A time to Rejoice in the Midst of Mourning

Yesterday I had cause to rejoice as I talked to my youngest daughter and learned that she had given birth to Leviticus Rex, her fifth child and my thirty first grandchild. At the same event I was attending when I called my daughter someone asked me if I had any great grand children. I said no, but the question caused me to reflect on the reasons why I have no great-grandchildren. Although my oldest grandchild is married and in her late twenties she has not been able to have a child. The next oldest grandchild has chosen to delay having a family as he and his wife embark on a year long tour of the world. The next two grandchildren, both of them boys, died shortly after birth. It would not be reasonable to expect the next three grandchildren to have children at this time based on age alone since all are in their late teens. However the nineteen year old is is impaired by autistism to the point that her parents were required to obtain extended custody. The next has Down's Syndrome and the next has decided that she is a boy.

Gaslit?

Gaslit?

After a recent exchange of comments on my Facebook page in which a person unknown to me has tried to gaslight me (I wasn't familiar with the term 'gaslighting' until lately but essentially it means a person sets conditions to convince you that you are not thinking straight.) I now believe there's an attempt being made to 'gaslight' American conservatives by the government. When we express concern about certain actions that are going forth such as the categorization of Texas and Utah as alien territories for the purposes of military training exercise. When veterans and others such as I express doubt about the wisdom of the project, media gets on board and accuses those who show concern about this as not thinking straight. Some of my close relatives namely my sister and my nephew dismissed my concern. I pointed out in one of my comments on Facebook that I have experience in my life that gives me insight into the workings of the government. From childhood my brother would attempt to convince me of various things and I would resist. One time he accused me of being slippery as I was not willing to accept the premises that he would set but even then I realize that premises are the basis of logical conclusions and it is in the premises that one can be misled. As far as official recognition of our intelligence, both my brother and I were identified as merit finalists as high school juniors. in other words our knowledge and intelligence were significantly more than most of our peers. Both of us were offered the opportunity to attend elite institutions of higher education however the financial realities of our family meant that both of us attended the University of Utah. My brother obtained his bachelors degree, I believe the subject was journalism, after returning from serving in the United States Marines. I attended two years of college before my marriage but returned after having 10 children and eventually graduated from University of Utah. However I also attended George Mason University in Virginia and Brigham Young University in Utah. My brother worked as a journalist usually in editorial positions in California and Washington state while I was a stay-at-home mother. However I was the primary influence in the upbringing of my children. Six of my nine living children were Merit semi finalists, two were given recognition by the Merit Foundation and one scored well into the 90s on college selective tests and her school career included being selected for Governor's School in Virginia which is a highly selective program. Some of my nieces and nephews are also very intelligent however as far as official recognition is concerned, none of them have received the same acknowledgment. Tests and awards alone however are not truly the mark of intelligence. In my opinion the ability to think independently and creatively without being herded along by whatever the media says is a more valid indication of intelligence. By this measure my children rank very well. I believe that to some extent fruits vindicate the value of the branch.