Our mail is always annoyingly late, but yesterday it was worth waiting for. We got a wonderful packet from P. and N. which included a Frank Sinatra DVD for Pat, a picture of P. and me, a thank-you note for their visit of last month, and a little St. Patrick's Day card.
The last two were not the usual, store-bought items, welcome though those would be. The note was in the shape of a tee-shirt--beige, with a picture of a cougar on the front, exactly like the tee shirt we gave N. when she was here. And the card opened to show a tiny shamrock behind celluloid, crocheted by N. herself. What talent she has in so many ways and how lucky we are to have her in the family! Happily, they called on Skype last night and I was able to see and talk to them. They were leaving shortly to meet Mike, who's in Tokyo again on business.
In the same mail delivery, I received a manuscript written 28 years ago by my dear cousin, Judy. It's called "The Handicapped At Home, Revised for Medical Personnel" and sets out in detail the regime followed for her care.
Judy was paralyzed at the C-5,6 level in a car accident when she was in her early twenties. She was an only child and lived at home with her parents, my Uncle Frank and his wife, Aunt Claire. Probably due to the exquisite care she received from them, aides, and their legion of friends, Judy lived to be 55, predeceasing both of them.
Judy had a master's degree in medical technology and actually taught the subject at Hahneman Hospital in Philadelphia after the accident. She also wrote a textbook, a copy of which I treasure. I visited her as often as I could and we corresponded via e-mail. I loved her dearly. The manuscript is very professional--clear, succinct, and to the point, but here and there, a little of Judy's humor shines through and that's a joy.
Wider: From Anti-War.Com and TomDispatch, by Frieda Berrigan:
"At the end of February, another huge "stimulus" package was announced but generated almost no comment, controversy, or argument. The defense industry received its own special stimulus package – news of the dollars available for the Pentagon budget in 2010; and at nearly $700 billion (when all the bits and pieces are added in), it's almost as big as the Obama economic package and sure to be a lot less effective."
She goes on in meticulous detail to outline the almost-impossible-to- comprehend size and power of the war machine, as well as the sly propaganda about it. The only gripe I have about Berrigan is that, as all writers seem to do, she falls into the fallacy of referring to the death-dealers as "the defense industry." We must remember to apply the proper nomenclature: "the child-killers and death dealers." Has a ring to it, doesn't it?