Dear, Dear John...

My posting today is taken from the last few pages of David McCullough's masterful biography of John Adams. Adams and Jefferson died the same day, July 4th 1826--the country's 50th birthday. McCullough's words speak volumes of these two men whom together were patriots, politicians, and finally friends.

Happy Fourth of July to all of you!

That John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had died on the same day, and that it was, of all days, the Fourth of July, could not be seen as a mere coincidence: it was a "visible and palpable" manifestation of "Divine favor," wrote John Quincy Adams in his diary that night, expressing what was felt and would be said again and again everywhere the news was spread.

"In the weeks and months that followed, eulogies to Adams and Jefferson were delivered in all parts of the country, and largely int he spirit that their departure should not be seen as a mournful event. They had lived to see "the expanded greatness and consolidated strength of a pure republic." They had died "amid the hosannas and grateful benedictions of a numerous, happy, and joyful people," and on the nation's fiftieth birthday, which, as Daniel Webster in a speech in Boston, was "proof" from on high "that our country, and its benefactors, are objects of His care."

The last of the ringing eulogies to Adams and Jefferson was not delivered until October of 1826, when Attorney General William Wirt addressed Congress on Washington. Recounting Adams's career, he cited Adams's defense of the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, his break with his old friend Jonathan Sewell, the crucial role he had played at Philadelphia in 1776 and Jefferson's line 'he moved his hearers from their seats.' Describing the friendly correspondence between the two old patriots in their last years, Wirt said that "it reads a lesson of wisdom on the bitterness of party spirit, by which the wise and the good will not fail to profit." But the accomplished orators who celebrated the two "idols of the hour" had all drawn on the historic record, or what could be gathered from secondhand accounts. They had not known Adams or Jefferson, or their "heroic times," from firsthand experience. Those who had were all but vanished.

Adams had, however, arrived at certain bedrock conclusions before the end came. He believed, with all his heart, as he had written to Jefferson, that no effort in favor of virtue was lost.

He felt he lived int he greatest of time, that the eighteenth century, as he also told Jefferson, was for all its errors and vices, "the most honorable" to human nature. "Knowledge and virtues were increased and diffused; arts , sciences useful to man, ameliorating their condition, were improved, more that in any period."

His faith in god and the hereafter remained unshaken. His fundamental creed, he had reduced to a single sentence: "He who loves the workman and his work, and does what he can to preserve and improve it, shall be accepted of Him."

His confidence int eh future of the country he had served so long and dutifully was, in the final years of his life, greater than ever.

Human nature had not changed, however, for all the improvements. Nor would it, he was sure. Nor did he love life any the less for its pain and terrible uncertainties. He remained as he had been, clear-eyed about the paradoxes of life and in his own nature. Once, in a letter to his old friend, Francis van der Kemp, he had written, "Griefs upon griefs! Disappointments upon disappointments. What then? This is a gay, merry world notwithstanding."

Wisdom of Abraham

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
---Abraham Lincoln


As you celebrate this weekend in your family fireworks, bar-be-ques, and parades, take a moment to reflect on the principles that make this country great. Ask yourself if you are defending, supporting, and encouraging those principles in your family. The only way we keep America great, if to do our part.

God bless America! Have a fun and safe 4th of July!

First the Stress, Now the Fee

The bills from my June Medical Nightmare are starting to roll in. Isn't it curious that the tests are over and done with just long enough that you get to have a good, deep breath, and then the wind is knocked out of you again by the cost of what they had done to you?

I was really irate yesterday when I got the bill for the hospital that did my biopsy. Yes, they did give me the "insurance adjusted deduction" but the total was still in the thousands of dollars. Did they remember that I didn't CHOOSE this procedure? I was strongly admonished--nigh unto commanded--to have this done. I would rather take a Disneyland vacation with that money, now that I know I was OK. But that is always the after-the-fact choice.

I am still responsible for the payment of these outrageously expensive tests. Yes, I was a responsible adult, and had medical insurance, but we still have deductibles to pay for and the percentage not covered after the deductible is met. It is going to add up to a lot of money.

I know that if I didn't choose to have the tests done, the likelihood of cancer actually being there would have been great--not to mention the "What If" factor that I always have in the back of my head. I really wonder if they overload the testing in a situation like mine, just to avoid malpractice of negligence lawsuits in the event they might miss a diagnosis otherwise.

It is too bad. No wonder the cost of health care of so astronomical.

I spoke with someone, after my pathology came back clean, and she said she had a similar experience. In her case though, she said they did the initial mammogram which indicated something "suspicious". They had her back for another mammogram, and then did a biopsy. I had an additional ultrasound exam , and an MRI exam before the MRI guided biopsy. Certainly, the extra tests will cost me.

If they had found something, maybe I would feel differently, and I can see the wisdom in conservative decisions in medicine. I just hope the choices medical professional made on my behalf, were medically necessary, and not just made to cover their butts. Because I am the responsible party here than now has to pay for their work.

Who knows? Maybe I am just financing their summer homes in Aspen.

Flying Down the Highway...

Today is already JULY? How does this happen? Anyone else thinking the end must be near as the days are not the same length as they used to be? That must be the explanation.

In summers past, my kids would have been well into a schedule by now. We would have Fridays as a field trip day. We'd be working on some learning project for the summer (like a sewing or building project). We would feel like we were accomplishing something worthwhile.

So far, we have been busy, and a little busier. The Boy has been to a week at camp at Blue Mountain Boy Scout Camp, and is currently at Timberline camp this week. The Girl has been the Girls' Camp and is just waiting and preparing for the Stake Trek in a few more weeks. We have been to the pool every morning for swim team. Genius Golfer had two week at home with us, but used them practicing for a qualifying tournament for the State Amateur tourney, and sitting through medical tests with me. The summer for me so far has included a month of scary tests and lots of worry, early Sunday morning Trek meetings, visits to ward Girls' Camps from our stake, trying to get the kids on a schedule and a daily work project and still seeing Dear Friend Tammy every week and getting to see some other friends in a more social way--but it is a less regular plan there too.

"Dog Days of Summer", pashaw. I'm just dog-tired this summer.

Dazed and Confused

Do you ever see someone that you know you recognize, but you can't remember WHERE you know them from? Names are ever harder to recall for me, so I just try to fake that part until it comes to me.

I went to the temple this morning and one of the workers in my session was a face that I knew I recognized, but didn't make a connection for several minutes. Needless to say, I was not quite paying full attention to the business at hand while I was trying to remember.

When it finally did come to me, I realized he was the co-operating teachers when I student taught at Mountain View High School, about 17 years ago. I saw him the first two days I was there and then not again until the end of my semester when he came back to take his class. Apparently, wrestling coaches like having student teachers because it gives them a semester off.

If I am struggling with this recognition issue now, and I am not quite 40 yet, what will if be like when I am 60?!

Rent-a-Dog

My sister is visiting my parents this week and since her neighbors were gone for the July 4th holiday week, we have her dog, Duke. He is a happy dog and so excited. He jumps up on you when you go into the back yard and wants to play.

He is young yet, so he is very busy chewing things up when you aren't looking. This morning I caught him with the new BBQ grill brush Genius Golfer bought about Father's Day. A wire brush doesn't seem like it would feel that good to chew on, but that might be offset by the greasy, carnivorous flavors there. What is a dog to do?

He made a new friend yesterday as The Girl took him for a walk. Our end-of-street neighbors have a little shitzhu named Chewy. Chewy is just a little well groomed, puffy dog, not even a foot tall. The dogs played in their yard for a while. Neighbor Holly gave The Girl a bag of dong bone treats. She told The Girl someone gave them a Costco sized box of "big dog" treats. It takes Chewy a few weeks to get through one. Duke does not have this problem.

We have Duke through Sunday. It is good for my kids to take care of a dog for a while. Though, we certainly are not ready to be full time dog owners at this point. Must need more practice.

New Job

Aren't you glad this is NOT the way things really work....or maybe I am being overly simple minded. It's been a while since I went job hunting, I am pleased to remember.

Genius Golfer begins his new job tomorrow. We are excited about the possibilities. I am not, however excited to learn yet another insurance plan. However after the month I have had dealing with medical things, I might be more adept at this insurance thing that previously believed. Let's cross our fingers, shall we, for both of us.