Well, Since I last blogged it was the year 2010. Since then, we have entered a new year, and I have entered a new age check box on all forms. The one that says ☑ 40 - 60. I have been really busy with work... and of course my #1 priority: being a mom, but this turning F-F-F-F---(*sigh....deep breath...) FORTY thing has really caused me to step back and be introspective.
This post is not going to be a normal one for me, and perhaps too personal, but I am going to just start "blabbing" about Things That I Have Learned, What I think is Important, Funny Memories, Random Facts about Me that Even My Closest Friends Might Not Know, and Whatever I Feel Like Posting, because I am 40 now and this is my year, Right??
Behold, much Randomness.....
My friends and Family are incredible. That is a fact that I NEVER take for granted. You can't pick your family, but I really lucked out with what God blessed me with. We all truly love each other. The family that I was born into AND the family that I created. My husband & I have been together for almost 15 years, most of my adult life! And I am so glad God gave me my two boys. They are such incredible little men. I am a momma bear: I would go to the ends of the earth to protect my children. God is Good!
Although you can't pick your family, you can pick your friends and I PICK GOOD. My friends are like family. In most cases I believe that quality is better than quantity, but in this case, I have been blessed with both. Lots of loving, loyal, true friends. I am a lucky girl with my family and friends. And I don't take it for granted, I really don't. All I have to do is watch one afternoon of Local & National News, and with all the craziness and heartache out there, I count my blessings.
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HOW OLD AM I?
THIS WAS MY BABY SITTER GROWING UP. AND NO, THIS IS NOT A COSTUME.
We used to spend every summer growing up in Abilene, Texas. Our friends had a regular babysitter that used to babysit us the week we were there. Her name was Lonie Airhart. Lonie was not her given name, Leona was her real name. She was in her 90's when she babysat us, and died at 100. And she lived alone and never married. She sacrificed her chance of marriage to take care of her mother. And she drove her original Ford Model-T car. Yes, you can't make this stuff up.
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In my youth, I always wanted to be a singer. God has a sense of humour. I am tone deaf. I also learned how to hunt at a very young age. (I'm a Texan, remember? No attacks, please, I don't hunt anymore). I won several bars (medals) in Riflery, Prone position at Summer Camp each year. I also competed in the Jesse Owens Junior Olympics in the broad jump. I played the piano until I was about 13, Modern Dance until I was about 12 and Soccer until I was about 22. Darn those soccer calves never leave you! I was an avid reader and writer, and wrote my first series of short stories called "Super Pig" with my neighbour when I was about 9. We wrote at least 50 stories.
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I HAVE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS AND SWEET'S SYNDROME.
I was first diagnosed with the autoimmune disease AnkylosingSpondylitis/ Spondyloarthropathy (previously called Bekhterev's Disease & Marie-Strümpell Disease) several years ago. I suffered back problems and sciata, where I was bedridden for weeks at a time. This went on for years. I had years of epidural blocks, steroid injections, you name it. I had x-rays and MRI's of every joint in my back and neck and was scheudeling a spinal fusion surgery when my dad prompted me to seek out a Neurosurgeon for a second opinion. He then led me to get an x-ray/MRI of my sacroiliac joints, where it showed evidence of fusion.
I began a treatment of Enbrel, among steroids & NSAIDS, for my AS. I have had a life long phobia of needles. And Enbrel is administered by a needle... That you have to inject yourself.... Every week. There is NOTHING better to rid you of your fears than to be forced to face them. And when you have debilitating pain, you will gladly welcome a shot. My pain was so bad that I went for weekly accupuncture treatments also. This is from a girl that fainted in COLLEGE when I had my finger pricked!
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| In 1818, Benjamin Brodie was the first Medical Doctor to document a patient he believed had AS. The patient was Leonard Trask, and in 1858 David Tucker published a small booklet about this case. This was the first documented case of AS in the United States. |
This is when I am SOOOO THANKFUL FOR THE PROGRESS MADE IN THE MEDICINE COMMUNITY. AS has been documented since the 2nd Century, and without treatment, two of the worst scenarios that could happen are an extreme curve at the neck where your head would point down (like the book above) and lung scarring and inflammation, and ultimately failure. The Biologic Medicines have truly made my back (mostly) pain free. I have developed instances of costochondritis with it, but that's a lot better than chronic pain.... OR a stooped posture.
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| This is what my joints look like when my disease is active. It doesn't just affect my hands and knees. Sometimes it's my shoulders, elbows, even my jaw. |
But then I noticed swelling and pain in my joints. Mostly in my hands. This became so bad that I had limited mobility and I was often completely unable to use my hands. I couldn't open a bottle of milk, brush my hair, hold a fork, it sounds so exaggerated but it is even worse than that at times. This is when my Rheumatologist diagnosed me with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I then switched from Enbrel, to Remicade. They are both biologic medicines, which aim to block/reduce the level of TNF proteins in your body. (Tumor Necrosis Factor is a normal protien of the immune system, but in auto-immune diseases, these TNF's attack your body, therefore causing the inflammation. A biologic like Enbrel, Remicade, Humira and others block this TNF protien, therefore easing the inflammatory disease. It changes the biology of your body and therefore is a very serious drug, which carries a high risk of obtaining TB, Seizures, Multiple Sclerosis, Blood Cancer (Lymphona), Hepatitis and heart failure. I am not a doctor and this is my best explanation. ) With RA, I have also had the joy of having anemia and carpal tunnel syndrome which often accompanies arthritic diseases. But also, would welcome anemia any day over pain and crippling.
Remicade is administered by IV, which I received once a month. I actually enjoyed this time in the infusion room. I was forced to rest and be still for a couple hours, and I knew that the end result was RELIEF.
During this time though, I developed a weird rash that was accompanied by hives and extreme pain and heat. This went on for a year. I had it on different parts of my body every 3 -5 days and they would last for 48 hours. But they were so painful that they left that part bruised and sore. After many trips to the allergist, my dermatologist did a biopsy on one and determined that it was a form of Sweet's Syndrome (acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, named after the doctor who discovered it Robert Sweet, and sometimes called Gomm-Button Disease.) OY VEY.
I apply topical steroids on them, Lidocaine Patch's, Voltaren Topical Pain Gel and have switched from Remicade to Humira, another self-administered injection. So I am back to giving myself shots, this time in the stomach, every other week. Last week I even WATCHED the liquid go in! The progress one can make from fear to owning your fear. {wow}
When things are bad, they're bad. But I have my husband who never hesitates to help OR never complains about picking up the slack around the house when I can't walk. I have my sons who will brush my teeth and brush my hair when I am unable to use my hands. I have my friends who don't tire of me complaining and never forget to ask how I am feeling. And I have periods of remission where I feel like I am 25 again and can dance on pool tables singing karaoke at birthday parties.
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I HAVE SEEN A U.F.O.
About 3 years ago my husband & I were driving down a county road in the Hill Country of Texas. We were in Blanco County heading to Fredericksburg for a friend's wedding. It was about 9:00 pm and we were the only one's on the road, I in the passenger seat with my husband driving. I look out my window and I am not kidding when I say right out the window, maybe 50 yards away and low was a UFO.
(Okay, hear me out here. I'm not crazy. Remember the definition of a UFO is Unidentified Flying Object). It was hovering. It was huge. And it glowed: not the entire thing, there was a row of lights all on the bottom. But the lights glowed. It disappeared and reappeared about 3 seconds later, but about 50 yards further down the farm field (getting behind me in the car). It hovered and disappeared again only to reappear about 50 more yards down. Now it was so far behind me I had to totally turn my head in the car and press my face against the glass. This all happened within a matter of 10 seconds and my mind didn't even have time to process what was happening. I have to say this because the question comes next "Did your husband see it? Why didn't you say anything?" This all sounds so unbelievable but really. In my eyes it was slow-motion but in reality it probably was a 10 second event. And it made NO noise. And it was HUGE. And it truly floated. Like a blimp but bigger and wider. And it wasn't far away. It was close.I looked in the papers the next day, actually the whole next week to see if there were any more spottings or if there was an airforce practice or SOMETHING TO EXPLAIN WHAT I SAW. And there was nothing. Nada. My husband believes me. My eyes do not deceive me. I'm not THAT old yet.
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MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER BUILT THE MOST HAUNTED PRISON....
If you are NOT a history buff, you will want to skip all this.
If you DO like American History, read on.
If you are NOT a history buff, you will want to skip all this.
If you DO like American History, read on.
Since we're on the topic of Aliens, let's go ahead and move on to ghosts. Hautnings. Prisons. Ha ha. Okay, but seriously. My Granddad's Grandfather was something pretty unique. He mined in the California Gold Rush (I still have some of the souvenirs he brought home with him), was almost lynched in the South and barely escaped with his life, and built the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville, WV. Architecturally, I think it is BEAUTIFUL. If you can call a prison that.
The design of the structure is a castellated Gothic stone structure with turrets and battlements. The stone walls are 5 feet thick and the foundation is 5 feet deep. When planning the style for the new prison in 1866, soon after West Virginia seceded from Virginia, a Gothic Revival Architectural style was chosen as it "exhibited as much as possible, great strength and conveyed to the mind a cheerless blank indicative of the misery which awaits the unhappy being who enters within it's walls." Crikeys.
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| My Great Great Grandfather Galbraith S. McFadden |
When My GG Grandfather built the prison, he also also wrote the first set of Rules & Regulations for the State Pen. I have his handwritten paper of these rules that he penned in 1867. He served as the first superintendent and first warden, from 1866-1870. I need to pass these on to the Prison for their historical documents! It is what I would consider typical Guard Regulations:
Article VIII: Each Guard is required to keep the Arms he uses in good condition, recapping them each other day; drawing the loads from the shot guns once a week and supplying them with fresh powder.
In a page from The Wheeling Intelligencer from 1869, it gives this information:
"The cost when finished is estimated at a half million, but it would seem at this rate to be far to too low. It is designated to provide room for some 440 convicts, whereas thus far the average is found to be about 80. A half million Penitentiary for the keeping of 80 convicts makes it cost over $6,000 for house room for each one. If it costs like this to build a Penitentiary, what will it be when we come to a capitol?"
Well, when the prison opened, it housed 251 male inmates, most of which helped build it. The structure was originally built for 480 prisoners but by the early 1930's it housed 2,400 and was severely over-crowded. And the cost was $260,000. GS McFadden proved that he did not waste one nickel of the State. The prison was intentionally built with small, austere cells. With the over-crowding that became, the cells were too small for 3 inmates. It was closed in the 1990's.
The West Virginia Penitentiary has appeared in several books, movies and television shows. Some of late have included SciFi's Ghost Hunters, Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures, A&E's Paranomal State and the Discovery Channel's Ghost Lab. It is said to be EXTREMELY haunted. You can also plan to spend the night here if you choose! I think I'll skip, thank you.
But if there is one thing my GG Grandfather was NOT a fan of, it was cruelty to humans. In fact, he believed in equality and compassion so much that it almost got him killed. My GG and my GGG Grandfathers lived in Washington Co, PA which was strongly an anti-slavery, abolitionist county. In 1843 When Galbraith was eighteen he moved to Pittsburgh to become an architect and carpenter. With his trade and looking for new jobs, he soon traveled south. He ended up in Arkansas River Country, which is where his views of anti-slavery nearly got him killed. A lynching mob was sent after him when he was discovered to be an abolitionist.
I have a letter he wrote in 1896, in response to someone asking about his "sudden departure from Arkansas in the fall of 1850.
I think this letter is SO interesting just from a historical perspective. It really shows how un-united the States were at that time. And how gravely dangerous it was, politically to voice your opinion - depending on where you were in the Country. *Note: I deleted the names of the Plantation Owners, out of respect for their descendants. Somewhere they have great great grandchildren, and no one should carry the sins of the father. All other wording remains - wording that I may not feel comfortable reading and/or typing, but I left the letter as is, historically accurate of the 1840's.
Moundsville, W.Va,. Dec. 29, 1896
Hon. James *-----*,
My dear Sir:
In answer to your note of inquiry of recent date as to story going the rounds of my sudden departure from Arkansas in the fall of 1850. I left that region then without much ceremony upon the suggestion of "Uncle Peter" colored.
I will commence at the beginning of my adventures in the South. My first experience was in Louisiana. Carrol Parish, my parter, and I built a house for *---*, a large planter, and within a few days of the completion of the house -- about the 4th of January, 1847-- one of *---*'s slaves set fire to it. The entire building, and our tools were burned and our clothing stolen. I was left 1,900 miles from home with cash assets of $3.45, and a well scuffed suit of working clothes. I walked from "Bunches Bend" to Lake Providence, La. and there met A.B. Caldwell, a lawyer (who died in Wheeling a few years since). He was about to marry and wanted a house built. We, my partner and I, understood the job, which we finished up in good shape. Whilst working on the Caldwell house an old Frenchman named *----*, from the Arkansas River landed a raft of lumber with a dead Frenchman on board in front of the Caldwell property. At that time my partner had a broken leg. *-----* came to see me and asked me to make a coffin for the dead man, which I agreed to do and did, never thinking of what disease the corpse had died with. The old Frenchman and crew left the raft and went into town (Lake Providence). I made the coffin from lumber on the raft and when ready to put the corpse in the coffin I called upon a couple of colored men to assist me to bury the corpse. The man had died with cholera. After the scare passed away the old Frenchman made me good offers to go up into the Arkansas River country, and I went to upper "Plum Bayou" to *------*'s plantation. My operations were building Gin houses, Cotton presses, dwellings for the whites and "quarters" for the slaves. My politics or religion, (of the latter there was very little of it around) were never discussed until I went to work for Col. *----*, a large planter and having about 250 slaves. I was with him over one year. His plantation fronted on the Arkansas River about *-------- * miles *----* the "Post of Arkansas", and old French town.
During the time, probably six months after I went to his farm, the old gentleman, who was about 70 years old proposed one day to me to lay off from work as he would like me to write his will. Of course I consented and when completed he asked me to read it over to him. He had dictated the language used in the bequests, etc. The first bequest and heading read as follows:
"I, *-----*, being both sound of body and mind, do make this, my last will and testament. First - I will and bequeath my soul to God, the One who gave it, etc." and after distributing the slaves, lands and mules and all that pertained to the plantation -- here is where I put my foot in it -- after the will was completed I read it over to the Colonel and he seemed much pleased with it, and with his good feelings he order "Nichodemus," his body servant to go to Mrs. *---*. and have a couple of pint tumblers of "Mathiglum" for master Mc (sic) and myself. Mathiglum is a preparation of peach brandy and honey with enough of the former to raise the hair a little; after partaking of the above mixture, which seemed to have a sort of exhilarating influence upon your humble servant, the Colonel proposed I should read the will over again which I did and he then asked me how I thought it would do. My reply was, "I doubted if God would take the first bequest off his hands." Upon my answer the Colonel flew to pieces for a little while and it all seemed to blow over, but soon after the will episode "Joe", a slave, stole a plug of tobacco from the clothes of a plasterer who was working in the new house I was building for the Colonel. The Colonel sent for the overseer to come in from the cotton field and settle with Joe, which they did in an inhuman manner by the bucking, gaging and beating with a paddle of Pecan wood with seven holes (small ones) burned through the paddle. The paddle was applied 250 times with about four horse power from the overseer who weighed about 300 lbs. Which put Joe in his quarters as long as I staid in that section of the country. I wrote the above account of the beating to my father who then lived at West Middletown, Washington Country, Pa., the hot-bed of Abolitionism.
I, soon after writing my father, received his answer to my letter and his opinion of the people where I was then living with an urgent request for me to come home and leave such a country and people. Not long after I received my letter from my home I lost the letter and a colored man found it and turned it over to "old Master" which give (sic) me away. Old master sent messengers after some of his neighboring planters to come in to his plantation for business. On my way to the old house in the evening from work "Uncle Peter" the blacksmith on the plantation and a slave had been punished very severely not long before this even occurred, as I was passing his shop Peter says "Master Mack, youse a Abolition, aint you?" I said "What is that?" "Peter says old master sayes youse a D--d Abolition and he's going to rope you tonight. He has a letter --" I felt my pocket, my letter was gone, and I went up the order of my going. Peter told me where to go and he would come to me in the night, which he did and gave me some cold oppossum and sweet potatoes, and ferried me over the river. I have never been back to the country since I left in such a hurry. I had $15.00 cash in my pocket. I lost wages, $700.00, horse, saddle and briddle, a chest of tools worth $250.00, all my clothing except what I had on. I reached my home in safety, remained north about one year and went to California in 1852, returned home winter of 1853-4. Went back to California in the summer of 1854, my second trip across the plains via Salt Lake City. In 1856 I built a quartz mill in Placerville, Eldora County. The mill was run by an overshot water wheel sixty feet in diameter which propelled ten -estals 836 lbs each and each one struck 40 times per minute.
I left California January '57 and landed in Moundsville May 26, 1857. Farmed for nine years, and introduced fine wool sheep into Marshall County in 1858. In 1866 I was appointed Superintendent of the West Virginia Penitentiary and built the greater part of the institution under my supervision. I also prepared the plans, etc. of the Penitentiary. Before leaving California I had the honor of voting for John C. Fremont and after I landed in Elizabethtown (now Moundsville) my head was a target for brick bats for about two years on account of my abolition sentiments.
Respectfully yours,
GSMcFadden
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| Me & Big Momma |
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Wow. I am mentally exhausted now! Didn't mean to get so serious! I guess once I started going on about family I couldn't stop. I am so interested in history, always have been. This letter reminds me of just how far we've come in our country with equality. Even now, not everything's completely perfect, but back then going against the opposition and standing for what's "just" often cost you your life.
Gosh, on a lighter note, I am going to bed. It's 7:00 pm and I'm tired. Remember, I'm old and 40 now! ENOUGH ABOUT ME NOW! Goodgrief~!!
