s mother than his wife. Late-night comedians quipped that her bright white hair and pale features also imparted a resemblance to George Washington.
Eight years after leaving the nation’s capital, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as president. They returned four years later when he won a second term. Unlike Mrs. Bush, Abigail Adams did not live to see her son’s inauguration. She died in 1818, six years before John Quincy Adams was elected.
Mrs. Bush insisted she did not try to influence her husband’s politics.
“I don’t fool around with his office,” she said, “and he doesn’t fool around with my household.”
In 1984, her quick wit got her into trouble when she was quoted as referring to Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, as “that $4 million — I can’t say it, but it rhymes with rich.”
“It was dumb of me. I shouldn’t have said it,” Mrs. Bush acknowledged in 1988. “It was not attractive, and I’ve been very shamed. I apologized to Mrs. Ferraro, and I would apologize again.”
Daughter-in-law Laura Bush, wife of the 43rd president, said Mrs. Bush was “ferociously tart-tongued.”
“She’s never shied away from saying what she thinks. … She’s managed to insult nearly all of my friends with one or another perfectly timed acerbic comment,” Laura Bush wrote in her 2010 book, “Spoken from the Heart.”
In her 1994 autobiography, “Barbara Bush: A Memoir,” Mrs. Bush said she did her best to keep her opinions from the public while her husband was in office. But she revealed that she disagreed with him on two issues: She supported legal abortion and opposed the sale of assault weapons.
“I honestly felt, and still feel, the elected person’s opinion is the one the public has the right to know,” Mrs. Bush wrote.
She also disclosed a bout with depression in the mid-1970s, saying she sometimes feared she would deliberately crash her car. She blamed hormonal changes and stress.
“Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings,” she wrote. “I almost wonder why he didn’t leave me.”
She said she snapped out of it in a few months.
Mrs. Bush raised five children: George W., Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. A sixth child, 3-year-old daughter Robin, died of leukemia in 1953.
In a speech in 1985, she recalled the stress of raising a family while married to a man whose ambitions carried him from the Texas oil fields to Congress and into influential political positions that included ambassador to the United Nations, GOP chairman and CIA director.
“This was a period, for me, of long days and short years,” she said, “of diapers, runny noses, earaches, more Little League games than you could believe possible, tonsils and those unscheduled races to the hospital emergency room, Sunday school and church, of hours of urging homework or short chubby arms around your neck and sticky kisses.”
Along the way, she said, there were also “bumpy moments — not many, but a few — of feeling that I’d never, ever be able to have fun again and coping with the feeling that George Bush, in his excitement of starting a small company and traveling around the world, was having a lot of fun.”
In 2003, she wrote a follow-up memoir, “Reflections: Life After the White House.”
“I made no apologies for the fact that I still live a life of ease,” she wrote. “There is a difference between ease and leisure. I live the former and not the latter.”
Along with her memoirs, she wrote “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. Laura Bush, a former teacher with a master’s degree in library science, continued her mother-in-law’s literacy campaign in the White House.
The 43rd president was not the only Bush son to seek office in the 1990s. In 1994, when George W. was elected governor of Texas, son Jeb narrowly lost to incumbent Lawton Chiles in Florida. Four years later, Jeb was victorious in his second try in Florida.
“This is a testament to what wonderful parents they are,” George W. Bush said as Jeb Bush was sworn into office. He won a second term in 2002, and then made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Sons Marvin and Neil both became businessmen. Neil achieved some notoriety in the 1980s as a director of a savings and loan that crashed. Daughter Dorothy, or Doro, has preferred to stay out of the spotlight. She married lobbyist Robert Koch, a Democrat, in 1992.
In a collection of letters published in 1999, George H.W. Bush included a note he gave to his wife in early 1994.
“You have given me joy that few men know,” he wrote. “You have made our boys into men by bawling them out and then, right away, by loving them. You have helped Doro to be the sweetest, greatest daughter in the whole wide world. I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara’s husband.”
Mrs. Bush was born Barbara Pierce in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. After attending Smith College for two years, she married young naval aviator George Herbert Walker Bush. She was 19.
After World War II, the Bushes moved to the Texas oil patch to seek their fortune and raise a family. It was there that Bush began his political career, representing Houston for two terms in Congress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In all, the Bushes made more than two dozen moves that circled half the globe before landing at the White House in 1989. Opinion polls taken over the next four years often showed her approval ratings higher than her husband’s.
The couple’s final move, after Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, was to Houston, where they built what she termed their “dream house” in an affluent neighborhood. The Bush family also had an oceanfront summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
After retiring to Houston, the Bushes helped raise funds for charities and appeared frequently at events such as Houston Astros baseball games. Public schools in the Houston area are named for both of them.
In 1990, Barbara Bush gave the commencement address at all-women Wellesley College. Some had protested her selection because she was prominent only through the achievements of her husband. Her speech that day was rated by a survey of scholars in 1999 as one of the top 100 speeches of the century.
“Cherish your human connections,” Mrs. Bush told graduates. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.”
___
By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)
__
0 notes
investmart007 · 6 years
Text
HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/DEj5pN
HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
HOUSTON| April 17, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) Barbara Bush, the snowy-haired first lady whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretense made her more popular at times than her husband, President George H.W. Bush, died Tuesday, a family spokesman said. She was 92.
Mrs. Bush brought a grandmotherly style to buttoned-down Washington, often appearing in her trademark fake pearl chokers and displaying no vanity about her white hair and wrinkles.
“What you see with me is what you get. I’m not running for president — George Bush is,” she said at the 1988 Republican National Convention, where her husband, then vice president, was nominated to succeed Ronald Reagan.
The Bushes, who were married Jan. 6, 1945, had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history. And Mrs. Bush was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams.
“I had the best job in America,” she wrote in a 1994 memoir describing her time in the White House. “Every single day was interesting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun.”
On Sunday, family spokesman Jim McGrath said the former first lady had decided to decline further medical treatment for health problems and focus instead on “comfort care” at home in Houston. She had been in the hospital recently for congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2009, she had heart valve replacement surgery and had a long history of treatment for Graves’ disease, a thyroid condition.
“My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was,” former President George W. Bush said in a statement Tuesday. “Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.”
George H.W. Bush held his wife’s hand all day Tuesday and was at her side when she died, according to Jean Becker, chief of staff at George H.W. Bush’s office in Houston.
Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately released.
“Barbara Bush challenged each of us to build a better world by empowering people through literacy. As only one of two women in American history who can be called First Lady and First Mother, she was matriarch of a family that remains as dedicated to public service as it was to politics,” said former Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff James Baker III.
The publisher’s daughter and oilman’s wife could be caustic in private, but her public image was that of a self-sacrificing, supportive spouse who referred to her husband as her “hero.”
In the White House, “you need a friend, someone who loves you, who’s going to say, ‘You are great,'” Mrs. Bush said in a 1992 television interview.
Her uncoiffed, matronly appearance often provoked jokes that she looked more like the boyish president’s mother than his wife. Late-night comedians quipped that her bright white hair and pale features also imparted a resemblance to George Washington.
Eight years after leaving the nation’s capital, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as president. They returned four years later when he won a second term. Unlike Mrs. Bush, Abigail Adams did not live to see her son’s inauguration. She died in 1818, six years before John Quincy Adams was elected.
Mrs. Bush insisted she did not try to influence her husband’s politics.
“I don’t fool around with his office,” she said, “and he doesn’t fool around with my household.”
In 1984, her quick wit got her into trouble when she was quoted as referring to Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, as “that $4 million — I can’t say it, but it rhymes with rich.”
“It was dumb of me. I shouldn’t have said it,” Mrs. Bush acknowledged in 1988. “It was not attractive, and I’ve been very shamed. I apologized to Mrs. Ferraro, and I would apologize again.”
Daughter-in-law Laura Bush, wife of the 43rd president, said Mrs. Bush was “ferociously tart-tongued.”
“She’s never shied away from saying what she thinks. … She’s managed to insult nearly all of my friends with one or another perfectly timed acerbic comment,” Laura Bush wrote in her 2010 book, “Spoken from the Heart.”
In her 1994 autobiography, “Barbara Bush: A Memoir,” Mrs. Bush said she did her best to keep her opinions from the public while her husband was in office. But she revealed that she disagreed with him on two issues: She supported legal abortion and opposed the sale of assault weapons.
“I honestly felt, and still feel, the elected person’s opinion is the one the public has the right to know,” Mrs. Bush wrote.
She also disclosed a bout with depression in the mid-1970s, saying she sometimes feared she would deliberately crash her car. She blamed hormonal changes and stress.
“Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings,” she wrote. “I almost wonder why he didn’t leave me.”
She said she snapped out of it in a few months.
Mrs. Bush raised five children: George W., Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. A sixth child, 3-year-old daughter Robin, died of leukemia in 1953.
In a speech in 1985, she recalled the stress of raising a family while married to a man whose ambitions carried him from the Texas oil fields to Congress and into influential political positions that included ambassador to the United Nations, GOP chairman and CIA director.
“This was a period, for me, of long days and short years,” she said, “of diapers, runny noses, earaches, more Little League games than you could believe possible, tonsils and those unscheduled races to the hospital emergency room, Sunday school and church, of hours of urging homework or short chubby arms around your neck and sticky kisses.”
Along the way, she said, there were also “bumpy moments — not many, but a few — of feeling that I’d never, ever be able to have fun again and coping with the feeling that George Bush, in his excitement of starting a small company and traveling around the world, was having a lot of fun.”
In 2003, she wrote a follow-up memoir, “Reflections: Life After the White House.”
“I made no apologies for the fact that I still live a life of ease,” she wrote. “There is a difference between ease and leisure. I live the former and not the latter.”
Along with her memoirs, she wrote “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. Laura Bush, a former teacher with a master’s degree in library science, continued her mother-in-law’s literacy campaign in the White House.
The 43rd president was not the only Bush son to seek office in the 1990s. In 1994, when George W. was elected governor of Texas, son Jeb narrowly lost to incumbent Lawton Chiles in Florida. Four years later, Jeb was victorious in his second try in Florida.
“This is a testament to what wonderful parents they are,” George W. Bush said as Jeb Bush was sworn into office. He won a second term in 2002, and then made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Sons Marvin and Neil both became businessmen. Neil achieved some notoriety in the 1980s as a director of a savings and loan that crashed. Daughter Dorothy, or Doro, has preferred to stay out of the spotlight. She married lobbyist Robert Koch, a Democrat, in 1992.
In a collection of letters published in 1999, George H.W. Bush included a note he gave to his wife in early 1994.
“You have given me joy that few men know,” he wrote. “You have made our boys into men by bawling them out and then, right away, by loving them. You have helped Doro to be the sweetest, greatest daughter in the whole wide world. I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara’s husband.”
Mrs. Bush was born Barbara Pierce in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. After attending Smith College for two years, she married young naval aviator George Herbert Walker Bush. She was 19.
After World War II, the Bushes moved to the Texas oil patch to seek their fortune and raise a family. It was there that Bush began his political career, representing Houston for two terms in Congress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In all, the Bushes made more than two dozen moves that circled half the globe before landing at the White House in 1989. Opinion polls taken over the next four years often showed her approval ratings higher than her husband’s.
The couple’s final move, after Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, was to Houston, where they built what she termed their “dream house” in an affluent neighborhood. The Bush family also had an oceanfront summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
After retiring to Houston, the Bushes helped raise funds for charities and appeared frequently at events such as Houston Astros baseball games. Public schools in the Houston area are named for both of them.
In 1990, Barbara Bush gave the commencement address at all-women Wellesley College. Some had protested her selection because she was prominent only through the achievements of her husband. Her speech that day was rated by a survey of scholars in 1999 as one of the top 100 speeches of the century.
“Cherish your human connections,” Mrs. Bush told graduates. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.”
___
By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)
__
0 notes
investmart007 · 6 years
Text
HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/DEj5pN
HOUSTON| Former first lady Barbara Bush dies at age 92
HOUSTON| April 17, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) Barbara Bush, the snowy-haired first lady whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretense made her more popular at times than her husband, President George H.W. Bush, died Tuesday, a family spokesman said. She was 92.
Mrs. Bush brought a grandmotherly style to buttoned-down Washington, often appearing in her trademark fake pearl chokers and displaying no vanity about her white hair and wrinkles.
“What you see with me is what you get. I’m not running for president — George Bush is,” she said at the 1988 Republican National Convention, where her husband, then vice president, was nominated to succeed Ronald Reagan.
The Bushes, who were married Jan. 6, 1945, had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history. And Mrs. Bush was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams.
“I had the best job in America,” she wrote in a 1994 memoir describing her time in the White House. “Every single day was interesting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun.”
On Sunday, family spokesman Jim McGrath said the former first lady had decided to decline further medical treatment for health problems and focus instead on “comfort care” at home in Houston. She had been in the hospital recently for congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2009, she had heart valve replacement surgery and had a long history of treatment for Graves’ disease, a thyroid condition.
“My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was,” former President George W. Bush said in a statement Tuesday. “Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.”
George H.W. Bush held his wife’s hand all day Tuesday and was at her side when she died, according to Jean Becker, chief of staff at George H.W. Bush’s office in Houston.
Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately released.
“Barbara Bush challenged each of us to build a better world by empowering people through literacy. As only one of two women in American history who can be called First Lady and First Mother, she was matriarch of a family that remains as dedicated to public service as it was to politics,” said former Secretary of State and White House Chief of Staff James Baker III.
The publisher’s daughter and oilman’s wife could be caustic in private, but her public image was that of a self-sacrificing, supportive spouse who referred to her husband as her “hero.”
In the White House, “you need a friend, someone who loves you, who’s going to say, ‘You are great,'” Mrs. Bush said in a 1992 television interview.
Her uncoiffed, matronly appearance often provoked jokes that she looked more like the boyish president’s mother than his wife. Late-night comedians quipped that her bright white hair and pale features also imparted a resemblance to George Washington.
Eight years after leaving the nation’s capital, Mrs. Bush stood with her husband as their son George W. was sworn in as president. They returned four years later when he won a second term. Unlike Mrs. Bush, Abigail Adams did not live to see her son’s inauguration. She died in 1818, six years before John Quincy Adams was elected.
Mrs. Bush insisted she did not try to influence her husband’s politics.
“I don’t fool around with his office,” she said, “and he doesn’t fool around with my household.”
In 1984, her quick wit got her into trouble when she was quoted as referring to Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, as “that $4 million — I can’t say it, but it rhymes with rich.”
“It was dumb of me. I shouldn’t have said it,” Mrs. Bush acknowledged in 1988. “It was not attractive, and I’ve been very shamed. I apologized to Mrs. Ferraro, and I would apologize again.”
Daughter-in-law Laura Bush, wife of the 43rd president, said Mrs. Bush was “ferociously tart-tongued.”
“She’s never shied away from saying what she thinks. … She’s managed to insult nearly all of my friends with one or another perfectly timed acerbic comment,” Laura Bush wrote in her 2010 book, “Spoken from the Heart.”
In her 1994 autobiography, “Barbara Bush: A Memoir,” Mrs. Bush said she did her best to keep her opinions from the public while her husband was in office. But she revealed that she disagreed with him on two issues: She supported legal abortion and opposed the sale of assault weapons.
“I honestly felt, and still feel, the elected person’s opinion is the one the public has the right to know,” Mrs. Bush wrote.
She also disclosed a bout with depression in the mid-1970s, saying she sometimes feared she would deliberately crash her car. She blamed hormonal changes and stress.
“Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings,” she wrote. “I almost wonder why he didn’t leave me.”
She said she snapped out of it in a few months.
Mrs. Bush raised five children: George W., Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. A sixth child, 3-year-old daughter Robin, died of leukemia in 1953.
In a speech in 1985, she recalled the stress of raising a family while married to a man whose ambitions carried him from the Texas oil fields to Congress and into influential political positions that included ambassador to the United Nations, GOP chairman and CIA director.
“This was a period, for me, of long days and short years,” she said, “of diapers, runny noses, earaches, more Little League games than you could believe possible, tonsils and those unscheduled races to the hospital emergency room, Sunday school and church, of hours of urging homework or short chubby arms around your neck and sticky kisses.”
Along the way, she said, there were also “bumpy moments — not many, but a few — of feeling that I’d never, ever be able to have fun again and coping with the feeling that George Bush, in his excitement of starting a small company and traveling around the world, was having a lot of fun.”
In 2003, she wrote a follow-up memoir, “Reflections: Life After the White House.”
“I made no apologies for the fact that I still live a life of ease,” she wrote. “There is a difference between ease and leisure. I live the former and not the latter.”
Along with her memoirs, she wrote “C. Fred’s Story” and “Millie’s Book,” based on the lives of her dogs. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. Laura Bush, a former teacher with a master’s degree in library science, continued her mother-in-law’s literacy campaign in the White House.
The 43rd president was not the only Bush son to seek office in the 1990s. In 1994, when George W. was elected governor of Texas, son Jeb narrowly lost to incumbent Lawton Chiles in Florida. Four years later, Jeb was victorious in his second try in Florida.
“This is a testament to what wonderful parents they are,” George W. Bush said as Jeb Bush was sworn into office. He won a second term in 2002, and then made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
Sons Marvin and Neil both became businessmen. Neil achieved some notoriety in the 1980s as a director of a savings and loan that crashed. Daughter Dorothy, or Doro, has preferred to stay out of the spotlight. She married lobbyist Robert Koch, a Democrat, in 1992.
In a collection of letters published in 1999, George H.W. Bush included a note he gave to his wife in early 1994.
“You have given me joy that few men know,” he wrote. “You have made our boys into men by bawling them out and then, right away, by loving them. You have helped Doro to be the sweetest, greatest daughter in the whole wide world. I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara’s husband.”
Mrs. Bush was born Barbara Pierce in Rye, New York. Her father was the publisher of McCall’s and Redbook magazines. After attending Smith College for two years, she married young naval aviator George Herbert Walker Bush. She was 19.
After World War II, the Bushes moved to the Texas oil patch to seek their fortune and raise a family. It was there that Bush began his political career, representing Houston for two terms in Congress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In all, the Bushes made more than two dozen moves that circled half the globe before landing at the White House in 1989. Opinion polls taken over the next four years often showed her approval ratings higher than her husband’s.
The couple’s final move, after Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, was to Houston, where they built what she termed their “dream house” in an affluent neighborhood. The Bush family also had an oceanfront summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
After retiring to Houston, the Bushes helped raise funds for charities and appeared frequently at events such as Houston Astros baseball games. Public schools in the Houston area are named for both of them.
In 1990, Barbara Bush gave the commencement address at all-women Wellesley College. Some had protested her selection because she was prominent only through the achievements of her husband. Her speech that day was rated by a survey of scholars in 1999 as one of the top 100 speeches of the century.
“Cherish your human connections,” Mrs. Bush told graduates. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.”
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By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)
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