Humpday Happenings...
Here we are again...knock, knock knocking on Thanksgiving's door, and tomorrow, we will hopefully gather around dinner tables across this fine nation to celebrate the meaning of what it is to be...thankful.
First up...this week's WHO SAID THAT?
"The path of nature and of truth is narrow, but it is simple and direct; the devious paths are numerous and spacious; but they all lead to error and destruction." (answer on Friday)
But before we get into the mix today, I want to talk a little about how some holidays don't always turn out "as planned".
*** Case in point...this story about a FWCS asst. principal that wound up acting more the turkey than cooking one.
Here's the link to the *4-1-1*:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20111123/LOCAL07/311239984
This demonstrates how deep the drug culture has infested our typical neighborhoods. This is an rather nice area, and it's the cookie-cutter housing development many have chosen to live in and raise a family.
But here we have drugs...just like down here in the ghettohood...nothing new about that.
What I have to ask straight away is: "Was it all worth it?"
(( During the search, officers found marijuana in several places in the home, including about two pounds in three freezer vacuumed sealed bags in the dining room, just under a half pound in a box in the garage and two vacuum sealed freezer bags in the kitchen freezer, along with a partially burnt brown cigar with pot wrapped in it in an ashtray.
Officers also found a large digital scale in the laundry room, a large bowl-type digital scale in the pantry, just under $4,700 scattered in various spots in the home and a .45 caliber semi-automatic Glock handgun in a nightstand.
In a kitchen cabinet, police found a glass snorting device that contained less than a gram of cocaine and a mirror, a razor blade and several plastic straws, all with cocaine residue on them. ))
** note - pictures are for reference only!
I would kiss that Glock "bye-bye" after this stunt...drugs AND guns do go over all that well, and even if you had a permit...you ain't gonna have one for long now. Hope it wasn't straw-purchased.
Having such marks on an otherwise unremarkable "record" shouldn't become some "rite-of-passage", and especially not for those we call ADULTS.
Derek Curry was a former FW firefighter, whose employment (which lasted for only SIX years - hired on in 1999) would seem to be in question.
Was he injured on the job and had to leave? Did he receive a "better deal" elsewhere?
At least he manned-up when stopped by ILLINOIS STATE POLICE, and allowed access to his Ft. Wayne home up on Millennium Crossing.
But "integrity after the fact" (when you've been caught with your hand in the cookie jar) still is more like a day late and a dollar short.
Police have filed charges against "Mikki" White (a former backup singer for Prince) who is supposed to be releasing a book soon (wonder how that's going to work out), and has a new CD, found here on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mikki-White-Xperience/dp/B005T3BVME/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1322001266&sr=8-4
What I find hard to believe is how a former teacher at Fairfield Elementary School, who was criticized BY her principal back in 1997 for bringing a speaker to her class who talked about STDs, and had a "show & tell" with models of a UTERUS and SUCTION DEVICE to demonstrate how an abortion is performed...in AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, for God's SAKE...could stoop to something that will most assuredly ruin a decent CAREER...all for the sake of some pot and some blow
To me, that shows a severe lack of judgment...both back in 1997 as well as now.
And that "lack" seems to have followed Shadwaynn Curry like a frisky puppy.
Oh yes, she also has SEVERAL aliases:
(from court records)
CURRY, SHADWAYNN M
Also Known As JENKINS, SHADWAYNN M
Also Known As WHITE, SHADWAYNN M
And...MIKKI WHITE (professional name, obviously)
Why would a teacher or a principal NEED a FEW names? Always thought the ONE was sufficient, unless there was something to hide...or get away from. And she sure wasn't on a witness-protection program. Very strange indeed.
Now, what has DEREK been doing since leaving the department back in 2005?
The ONLY thing on his rap sheet shows a driving while suspended infraction back in 2002, so he's been flying under the radar, as it were.
Shadwaynn only has a "failure to dim lights" infraction from 1998.
So, what could cause two, seemingly regular folks to drop off the deep end of normalcy and delve into the "wonderful world of street-corner pharmaceuticals"? They obviously had nice digs to crib in, and HER salary alone (as an assistant principal) should have been sufficient to warrant a typically regular lifestyle.
I suppose they "thought" they could amend their income by becoming "entrepreneurs", after a fashion?
Well, someone thought WRONG there.
And it will haunt them for quite some time, unfortunately.
Might be less of a Thanksgiving at their house than they had originally planned... (more on this as it becomes available - her initial court appearance states she claims innocence)
And speaking of THANKSGIVING...
Tomorrow, we'll be hosting family members, or perhaps venturing forth to other members of our families, to sit down, and enjoy a wonderful yearly repast that will most assuredly cause belts to loosen across America.
And it's a marvelously AMERICAN thing to do....we "own" this holiday lock, stock, and barrel.
But for some of us, we remember times past, and how chairs at our tables have grown empty over the years.
I'm a traditionalist, so I will STILL prepare the usual dinner, as if family members from times past will be calling.
Some traditions should never be allowed to pass away, as our family members often do.
Even if it's only Mrs. Bobby G. and myself (along with our two cats), tomorrow will STILL be thanksgiving, and prayers will be spoken over our empty chairs, because the reasons we have to BE thankful go beyond the tangible things in our lives.
Who we are and have become over the years was built upon things our parents wanted for us...expected from us, and gave to us.
Add to that a sense of morality, from tomes which spoke to us about GIVING...and being THANKFUL, and it's little wonder we embrace tomorrow in the manner we have come to know.
Mankind is a social being, and that includes being charitable...the whole GIVING thing.
And on Thanksgiving Day we give of ourselves...to others (family), but we also have to give something TO ourselves, and that being the satisfaction that WE are doing what we are supposed to be doing. It's not selfish, but rather SELFLESS.
So, on that, I would wish that if you have an empty chair at YOUR table for whatever reason, you take the time to be thankful that whoever is absent remains in your thoughts and prayers, for they have helped to make your life better, and this nation stronger when they were present.
TO all our troops serving in whatever theater of operation, I wish the best for all of you, and that God will keep you and guide you in your duties to this nation and to her people.
TO our police and firefighters, I wish you safe journeys upon our streets, roads and highways.
And to all of you, may you take to heart the meaning of tomorrow, and the place it holds in our history, and will continue to hold in our future.
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving Day, and we'll catch all of you on the "flip side".
Be well, make a difference to someone today, as well as tomorrow, and...
Stay safe out there, America.