Mama Always ~ L.A. Brown, Author

I just read the most heartbreaking, and the most infuriating article that I think I've ever seen. And trust me, there's been a stink-load of them. I mean, seriously, the US does not have the patent apparently, on the crazy news. In case you missed it, although I'm not sure how, Charlie Gard's parents have given up. They believe they have missed the window of opportunity to try to get him treatment because his CT scans have shown grave degradation in his brain matter. The time has passed where they could even begin to think there would be any improvement whatsoever. That said...  the article that I just read had a paragraph that infuriated the tar out of me: " In a piece for   The Guardian   entitled   “Despite Charlie Gard’s Tragic Story, We Must Respect The Process Of Our Courts,”   UCL health professor, Ian Kennedy, expressed sympathy for the plight of Charlie, but ultimately justified it on the basis that “children do not belong to their parents.” …As ...

Lately, jokingly, mind you, a friend questioned if Diary of a Crazy Cat Lady wasn't autobiographical. As much as I would love to have the farmhouse described therein, complete with wrap-around covered porch and decked out sunroom, I still have to say no, its 98% fabrication, with a smattering of past events thrown in just to make it more personable. So, why the question? Well, it seems that I have a "kitten drop-box" in my closet. Yeah, you read that right, a kitten drop-box.  Let me explain. A year or so ago (it all sort of blends sometimes), we had a tallow tree grow right beside the house and up through the eaves. Those are what are known here in Texas as trash trees or weed trees. The reason being is because they grow like 'em. It doesn't take more than a few weeks for them to get the strength and height to get to and through an eave.  The fact that we don't visit that side of the house that often (our drive-way is on the opposite side of the house...

Wow. When I look around me, all I can do is shake my head. It's been a while since I've posted, I know, and I apologize. Lots has been going on and sitting down and writing has been something that I've had a problem doing. My thoughts have come out jumbled as if they just went through a blender. Until now. Trust me, there has been fodder out there for me to write about, but in the interest of keeping my witness about me and my sanity to boot, I've just stuck to what my mother used to say, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." That said...I'm going to step out there and just let go. Since the Dr. Dao incident, I've been itching to get on here and say what I think. Well, I'm not commenting on that or any of the other incidents, sort of. Actually, I'm going to address all of them at the same time with my opinion, such as it is. Take it or leave it, it is what I think. We live in a "microwave" soc...

Let's get real here. Special needs is still something that is talked about in hushed tones by the majority of the public. Not so much by the parents of these children, or adults.  There are so many aspects of what we as parents deal with on a daily basis with our special needs family members, that a "normal" parent would run screaming into the night over. I'm not kidding. Some parents have children that, because of their neural wiring, threaten their (parent's) lives on a daily basis. Some parents have to place their loved ones in homes, for their own safety. Not in defeat, although they may feel they have been defeated, but because they are doing what is the right thing for that child. Others live with the very thin line that they walk every day because they know they can, and must. They're the only ones who can take on what is coming because they know ( in my opinion), God has given them the strength to withstand the mountains ahead of them. Some pare...

I sat here and looked at my blank screen for quite a while. I want to say so much, but I don't know what to say or where to start. My first best friend, my Sister-Cousin Debi, has gone to Glory. Its not as if we didn't expect her passing, because we did. We knew this was coming, even with all of the prayers for complete healing, we still knew. And, I daresay, we mentioned to God for His will to be done, knowing that He was finishing his preparation for her to go Home, but still we held out hope. Debi was released to home hospice I think about three weeks ago, with the warning that she had between 48 hours and two months left. There was hopeful news in there, too...her lungs were clear as a bell. It made me think we were on an upward trend, and encouraged me to continue to pray for healing. But in the back of my mind, I knew. Lord, I knew that her time was limited. So I went down there to her one more time. I spent more time with her...I made her laugh, checked her throwing ...

Well, I'm home from a weekend seeing my cousin, Debi. To be honest with you, even when I left, I felt that things were not going to go well. Apparently God has different plans. Now whether or not He is going to go all out or not is yet to be seen, but as I mentioned above, I'm more than willing to wait in eager anticipation. When I got to my parent's house Thursday, I was beat (my Cousin and her family live next door). I told my parents that I'd go next door to see her the next day. Her daughters and grandsons came in on Friday morning,and I went with Mom and Dad to Benson earlier in the day. After lunch/dinner, I told them I was going next door. When I hiked the, oh, 1/32nd of an acre to their door, I was greeted by my Cousin-in-Love and his son. I was a little surprised at how much weight she had lost since my last visit in January. Not much meat on those bones. I talked with her for a little bit, but she got tired easily, so I left. The next day, Kristina and I w...

This has been a tough weekend, no doubt about it. Seeing my cousin was all at once wonderful, but the circumstances makes it tough. Hands down, probably one of the toughest. My dear cousin, the one fighting cancer, is fighting the good fight, but she's tired. The fight is almost over for her, and part of me is glad...a very small part. The other, larger part of me wants to see her miraculously healed, jumping up and suggesting we go shopping, or to Tombstone, or horseback riding, but the whole of me is in actuality, a realist. I want to believe that will happen, but the reality of it is, she's winding down. She's ready for the pain to be over. She's ready to hang up her gloves...and I'm sad. I've also seen a side of my Cousin-in-Law that makes me glad that she chose him, almost 38 years ago, to be her husband. I mentioned before, I was in her wedding, met him then. Thought he was a bit...over the top maybe. But she loved him with a fierce love, and that love...