This story involves a number of ficticous characters most of whom you will recognize on site if you are part of the group. As I pulled out of the driveway and headed for CHWC a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) community development corporation dedicated to improving the quality of life in downtown KCK which is located in Fire Station No. 9 that’s at 2 South 14th Street in Kansas City, Kansas and was built by Willian E. Harris over 100 years ago and declared a <a href="http://en.wikip ...continued...

Do you even look back on all those teenage expereinces you've had, Do you think about those defining moments, sick back in the open air theatre of your mind and just sit back and watch. I think about all those moments and how they have defined me, ok maybe not defined but they played a part in the paving the road that has gotten me this far. ...continued...

The first principal standard of the CLAS standards states one will provide effective and respectful care that is quality. Diverse cultural health beliefs and the language necessary will be used for communication needs. Standards for cultural competence for occupational therapist are very similar. I found principal standard that speaks to effective communication skills, listening carefully and language –oriented with recruiting translators. These two statements are similar to me, because they are providing a statement that says they will offer quali ...continued...

Although I never thought of myself to be 'prejudiced' or 'biased', I do understand that my beliefs would great impact my work as a healthcare professional. When I had taken the Cultural Competence Self Assessment Survery, I quickly came to a scary realization that I did know as much as I thought I did. For example, there was a question regarding non-verbal communication (pointing fingers, thumbs up, etc) that I had thought was universal. In fact, I was wrong, as I did not realize there are many different ways facial expressions and gestures could be interpreted as. Not surprisi ...continued...

One of the national lawn care companies states in its sales brochure that it’s got chemicals for early spring to deal with “winter stresses” In the early summer it has chemicals to help you “prepare” for the nasty summer. In the early fall the candy man has the elixir to help your sensitive mono-turf recover from the “stresses of summer.” And of course they promise winter protection for your lawn’s “winter survival.” How did nature survive before humans developed all these chemicals and tools to create and protect our precious, artifi ...continued...

On a beutiful sunny day in March 1978, my husband, Charlie Gordon, left the RAF and we returned with two young daughters to his home town on the Northumberland coast, dominated by a large caravan site, local people so nice and friendly. The sun would soon go behind the gather storm clouds &nb ...continued...

Today we woke up to more of the same. A howling wind and violently flapping tent walls. We discovered that the wind, which is from the north, is rapidly pushing us back to our start location from yesterday. We call it a hamster wheel when the ice beneath our feet moves as quickly south as we move north. Since we are tent bound I have felt a survival mode kick in with both of us. I found myself hoarding the last of my Pop-Tarts as I secretly tried to eat them inside my sleeping bag, denying their very existence when questioned by Mike over the noisy wrappers giving me up. From the crunching ...continued...

I was born on November 14, 1933 at 1307 Rhomberg Avenue at around 6 AM during the middle of the depression. As most of the birth's at that time, it was not at a hospital. Dr. Bacon was our family doctor and he was present at my birth. Dr. Palen, who was related to Pop, was just coming up the stairs when I left out my first cry. Paul was downstairs and Dr. Palen told Paul that he had the baby in his bag. I think Paul believed that for decades. Mom says she always wanted a black haired baby and she got one in me as I had a lot of it. ...continued...

1.) I would like to become more culturally competent in every aspect of my life, not only including race but people who are different from me.   2.) I would like to learn/study more about the cultures and backgrounds of potential future clients. Then I would like to retake the cultural competence quiz and obtain a better score.   3.) I would like to be able to create plans that would include plans the exhibit cultural competence in my current and/or future profession.    ...continued...

Happiness is not being pained in the body or troubled in the mind. There was a time not so long ago when I could barely walk or move easily at all. My livelihood was being taken from me and I was depressed and miserable. Doctors told me that my arthritis could be managed but that it wouldn't get any better. Well it DID GET BETTER. Because I did something about it. I educated myself, I learned to lap swim. I listened to my body and developed a bodyrolling technique. i experimented. I found myself out of necessity chasing arthritis relief nearly everyday. I also found that with out a doubt a ...continued...

The Marvels of Movement Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! ~Constanze: During my mom’s dementia journey, movement often inspired and connected us. Here is one of those magical moments, excerpted from my book, Love in the land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey. The story is set in my mom’s memory care unit. ** Rochelle, the activity director, sticks in another tape and soon Stardust is playing. images “Let’s dance,” she says, motioning everyone to stand. Mom looks up and I offer her my hand. ...continued...

One summer we (Bill & Jim with us littler one's carrying the nails) built a addition to the barn, it was 3 stories high with 3 different floors. We thought it was quite sturdy but one day Pop went up to the top, he jumped up and down a few times and said it wasn't sturdy enough and had to be torn down, which we (they) did. One day we (I'm sure it was the older kids) took one- of Pop's cigarette packs and went out to the barn to smoke it. The neighbor lady saw all the smoke coming from the barn and she came out with a pail of water to put out the ...continued...

Blue Hole By Rolland Love The following are a couple chapters from my mystery suspense novels "Blue Hole" and a sequel "River's Edge" which have received over (300) four and five star reviews. ☂ In River's Edge I aged Dub (12) and brother Tommy (15) by 50 years and made them Grandfathers who take their Grandsons to Blue Hole where a murder occurred the last time they were there in 1949. They become a family of cold case detectives. It's not easy to solve a (50) year old murder but they prove to be up for t ...continued...

A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS EVE &nbs ...continued...

One of the most vivid memories I can remember is a time when my mom, brother and I were sitting in the living room of our one bedroom house, in Salinas Caifornia. I'm not exactly sure what we were doing at the exact moment when we all heard the very loud knocking at the door. Followed by a very loud voice that said "this is the police, we have a search warrant open the door ". My mom was in shock and wasn't sure what to do. MY dad had told her not to open the door. My dad was quick in his actions and had come running in the house 5 minutes before the loud banging on the door. He had ran to the ...continued...