Relationships
When I Was Just a Little Girl
Originally WrittenFebruary 17, 2015 When I was just a little girl I asked my mother, what will I be Will I be pretty, will I be rich Here’s what she said to me…. Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be The future’s not ours, to see Que Sera, Sera What will be, will be […]
17Feb2024 | Nancy Belle | 2 comments | Continued
There’s Moving and Then There is MOVING
There’s Moving and Then There’s ‘MOVING’ Started; June 22,2021, Finished; December 9, 2023 A friend recently told me that statistically most people move about 10 or 11 times in their lifetime. Wow! Once I started to put the facts together, there was no doubt I had that beat by over a mile. I was born […]
9Dec2023 | Nancy Belle | 3 comments | Continued
A Sketch or Memorandom of Old Mr Thomas Capps
Just a small microcosm of my paternal family history. Only wish it was also audio.
15Apr2022 | Nancy Belle | 8 comments | Continued
Lost Family
I have an Aunt (I never met her) Grandpa Clark’s oldest daughter Mary Elizabeth Clark b. November 3, 1904 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. I haven’t found records that state when she began working for American Reduction Company in Pittsburgh, but I do know she worked there because her occupation and place of work are on […]
12Aug2020 | Nancy Belle | 2 comments | Continued
Born White
I have lived going on 71 years. Life has been tough with most accomplishments, good or bad, having been a hard row to hoe. I can say, I never thought I would see the day that so many things that people do or claim to be, is because ‘They were born that way’. I’ve always […]
3Aug2019 | Nancy Belle | 1 comment | Continued
Implication vs Assurance
I’m addicted to Facebook, no point in denying it! All my friends and family see me there everyday. Mostly I’m addicted to sharing my thoughts on anything and everything. Social media has given me an opportunity to not leave this world without showing out. I know you think I said that wrong and it should […]
9Jan2019 | Nancy Belle | 2 comments | Continued
Illegal Immigrants and How to Not To Do Anything About It
I am a hoarder of information, documents, letters, email, etc. Today I was forced to dig into the my archives for information someone wants, someone who had it, but didn’t take care of it. Any who I digress. While digging into the ramparts of my OLD emails, I found this little gem, from May of […]
28Jun2018 | Nancy Belle | 0 comments | Continued
Free Ranging Kids
The Clark Station on Mitchell, this was ‘Our Gangs’ pit stop on the way home from playing at Devil’s Backbone. My cousins and I would spend the day playing dirt clod war at ‘Bird Heaven’ or playing at mountain climbing on the 12th street side or sliding down the grassy steep hill on cardboard or […]
10Jun2018 | Nancy Belle | 5 comments | Continued
There you are Spot!!
Just saw this image of a beautiful pup on Facebook today and thought “There you are Spot!! and was immediately taken back to 58 years ago. I was between 11 and twelve when Spot came into my life for a short little while. The sweetest and neatest little black and white dog, ever! My step […]
23May2018 | Nancy Belle | 3 comments | Continued
Why? It’s More Than Guns
I don’t mean to disparage the intent of the Florida survivors who are now passionately pounding the anti-gun message. Yet, immediately after the shooting, I saw and heard several young people who claimed to know the shooter. They, with disdain in their voices, described a person who was off, didn’t fit in, was a juvenile […]
21Feb2018 | Nancy Belle | 5 comments | Continued
I Wrote My Own Story
This whole series of essays has explored the nurture and nature of my life. Some attempt to sort out nature and nurture necessarily meant writing less than favorable events in my family. All has been true. Which brings us to a sticking point, a conflict of philosophy – that of individual accountability and responsibility. There […]
20Feb2018 | Thomas Franklin | 2 comments | Continued
Letting Go
Anyone following this trail of essays on mental health might find themselves feeling sorry for this old fool. That is not my intention. About ninety-eight percent of my troubles have been the consequences of my own decisions. Does that make them less painful? No. Becoming aware of consequences directly related to one’s own decisions relieves […]
17Feb2018 | Thomas Franklin | 2 comments | Continued
Not The Good Guy
This chain of essays about behavioral health and mental health is exhausting. Am I talking in circles? Are there any conclusions? The best we can say, based only on these essays, is that we are governed by both nature and nurture. About fifteen years ago I began an intense journey seeking sanity and serenity. A […]
16Feb2018 | Thomas Franklin | 29 comments | Continued
Almost a Certainty
William Merritt Scotton, Sr. and Genevieve (Clark) Scotton, were married Wednesday, August 24, 1938 in St. Joseph, MO. She was a few months from 18 years and he was a couple of months into 21 years. They met by chance because he and Dorothy Castile were cousins and Genevieve and Dorothy were best friends. Merritt […]
23Jan2018 | Nancy Belle | 1 comment | Continued
How Cold is the Family Fold?
I come from a large family. Six women and two men make up the living siblings that all came from the same maternal loins. I am the oldest of this clan. My mother traditionally made me her helpmate in all things. I mean ALL things. For her I was the live in Nanny who brushed […]
13Dec2017 | Nancy Belle | 4 comments | Continued
Baseball Rebellion
I did not play baseball as a child. I hardly knew such a thing existed. One Spring day, long ago, I was wandering the St. Joseph, Missouri, streets with my brothers. As we passed the Noyes Baseball Field I noticed several of my school mates dressed in uniform and playing baseball on the well manicured […]
26Nov2017 | Thomas Franklin | 3 comments | Continued
Equality Is Not Tangible
I am all for equality between the sexes. Always have been, I guess. As a Baby Boomer, I have seen a whole lot of it not being that way. Equality is easily defined on paper and somehow in life it gets spread out, the lines get blurred and more difficult to find the easy divisions […]
16Nov2017 | Nancy Belle | 0 comments | Continued
Who Pulled Your Chain
Pardon my OCD a moment please. Sometimes I get intrigued (my chain gets pulled) by words and/or phrases I hear or read. The phrase in question “Shut your mouth your mind is hanging out” was spoken by one cowboy to another in a movie my husband was watching yesterday evening and I, by consequence, was […]
25Oct2017 | Nancy Belle | 0 comments | Continued
NFL, NASCAR and America
So the Divisionaries continue to divide… It’s true that NASCAR has only had 4 black drivers in its history, notably one being a black woman. Yet, the popularity of the sport fades in the light of Football. Where 64% of Americans claim to be fans. Break that down to 73% of men and 55% of […]
26Sep2017 | Nancy Belle | 5 comments | Continued
It’s a Cat’s Life
I have a barn/porch cat, her name is Skeeter aka Trouble, who would dearly love to be an indoor/outdoor cat. Especially on cold days, 60 degrees appears to be her cue to want in. She is in this predicament, because after being in the house for several months, or a year, I forget, she became […]
10Sep2017 | Nancy Belle | 1 comment | Continued
The Homosexual Paradigm – Personal Experience
(Originally posted May 1, 2012. Re-posted out of a sense of need for the current discussion). There is no universal homosexual paradigm – but there are strong paradigms that drive our society. Previous generations of Americans often ignored the Gay community – you stay in your closet, I’ll stay in mine. Today we find the […]
1Mar2017 | Ohg Rea Tone | 8 comments | Continued
Fireside Issues | Abortion
If you want to end the practice of abortion, as I do, you will have to do that in partnership with women and providers.
29Jan2017 | bryan | 3 comments | Continued
A 1964 Christmas Story
It was 1964. Life hadn’t been great. This particular year had been mostly a nightmare. My Mother and Stepfather had separated. Finances were next to non-existent. Me being able to attend school became a burden for my Mother. At only fifteen, I was resigned to possibly, never finishing high school. I was the oldest of, […]
12Dec2016 | Nancy Belle | 1 comment | Continued
Karma and Life Lessons
Shorthand, I know what it is, but can’t read it. Many years ago at Lowy Enterprises. I received a promotion to work with Dave in Accounts Receivable. At high school I refused typing and shorthand because I didn’t plan on being any man’s secretary, Hah. So, one of my new jobs was to take dictation […]
5Apr2016 | Nancy Belle | 1 comment | Continued
Does Race Really Matter?
Transcript from Walla Walla Union Bulletin, Walla Walla, Washington December 20, 1950 Seattle (AP) – A blow on the head with a baseball bat in a neighborhood altercation was fatal Tuesday to Merritt Scotten, 33 year old Seattle pipe fitter. He died of a skull fracture Saturday night. Leon W. Venson 28 a neighbor has […]
25Nov2015 | Nancy Belle | 1 comment | Continued
Life After Tuberculosis
As suggested by a good friend and cousin of mine, I will try to shine a light on a personal experience regarding Tuberculosis, the “Curse of King Tut”. The year was 1965 early Autumn. My mother’s estranged husband was taken to Mount Vernon, MO. This was at the time a ‘sanitarium’ for individuals with ‘lung […]
31Oct2015 | Nancy Belle | 3 comments | Continued
Perceptions and Homemade Bread
Before I get much further, I just want to say this is not, a crying in your beer or milk, sob story of a life in poverty. Now that’s out of the way and here we go. I am the second child of the nine children my mother gave birth to. If my mother was […]
4Oct2015 | Nancy Belle | 1 comment | Continued
More on My Emotionally Disturbed Friend
I wrote recently on the escapades of my emotionally disturbed friend – well – today saw a significant turn of events. I thought about writing the other day to report that life seemed better for that man of great hurt and grief. I would have said I thought he had turned a positive corner. He […]
11Oct2014 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on More on My Emotionally Disturbed Friend | Continued
When My Mind is Racing
Most of the folks who read my posts recognize my natural inclination toward self-righteous sarcasm. I know that sarcasm is toxic – Mr. Clark (the Editor) tells me almost every day. Sarcasm does serve to drive home a point. But there is a cost to being the negative reflection of the world around us. And […]
24Mar2014 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
The Irony of Ohg Rea Tone – the Conflict of Ideology
Ohg Rea Tone struggles, like others who believe wholeheartedly in their own point of view. The simple twist of fate put Mr. Tone on the left side of most issues. Had the shoe of the other foot fallen a few millimeters to the right, Mr. Tone would sound the same, look the same, feel the […]
10Mar2014 | Gary Clark | Comments Off on The Irony of Ohg Rea Tone – the Conflict of Ideology | Continued
A Personal Fight With Social Injustice
Most of my adult life people have treated me as if I am particularly intelligent. Some have openly called me intellectual. My thought was usually that they were mistaken, that I am well read and speak well. When I take a shower and dress in a suit I present pretty well. I did not receive […]
5Dec2013 | Gary Clark | 3 comments | Continued
Preparing For The Emotional Downtime of Winter
I am a sunshine guy. I much prefer hot weather to cold. With St. Joseph, Missouri, as my hometown my weather experience is of all extremes. Northwest Missouri is like that – the joke is this: If you don’t like Missouri weather wait a day and it will change. Being a sunshine guy does not […]
17Sep2013 | Gary Clark | Comments Off on Preparing For The Emotional Downtime of Winter | Continued
Birds Nesting Around My Home
I like birds. Yes, I like chicken and turkey and quail and pheasant, but I also like the birds that never visit on Thanksgiving. St. Joseph, Missouri, is located on the migratory trail of many of the mid west traveling birds. My home is particularly inviting to summer nesting. There are many varieties of plants […]
25May2013 | Gary Clark | Comments Off on Birds Nesting Around My Home | Continued
Suicide – The Burden of the Village
Most of us have some experience with suicide – someone we know has taken their own life. Such a death is difficult in every possible manner. Families cry together. Distraught disbelief overwhelms us. Our emotional system is shocked to the core. We feel personally defeated. We often feel we have failed, failed our loved one […]
25May2013 | Gary Clark | 3 comments | Continued
The Allegory of the Forest – Carl Jung’s Collective
There are no more trees. No more forested wildlife. Humans no longer have terms for forest or wildlife. The Earth was deforested many years ago. Some older adults remember playing in the woods. No pictures, photographs, exist. There are many drawings by children. Some drawings are done in pencil, others in water colors – some […]
28Feb2013 | Gary Clark | Comments Off on The Allegory of the Forest – Carl Jung’s Collective | Continued
The Coming Culture of Mean-Spirited Dissent
Mean-spirited dissent has replaced statesmanship as a guiding principle. The maddening downward spiral of political retribution has become the norm. The madness is magnified and given inertia in direct correlation to the speed of modern communications and the unleashing of vast amounts of money in SuperPacs. There is no time for thoughtful reflection. Every encounter […]
29Jan2012 | Ohg Rea Tone | 4 comments | Continued
Crude Men Jokes
Sorry folks. Sometimes things just strike me as funny. Certainly I recognize that jokes can be offensive, can promote prejudice, can alienate others, and can frankly make some people very angry. Racial and ethnic jokes have long gone by the wayside in the interest of political correctness. I get it. I understand the sensitivities of […]
2Jul2011 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Crude Men Jokes | Continued
Let The Wild Man Out
I don’t mean to be chauvinistic – but this post is about men in particular. More specifically, how do boys become men? There are many ideas – participate in sports, become an Eagle Scout, join the military, go to college, get a job and get married and have children – these events will make men […]
28Feb2011 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Let The Wild Man Out | Continued
Mel Gibson to Lead Tea Party
Actor, Director, Producer Mel Gibson is negotiating terms to take over leadership of the Tea Party in America. Every candidate must demonstrate proper character traits consistent with Tea Party advocates. Candidates must be willing to demonstrate these character traits in a very public manner – there should be no sense of shame or fear of […]
14Jul2010 | Ohg Rea Tone | 1 comment | Continued
Do Mother’s Day Cards Really Describe Your Mother?
How did you find the energy, Mom To do all the things you did, To be teacher, nurse and counselor To me, when I was a kid. Does that little diddy describe your mother? For years I wanted to honor my Mother on Mother’s Day (as defined by Hallmark Cards). I went shopping at all […]
9May2010 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued
The Redemption of Tiger Woods
The redemption of Tiger Woods did not happen with blubbering confessions of sin, orchestrated by treatment programs based solely on anecdote. The redemption of Tiger Woods can only happen with consistent trustworthy behavior over time.
22Mar2010 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on The Redemption of Tiger Woods | Continued
Comments on a Life of Chaos
Did you ever know anyone who just seemed to live their life in constant chaos? Most likely. Chaos can become a part of our cultural understanding of the world around us. People raised in chaos often live chaotic lives. Some attempt a life of moderation – but under duress often resort to extreme chaos or […]
28Aug2009 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Comments on a Life of Chaos | Continued
Middle School Social Regulation, Part II
As noted in a previous post I have been assigned the job of head chauffeur for my grand daughter in middle school. Her parents moved out of State and she stayed behind to finish the school year. She lives with her grandmother. Enough of that – I pick her up every day from school and […]
17Apr2009 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Middle School Social Regulation, Part II | Continued
Middle School, Learning to Say NO!
The adventures of grandpa as the driver for my thirteen year old granddaughter continue. Her family moved to Texas or Wyoming, I can never remember which, and she is staying with her Nana to finish out the school year. She was not ready to punch cows, and lasso boys. Anyway, my job is of after-school-driver. […]
9Mar2009 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Middle School, Learning to Say NO! | Continued
Middle School, Crash Course in Social Regulation
I have been relegated to driver – and drivers are best seen and not heard. The girls chat, and chat, and chat. I think they call each other on their cell phones and talk to each other in the car. I drop the first girl off and twenty seconds later she is calling one of the remaining girls in the car. Chat, chat, chat. That is how it goes. They talk about how other students were dressed, what was said in response to question from the teachers, and other things that I do not quite understand. They speak the language of the future – I speak the language of the past.
5Mar2009 | Ohg Rea Tone | 1 comment | Continued
Caring For An Old Dog
Sadie is almost sixteen years old, her birthday is next July. She is beginning to show the inevitable signs of aging. Sadie has moved from the definition of ‘Senior” to something resembling ‘Elderly.’ Watching her age is painful – and presents moral and economic delimas. Sadie is half Schnauzer and half Cocker Spaniel – sort […]
20Feb2009 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Caring For An Old Dog | Continued
Enabling Our Children to Fail
Son, Please forgive me. You mentioned in an earlier post that you “…occasionally found myself in trouble.” I share in the fault. I will give you the notion that you were an adolescent, seeking independence and control of your own life. I will give you that adolescents make some bad choices. But I have to […]
9Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | Comments Off on Enabling Our Children to Fail | Continued
The pain of cultural frontiers
Son, You are exploring cultural frontiers. You have left the safe harbor of familiarity to seek new ideas about living. Like Lewis and Clark, you find fear and uncertainty. I admire your courage. What is courage, Son? When people act on their convictions, even knowing that there will be pain associated with their behavior, we […]
7Sep2007 | Ohg Rea Tone | 2 comments | Continued