Congrats, Dansk! And Physio, it's nice to hear from you. Hope that you'll feel like posting more often. I don't think that I've responded to many posts by Dansk, but I almost always read them and have appreciated what I've read thus far.
Dana
please, y'all out there..congratulate dansk on becoming a jedi master.. since we've been out (feb 03) this board and all you lovely people on it have been the greatest source of inspiration to both dansk and myself.
you'll never realise how much you have helped us to cope with the whole ordeal.
so reaching his jedi status is a real milestone.. you're all life-savers and you didn't even know it!!!.
well i've returned from my journey to the hill country of texas and i'm glad to report all is well in chicken land.
my ride home was not so pleasant...a 2.5 hour ride turned into five, six ,seven hours..needless to say it was a soggy ride home...for the 4th e saw great fireworks in the city of kerville and then set of a huge amount of fireworks of our own...can your say kaboom town?
eheh i always spend too much on fireworks.
according to the st. petersburg, florida times chet, who played outfield for 16 seasons with the chicago white sox (1975-81) and detroit tigers (1982-81) is now a coach at eustis, florida.
the article discusses his conversion to j.w's, an operation on his spleen and his refusal of blood transfusions, as well as his baseball career.. see "triumphing over death every day: nearly killed by rare blood disease, all-star chet lemon has bounced back to coach eustis to the state title.".
http://sptimes.com/2003/07/09/sports/triumphing_over_death.shtml
Hey Kenneson,
So ole Chet settled in Florida hey? Not that far from me, either. He and his family used to attend the same congregation that I was in, in Lakeland, when he played for Detroit. There was another guy...sheesh, I'm getting old! I can't think of his name right off hand, who also attended our hall and played for the Tigers. Anyway, they all seemed to be pretty nice people, not that I knew them well, and I remember being impressed with Chet's daughter, who was super intelligent. Wonder what they're all up to now? Thanks for the article.
Dana
who among you is reading east of eden, oprah's book club selection?
(because, of course, reading is no fun unless there's a huge corporate media conglomerate backing you up ...).
is it just me, or do any of you think it's strange, almost disturbing, to see a bunch of people, almost entirely pre-or-post menopausal women, waving this book over their heads, screaming with the same sort of unbridled glee exhibited on, say, a drabby-housewife-makeover episode?.
Erm...I may be suffering from a touch of heat stroke here, after all, I live in the southern part of Florida and I mowed my lawn today...I keep seeing dark, long-haired men with stubble and olive branches out of the corner of my eye...but that's beside the point. And please don't accuse me of lacking the ability to read and comprehend what I read...remember, I was raised a JW!!!! Be gentle.
What exactly is the problem? Oprah has a huge audience, she started a book club and has helped launch many careers for writers who might otherwise wither away into obscurity, she's encouraged people to read, AND she's donated the profits to charity! I see it as a win-win situation, even the controversy highlighted above has benefited the author. Regardless of whether one is a fan of Oprah's show or not, surely the positives outweigh the negatives?
Dana, off to be bathed in oil (at least in my head )
a while ago i posted an essay "why do we tell our stories?
" http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=32755&site=3 this is why we wait so long to do that.
in the world victims remain quiet about abuse.
Lee,
Another excellent essay about the dynamics of child abuse. You stated:
Victims also dont tell because they are afraid, of losing their family, their home, and even a certain safety from the outside world. Lets face it, if your own family abuses you then what can you expect from strangers who are supposed to be even more dangerous?
This is so very true, and is greatly exacerbated when the child is in a JW home. After all, we were taught that the outside world was extremely dangerous and that no real help was available there. Added to the crushing burden of guilt, shame and fear that an abused child carries inside, is the constant barrage of messages that Jehovah will protect his people. In that situation, I came to the conclusion that obviously, for some reason that I could not understand, I wasn't worthy of being protected...how many other children have carried that same burden?? You also shared the following:
I beleived that he was more important to her than I was so knew she would get rid of me and keep him. When she did find out by walking in she did exactly what I thought she would do - sent me into foster care and stayed with him. Kids aren't stupid. We might not have all the facts but we know our parents and how they react to things. And we stay silent if we think telling will make things worse.
This was also true in my case, altho I wasn't sent out of the home. I told my parents when I was around 7 or 8 years old, but the abuse did not stop. It was swept under the rug and never talked about again until I was an adult with my first child, and it was only brought up then because I was beginning to deal with it, I was beginning to get angry and think that maybe, just maybe! I hadn't done anything to be ashamed of. That was the beginning of my healing. However, in the end, my mother chose to believe my abuser rather than me. Fortunately, by that time, I had been in therapy long enough and had a wonderful network of support from healthy people that I was able to recognize the incredible sickness and dysfunction in my family of origin and remove myself from it.
Dana
my wife, who is intent on re-activating herself as a dub since i da'd myself, went to the convention this past weekend.
she showed me this new publication entitled "learn from the great teacher", and placed great emphasis on these two pages i scanned and am posting.
it makes a poor show of telling children what to do when confronted by a child abuser.
Ohhhhh puh-leeeze! What a load of horse shit!!!!! Not only do they claim that Jehovah will protect them, they do the usual double-barrage of blaming other victims!!!!! It makes me sick...this is "help"?? If I believed in god, which I soooooo don't, I'd have to say god help us all! Fortunately, or unfortunately in the case of witness parents who read such drivel and exalt it as 'good', OUR children have parents who are aware of the dangers and give much more practical advice than an effing scripture or two and a stupid illustration of how to handle such a situation.
Dana, of the 'now needs to vomit' class
after 57 years, i finally found out today what my blood type is: o negative
so now that we are no longer under the watchtower's ridiculous thumb
trot
Hey Trot
I am also O- and so I get frequent calls from the local blood bank...I don't have to mark my calendar coz they phone me up when it's time to give. Ya know, it's really a good feeling to do something that helps other people and that can't be attributed to selfish desires...I swear I did NOT go on Monday just to get the free movie tickets! HONEST!
Dana
who among you is reading east of eden, oprah's book club selection?
(because, of course, reading is no fun unless there's a huge corporate media conglomerate backing you up ...).
is it just me, or do any of you think it's strange, almost disturbing, to see a bunch of people, almost entirely pre-or-post menopausal women, waving this book over their heads, screaming with the same sort of unbridled glee exhibited on, say, a drabby-housewife-makeover episode?.
who among you is reading east of eden, oprah's book club selection?
(because, of course, reading is no fun unless there's a huge corporate media conglomerate backing you up ...).
is it just me, or do any of you think it's strange, almost disturbing, to see a bunch of people, almost entirely pre-or-post menopausal women, waving this book over their heads, screaming with the same sort of unbridled glee exhibited on, say, a drabby-housewife-makeover episode?.
LOL Dedalus,
No zingers here, k? I haven't read the book and don't keep up with Oprah's book club, altho a few years ago she had a couple of books on the list that were really good, written by a woman who grew up in Florida (all I can remember about the title was it had something to do with wings). At any rate, I'll bow to the wisdom of Waiting and Mulan, both of whom I've met in person and hold a high opinion of. Speaking of which...how ARE you ladies doing? Hope all is well with you both and I look forward to seeing you again some day
Dana. of the 'ain't quite there yet' class
who among you is reading east of eden, oprah's book club selection?
(because, of course, reading is no fun unless there's a huge corporate media conglomerate backing you up ...).
is it just me, or do any of you think it's strange, almost disturbing, to see a bunch of people, almost entirely pre-or-post menopausal women, waving this book over their heads, screaming with the same sort of unbridled glee exhibited on, say, a drabby-housewife-makeover episode?.
Um, I'm confused (which I'll confess is a pretty normal state of mind for me these days! LOL) but Dedalus, you said:
almost entirely pre-or-post menopausal women
Don't most women fall into that category? Heheheh
sorry for the interruption, please continue with your regularly scheduled thread
Dana