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A Christmas Story

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A Christmas Story

This story is about a strong woman, who was pregnant for a decade 1954-1964 and a great Dad. She was educated at Ben Franklin University (now George Washington University in Washington DC. My Mom how she did it I would never know but her story is an example more people should follow. Dad was an Irish Catholic as Mom was. Dad was a straight shooter as well as an alcoholic. I asked Dad Why did you have so many kids? His answer was quick as if he did not even think about it. He said, “We did not have a TV”. Classic Dad, big hearted Archie Bunker type. Dad would never hurt anyone and try to help everyone. Mom and Dad had 6 kids. Mom had Rh-negative blood type and lost 4 because of this. She could have died because of this also. Never gave it a thought. I asked Mom about the pain she experience during childbirth. Her answer was strange “I do not remember any pain I know I had it but it was such an unimportant detail to remember.” We were poor and did not know it; we lived in the projects in a city just across the river from NY City. I remember Mom taking the cushion off the couch trying to find enough change for a loaf of bread. She always managed. Dad worked 3 jobs as he was laid off a lot from his regular job. Therefore, it was not easy. Mom shared a washing machine in the basement with 35 other families with almost 2 in diapers (No Pampers yet) all during that time Mom would get up in the middle of the night to do laundry. One Christmas Dad made a goal of getting Bikes for all his kids. I remember him working ungodly hours to do this. Christmas morning 6 Bikes around the tree we had gotten Christmas Eve (as they almost gave them away then) I will never forget his smile as he took my bike for a ride. Mom well she shined everyday Dad was working so it was hard for him to make an impression on us kids. Many Christmas’s Dad would play Santa for his friends and family never taking any money for this. Later I remember Dad going to orphanages and hospitals to do this. Mom and Dad saved and finally bought their own home after we all started school Mom went back to work as an accountant making a lot more money than Dad. Later she became Comptroller for the National Board of the YWCA in NYC .As I mention before Dad was an alcoholic not mean or nasty just a guy who would bring chips and pretzels home and give them to kids on his way home. Again Mom had to put up with his shenanigans plus 6 kids how did she do it. Later Dad stop drinking. I became a member of the Elks so I asked Dad to be Santa for the crippled kiddies Christmas party Dad said sure. Well everything was going fine until a little boy with no arms came for his present from Santa. I saw my Dads eyes welt up with tears Then I heard my Dad sob as the little boy said “that’s OK Santa just put it under my neck” My dad continued to hand out gifts all the time holding back the sobs but the tears would not stop. After the event Dad said he could not do it next year. He ask me the following year if I found anyone then volunteered again, From working with those kids I learned every Life is precious. Christmas the birth of Christ in a stable, who is still remembered more than 2,000 years later. OK I guess we have to debate something so Do you think if a child is handicap that should be a reason to abort.
 
Proudly Pro Life JP Freem said:
OK I guess we have to debate something so Do you think if a child is handicap that should be a reason to abort.
So you are blabbering 30 lines of irrelevant stuff for that question? If the woman doesn't want to carry the pregnancy to term, she can abort. The reason is none of your business.
 
Someone put too much brandy in the Christmas pudding.
 
steen and vergiss, back off would you?

I believe a child should not be aborted solely because it is handicapped. Now, if the reason is because the mother is a drug addict, then maybe yes. Note I said maybe.
 
Aurora151989 said:
steen and vergiss, back off would you?

I believe a child should not be aborted solely because it is handicapped. Now, if the reason is because the mother is a drug addict, then maybe yes. Note I said maybe.

So instead of getting Mom help we abort the child? Punish the child by death because of crimes committed by the Mom? Why not have laws that will charge the Mom with assualt of the Baby. If the baby dies as a result of her drug abuse man slaughter charges or murder charges? Handicap kids are great I once coached a soccer team made up of mentally retarded kids, we had alot of fun. Each of their parents loved those kids, and consider them as very special gifts. Today these kids are routinely aborted, not given a chance to show how special they really are. A friend of mine lost 2 premature babies, they got pregnant again, an Amio was done it showed a genetic defect. Doctors could not tell how it would affect the baby. My friend & hiis wife after thinking about abortion decided to put it in God"s hands. Today the are celebrating Christmas with a beautiful 13 yr old daughter, It turn out the genetic defect was a club foot something easily corrected. What a merry christmas they are having. So today I wish everyone a Merry Christmas a Happy Hanukuh (Pardon me if I spelled it wrong)Good Health and happiness for the new year. God Bless
 
We can have laws that charge the mother, but if we do that it gets excessive. Go to a restaurant and breathe in second hand smoke, you've assaulted your baby. You don't know if you're pregnant and drink some wine, you're guilty of assault. etc etc etc. I agree that we should get the mom some help, but i have had only bad experiences with down syndrome kids. ie.. inappropriate touching, bad behavior.

Clubfoot is not a genetic defect, it only results from being cramped in the womb.
 
Aurora151989 said:
We can have laws that charge the mother, but if we do that it gets excessive. Go to a restaurant and breathe in second hand smoke, you've assaulted your baby. You don't know if you're pregnant and drink some wine, you're guilty of assault. etc etc etc. I agree that we should get the mom some help, but i have had only bad experiences with down syndrome kids. ie.. inappropriate touching, bad behavior.

Clubfoot is not a genetic defect, it only results from being cramped in the womb.

That was the only thing wrong with her when she was born?
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001228.htm
 
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Proudly Pro Life JP Freem said:
So instead of getting Mom help we abort the child? Punish the child by death because of crimes committed by the Mom? Why not have laws that will charge the Mom with assualt of the Baby. If the baby dies as a result of her drug abuse man slaughter charges or murder charges? Handicap kids are great I once coached a soccer team made up of mentally retarded kids, we had alot of fun. Each of their parents loved those kids, and consider them as very special gifts. Today these kids are routinely aborted, not given a chance to show how special they really are. A friend of mine lost 2 premature babies, they got pregnant again, an Amio was done it showed a genetic defect. Doctors could not tell how it would affect the baby. My friend & hiis wife after thinking about abortion decided to put it in God"s hands. Today the are celebrating Christmas with a beautiful 13 yr old daughter, It turn out the genetic defect was a club foot something easily corrected. What a merry christmas they are having. So today I wish everyone a Merry Christmas a Happy Hanukuh (Pardon me if I spelled it wrong)Good Health and happiness for the new year. God Bless


I commend the work that you do with the disabled and the handicaped but can,t help wondering do you call these children retarded in front of thier parents?

Such a derogatory word for such preciouse children.
 
jp said "mentally retarded" NOT "retarded"
 
That is still pretty low i know as a mother of a mentaly and physically disabled child i would be highly offended at the word retarded even with the word mental in front of it.
 
Proudly Pro Life JP Freem said:
So instead of getting Mom help we abort the child? Punish the child by death because of crimes committed by the Mom? Why not have laws that will charge the Mom with assualt of the Baby. If the baby dies as a result of her drug abuse man slaughter charges or murder charges?

We let the mother choose what she wants to do with her own body, and her own child. You are welcome to love all children you come in contact with; I personally do not. I do not want to have children. I'm married, but my wife also does not want any children. Can you mandate that I must have children? If not, why should you be able to do it for any woman?
 
CoffeeSaint said:
We let the mother choose what she wants to do with her own body, and her own child. You are welcome to love all children you come in contact with; I personally do not. I do not want to have children. I'm married, but my wife also does not want any children. Can you mandate that I must have children? If not, why should you be able to do it for any woman?

adoption........

to coffeesaint, i'm sure you and your wife use birthcontrol to prevent pregnancies, perhaps one of you is neutered lol.
 
FISHX said:
I commend the work that you do with the disabled and the handicaped but can,t help wondering do you call these children retarded in front of thier parents?

Such a derogatory word for such preciouse children.

Times have changed I did this work 20 years ago as a young man. I had belong to a number of organizations dealing with handicap children. One of them was the Hudson County Association for the Mentally Retarded. The parents knew their children had this condition and they accepted it. I guess as time has marched on the term Mentally Challenged or some other PC term now exist. The most important thing was that these kids were experiencing organized sports for the first time. I loved it, The experience was just as rewarding for me. Besides the free Pizza at one of the family members restaurants was great after every practice & game. I gain about 15 lbs coaching soccer, Whats wrong with that picture.
 
Aurora151989 said:
adoption........

to coffeesaint, i'm sure you and your wife use birthcontrol to prevent pregnancies, perhaps one of you is neutered lol.

Is it any of your business (Not angry when I say that.)? Is it any of the government's business? Should you, or the government, have the right to tell my wife and I to stop using birth control, or undo our "neutering," or whatever, so we can have kids, who we could then give up for adoption if we didn't want to raise them?
 
Sorry didn,t mean to jump on you it is just that word has caused so much dammage to my little boy it is unbeleivable .
 
CoffeeSaint said:
Is it any of your business (Not angry when I say that.)? Is it any of the government's business? Should you, or the government, have the right to tell my wife and I to stop using birth control, or undo our "neutering," or whatever, so we can have kids, who we could then give up for adoption if we didn't want to raise them?

nobody has the right to tell anybody what to do. However my little brain always looks for alternatives. When people get married, one of the first things they should do beforehand is to see if they BOTH do or don't want kids. If they disagree, they probably shouldn't get married. What i'm talking about is single mothers and fathers. NOT married couples.
 
FISHX said:
That is still pretty low i know as a mother of a mentaly and physically disabled child i would be highly offended at the word retarded even with the word mental in front of it.

I am sorry if I offended you that was not my intention. On the contrary I was pointing out how special these kids are. I hope God Besses you and your child. I know you know how special your child is, and that is why you took offense. So much Love I admire that and I know your child feels it and knows what Mom is doing. Again Merry Christmas God Bless you and your family.
 
Proudly Pro Life JP Freem said:
I am sorry if I offended you that was not my intention. On the contrary I was pointing out how special these kids are. I hope God Besses you and your child. I know you know how special your child is, and that is why you took offense. So much Love I admire that and I know your child feels it and knows what Mom is doing. Again Merry Christmas God Bless you and your family.

Thats ok hun i am just hyper sensitive around that word and you are so right my little man is soooooo special and such a jolly little man.

Happy christmas to you and yours.
 
Aurora151989 said:
nobody has the right to tell anybody what to do. However my little brain always looks for alternatives. When people get married, one of the first things they should do beforehand is to see if they BOTH do or don't want kids. If they disagree, they probably shouldn't get married. What i'm talking about is single mothers and fathers. NOT married couples.
Okay, so you would allow married couples to have an abortion if they didn't want to have kids, but not single people? Or is that you're offering adoption as the alternative, to everybody? Do you believe that children born with disabilities have a reasonable chance of being adopted? You have been around children with Down's Syndrome; have you been around kids with fetal alcohol syndrome? Would you recommend that an alcoholic woman bear that child to term and then give it up for adoption?
I think the woman should be allowed to make her own choice about what she wants to do with her body. If she doesn't want to be pregnant, she shouldn't have to be pregnant any more. I would not recommend abortion to a woman who wanted to have children, just because the child had a disability, but neither would I recommend -- or legislate -- adoption to a woman who did not want to have children at all.
 
CoffeeSaint said:
We let the mother choose what she wants to do with her own body, and her own child. You are welcome to love all children you come in contact with; I personally do not. I do not want to have children. I'm married, but my wife also does not want any children. Can you mandate that I must have children? If not, why should you be able to do it for any woman?

Birth Control at least 2 methods, vesectomy or having tubes tied would be methods. Abortion should not be used as birth control. Finally if it happens adoption is an option. judjing by the tone of your post you feel the woman can do anything she wants with the child? That is pretty disturbing
 
Proudly Pro Life JP Freem said:
Birth Control at least 2 methods, vesectomy or having tubes tied would be methods. Abortion should not be used as birth control. Finally if it happens adoption is an option. judjing by the tone of your post you feel the woman can do anything she wants with the child? That is pretty disturbing

I know how to prevent birth; my question was, can you mandate that I MUST have children? Let me just add that my wife and I are both intelligent, healthy, and financially secure enough to raise kids; we'd probably be good parents, though we have never had kids, so who knows? Assuming that we would, in fact, be good parents, should we be forced to have children? If we couldn't have any of our own, should we be forced to adopt?
And what's so disturbing about allowing a woman to control her own body? If we do not want a woman's choices to determine the fate of a child, we need to find a way to remove a living fetus from a woman who doesn't want to be pregnant; until we do that, the only option available to a woman is abortion. I find it much more disturbing that you care so much about a child's happiness, and so little about a woman's freedom. Why are children so much better than women?
 
CoffeeSaint said:
I know how to prevent birth; my question was, can you mandate that I MUST have children? Let me just add that my wife and I are both intelligent, healthy, and financially secure enough to raise kids; we'd probably be good parents, though we have never had kids, so who knows? Assuming that we would, in fact, be good parents, should we be forced to have children? If we couldn't have any of our own, should we be forced to adopt?
And what's so disturbing about allowing a woman to control her own body? If we do not want a woman's choices to determine the fate of a child, we need to find a way to remove a living fetus from a woman who doesn't want to be pregnant; until we do that, the only option available to a woman is abortion. I find it much more disturbing that you care so much about a child's happiness, and so little about a woman's freedom. Why are children so much better than women?

Again the choice is made when you decide to have sex. Abortion kills another human being, It does not matter what stage of developement that human being is in The Baby in the womb is a human being. DNA proves this. Do you favor using abortion as birth control? Because that is what your post sound like.

:memorial_
 
FISHX said:
Thats ok hun i am just hyper sensitive around that word and you are so right my little man is soooooo special and such a jolly little man.

Happy christmas to you and yours.

It sounds like you are from England my grandmother was from Liverpool. Give your little guy a big hug and kiss from this yank over here.God Bless
 
finally we have something in common jp! My mother and I both believe that the choice is made when you have sex. This is the reason my almost 9 year old brother mark is alive today. When mom was pregnant with him, we weren't in a good financial situation and I was 8, My other brother carl was 7.
 
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