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About Our Personal Mortality…

RJ Walters

My father was one of those people who could not deal with his own mortality.  When a discussion was about death issues, he would say “this is too gruesome” and leave the room. He just didn’t want to think about it. I, on the other hand, have no qualms about discussing my own death. In fact, I am ready to accept it as each day comes and passes. That doesn’t mean that I welcome death, I would like to have a long and fruitful life still ahead of me, but if that doesn’t happen then so be it. I just … Continue reading About Our Personal Mortality…

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Autism In The Elderly?

RJ Walters

When I got a recent comment from one of my regular viewers I realized it was time for another post about Autism. This one is about senior citizens who are autistic but are generally undiagnosed.  A recognized statistics is that there are over a million of us that are autistic in the Baby Boomer generation alone. Even if those million were suddenly officially diagnosed to be autistic it is very doubtful that any but a small percentage of them would even accept that fact.  It is kind of like another area that I am familiar with and that is hearing … Continue reading Autism In The Elderly?

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The Hardest Years…

RJ Walters

I suppose the title of this post has different meanings to different people.  From recent comments, it is used to describe the “post-truth” era that many seem to think we are in.  To many, the hardest years are the ones that they are currently living in.  Being a history guy I have a longer view than that.  But this is not at all what this post is about. :) These are the first words from a quote from Helen Hays shown below I couldn’t agree more. At the tender age of ten, I had just taken up a Jack London … Continue reading The Hardest Years…

Life On the Margins2 Comments

Autism and Meltdown

RJ Walters

Being a person with some strong Aspie traits, I just don’t handle stressful situations well.  Fortunately, I don’t totally lose it as the word meltdown infers but I quit acting like an adult and instead am a panicked kid. In autism studies, these episodes are called meltdowns so I will call them that for the purposes of this post. One of my most prominent stressors is criticism. I am plainly oversensitive. I often perceive my wife’s criticism as calling me a complete idiot. When those situations occur I frequently go into at least some level of meltdown. I start shouting … Continue reading Autism and Meltdown

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Why White Evangelicals…

RJ Walters

It is a well-publicised fact that 81% of white evangelicals voted to put the current occupant in the Oval Office. On that subject, I ran across this interesting book entitled Believe Me. It is written by one of the 19% who voted the other way.  Here is a small segment of an interview with the author: Finally, you dedicate your book to the 19 percent of white evangelicals who did not vote for Trump. What do you want to say to them with this book? I dedicate the book to the 19 percent not because they’re my primary audience, but because they … Continue reading Why White Evangelicals…

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Sometimes Necessary, But Never Celebrated…

RJ Walters

I am a pro-life person in all regards. I totally believe that all human life is sacred. One of the ironic things about some people is that while they detest some forms of the taking of human life, mainly fetuses, they celebrate killing in too many other circumstances. I am pro-life in all regards. We in the USA just seem to be a very belligerent people if you ask me.  We teach our children at a very young age that killing another person is just part of life.   They are bad guys who need to be exterminated. We indoctrinate them … Continue reading Sometimes Necessary, But Never Celebrated…

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Veggies vs Flowers…

RJ Walters

Most of my life I have had a veggie garden to tend. They have varied in size from 75 x 125 feet to patio pots. There is just something about raising your own food that is primal with me. My wife, on the other hand, is a flower garden person. Every year, even though she is in her upper 70s she, with the help of a good friend, puts out a flower garden. This is one of those pictures that tug at the strings of my heart.   Continue reading Veggies vs Flowers…

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Autism & Sensory Sensitivity

RJ Walters

It has been a while since I put out a post about Autism concentrating primarily on Aspbergers’ Syndrome. This post will be about sensory sensitivity.  Of course, that means being sensitive to sight, touch, taste, sound, and smell and is often a symptom of Autism. I continue to discover new traits in my life that point me to Aspbergers. This one came from a billboard that I saw several times a month while traveling back and forth from my small town to a larger one with more services and medical options. Let’s go through the list with my stories: Sight … Continue reading Autism & Sensory Sensitivity

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Wanting It All NOW!!

RJ Walters

One thing that seems to be pretty prevalent in American life today is that everyone wants what it took my generation years to get, NOW.  They simply don’t want to wait until they have earned enough, or become wise enough for it to happen. I know our world is going faster now but sometimes you just need to mellow a little longer before you get what you want. I see on the cable show House Hunters where twenty-some-year-olds are looking for 3000+ square feet homes and just won’t settle for less. They say they are going to have maybe two … Continue reading Wanting It All NOW!!

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The Best Doctor In The World…

RJ Walters

“Best doctor in the world is a veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what’s the matter. He’s just got to know.” – Will Rogers This quote from Will came to mind recently while my wife was going to doctors trying to determine the cause of her recent ailments. In the last couple of months, she has had three emergency room visits, two of them by ambulance.  We were in the ER practically all day each time. They racked up over $14,000 in tests and billing for their time and still can’t determine the cause for her symptoms.  They just say … Continue reading The Best Doctor In The World…

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We All Like To Think We Are Special

RJ Walters

We all like to think we are special, especially during our teenage years.  We are trying to find our own identity but due to the lack of creativity in us we pretty much all end up being the same as everyone else. In some ways, the feeling of being special is very isolating and sometimes even harmful. It is much easier to just go with the crowd and meld in with everyone else. It takes a special person to be well, special. What makes a person special is not how they look or what they wear, instead it is about … Continue reading We All Like To Think We Are Special

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More Is Not Always Better.

RJ Walters

It seems there are many people who always want more and more.  Of course, that is basically the foundation for our economic system here in the US. Given the fact that our population has plateaued in recent decades, each of us buying more is the only way for our GDP to constantly increase year over year especially now that our government is doing everything they can to prevent others from coming to our country. Let’s look at a few glaring examples of this syndrome of always wanting more and more. I see more and more of those restaurants that want … Continue reading More Is Not Always Better.

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Don’t Take Life Too Serious…

RJ Walters

I think its time to pull one of the header quotes from Will for this post. “Do the best you can and don’t take life too serious.” I discovered this quote several years ago and practicing it has helped me cope with daily life. I don’t think I am unusual in taking my personal life too seriously.  If we were to concentrate on what our FaceBook friends say, we can become convinced that we are the only ones struggling. But once we realize that the FB media is a facade and doesn’t reflect any deeper meaning, we can dispell that … Continue reading Don’t Take Life Too Serious…

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Bad People Can Make Beautiful Things.

RJ Walters

I heard the quote in the title above on an IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) segment of the PBS Newshour. It was basically linked to another quote that is pretty common in the art world, “Separate the Art from the Artist”. The first thing that came to my mind was Bill Cosby. Looking at his various TV series it is hard to even imagine that the star was a habitual sexual abuser. But, given that big egos are part of this trait it is looking back understandable. Getting to the point of the post, should we be able to view … Continue reading Bad People Can Make Beautiful Things.