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651
Another visit back then.

I had an email the other day telling me that the reader likes to read my column each week. He said that I write about many subjects but he likes how I write about the past mostly. And that makes me feel good about being able to recall my childhood and bring it forth into the present day. I come from a large family with six brothers and seven sisters. Sadly I wasn’t able to know five of them as they were called home early in their lives. We were not rich, yet we were not poor either. Just about everyone in those days were middle class families, having to work for everything we had. Back then a man’s word was as good as gold and mothers were the ones who were there for all of the children in the house and they handled most of the decisions as to how the kids were raised, and fed. Neighborhoods were close knit as just about anything that came about was known by the others.

Our phones had party lines and your phone was answered when after the right number of rings, then others on the party line would pick up the phone and listen in. Everybody knew that it was being done and everyone knew who was liked by whom, and sometimes you could hear giggles on the line. Radio was the entertainment factor until Dad one day brought a television home and that sort of changed our habits a lot. The TV had a test pattern on the screen until the programs came on. You did not get much compared to what you get today, but it was clean programs and we learned a lot about people that we only heard about. I remember Gilbert Forbes who was a great newscaster. And there was Ed Sullivan who brought a lot of good talented people to the homes of thousands. That was when Elvis came into the homes of families who loved the great voice he had. The Beatles were on that Sullivan show too. Jackie Gleason with all his co-stars gave us a lot of laughs too. And Arthur Godfrey who we had heard on the radio for several years came to the screen and he brought a lot of stars with him and the television became a big part of our entertainment world. Of course that TV played a big part in how quick we did our chores and also how we treated each other. When that TV was on, Mom did not have to worry about her children as to where they were and what they were doing. We still used the radio a lot because we always wanted to follow the Lone Ranger and some of those shows that were not televised.

We still had our outside sports and games to play, but when Carver Center opened up, it was learn the game of basketball, volleyball, softball and baseball. With baseball came a great friend and mentor to the children of the north end. His name was Circus John, and that man knew how to get a youngster ready for the real world. He not only was a mentor to some of the best players of baseball, he also showed those youngsters that to be someone and to make it in this world, you had to want to learn, and you had to have the desire to learn. Old Circ never took sass from his kids, nor did he use swear words as a way to instruct his kids. He might have used some rough ways to toughen you up, but he was sincere in what he tried to get out of them. Back then the streets were patrolled by walking policemen and I knew and met several of them. They too, did not use their badges to intimidate anyone, but you could be sure that they were close by if needed. I still have a lot of friends up in the old neighborhood and one day I will head up there and get re-acquainted with whoever is still with us. Life was hard but good back in the days of old, and friends played a large part in this man’s life.

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day
 
 

652
Life is Too Precious.

Something that we see many times disturbs me in how it gives our younger generation a way to forget the problems that they can solved on their own. That is seeing on our television sets, the use of suicide to end their troubles. It seems to me that the people who make the shows for television and the movie houses have no hesitation of showing someone holding a gun to their head and shooting themselves. I always try to turn my head and not watch such a sin like that. To kill is a sin but many times it is in defense of yourself in a war and you want to think that God will forgive you for that. But when you end your own life, you are doing the worst of sins and it was always told to me that it is a sin that God cannot forgive. Why do we as human beings think that it is ok to show people ending their own lives on televisions where our young children are watching? Does the child just watch and not remember seeing it. That picture of it happening stays in the brain and many times it can trigger a switch in the brain telling that person, that it is the only way to solve their problems. When are we as human beings going to realize that life is a gift from God and He is the only one to decide when your time is up? You go on with your life, trying to mend the fences, and coping with the problems that seem so hard to solve. There are people out there who would help if only you ask for it. There are people out there who can be your friend if you only seek it. And there are loved ones who are left with a terrible memory of a loved one who just did not want to live their lives having to put up with the problems of today. They don’t want to take the time to ask themselves if it is ok to end your own life in such a pitiful way.

In today’s world they find themselves in financial problems where we tried to live high on the hog and ran out of resources to maintain that way of life. They gave to others who they trusted money to invest, only to find out that they could not be trusted to do it. The investments over the years to set themselves for the golden years have dwindled down to nothing. The money saved over the years is being used up faster than the paychecks can supplement and they ask where did it all go. These are problems that our older generation has to put up with but you don’t see them taking the so-called easy way out. It is the generation coming up which will attempt to bring us back to prosperity and I think they can do it. But the way to just drop the problems in the laps of those coming up and ending your own lives is just being stupid for that split second and pulling the trigger. Think about this for a moment. What if you missed and just wounded yourself and you had to live in misery worst than what you had before you did the evil deed. And think what you are doing to the loved ones who will have to take care of you the rest of your life?

Life at times is not fair but it is a gift from God and you take it one day at a time. You cope with your problems. You try to get help for the problems you can’t solve and you give God a chance to work with you to get you back to the way you were before you even thought of suicide. So far, I have not ever found a problem where I would give up on life. Give yourself a second chance at that precious gift. Cope with the problem and find the answer the right way. Don’t be negative about life. If you got there, then you surely can find the right way out. "You can".

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day
 
 

653
10-14-2011
"Give Credit Where Due"

You know, it really gets me going when my readers let me know how much they look forward to reading my words each week. I get some negative responses but proudly I must say that maybe 90% of my readers like them. I can sit down at my computer with really no topic to write about, but then the floodgates open and there is that old bald headed man tapping away with the messages from my memory bank. I love to write and talk about those olden days when our elders were taking care of the crops in the field, taking water to them when the rains did not come. Working the soil so that the roots have room to breathe each other day. Going out to the barn to get some of the waste from the livestock to add to the soil. Nothing was ever wasted in those days as the farmers used everything possible to bring themselves a big amount of food for the winters. Potatoes were dug up and kept in an underground cellar covered with rags to keep them good until time to eat them. Going to the bathroom in that little house with the half moon on its door. Taking the clothes down to the river and washing them in the creek waters. Milking the cows for their milk each morning and sometime during the day making a batch of cheese. Living in a house made from scratch without blueprints and keeping a stove there in the area between the kitchen and the bedrooms. Having a stove for keeping warm using wood and corncobs for fuel. The lady of the house making bread for the meals. Trying to keep warm during those cold winters wearing long underwear and pulling the blankets over their heads to keep as much heat inside possible. Having to go several miles away to see the neighbors and to the company store in the nearby town. That was just a little of what our elders did to maintain their standard of living.

Taking a few generations later we find descendants of those elders who had a little easier way of living but still with some hardships to put up with. Some were able to build water pumps inside the kitchen where they could get their water to drink and to wash their clothes. Coal was being used in the heating stoves to keep warm with and the cook stove could burn the corncobs, wood, and coal to make those great biscuits and other mouthwatering food too. Some were able to put in some toilets inside so that the elimination of the waste product was done in a warmer room. Some still kept the outhouse because there were times when you had to go and that place was perfect. Towns started getting more stores and farmers took their products there to see or to trade for something else. The women started using pots and pans sold by the panhandlers who took their product out to the houses. The town doctor was busy just about all the time and he sometimes had the help of a young person who wanted to learn how to take care of people. And of course there were times when the man of the house would head out to the saloon to get that little picker upper and maybe take in a card game.

 Life was not easy for either of those generations but they got by and they paved the road for people like us to be able to have a better life and maybe a little easier one. Then moving some generations later we find that the pioneers who had it very tough were ones that most forget about. We sit there in front of the television, with our TV trays filled with goodies, our feet up, and sometimes falling to sleep, and we don’t give credit where it is due. We have inside plumbing, nice warm homes, pretty clothes to wear, and a lot of days where all you had to do is enjoy the weather and go to ballgames, and shows. Yet, we still do not give credit to those who paved the way for us.

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day
 
 

#654
10-22-2011

Be Cautious

As time goes on, we as Americans try to free the world of the tyrants who kill their own people instead of feeding and clothing them so that they can scare the people enough to accept the fact that they are only slaves and hold no real threat to the oppressors. It is a known fact that the world is full of the devil’s henchmen ready to do away with all factors that might remove them from power. That is changing somewhat in a few countries but once the people have taken over a country that has been freed from the rulers, they fall back into place waiting for someone to lead them. If those people had taken the time to elect a leader who could be trusted, they would have been able to establish a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Does that sound familiar? That same government would be the voice of the people. Does that sound familiar? However, how long before someone who has been laying in wait will sneak in and get themselves in power and then the people are right back where they started. It seems that there are many countries who want freedom but they want it on a silver platter instead of a metal pie plate. America is the blueprint of a free country and even though we have problems lately with the bickering of the presidential and the congress divisions of our government, it still is better than any other country in this world. We can holler, we can read books, we can criticize, and we can write without fear from our leaders. However, it is time to start getting this country back on its feet and really, our people in Washington are not doing the job we sent them there to do. How do we change this or do we really want to change? We have people out of work, and the reason is that we have allowed the big companies to make their product overseas. We have given to each company that did stay here the ok to award their CEO’s outrageous salaries while laying off good solid workers. We have given those big companies the right to raise their prices anytime they want to and if you go to the grocery stores or to the pharmacy, you will see where they have raised the prices so high that you just can’t afford buying them. I ,at times, have taken an off brand that is half the price home and tried it and I can truthfully say that it is good to buy. In the case of medicines, the people who head up those pill companies are making 1000% off pills that take less than a penny to make. If you go into a clothing store, you will see that things have doubled in price even though it might be last years design. The price of all of these things is telling the people that maybe I will wait for something cheaper. How can this country rebound from high prices, and be able to buy so that our workers can get back to work. We as Americans mostly have saved a little so that in our golden years, we can live with the knowledge that things can be better if we change a little. What scares me is the idea that we let people into our system who really are out there to cause problems for us and we can see it happening. Look at the demonstrations that happen in places where there are some problems. Many of those people go wherever they know there is someone wanting to change and they are paid for walking that line. If there were films taken at each demonstration, they would see familiar faces. America needs to get the people back to work and just maybe we need to do some drastic changes in our congress. However, remember that at any time we might have someone lying in wait to move in and take over. Think wisely, when you vote but please do vote. We need a unified government ready to work for us. Someone we can put out trust in.

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day
 

 #655
10_29-2011
COMING HOME

Well, we might have reason to feel a little better come this Christmas Season as we got the news that our wonderful brave soldiers are due to coming home by Christmas. We went into Iraq in March of 2003 and we have spent billions of dollars and suffered many deaths to our soldiers, and many will have injuries that will plaque them the rest of their lives. The families at home where kids will finally meet their dads and moms for the first time will have an everlasting time trying to get back into the warmth of a whole family now. I set there in front of the television in 2003 and I thought to myself, why is Bush doing this thing. Why does he have to send our sons and daughters into a conflict such as Iraq’s? What can America gain by sending our troops to a country that has no more respect for us than a snake has to a mouse. There has been turmoil in those countries since the beginning of time, or so we have heard and read. Nothing that we can do will help those who will not fight for themselves. Then we went into Afghanistan to do the same thing. Help those who will not help themselves. The only things that we have gotten out of those two conflicts are deaths and bad injuries and the trauma that will stay with them the rest of their lives.

It is time to pull out of Afghanistan too and allow those who live there to fight their own battles. It is time to tell the rest of the world that the apron strings have been cut off and you can’t hang onto them anymore. Each time I see that we have lost an American soldier I have a tear in my eyes and an empty spot in my stomach. While the soldiers were over protecting those who don’t respect us, we have been going through some very tough times here at home. Jobs have been lost so what does that son or daughter do when they get home? Homes have been lost so where does that soldier live? Our Congress will not work with the President and the President won’t work with Congress so what does that soldier think when he can’t get the people to represent him or her? It won’t be easy for any of them but at least they will be home where it might be a little safer for them.

While we were over there trying to help those who don’t care, we let our own country go down to its knees. Due to a those who ran our companies to the ground while giving the top dogs salaries way outside the realm of reality. We allowed the middle class to have to go through their life savings to pay for things that should of automatically been their’s for the asking such as high medical and prescription prices. We have those idiots in Washington who still want to privatized our Social Security and invest it in stocks and bonds. It isn’t enough that those idiots have damaged the lives of all it’s people but they want to put a double whammy on the old people who are living just by the thickness of a piece of paper. Hey, you idiots, it is time to tell you the facts of life. We paid into a system in order to have a paycheck coming in each month and you guys better keep your hands off of it. Take a look at what our members of Congress have due to them just by serving one term. It seems to me that they are taking care of themselves and who cares about the middle class. In recent weeks we have been witness to groups banding together with others that they never heard of and are staging protests all over the country. They really don’t know why they are protesting because they have some big mouths speaking for them. We do need change in our policies but only in a way that America is known for and that is speaking up and voting for responsible representatives That is the American Way.
 

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day
 
 

#656
November 5, 2011

We Speak Up.

Well, according to my timetable, we will be voting for the people who we want to represent us as representatives, and do the job that we ask them to do. Sadly to say that some of those renegades will sit down on opposite sides of the table, with their heads hanging low, and ready to say yea or nay regardless of the importance of said vote. Sadly to say that there will be some who will try to do the job as we ask, but they will not get the support needed to implement the final results. I am ashamed of those people who say they will do this or that , but once they get into the chair, they find out that there are bills waiting to have a vote on but didn't because our representatives who were sitting in those chairs never got anything done except hard feelings from the other side of the room. It is time for the people who we send to represent us ,either do it or get off the pot. If we  expect our elected officials to do their job, then we need to flush the toilet and get some clean water in the bowl.

We as Americans  in the last ten years have seen our incomes disapear, our homes lost due to foreclosere, our children not able to go to college because the money isn't there for them, and our city, state and federal bodies spending money like all the pockets are full, and they need to spend more, so there is room for more. We have parts of our federal government who look for places to shut down, or to block anyone who wants to use said places as a way to bring jobs back to the people. I have always said that our EPA people look for those places and then they get the backing of the super funds so that "their people" will have jobs.

If you close the factories, then the jobs are lost. If the jobs are lost, then there is no money to purchase things needed. If there is no money, then how can the government run without the taxes that would of been paid. With no taxes, then we don't have any government. Oh, I forgot, those guys representing us in Congress, have their pockets full, their insurance paid up, and their pensions saved just because they served at least one term. You better check on that for yourself as maybe my information might not all be correct. But if it is, then what do we do to correct it.

I had to work a long time to get what pension I get now, and because of the pension board taking over our pensions due to Continental not maintaining it, people like me took a very big cut in what we receive each month. But we always looked far enough ahead to see what we could live on if our pensions were lost. It ain't easy to live on a penson that was partially lost due to inept company management. But we do live on it because we have to. Think about how it would be if everyone goes through what we did.  What happened to America? What happened to all the jobs that were there but no more? What happened to us that we have to look for the cheapest food in the stores?  How about those millionaires who use the stock exchange to make more while we have those who lure the unsuspecting to invest in that same exchange and then they tell the people that they lost most of their investments and then pocket money placed in other stocks that did make money.  It is time that we start cleaning up the trash and make this country more like it was years ago. We do that by checking out our people before we elect them. Now remember, there are people out there who want to serve the people and not the speakers of the house and senate. Is there a light at the end of the tunnell or do we need to carry our own lights? Can we expect something better or just accept it as it is?

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day

#657
November 12, 2011

BIG HEARTS OF KOKOMO

It is getting close to that time of year when people in Kokomo and areas around ,start showing their love for their fellow man and the homeless and children who sometimes go to bed hungry and cold. We show the world that there are a lot of good people out there who share their wealth with those who are poor. Kokomo and the towns and cities around, seem to open up their hearts and pocketbooks and make it a happy season for some little kids and their parents. There are organizations here in our city who start about now to ask for help so that they can bring a bright beam to the eyes of those who have tears, and warmth to the hearts of those who otherwise would not be able to spend a day eating warm food made by those who use their time to set up places where our kids and their families can at least for one day, experience what the rest of us take for granted.

I don’t have to give names of these great people because we all know who they are. Mike & Nancy and the rest of their close knit families, every year, wear smiles on their faces because they and the volunteers who help them start very early in the year to give on Christmas time, that gift of love laced with warmth from the heart. The Radio Stations do a very good job of promoting what they have to sell at the auctions to fill up the stomachs of those who wait in the lines for help at a time of year when good is good and better because of it. The businesses do their part in helping all the organizations meet their quota or close to it.

What I am trying to say is that Kokomo and surrounding communities have warm hearts and souls and they show it by doing what they do best and that is giving cheer to those who need it. I am proud to say that I live in a city that takes to the streets each year about this time to collect money and goods so that those who are without have something if only for a few days.

We are at this time all having problems paying our bills and buying the right foods for our stomachs, because of how so many are out of work with no money coming in at all, but it seems that at this time of the year, someone reaches down deep in their pockets and pulls out that nickel or dime to share with another. Kokomo and the communities around it have been known for years to be caring for those who have none but need some. WWKI each year has those people there in the station that seems to live on helping others and although times are rough right now, I bet they come up with enough to continue to bring happiness to whoever needs it. Take a chance at giving a little that you can afford, so that this year’s Christmas will continue to be the time when people who have it, share it, so that the bells of Christmas will ring with joy, and the tears of the children are for joy and not sadness.

Don’t forget the Mission, The Good-fellows, The Salvation Army, The Nursing Homes ,and whatever other place who do their very best to make Christmas a happy one for young and old. It has been said that God gives each of us a path to walk but it is up to each of us to walk that path straight and narrow. The people, who each year gives their time and heart so that others can feel the warmth of their hearts and the love for the fellow man, walk a path that is of their choice and I am sure that God approves their choice. So remember that although they do not ask for thanks for loving with their hearts, I think they deserve to hear it once in a while. So I say thanks, people, for making Christmas a happy one for those who needed it.
Ray “Uncle Ray” Day
 
 

#658
November 19, 2011
A Visit In Time.

I guess I will go back in time for the next few columns as it is what I like to write about.  The days of old has memories worth all the gold in the world and they will stay with me, I hope until that day when my name is called out and my path has an end to it and I will change addresses to an eternal one. I like to talk about my parents and grandparents and some times I will write about my brothers and sisters. As a child , we had fond memories about where we lived until 1953 and I had friends galore. We had fun in those days that brought friends that much closer just as it did with families. We were always busy either playing, doing our homework, listening to the radio, watching television, and best of all, being there to receive the love of our parents. Mom was a wonderful cook as well as just an all around mother who loved to give her love to each and everyone of her children. Boy, when you sat down at the table, you were in for the best meals ever. After we were through, Mom would make sure we did the washing and drying the dishes and putting them away. You did not leave those dishes until later because it was part of the motherly education that our mother instilled in us. We always had to wear our aprons until we were through, and then put them up until the next meal. Mom always kept her apron on because it seemed like she was always preparing the next meal for us and the love of her life, our father. Mom would take some time to play her piano and she was very good at that.

There were times when we kids might be in a game outside, and she would go ahead and do some of our chores until the game was over and then she would call us in and tell us that Dad would be home from work and those chores would have to done or he would bark some at us. Dad was a good man who worked hard to make a home and have food on the table, and he expected us to do our part too. We had to clean out the ashes from the bottom of the heating stove and go out and chop wood and fill the coal buckets up so there was enough to keep the house warm during the day and night. Sometimes during the icy weather, we would sprinkle the ashes out on the sidewalks so that you could walk without slipping and falling. And there were times when we would forget and we sure didn’t forget for a long time after that. We had a large lot next to the house where Dad put the garden and where we played ball when the garden wasn’t there. Many times we went over to the Globe parking lot and played ball there until we would hit it too hard and have to wait until someone who was working would come out to get the ball for us. Dad and Mom always told us that we had to ask permission anytime we wanted to play in someone else’s property. There was a lot of good people who worked there at the Globe and we had a standing ok to play there.

Once Carver Center was built, we had a great place to play basketball and the director, Mr. Holland, was a wonderful man who gave me the chance to shoot the first basket, after the ball court was ready. There was a lot of good men and women who worked hard to give the kids in the neighborhood a chance to better themselves both physically and mentally. Most of those are gone now but their kids carry on the work that the parents started. Most of the kids who played there went to two different schools, Douglas and Willard. In my mind, I always thought that peculiar. You could play together but not learn together. Times have change some but a lot more is needed.

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day .
 

 

In my 74 plus years so far, I have been the recipient of good friends, wonderful parents, great brothers and sisters, and memories of my grandmothers who both lived into the nineties in age. I don’t remember my grandfathers as they got their call Home when I was just a wee baby. Grandmother Day was a little lady with pretty white hair and a soft spoken voice. Now she could get loud if she had to but that was seldom. Grandmother Sapp was just the other way around in that she spoke with a firm but loud voice and she was tough as nails. We lived in one of her homes and she lived in the State of Washington. Her second husband only seen her on the weekends as he worked in a hotel in Seattle.

Grandmother Sapp had what was called a chicken ranch and had a lot of chickens but only one rooster. She said you only needed one rooster to keep the hens taken care of. She did just about everything needed around her ranch and my two older brothers had the chance to live with her for about a year each. I loved my grandmother but I just did not want to leave my parents enough to go up there to live with her. I was used to the rules that my parents set down and I wasn’t about to change. It just seemed to me that I was destined to live where we did as it was the base of my education of how people should treat each other regardless of race or nationality. Mom always told us to treat everyone the same and never to pick fights with anyone. Dad said the same but he also told me that if I had to, get in the first blow and then make sure that he stayed down, because if he got up, he would get the best of me.

Now Dad was a soft spoken man when he had to be but sometimes his bark scared me some. But in his later years when I started working at the mill, I found him to be a person of peace and he was liked by just about everyone at the mill. There was a time when he worked the turns when I was the supervisor, and at first that was sort of not knowing how to tell a man, who had been telling me what to do, what I needed from him. He made that easy right away as in that first week, he told me that anytime I needed him, just tell him and he would do it. He was just one of the guys and I was just one of the bosses. We both had a job to do and we did it. I remember one day when he and I was alone in his down time and he told me that our mother was a good woman and she deserved to be treated as such. He said that we should always respect her as our mother and our friend. You didn’t get Dad to talk like that much as most of the time we remembered him for his bark.

When we kids were little we had a cousin named Julia Marie who was at our house several days a week and she was like a sister to us. She loved our mother and likewise Mom loved her. Marie lost her Mom to cancer in the mid fifties. Our aunt Julia who we called Aunt Jude, was a little older than Mom and like mother she was a pretty lady. She went to Grandmother’s in Washington when she found out about the cancer and we never saw her after that. I seems to me that a lot of our relation received their call Home early in life. There are times when I think back to those times when they were here and I smile because I did get a chance to know them. Life can be short or long but it is not our choice when. We take it one day at a time. We accept what is and what it can be.
Ray “Uncle Ray” Day
 
 

#660
December 3, 2011
A little about my Lady

Well, it is getting to be that time of the year when the air gets cold and I spend a little more time inside the house. There is plenty to do as I am the chief cook and bottle washer and I have my lovely Ramona to care for. She has had it pretty rough as there just isn’t too many days when she feels good and that is when I try to give her as much support that I can.

So let’s go back in time when she was a fairly healthy young lady and she was able to do just about anything she wanted to do. As a young girl she played on a softball team there at Carver Center and when we met in 1955, she was a tall thin, blue- eye beauty from the far north end, and she lived just across from Bon-Air Park where there was a basketball court and so we spent some time there shooting baskets and just having a fine time just being with each other. I was working the afternoon shift at the mill and that meant that the only times I would be able to see her was after 11pm on week nights and all day on the weekends. When we did see each other, it was like being in a rose garden surrounded with beauty.. I didn’t stay too late on week nights as her parents were trying to sleep and that just wasn’t going to happen until that door opened and she went inside. On the weekends, it was katy bar the door as we drove everywhere just having fun being with each other.

And the eating places that we stopped at were plenty as in that period of time, there was drive ins galore . From the north end at “Round The Clock” to the” Hot Dog Stand on 35 north” to the “HobNob” on Markland Ave. to “The Lighthouse” on the point in the south end, over to “Vic’s and Crumes” on the bypass, then down Markland west to “The M&G, and Wolfcales to The Root Beer Stand. Then downtown to Louies Coney Island, or The Downtown Cafe,

There were many more places and in our time we did try to visit several each month. Well, to make a long story short, we had a good time having all those great places to visit and as the day moved toward night, we knew that it was getting close to the curfew hour and I sure didn’t want to make her mom and dad mad at me. I came out pretty good on the long end as the two people who later became my in-laws treated me just as their own and for several years afterward, I enjoyed Mom McKee’s yeast rolls and pickled beets made with love.

Ramona was the second of 5 children and her sister Mary Kay is a good sister in law and her brothers, Tim, Fred, & Steve are good brothers’ in law. Fred and Steve ventured into the ministry and they have good family togetherness. So as the years have gone by, the parents on both sides received their call Home, and we had 2 daughters who were good students and Patricia gave us 2 grandchildren. Amanda has given us a great-grandchild, Evan, and all is right in the lives of two people who in 1955 decided to smile at each other thus starting their lives as one. So as we are blessed with the happenings of yesterday, we take the long narrow path to walk until we will be called Home. We know that there will be tough times as well as good ones, but we also know that life is only a blink of the eye and all that seemed a lot turns out to be shorter each day. We accept what is on our path and we won’t allow ourselves to be blocked out on that path. It has been 54 years since that day at Beamer Church where we exchanged our vows to honor each other through sickness and health till death due us part. We are one.

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day

#661
December 10, 2011

Clean Television?

 
I guess I am just a grouchy old man who has to have someone to gripe to about things I can’t do anything about. So I pick you readers out there to sit down with your cup of coffee and the Tribune, and join me in my blowing off steam. It is good for me and just maybe it will do you some good too. And of course television is going to catch you know what today. It was at one time when you could sit down with the family and enjoy some really great shows that were about family and having good clean fun. It just isn’t that way anymore as most of the shows today have profanity, nudity, suggestive subjects, and terrible music “played” by dirty looking people with unkempt hair and the same old words over and over again. Anyone can pick the same notes on their guitar and say the same vulgar line over and over again.

Back when Dad first bought a television and I was 13 years old, there were good clean shows like Ed Sullivan, Gerry Moore with Durwood Kirby and Carol Burnette. Jimmy Durante introduced Garry to the television audience in his show. Jimmy was a good singer that could make the saddlebags under your eyes disappear, You got happy listening to him sing. He was nicknamed “The Snozze” referring to that wonderful honker he had. Jimmy always gave credit to our Creator for what he had and he opened his radio or TV show with “Hello Mrs. Callabash, where ever you are” ,and close that show with “Goodnight Mrs. Callabash, wherever you are”. Wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to see one of his shows again? I remember Garry Moore always wore that bow tie and crew cut. His real name, was Thomas Garrison Morfit, but because his last name was hard to pronounce, he later was known as Garry Moore. Another great show was Candid Camera with Alan Funt.

As a youngster we listened to the Arthur Godfrey show on radio and then when he came on television, he displayed his “family”with Frank Parker, Tony Marvin, Pat Boone, Marion Marlowe, Janette Davis, Julius Larosa, LuAnn Sims, Haleloke, Carmel Quinn, and the orchestra was led by Archie Bleyer. Another good family show was the “Real McCoys” with Walter Breenam. How about listening to Ted Lewis and his band? He always asked “Is everybody happy?”

Remember Ward Bond in Wagon Train? Clint Eastwood played Rowdy, and he went on to star as the tough guy in films. I think the best show on Wagon Train was when Lou Costello played a serious part, as a dying man. Ken Curtis was on the show sometimes and he later went to play Festus on Gunsmoke , which was another great show and that is where Dennis Weaver and Burt Reynolds got their start. James Arness was the good Marshall. How about Bonanza with Lorne Greene, Little Joe, and Hoss? The early shows had Parnell Roberts as Adam, but he left after several episodes. Lorne Greene was Ben, Michael Landon was Little Joe, and Dan Blocker was Hoss. The cook was called Hop Sing.

All of these shows were ones that the family could all sit and watch together. There was no suggestions of sex, no bad language, and many of these stars were great role models to follow. It just isn’t that way now, and even the sport stars are leaving a bad taste in our mouths with all their outside activities with drugs. Looking back at what it was and what it is today, my thoughts are that television just is not worth the price we pay for it. Will we ever clean up television or do we just turn it off and do something else? It isn’t any fun to have hundreds of channels and none clean enough to watch. When will we let the cable companies know that the programing we have now is not fit to watch. Drop those reality shows and bring back the shows that are family based and can be enjoyed as a family. Or do they really care care?
Ray “Uncle Ray” Day

 

#662
December 17, 2011

“Do Friends Remember”

There are times when this old man has to decide what to write about. Most of the time I sit down and just let the fingers do the walking and then cut out the parts not needed to make a good column. Other times I get suggestions from you readers and there are times when I go back in time to those wonderful neighborhoods of my youth. Most of the times I think that maybe no one out there wants to read about my childhood, and yet they do call for more memories. Many ask me how I remember the things I did while young and I tell them that my memory bank is full with precious things to remember and what I write about seems to open up the memory banks of others who were around when we were kids and having lots of fun. I lived on North Purdom Street, North Courtland, North Lafountain and then New London where I graduated from Western High in 1955. I had friends everywhere I lived and all of them are memories too great to just forget about.

When you had friends during the times that I did, you had the greatest of all gifts. They were there to talk to, and to play with, and they were all good people who I hold deep within my heart and soul. You might say that they were family. The only bad thing that comes with living in different places in your childhood is that I won’t see that person who meant so much to me. That my friends is where this newspaper gave me a wonderful gift when they allowed me to write a weekly column for them and their customers. The columns are read by those who I knew way back then and it creates a chance for me to renew friendships so priceless. Every weekend I get emails, calls, and looks from people when I am in the stores, who ask if I am Uncle Ray. That makes me feel real good and it is like putting icing on a cake. The memory is great but that new meeting is the icing. I guess that is why I get along with most people, as by knowing them or some of their family, I get a chance to go back in time to that childhood when families were a very solid union headed up by Mother and Father who kept the kids fed, warm, and clean. I see people who I haven’t seen in years and they tell me that they read my thoughts each week and always look forward to reading the next one.

One of my oldest and charming readers is a nice lady named Thelma who will be 100 years old in January of 2012. We started being pen-pals in 2003 when she wrote me that she liked my column. We sort of have adopted each other as cousins under God, and we try to get at least one letter from each of us each week. Ramona and I have learned a lot about this wonderful lady and we hope she has from us too. You just don’t know how important it is to have friends and memories like I do. They are like diamonds and gold and they hold a very special spot in my life. When we moved to the farm in 1953 in New London, I thought that I would lose my friends but I didn’t as I just added more to my list. Those classmates at Western made the transfer a lot easier that I thought. As one would say;”Golly, They are good people”. There were 38 in our senior class and yes, they are good friends to this day. Only one of the class has been missing from our togetherness and her name was Janet Lee. Hopefully one day we might see her again. So as I drift into old age, I find that life for this kid has been a blessing and I think there is still some gas in the tank to meet more while remembering those that I have. You have a friend in me.
Ray “Uncle Ray” Day

 

Working at Continental Steel meant that there would be holidays where others would have the day off but not a steelworker. The mill was a place where you just could not shut down the open hearth or the new electric furnaces because it would mean that you would have to stop melting, pouring and rolling steel for the customers who depended on us at the mill to get them the orders as soon as possible so that those companies would not have to suffer through shut downs due to no stock available. And it would mean that you would have to prepare for shutdowns by closing down departments in the steel mill because of no stock to fill the orders with. Shutting down a furnace would be like throwing good hard earned money down the drain. So every year, you knew that the furnaces would be working every Christmas and the workers prepared themselves for a day away from family on that very special day.

Most families adjusted their holiday schedule so that the steelworker could be home for a good meal and fun watching the kids go through their gifts. And as far as when you were in there on that day, there always were groups who put it upon themselves to bring in a lot of good food for them and their buddies. There were people who came from a lot of countries working there at the mill and the food that they brought was about as good as Mom would of made. The steel mill was a place where people born in other countries came to America as citizens who knew what side of the bread the butter was on and you really got to like them as brothers and sisters. There were men and women who knew what the job they worked consisted of and it was done well. Oh yes, there were times when unrest among the workers and supervisors came forth but on that great time of the year when we celebrated the birth of Jesus, harmony between the two sides kept peaceful. There were workers who would give all on their jobs so that when it was break time, they could do it knowing that they did their part. Once in a while, you had the feather-bedder who did his best not to work too hard but there was not that many.

You can say that I really enjoyed working at my job as a supervisor because of the type of workers I had. I didn’t have to stand over their shoulders to see that the job was done. They knew what I expected to be done and it was. The only bad part of working at the mill was the same as it was for those working in the other factories. Going to work in very bad weather and going home in the same weather. Other than that the steelworkers enjoyed their jobs because of the friendships they had with each other. There was brothership between most of them and for many that friendship was an everlasting one for the rest of their lives.

Many have gotten the call Home but there are a few of us left and the families of those departed ones are still members of the family of SteelWorkers . Wives, husbands, children, and grandchildren of those called home can rest assured that they are remembered and loved by all of us that are left. Just recently some of us gave interviews to tell of the story of the Steel Mill that once sat upon that vast empty area on West Markland, and there is a place at the Historical Museum that tells the story of our time there. One day I hope that there will be a marker put up there on that field commemorating that mill and it’s workers. I hope I am part of that if I live that long. So as the glorious holiday of our Lord approaches, I salute the men and women who worked there and did their jobs. I hope to be able to see those who are still here when I can. Merry Christmas to all.

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day

#664
December 31, 2011

"We do with what we have."

Many times I see things that I think could be better for others but glad that I had not taken the chance of making them mad by telling them what I think. We, as brothers and sisters under God should not be afraid to tell others what our thoughts are but do it in a way that our friendship is not damaged. Why take the chance of losing some really good friends by telling them where they might be wrong in what they think. Here in America we have freedom of speech, press, religion and assembly, and I feel that is the way it should always be but there are times that certain people sort of make you mad because of the way that they downgrade those who I think is doing a great job. As most know, I don't try to downgrade anyone just because of the way they think, but I do ride the fence so that I can see both sides of the question. That is my right to do so and it shouldn't cause others to think I am referring to them.

As an proud American, I try to maintain the position that a person is right until he or she is proven wrong. A person is innocent until proven guilty, unless he is caught in the act. Many times people who do things that are wrong do it because they haven't thought it out before the actual act. And there are some who really don't care about the person they hurt with their actions and words. When that person takes a weapon, he is sure to do the deed before thinking about it and then his or her life is ruined. We have people in our prisons who did the deed and they are paying for it. But there are many out there who have never been caught doing the deed and so they have to be proven guilty according to law because a man is innocent until proven guilty. That is the law of the land whether I agree with it or not and it is so much better than that of the countries who take a person from their homes and take them off to jail where they rot or they are dismembered for the crime that they probaly did not commit. Such is the law of the land where Democracy is not the position of their governments.

Here in the good old USA, we live free but we pay taxes, and we are able to go to sleep at night without fears that other countries have. We have Police and Fire Protection paid for by our tax money, and we don't have to fear them as they do their job. So what I am getting to as the reason for this column is that we live in a country that has been free since 1776 and we need to take care of the way that we send our representatives to our counties, state, and federal governments to speak for us. We don't need the trouble makers who go around getting the people to disrupt the procedures being taken care of in our government. We have some faults but we don't need the ring leaders talking up their trash and then go hide in their holes until the people are in trouble with their protests.

Our country is not perfect but it is the best one going and maybe one day the mess in Washington will be cleaned up and we go back to a government of the people, by the people and for the people. It is not far away but far enough that we do need to do some changing of the guard that is on duty now. We do need to take a better look at what our taxes are in comparison to that the billionaires. Are they paying enough? They should have higher taxes because they made their money off the backs of the people of the USA, and many times they are given tax breaks because of what the conditions of their work is. And don’t forget that they have business abroad that our tax money helps them to have.

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day

#665
January 7, 2012

Resolutions  ??

It seems to me that at the end of each year, we hear that someone is going to make a resolution to do better and thus improve their stature or relationship with a friend, family or just themselves. What usually happens is that once the new year is here, we say that we will get to doing it tomorrow or next week. What really happens is that by the end of the first month in the new year, all chances of that resolution have taken a back seat to something that is maybe more important. So here is my thoughts on what to do each year.

Don’t say you are going to do something different, just do it and make it part of your daily routine. If you want a better life, then try to make it different by stop doing the things that you really don’t want to do anyway. If you want more friends, then get out somewhere to find new friends that you can trust and who wants to be your friend. If you want more wealth, then get a better job or use some of your down time making some extra money. And if you miss someone who has been called Home, then visit the grave-site or visit someone who feels the same way you do about that dear one. Don’t just sit there in your dark home and feel sorry for yourself because that departed one would not want you to do that. Remember that those who have departed, just took a new address in Heaven and they will be alright.. It is up to us, who are left to make what that departed left, as far as memories, mean something in our lives. Take the lead in what you want to do and let others know what your goal is so that they won’t be offended in case they get in the way.

Resolutions are nice but they just are not things that you can just let happen. You have to take the first step and maybe a few more in order that you find the right path you need. And don’t include others especially children who are about to leave the nest, because you are just wasting your time and theirs too. We have found out that children are obedient when they are young but when they grow older, they have their own lives to live and many times you are not part of their decisions except when they get in debt or in trouble and there is always mom and dad who will give them that big boost to pull them out of the hole they dug.

Now let me clarify that last thought. Most young people feel that they have been held back by the rules of the home and now is their chance to spread their wings. Hopefully, they learned from growing up with rules and will use them on their children. So getting back to resolutions, don’t make them if you know they can’t be kept. Don’t put too much back on your shoulders because it just can’t be maintained. You get tired and you lift the load from your back and rest and most of the time you won’t continue on that road.

Now there are those out there who after reading my thoughts today, will wonder if I made any resolutions and here is my answer to you. I would stop smoking, but I don’t smoke. I would stop drinking but I don’t drink. I would stop cursing using bad words, but I did that long ago. I need to stop biting my nails and I think that would be a good one for me. I would make sure that I am clean looking anytime I go somewhere but then I try to do that now. I will never use God’s name in vain because I was taught that as a child.. I would treat others the way I want them to treat me and I would like to be able to write my thoughts for this newspaper for as long as I live,
 

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day

#666
January 14, 2012

Attitude adjustment.

'There was a time when the things you had were gotten through hard work, a little desire, and the price you paid for it. Whatever you received, went a long way toward makingit a little easier for the young ones under your care. Children, when they were not in school, were taught not only by their parents but also by the grandparents and the older brothers and sisters. Life was a time between birth and death and that life was one to treasure the minute you were born to the last breath you had. Nothing was taken for granted because you never knew what tomorrow would bring to the table. The man of the family was the one which the wife and the children looked toward to bring whatever wealth from his work home to live on. The lady of the house had a 24 hour position in the family who cooked, cleaned, and nourished her family. The children of the family as soon as they were able to do so, took on the chores that was needed to make a house a home and family that stayed together until that time when they would venture out on their own to find their place in the sun. That, my friends, is what family was. A close knit group of mother, father, and children.

Comes wakeup time. We venture into today’s world looking for that handout from those who can’t afford to give but they do because they are family. We have our smokes, and our liquor, and all those goodies and still the hand is out there begging for more. The young ones that are at home while mommy and daddy are out having fun, go hungry and they get cold because of no heat. But the parents have to have that little getaway or they go crazy around the kids.

Has life changed that much, or is it our attitudes that need worked on? Is there a change in the goals of that generation that has taken to the streets selling dope, or getting drunk? Will the babies of today have any chance to find their way in the sun? Will the parents of today ever show that they are responsable for their children, and show them the way or will they ditch them for the thrills they think they will have getting tanked up, taking drugs, and having babies without the benefit of marriage? These are things that I wonder about when I observe what this generation is doing. What can we do to make things better? I see young people throwing caution to the wind charging things that they know they can’t afford. I see young people who would rather stick the hand out instead of asking what they can do to make that money.

Now right here is where I tell you that all children and all young people and all parents out there, do not resemble the picture I have written here. But there are enough out there who do and they need to stop, look and listen. Life today is rough enough because of the economy and no place to work to make enough to live on. We have way too many pregnate women without husbands and we have a lot of bums out there who don’t care enough to use precautions to keep that from happening. I believe that there will be a time in their lives when they will ask themselves, “what a stupid thing I did”. There will be a time when the parents will ask, “why didn’t we do a better job of raising our child?” Don’t get me wrong, my friends, I am not knocking the babies born here, but I am saying that we, as a family, are there to “help” others decide what is best for them as long as they reside in the parent’s home. If you build from the bottom up, you have a stronger foundation to finish the training. When the child leaves the nest, he or she will continue to build a stronger life for them and for those who follow. Family is a precious building of love and togetherness.

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day

#667
January 21, 2012

Stores remembered.

I usually don’t need hints on what to write about in my columns as there are so many memories in my mind that gives me the chance to share them with you. Many times I get  email that says that my column brought back some wonderful memories of the lives that the reader had as a child. So today, I am going to dig down deep and tell you about some of the stores that I remember mostly from the north end of our fair city. Many had small little neighborhood stores that carried just enough to earn them enough money to live on. Up in the north end there was the Reece Sullivan filling station on the corner of North and Lafountain and he sold gasoline, did auto repair, filled your bike up with air and carried some of the best candy that was great to get . He was a soft spoken man of great integraty, and was respected by all. About two blocks south of him was Whitacres Market which was later bought out by Bill French. Both of these two gentlemen were good people and respected by all. Both of these two men let you buy on the cuff because there were times when food was needed but payday was several days away. They let you put it on a bill and you came in on payday to pay up. About two blocks south of that store was a store run by Merl Winburn on what was Kennedy Street back then. Mr. Winburn carried a lot of good food and he too would allow you to get it now and pay later. About two blocks south of that store was one on the corner of Monroe and Lafountain Street run by Sam Martin. Again here was a great person who ran a tab for you so that food was there on the table at dinner time. Go around the corner back on the corner of Kennedy and Monroe was another filling station run by Mr. Dulin and he carried things like snacks and candy and he was a nice man too.

So in our little neighborhood of about six blocks, there were many small businesses there for the people and ran by some of the nice people of the old days. Now there were more places that made their way by selling food to their customers . Up north there was Vetters’ meat market where you could buy some fresh meat for your Sunday dinners. There also was Donnelson’s Market and they had a good supply of what ever you needed and like Vetters’, you got a nice smile and good service from good people. There were other stores in the north end like Longs Market on Washington which was a nice size place to shop. Across from it, Krogers put their 1st store in Kokomo and it was truly a supermarket. Nice people there too. Go south and out on Markland Ave. Jesse Weaver had a store and he was really a nice guy to deal with. Then there was Hanks out toward the point and it had open hours for you to shop in case you needed something late at night. Kokomo was and still is a great place to start your business in and there are times when you thank your lucky stars that they decided to raise their families with the money that they earned from their little and big stores.

What I am trying to get across to you is that you can decide to start your small business at a good site, give some out of work people a chance to work for you, and give good service with a smile, and you will find them waiting at the door to open up , ready to buy off of those nice people you have. Everyone has to take a chance sometime and the way that things are these days, maybe that is what we need. A nice place with nice people who smile while giving you the service you need. Kokomo is that sort of town in that we are good people. Take a chance on life and enjoy the results.

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day

#668
January 28, 2012

Rules of conduct.

In all sorts of ways we as parents, just like our own parents, try to establish rules of conduct for our children so that they can do the same for their’s when that time comes. As parents of two daughters, we did this very thing and we are proud to say that they did their part in following them. So what I am trying to get across in this column this week is that parents are not doing this in all concepts of rules of conduct when they go to sporting events or even when they are out shopping. My reason for writing about this problem is that when we go to basketball games here in Kokomo, we expect to be able to sit back and enjoy the game. Where we sit in the gym, is in a section where it is easy to get in and out whenever nature calls or if someone gets sick and needs to get out. There are two aisles, one on each side of where we sit and the youngsters who are with their parents or someone older are constantly running back and forth climbing over us and the others in our section. Many times we get knocked around , hit in the back, or our view is taken away by that movement of kids who should be sitting with their parents in their seats. Also people coming to the games will come up one aisle and then cross over to the other side thus giving us who buy reserved seats problems seeing the game.

Now my questions are this. Where are the parents of those children who are doing this? Why, when you go to the restroom, you find several of them in there running around flushing the toilets and getting in the way of those who need to use those facilities? Why are they not in their seats? Do the parents care enough about their kids to make them sit and watch the game? Don’t they know that there are people out there who look for easy pickings of young children for sexual fun? We live in a society where there are those who could be waiting there in the wings until that chance comes for them. And when one of those kids gets hurt, who are they going to blame? Yes, the school will get blamed for not setting up rules of conduct for all who enter to watch a game. Remember folks that the players on the floor are the ones playing the game. Children should be in their seats with whoever brought them and they should behave and watch the game.

Parents need to make family rules that say, you behave at the games or you don’t go. Now there is another solution or at least one that could work for everyone. Schools should set the rules of conduct that are to be followed once you enter the gym. Signs that direct you to where your seat is and signs that say that the school will not be responsible for the actions of those who don’t watch their children. In our land of opportunity, there is always someone who will try to sue a school for someone getting hurt and this could fall into that category. So, this is what I will ask the parents and the schools. Will you impose a rule of conduct for your children when they are at sporting events? Will you accept the responsibility of doing the right things so that those of us who have been going to games over fifty years can sit back and enjoy the game? Do you care enough about young children to do something to keep the problem for getting worse? Schools are for learning and they should not have to be under litigation for someone getting hurt on their property just because the parent does not care enough to set their kids down in their seats. As stated, it is the training at home that carries on at the games. You set up the rules that are posted in the gyms and by the schools and expect them to be followed to the letter. Do you care?

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day

#669
Febuary 4, 2012

"Yesterday To Today"

As I go back in time to those days of old, I get a good feeling about how it was and how the things done then, have converted over to the present time. When you write about the olden days, you remember the things that most today never had any knowledge of.  The outside toilet called the “John” was a fixture in just about all the homes in our fair city unless you were in the big money groups. But remember even they had to use that john before they were able to put in a house bathroom. Tubs were used to take baths in and that meant Mom had a rough day trying to heat up the water for those baths. But before then, people took baths in the creeks sometimes quite a way from the house. Water was gotten from the creeks and carried in large buckets up to the house where it was kept and used for drinking during the daytime. Now remember that water came from the same place that you took your bath in. Some finally were able to put in wells and a pump in the house. Clothes for years were washed down at the creek and hung up on tree limbs to dry. Sounds like a rough life doesn’t it? Well, most of those people who had to live that way appreciatted everything enough that it just was a part of life for them.
As the years go by, new inventions started to be part of the moving from one era to another. Some were able to have inside toilets, a washing machine to clean the clothes with, and ice boxes to preserve the food with so that a healthy meal could be made from foods that spoiled under the old ways. The mothers would patch the clothes for their children and many of those clothes were handed down to the new kids in the family. Kids when they were not in schools were expected to share the duties of the family such as keeping a warm fire going for heat and for cooking. They shared in doing the dishes in order for the mother to catch up with her duties. Wood and coal were kept on hand and many times that resource was at a low , because of the cost of it. The men and the boys would walk the tracks to pick up pieces of coal and wood was picked up from trash piles and cut down to a size that the heating and cooking stoves could handle.
Now shift to the next generation. Inside toilets, running water in the home, gas or oil heat, and television, washing machines and dryers, along with a good healthy amount of food avaliable in drive ins and resturants. Factories started up and people were able to find work.
Shift to today and there are less jobs, food is high, and fuel for homes and cars are under the arms of foreign countries. We are buying most of our clothes that are made overseas because stores can make a better profit from that type of merchandise. People are buying foriegn cars because dealers are bringing more into the USA. People have gone from a time when they played their own hand at life and did ok even though they were always in debt doing it that way. Today, charge accounts are being taken to the maximun even though they don’t know how they will pay for it. We live in a time where no one worries about how they will make it tomorrow because they live only for today. One thing I know is that you can’t keep digging a hole to put the dirt from another one in it. You run out of ground and you wind up still trying to find a way to take care of the pile that is left. So have we progressed a lot or a little? Have we taken the time to sit down and figure out what we will do tomorrow. Such is the way that the world turns, and it does not stop for you and not for me either. What happened to the dream?

Ray “Uncle Ray” Day

#670
Febuary 11, 2012

Ease the pain.

Have you ever had that night where you were so tired, you couldn’t sleep? I have them just about every night, and lying there just doesn’t get the job done. Anyone who knows me knows that I am in pain most all the time, but I still try to do whatever is needed to do. Laying there, not getting the needed sleep, is a useless waste of time. You can get up, go read a book, maybe watch a little television, or do what I do and that is to get me a hot cup of coffee and go surf the web on the computer.

You would be surprised at all the sites on the web that have inspiring stories about people who feel worst than I do. They don’t let the pain take them down. They use their pain to help others who need that inspiration to keep going. I go to a lot of sites about people who have had heart problems, and many others who are fighting their battle with cancer. Just about in all of those sites there is a message of hope, and faith, that keeps them going and it sort of sticks to you as the reader, letting you know that out there someone cares enough to tell their story about their battle with pain, and it helps them to be able to know that they are being heard. They know that they are not alone at any time with their suffering, because they know that someone out there has asked God to help them.

In my lifetime, I have seen men and women with no legs, or arms. They may have been born that way or they might of lost them because of illness or accident. They still get around, and they ask for no pity, because they know that life goes on. I had a friend who lost his ear to cancer and for awhile he sort of stayed in and didn’t want to be around others because he feared that people would notice. He told me that losing the ear really bothered him. I told him that I saw him as my friend and I didn’t even notice the missing ear. He said that he felt different without the ear and I told him that he was the same friend that I had before the loss and that was it. A smile came to his face and from then on until his death, we talked and laughed many times. Another good friend by the name of Harold came in one day and showed me that he had lost three fingers off his right hand in a table saw accident. He said it looked bad not having them but he still had two and he would just have to get by with it. Another friend who has since gone Home, came in one day to buy a table saw. He was blind so I asked him who he was buying it for. He said that it would be for him, and just because he was blind, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t own something that he could loan out to a friend. At least he could dream that he could operate that piece of equipment.

So life as it is, goes on without stopping for someone to get off. You don’t give up on life just because of the situations that come about. You hold your head high, you pull that shirt collar up around your neck and you tell God to bring it on because you can take it. You know that He is there for you, and you know that one day, He will call you home. But until that day, you take life as it is given to you, and you put the pain on the far side, and use yourself as one of His servants trying to ease the pain of someone else. As we walk our path of life, we are witness to many detours designed to sway us to another path that only promises us a easy way of living, but without the chance of reaching The Promise Land.

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day

#671
February 18, 2012
Readers are asking.

The way that we are being represented in Congress is opening up many emails to me from those who have found out what they are getting for their dollar these days. One reader says that he can’t see giving pensions to the representatives who are in there for just a few years and even no pensions for those who have been in there too long with nothing to show for what they have accomplished. There should not be any tenure either as we are the ones who put them in charge of our representation. One reader said that we shouldn’t be paying the representatives while they are not on the job. How many of us who did work for a living got paid for staying home? One reader said that every representative should be paying into social security instead of drawing out of a congressional retirement fund. That money should go right into the social security system, where those who retire from being in office would participate just like the rest of us. Any other money they would need could be gotten by purchasing their own retirement package and take the chance that it is there when they do retire.

All members of Congress should be liable and abide by all laws just like we the people do. If there are written contracts for those who serve us, they should be voided out and then take the same chances that we do as those who they are representing. Why, we the people, sent them to represent us, is that they listen to all of us and not the parties they belong to. Remember that we sent them to do what is best for us and not just for them. If they decide that what we want is something they can’t do, then they should get up off their seats, pick up the phone and call us and say, get someone else because I am not good enough to represent you. When Congress was first thought of, it was to give the people a voice in all things brought before them. Are we getting that now? All those who we sent to be our voices should do the job, and then once their term is over, ask us if they did the job right. If not then they should get out and find another job.

I get a lot of emails each day as well as hearing from my friends and readers which tell me that most are fed up with the way that we are heading. Many are out of jobs and they don’t know where their next meal will come from. Many are so much in debt because they thought it was safe to overspend way outside of what they earned. Many are retirees who wonder how far their existing resources will take them. Will they wind up with nothing or have just enough to get by? Homes have been lost, and taxes have risen for a lot of them, but they struggle to make each penny go as far as possible. Our youngsters are graduating from college with no jobs open for them. Our cities are full of dope peddlers, robbers, and molesters but our jails are full so they roam the streets looking for something to get them by.

What I am trying to get across is that those members of Congress don’t have those things to worry about. They can just lean back and relax because their futures are locked in. I can only write about what the fears are and wake up those who have fallen asleep on the job. Several years ago I thought that I would one day run for office to help those who I would represent but really I am too old to take that leap now but just maybe there are some out there who really want to be the people’s voice. Just maybe some of them will take that leap this fall and give us a chance to be heard. Take a look at our statehouse and those two speakers down there and wonder how much longer we will put up with them

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day
 
 
 

As time goes by, sometimes faster than we would like it to do, we meet that spot in our paths where we ask ourselves what do we want out of the rest of our stay here on earth, before God calls us home. And really that is a wake up call for many of us because we really don’t even think about it because we are having so much fun here now. So I thought I would sort of let you on my path to show you what I want. At the age of almost 75, there really isn’t too much time left for me but maybe enough to make up for those times that I wasted. The other day at a ball game, one of the fans who are at the games, come rain or high water, came up and sat down but kept looking toward the stairs and so I looked that way and here came a fan who has not been to a game for several weeks due to cancer and as he came up, I said hello to him and told him I was glad to see him. He said that he wanted to come because it might be the last game he will see on this earth. That moved me because he is such a nice person as is his wife of 60 years. As the tears started to flow, I wiped them away and gave him the thumbs up and I said to myself, Lord, please give this man a chance to enjoy his beloved Wildkat teams and let the others in the stands know he is here. I soon saw many come up to where he sat and shook hands with him or they waved to him. It is nice to know that someone cares and tonight he found out that they did. One person sitting close by got up and went down the ramp to wipe his eyes and then came back to sit with him and his wife for the rest of the game. Now if you say that God doesn’t answer you, you are wrong. Well, anyway he made it through the whole game and it being the last home game, I thought to myself that I hope he does get able to see one next season. So as I walk, I wonder where could I find the courage like this man has? Will I be strong enough when that time gets closer to push the pain to one side and enjoy myself doing what I like to do? Are we really strong or is it that we believe in our creator enough to know that His plan is for all of us and not for just a few. Whatever we do with our time, we reap in the results if we stay with the plan. When we get off the path, sometimes we lose our way and others could be there to sway us in how we get back on the path or take one that is easier to walk because it has no boundries, or rules. So we get ourselves together in mind and body and we ask for help from the only one who can help us and we ask for his blessings until that time when the path ends and eternal life starts. I do believe that those who come down with that sickness called cancer, can get that second grip on life and live many more years even though it has been a tough fight to get there. As many know, I meditate a lot and I believe in my mind over matter when it comes to pain in my body. I will not give up, nor will I lose that relation ship with God in the way that I choose to do it.. There are a lot of good people out there who care enough to let you know that you don’t give up on life even through the tough times. The day still has 24 hours in it but it seems like half that amount, when times are good and twice that amount when times are bad. Enjoy what we have left. Ray “Uncle Ray” Day