Roseland

Roseland

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Mental Health Crisis in NC

At our church we have a wonderful advocate for Mental Health Care, Edith, a retired psychiatric nurse. She has shown me, and many other folks, how, through proper guidance by a devout advocate, one can improve the mental health of someone suffering through a mental illness crisis.
I was naive enough to think mental illness was a never-ending downward spiral with little hope, other than medication at best.

Edith knew that with loving care & knowledge of the social system, she could intervene in a desperate woman's life & walk along beside this hopeless person till D. overcame the crisis & began to function on her own again. D.'s story is a success because she 'demanded' help & caring friends responded. Without an advocate(s), D. could not have climbed out of her despair.

Our church family has a number of young people dealing with serious mental health situations. What can we offer them? Where can they go to receive professional help?

N.C.'s Mental System is in a crisis itself, and every N.C. citizen should be alarmed enough to be livid that the state's Mental Health programs have almost disappeared & funds may be cut. Dorthea Dix, the largest mental hospital in the state, is being closed very soon.
We need to insist that the experts look at those states who have quality, successful, programs & model them here!
And it can't be soon enough!!!

All families are affected in one way or the other by mental illness, whether it be depression, threatened suicide, anxiety, bi-polar issues, autism, anger issues, anorexia, & the list goes on & on! Countless mental struggles affect families & communities, & schools & churches & the workplace.

How can we turn a deaf ear!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Raindrops On Eva

 
Here is a photograph of the Eva Perry Library after getting one or two rain showers overnight. Our Shepherd's Vineyard greenway leads directly to this wonderful magical place. This library has the largest circulation of any library in North Carolina. We definitely are a community of book lovers:)
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Friday, February 15, 2008

TGIF

 
I am home with a chest cold. My throat is sore after so much coughing. I must say I don't get a cold very often so don't have much patience with sitting/lying around ALL DAY, then again I don't feel like doing much else:(
A delimma:(
And TV, even with a hundred plus channels, is not entertaining after a while! HGTV and TLC run the same things over & over; good grief:( The Food Network is pretty good.
I love reading but my eyes feel too weak to read much--ugh:(

So much for the whining....
Now if I were at the beach, rocking away on a shady porch in front of the blue/green ocean, slurping my Dayquil, munching on Hall's, and drinking Splash, wrapped in a light warm quilt, that would be easier to take, I'm thinking.
Ahhh......
Judy, are you rocking away down there??
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Saturday, February 09, 2008

A Refreshing Weekend

 
Last weekend Keith & I spent a sweet time with longtime friends at one couple's beautiful home on Oak Island:) The girls talked all weekend catching up on various and sundry while the boys watched TV, we ate delicious food, some of us took a beach walk, and we all played a few sessions of the game Sequence.

This sunset photo was taken along Southport's waterfront just before we ate supper nearby. Southport is a pretty & charming NC coastal town, graced with many trees, where you can choose to hunt for bargains at consignment shops, check out artsy/craftsy shops, and/or catch a ferry to Bald Head Island or Fort Fisher.

Thank you, Judy & J.E., and Linda & Dean:) The setting was wonderful, but visiting with y'all was my favorite part:)
I wish it could have lasted another week!!
Maybe someday:)
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