Oh My Heart

Did the title grab you?  Are you expecting some mushy story?  

Sorry to disappoint but you know what's coming up!  A cause that is near and dear to My Heart!  

Women's Heart Health

Every February is designated as Women's Heart Month and everyone is encouraged to wear red as often as possible.  If nothing else wear it on the first Friday of the month.  

I've shared stories in the past of losing my mom when she was only 48.  I've shared stories about my mother-in-law and her surgeries, heart attacks, etc.  

I've shared all kinds of statistics with you. 

I drill this into my kids and grandkids -- PROMOTE NATIONAL WOMEN'S HEART HEALTH DAY!!!  

So I asked myself -- what can I say that will make an impact?  How do I stress how important this is?  Important for you - your mother, your daughter, your aunt, your cousin, your girlfriend, your wife. 

Think of all the women you know and then remember this:  1 in 3 women die of heart disease each year.  Did you read that?  1 in 3!

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women.  

So pay attention to your body.  If someone you know talks (I don't want to use the word complain) about 'vague' symptoms such as pain in their back or jaw, feeling overly tired, nausea  encourage them to go to their doctor. 

Have you heard them say 'I just feel off'?  Have them get their blood pressure checked.  

Trust me - at my house we take these things seriously.  I'm feeling off?  I'm calling to get a blood pressure check - I know it's going to be high and I'm not wrong.  And it's not just me -- Gary will be checking with me too -- probably more concerned than I am.  :)  

So here's your reminder:  Friday, February 7, 2020 - WEAR RED!  for Women's Heart Health. 

I'm going a little bit further here and encouraging you to post your picture on Facebook wearing red next Friday.  Ask your friends to post theirs as well.  

OH MY HEART!  

Mouse in the Lunch Box

This picture has been showing up all over my Facebook feed the last few weeks - not sure why.  It always brings back memories of my dad.

My dad worked at a manufacturing plant in our town.  His shift would vary.  It might be first shift which was 7-3. Second shift was 3-11 and third shift was 11-7. 

My mom also worked outside the home.  She left for work early, not sure what time but us kids always got ourselves up, made breakfast and got ourselves off to school.

One of my jobs was packing Dad's lunch, probably because I was the only girl. If Dad was working the first shift he would wake me up about 6:15 or so to pack his lunch. If he was on second shift and it was during school I guess he packed his own but it if was summer I was the one packing his lunch.

Lunch always included a thermos of coffee.  Mom always had some frozen pies or cupcakes or something from the day-old bakery shop in town.  She would buy several and put them in the freezer for snacks and lunches.  There would be chips and a sandwich or maybe some sardines and crackers or vienna sausages.  My choice what Dad ate - I made the lunch. 

While in Junior High I was in Home Ec class. One thing they advised was to 'make lunch boxes interesting and fun.'  Well, one summer day I tried to decide what I could do to make Dad's lunch 'fun'.  I took a plastic mouse and added it to his lunch box, kind of underneath a frozen pie wrapper so it looked like it was nibbling on the sandwich. 

I thought this was really funny of course.  What did my dad think when he opened his lunch box that night at work?  I don't know. I hope he found it amusing but he never said a word about it. 

I took a lunch box break for a few years but when my kids started school they quickly decided that packing a lunch meant they got to save that lunch money.  So I again started packing lunches.  No little rubber mice in these lunches though.  I would write little lunch-box ditties and poems and send along with them or else a short little note.  Their lunch boxes weren't anything like Dad's but I packed their lunch every day until they graduated.  With 5 kids and the last one graduatiing in 2011 I have packed many many lunches.

But this picture, whenever it shows up on my timeline, always makes me think of Dad and the mouse I sent in his lunch.