Continuing With a Brother's Love

The next day I went immediately up to Randy's. He lived in Decono about 20 miles from Westminster. It seemed like an eternity driving up to the trailer. Dad had bought this trailer after the divorce and had really worked hard on it to fix it up, but now not in too good of shape because of Randy's health. I knocked on the door and Randy came out. He looked pretty bad. I could tell the winter had taken it's toll on him. He wasn't answering the phone because everyone was trying to tell him what to do. We'll there is only one person  who can make these decisions this close to death and that is the person going through it.He wanted to go out and eat but it took him forever to get ready. He moved very slowly and I thought what if he falls down on me. We went to eat and then he wanted to to personal business. He was insistent we do this this day. So we went where he wanted to go. Clearly he was too ill to even be doing this, but there was no stopping him. He knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish. Coming back in the car he had a seizure from the lesion in his brain. I am thinking what am I doing he needs to be in the hospital. When we got back to the trailer I called the Dr. at the hospital. She said not to bring him there, there was nothing more to do for him, I needed a hospice.  Here I had a very ill person on my hands and no help. I spent the rest of the day trying to find a hospice. Not an easy thing to do evidently. We'll one could come out in a few days and evaluate him then set up a program for him and we would go from there. I was reaching my end with this. I yelled into the phone well if he is still alive by then you can come and hung up.  There was absolutely no one to help me. I went into Dad's bedroom and well, I cried. I didn't know what else to do. I cried to God, I cried to Dad why did you leave me with this. I was a mess.  After laying there for a while I realized this was not productive, but I did feel a little better.  I came out and Randy was now awake and I said do you want me to stay, or should I go back to Jan's mainly because my clothes were at Jan's. He said he would be alright by himself and I left him my cell phone # and left. Totally exhausted not only from today but yesterday driving, no real rest at night and just the strain of everything.  Jan had dinner waiting for me and we talked about the situation. What a great friend I have in Jan.  I also was upset because three times Randy had been denied social security disability, so we had little resources and I felt like writing a letter to the Judge, do you think maybe he is sick enough now!  I still want to do something about this. Some kind of law that people should not have to go through this when they are sick. It still makes me mad.  I tried to watch some TV with Mike and Jan but nothing was clear to me. I finally excused myself and went to bed. Hopefully, I would at least sleep a little better tonight.... Continuing tomorrow

A Little Brother's Love Randall Neil Ritchie Dec.18,1953-June 6,2009

I want to break away from politics for this week in remembrance of my brother, Randy, whom I lost one year ago. Maybe there are those of you who have also lost a loved one recently and perhaps something I write will help you in your loss. They always say the first year is the worst and I have found that saying true. We have lost both of our parents, my other brother and I, but nothing has hit me like the loss of Randy. Perhaps it's because we know our parents will eventually pass but a sibling, that really doesn't cross your mind. I guess what really hurts are the memories of playing together, sharing most of your childhood, and supporting one another through those early years.  All in all nothing has ever effected me so much as this loss. And I would like to share some things with you that have made me feel better as the year went along.. But I will start with a call from a Dr. last May24th that has changed my life forever.
I came home from church to see a Dr's name on my caller ID. I knew at once it was about Randy.  #1 the call had a 303 exchange #2 Randy had not been feeling very well. The summer before I stayed with him as I came for my 40th high school reunion.  We did a lot together. Randy always planned like these little dates with me..He knew exactly where we were going and he knew exactly how to get there. I have lived in Chicago since 1979 and a lot of things have changed in Colorado. When we left Colorado there were 1,000,000 people living there, now over 4,000,000 have come to the state. Many from California as they got tired of the earthquakes and high taxes. So some parts of home don't even look like Denver to me. And a lot of the old landmarks are gone.  During one of our times together, Randy looked at me and said" I have to tell you something, I said OK, and listened as Randy went over his long list of illnesses he had suffered through including three heart attacks. At the end he said "I think I am going to die. I said nothing because mainly the way he said it. And I said OK, but maybe you aren't. And he said "I know I am going to die." And he started on a  list of things he wanted me to do. I wrote some of this down and we talked of a will and we took care of some of these things before I went home. Looking back now I wish maybe I should have stayed a little longer but we all have our own lives to live and I needed to get home.
Almost a year passed and I received the call. My brother was extremely ill with cancer in his chest and lesion's in his brain. I needed to go immediately. Unfortunately I knew I needed to get to Denver, but my husband wanted new tires on the car and he wanted some repairs done also, so I was not able to leave as quickly as I wanted. It took almost a week to get all this done. Finally on Sunday May31st my son and I left for Denver.We drove straight through. We left Chicago about one and arrived in Denver about four the next morning.  It was kind of erie feeling when we got there before sunrise. I did not want to wake my friends so Russ and I went to a Denny's and had some breakfast.  It took me a while to find the Denny's but I finally got on the right street. You can't believe how much Denver has changed. It always takes me a few days to get readjusted. I waited until about six to go to Jan's, a friend for over forty years, and her lights were on. We were exhausted and Mike and Jan were up early because her son Aron was leaving for Iraq and they were going to the airport to see him off. So they left, and Russ and I literally crashed. I had tried to call Randy on the way but he was not answering his phone so I was pretty nervous. We slept to about noon and then I called the airline to get Russ on a plane, because he needed to get back to work. And this is when my angel kicked in and helped me. I mentioned earlier all the times by faith God has answered so many of our needs through the years.  I had about $100.00 planed to find a flight back to Chicago. I know that was not enough but that is all I had. So I told the ticket agent my story and he was very understanding but the lowest price was $304.00. I am thinking oh my G-- how am I going to get Russ back home. The ticket agent starts saying."Oh my gosh, oh my gosh" and I said "what..what's happening?". And he says "I've never, I've never seen this before." and "I said what before" and "he says, they just changed the ticket to $96.00. And he said again I've never seen this before. If you get here before 6:00PM and buy the ticket at that time you can get on for $96.00. This is when I knew I was exactly where God wanted me and that he was going to take care of us. I said "we will be there, believe me."  Russ and I went to lunch and did a few things and I took him to the airport. Randy was still not answering so I spent a very unrest full night....continue tomorrow. Marna

Is Govenor Jan Brewer Now Being Thrown Under the Bus?

1200 unarmed National Guard  troops are not going to be on he border to help with immigration, only for drug enforcement. And Martin of ICE has stated he will not enforce Arizona law, only for criminal illegals will he make charges. In other words they are leaving Gov. Brewer on her own to arrest illegals if brought in for her law.  To coin a recent phrase Obama is throwing her under the bus. This is what is going on right here in America.  The President of Mexico called Obama and they made an agreement. So basically the only illegals who are caught with drugs are going to be taken by ICE. Amazingly Mexico is now calling the shots on how we should handle immigration. Everything is turned upside down.
I say if the 1200 troops aren't going to be used to help in deportation they will basically end up being desk job workers. If so send them back they are useless to us, why pay our hard earned tax money for these people to stand around. Of course I am jesting, I am sure the Governor will find a way to use them.
Unfortunately Sen McCain didn't have much luck either and his 6,000 border troops was rejected also. But, being the fighter he is and one of my personal hero's, he was able to insert his measure into a defense policy bill that will come to the floor this summer. So there may be help on the way. But not from this Pres.
This is all politics. Obama needs Hispanics to win in 2012. Why I wrote the piece Beware Hispanics recently. They like us are only pawns in his hands. ICE says feds should have comprehensive reform immigration. They want complete control over immigration with states having no laws.  Actually they are going broke for amnesty and open borders, that is why they don't care about the fence and stopped it's completion.This is why I believe in a small federal government and power to the states.  This has always been the conservative viewpoint. When you break this core principle you pay a high price. And we are paying it now. And one of the battles over this principle is going to be over immigration.  This is going to be one of the showdowns.  Who will win the feds or individual states rights.  The showdown is here and the battle is before us.
Why has it taken 20 to 25 years to build this dang fence? Because every President has known this is the battle ground and didn't want to enforce it. Didn't want to put the country through it or maybe even thought maybe it would just go away, but it hasn't. The battle over Federal government verses states rights is before us.  Marna

Yes, Answer To Karl Rove's, Is this Obama's Katrina?

Obama literally did nothing about this.This was a dismal failure on his part. He was totally disengaged from the process to close the rupture up. It is about how he has handled everything else. Staying on vacation during the attack on Christmas day.  Remember the three o'clock discussion during the campaign. Obama slept right through it. He does not appear to have an alarm clock inside of him when things are serious.  He joked on 60 minutes about every one getting upset about the couple who broke into the White House State department dinner.. What's so serious about that, there are only dignitaries from around the world who's lives could have been jeopardized.  He did not take it seriously that nearly 70% of the country did not want the health care bill.  Saying once they see how it works they will like it. The more we find out the more we dislike it.  He joked about the tea party and said grassroot groups are not going to make that much difference. Something he is going to find out about the next five months.  That is why I feel more and more that this is just a game to play and we are his pawns, He is humored with us and after he is done with us, which I have heard he has never really stuck with anything very long he will cast us aside or as the phrase has risen lately under the bus. Leaving the next one to come in to clean up a huge mess.  The Teflon kid's shield is getting more and more dented. We'll his is coming home to Chicago to get some rest from what I don't know. And he hasn't done a single thing to clean up his back yard, except that more and more of his neighbors are out of work.  Marna

Nothing Surprises Me Anymore

Once again the Obama-Pelosi-Reid ramming team are at it again. This time with Don't Ask Don't Tell with a plan to push this through before the memorial weekend break. Ramming another piece of legislation through before we have time to even blink.  Why is this so important? History has proven that open homosexuality destabilizes the military and weakens military readiness. Their scheme, to push this through by the weekend then skip town.  This is the way Washington does business now.  First they say we will look at this for a year and make conclusions, next it is on the floor for a vote with little warning. And it is always with a scheduled recess.  Remember Christmas eve with the health care bill? Have you ever thought about the spiritual meaning behind that.  Obama removing the Nativity scene from the White House. Spiritual significance= you don't need this little baby any more. The baby who became the God-Man. The interceptor between God and Man whereby we can be redeemed and united to the Father in Heaven. The one who can do something no one in the world can do, forgive sin.  Because on the 24th of December you won't need him anymore, the state will take care of you. We will be your savior, provider, the one you will look up to. Just a thought about the significance of what they are trying to do. Replace faith with the state. Who does that sound like?
The don't Ask Don't Tell was designed to protect high standards of morale, good order, discipline, and united cohesion.
In a few days time they want to push this through and restructure our military and push this radical agenda on society.  Call or email your congressmen in the house and senate because they are going to push this through quickly.  Marna

For Once Obama is Stepping Up to The Plate

I am pleased to hear President Obama is taking a stand on something. Even though it is a small step forward towards clamping down on trade and demanding an apology. The apology I doubt will ever come. But the incident a few months ago of the torpedo attack on March 26th killing of 46 sailors aboard the Cleonean in the Yellow Sea was clearly an act of war.  Last week investigators said the ship was cut in half by the attack.
We are giving President Lee Myung-Wah support and that is a good move.  Although the president is still trying to get China on board and the U.N. also. Good luck on that. Although China did take a stand last year against North Korea in obtaining nuclear weapons.  China is still looking for restraint and is not all that concerned about the incident. I guess we feel a little differently as we clearly still remember that day over nine years ago when we were attacked. Really the president doesn't have much choice as South Korea is going to do something with or without us.  Not that we really need another war on our hands. But the line has been drawn and unfortunately we are in it.  We have about 28,500 troops there already. Believe it or not these two countries have been still at war all this time and there are 1,000,000 troops near the border.  God Bless America

One House Seat Closer to Removing Nancy

Yesterday a big win for Free Enterprise, and a big loss for our over sized government as Charles Djou in Hawaii won thanks to 70,000 voter contacts, phone calls and door knocks. He only won by a few thousand votes but they over came a massive amount of money dumped into the Dems campaign, millions of dollars by liberal special interests. Which shows enthusiasm and people who have the truth=Free Enterprise, which built this great country can win over the ever increasing massive build up of the federal government.  Nancy you are one more seat closer to being fired!
The finance bill is also running into difficulties in the house. Keep calling your representatives, e-mail them and tell them you do not want the government to take over wall street. And to leave our bank accounts and personal equities alone. They are none of your business.  We can regulate this another way, not by the federal government taking them over. It is imperative we stop this take over by the Feds.  Down with Feds, Up with states rights.  Marna