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How We Were Almost Arrested in France

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  10 years ago, today, the Keresty Family was finishing their incredible 3-week European vacation.  Even with  experiencing record lows and unheard-of snow accumulation it had been a trip beyond description.  We were ready to come home and driving toward Paris to catch a flight in 2 days.  Zipping along in the rental Audi (for those of you who read my posts, that Audi word is important) and singing The Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps Song by VeggieTales.  How could you NOT be singing that – I mean – the Alps are RIGHT THERE!  We were about an hour away from our stop for the night, Belfort, France when there was a POP and immediately Kaitlin said I smell smoke.  I pulled over as soon as I could and sure enough, blown out tire.  I need to mention here that when we were planning this trip, Joe and I agreed to divide the driving since we did 7 countries in 3 weeks and while countries are like states here, that is a bit of driving.  However, for reasons known only to Joe, he was terrifi
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Can I have Puppy

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       “Can I have a puppy?” This became the mantra of our 6-year-old daughter for the next 4 years. We bought her an entire set of stuffed black Labradors (all named Blackie) that ranged in size from “it fits in my hand” to “there is no room for me in the bed.” “Can I have a puppy?” We bought her a  computerized dog that followed her everywhere and barked at the appropriate dog barking times. “Can I have a puppy?”      When she was 8 she doggie sat for a friend’s cocker spaniel named Harry and did her best to show us that she could walk him and feed him and clean up after him. Still, no giving in to the daily “Can I have a puppy? As she was nearing her 10th birthday Kaitlin decided to adopt the lizards living in our back-yard block wall. She named them and did her best to feed them potato chips. “Can I have a puppy?”        A writing assignment was given at school to all the students to form a persuasive paragraph. Kaitlin used this opportunity to convince us that she was mature enou
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  I've known  since I was 8 years old that I would someday die from either a heart attack or a stroke.  Almost everyone on both sides of my parents' families have died from a heart issue or a stroke.  Even at that young age, I didn't need an explanation. In spite of  this theory and my growing annoyance by my Apple Watch shouting "Your heart has shown signs of an irregular rhythm suggestive of atrial fibrillation" I was still shocked when at my last cardiologist appointment, the doctor walked in and said "you are in afib".  My appointment six months prior had ended so wonderful - blood pressure lower than it's been in years, weight going down and just feeling great so I was not expecting that diagnosis at all.  Atrial Fibrillation -  The heart's upper chambers (atria) beat out of coordination with the lower chambers.  During a normal heartbeat, the upper chambers (atria) and lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart work together to pump blood t
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If I Can Do It - So Can You

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When I was a newborn, I ended up with a pillow over my face.  It required a visit to the hospital where I was pronounced dead but a persistent doctor continued to work on me and, thankfully, I took that breathe that allowed me to live.  I was 10 days old when this happened and I am still traumatized by anything over my face.  I realize that at 10 days I had no concept of what was happening to me or even any memory but my subconscious knows.  Sixty some years later, that haunt is still very active.  I have tried many times over the years to test this but every time I become panicked and remove whatever I was experimenting with.  Blankets, pillows, sheet, you name it - it totally freaks me out.  I have trouble concentrating, breathing and fighting off the overwhelming need to free myself. The first time I went out during this pandemic was over 2 months after I started working from home and I wore a mask.  Did I feel anxious - oh yeah.  Thankfully I was more preoccupied with my gla
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Happy Mother's Day

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Today is Mother's Day.  I have been blessed in my life with many mothers, especially the one who birthed me and the one who raised me.  My parents divorced shortly after I was born. Due to being way too young  to be a parent and the inequalities of the court system, I was adopted by my father's parents - my grandparents.  While I always knew who my "birth parents" were, and in later years build  an incredible relationship with both of them,  my Mom and Dad were the couple, that in their 40s, took on the responsibility of raising a baby.  I have no doubt  that they loved me and gave me everything humanly possible to make my childhood the best they could. Unfortunately, my father died when I was  a freshman in high school from cancer.  Yes, my experience with cancer goes way back.  My mother was a good woman that, while being heavy on the over protective side, did everything in her power to make sure that I grew up knowing how to be responsible, respectable and compa
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#metoo

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When I was in high school I was accused by one of the school administrators of doing something that I did not do and the punishment was before school detention.  No matter how much I argued my innocence he would not budge HOWEVER - he did offer me an alternative to the detention.  How to put this - he told me that if I would sexually satisfy him he would ignore the (non)infraction.  I replied that I would just take the punishment which amounted to sitting in HIS office for 45 minutes before school started.  I don't know if it was entered into my school record or not - I never heard anything more about it.  I served my time and never encountered him again. Years later on Facebook on a group page someone mentioned this person abusing them in high school  The amount of comments of "me too" that followed was overwhelming.  More and more information came out about this person and the faculty that helped him by standing guard while he took girls into a closet and a
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Blood Doesn't Make a Family

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In 1997 my doorbell rang and when I opened the door, my world changed.  An older couple had moved into a house on our street and they were walking around meeting the neighbors.  They told us that they moved into a new home area because they wanted to be around young people with families. I invited them in and within minutes I knew they were an answer to prayer. My grandmother/mother had passed away the year before and I was missing that relationship.  One of the first things Georgia (that was her name) did was invite us to church.  We were already attending a church but we were looking for something else so we went with them one Sunday and instantly knew this was where we belonged BUT that's another story.  Georgia's husband, Bob, was just as genuine and loving as she and they quickly become part of our family.  We had meals together, we did family outings together, they became my girls grandparents.  For the next 4 years we were family. I remember at a mother daughter t
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