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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
8
December 22, 2011
My husband and my best friend
are killingme.
KILLINGme.
They are both on physician
ordered restricted diets due to
their respective health conditions
whichare, I repeat, KILLINGme.
I do not exaggerate here.
Despite my sneaking into the
kitchen late at night and scarfing
down whatever treats I can find
hidden away in remote corners of
the cupboards, this has got to stop. I
feel like a cornered animal when
Dave walks into the kitchen at mid-
night and there I am, soup spoon in
one hand, carton of Ben and Jerry's
in the other and Chunky Munkey
dripping off my chin onto my flan-
nel nightie.
See, Dave's new diet is highly
restricted. Like so restricted, it
makes my head hurt. He's limited
to so few foods of such little variety,
I don't know how he has managed
to endure the boredom so far.
Being a sugar and carbohydrate
addict myself, I couldn't endure
these current dietary require-
ments. Dave just says it's boring
and goes on about his business.
Me? I'd be whining to strangers on
the street about my deprivation
and looking to everyone within
earshot for lots of sympathy. (OK, so
maybe I shouldn't have taken an
hour of the UPS man's time and
made him late, but he ASKED me
howIwas doing.)
But enoughabout him.
Let's talk about my co-worker
and best friend, Sean. He, too, is
now on food restrictions because
he had a high blood pressure
attack at his Buddhist stick-fighting
class (don't ask) and nearly ended
up in the emergency room. His doc-
tor put him on medication and
ordered him away from nearly all
the good things offered on life's
menu, too. So now, my only chance
to really splurge on sugars, carbs
and grease is at breakfast when
Dave is out the door and Sean is
nowhere around. Or, the aforemen-
tionedmidnight raids of the freezer
and cupboard, which are beginning
to look pretty bare.
Between the restrictions these
two are placing
on me, it's no
wonder
I'm
cranky and ill
tempered. You'd be ill tempered
too if somebody was forcing you to
eat twigs and bark and leaves and
all sorts of healthy stuff. I mean my
old body is in full withdrawal here.
Sean can't have anything with salt
or caffeine or grease or all the real-
ly good stuff in life so lunches are
no longer fast-food orgies of stuffing
fries or burritos in our faces as fast
as possible. No more heavenly
prime rib sliders from E.G. Nick's,
for which I would cheerfully kill
right now. Oh no, we have to be
healthy and eat grilled chicken and
no dressing and no fries and no
dessert.
See what I mean? And dinner is
a joke. I mean, what am I going to
do, eat smothered pork chops in
front of a man stuffing a banana
Happy holidays.
Most readers are still in that frantic, last-minute state of
holiday preparations unless they are in the category of those
who simply don't bother to shop until Christmas Eve. We
understand that. We also understand that for many, this will
be a minimalist Christmas. The gifts under the tree won't be
quite as elaborate or as plentiful as in some years past, but
trust us on this, most of those on the receiving endwon't even
notice.
Once amodicumof maturity and responsibility is reached
in life, the truth of holiday joy actually is that it is better to
give than to receive. The joy of finding just the right thing at a
price within one's budget, of knowing that the family will
gather, even as unpleasant as that can get sometimes.
Even the badparts are the best of Christmas.
There is, however, something each of us can do to help
ease some of the worst parts of the holiday for others. We've
reminded readers before of the desperate and deep need
among those less fortunate this year. We cannot urge strongly
enough that each of us finds a bit of spare change to toss into
the Salvation Army Red Kettles or give to the Goodfellows
this year.
The Salvation Army numbers of our neighbors who need
our help is staggering, and donations are not near where they
need to be to help those who have asked for a hand up. The
Goodfellows, too, are still seeking any contributions, especial-
ly of volunteer time for wrapping and delivering. There are
so many other good organizations in our area, trying to help
where they can. Jon Campbell, the McDonald's owner who
just gave 250 breakfasts to the Starfish agency, John Goji who
helped the Wayne Goodfellows with their last fundraising
auction, the people at Hermann's Old Towne Grill who have
turned their annual toys For Tots auction into a tradition, the
people at Northville Civic Concern, the St. Mary's Pantry, and
so many other churches and programs, who try so hard to
help other at theholiday, andduring the year.
It's a tough time and every penny counts and sometimes,
when it's cold or nasty or raining, it is seriously inconvenient
to stop and toss a few coins in the red kettle. Often, it's just a
pain in the neck when one of the civic club members
approaches your vehicle stopped at a light to see if you will
contribute to their cause. But it is worth whatever it takes to
know that youhave helped. The amount doesn't reallymatter.
Throw in half a dollar or even less in coins. The people ring-
ing those bells and walking the streets and organizing
fundraisers don't care. They aren't judging you, they are sim-
ply trying tohelp.
The union members out at the Romulus GM plant collect-
ed funds all year to be able to present a spectacular number
of bikes and toys for area children this year. There are Boy
Scouts and evenCub Scouts, out ringing those bells in front of
local grocery stores, just trying to help others enjoy the holi-
day.
We knowhow stressful this time of the year can be. Most of
us are down to the wire on gifts and preparations and wrap-
ping and cooking and shopping.
Give yourself a gift, please, and donate to one of thesewor-
thy causes. We guarantee, just knowing you helped someone
else a little, will make your holiday much more peaceful and
merry.
Merry Christmas from all of us here at Associated
Newspapers.
The union members out at the Romulus GM
plant collected funds all year to be able
to present a spectacular number of
bikes and toys for area children this year.
”
Between the restrictions these
two are placing on me,
it's no wonder I'm cranky and ill tempered.
”
The spirit of the holidays really is in giving
Dying of good intentions and very bad habits
Thank
yous are
in order
It's time to say thank you.
For more than 18 years, Joan
Wadsworth has served on the
Northville Community Schools
Board of Education. In January,
she will leave that office, the com-
munity and the country to relo-
cate temporarily to Dublin,
Ireland for 2½years.
She's going to be missed, great-
ly.
After nearly two decades, there
isn't much that Wadsworth hasn't
seen at board meetings. She has
weathered it all with grace and
dignity, always putting the welfare
of the students first when she cast
her votes or debated an issue.
Eighteen years is a long time to
serve in a capacity that offers very
little monetary reward and lots of
scheduling conflicts and time con-
straints. Wadsworth continued
her service without complaint
about the amount of time it took
or the lack of reward forthcoming.
There were, in fact, times dur-
ing the past 18 years, when she
was criticized soundly if her opin-
ion didn't mesh with others on the
board or parents attending meet-
ings, demanding changes in pro-
cedure, curriculumor policy.
She handled it all with grace
and it is very clear she would con-
tinue to serve the district were it
not for her spouse's new position
with the Irish Competition
Authority, an entity similar to the
U.S. Federal TradeCommission.
Her children are all grown and
have graduated and left the
Northville school system, but she
has remained, taking to heart her
desire to see that all students in
the district get the best education
possible and that the district con-
tinues to excel as it has in the past
years.
She now serves as president of
the board, and for 16 of the 18
years she has served, she has
been a board officer, never avoid-
ing taking on even more responsi-
Letters
See
Dying
, page 9
See
Thank you
, page 9
Voter turnout criticized
To the editor;
There are about 19,051 citizens
ofWayne.
Of those, 14,023 of us are over 18
years old and nearly every one of
this number has the right to vote.
American soldiers are fighting
for your right to vote. That's what is
told to the 5,208 children we have
with us. As least 6,303 United
States Armed Service members
died fighting in Operation Iraqi
Freedom and Operation Enduring
Freedom and 35,302 United States
Armed Service members have
been seriously injured, too - all to
secure freedom, democracy and
provide the right to vote and free
choice to people.
Out of the 14,023 of us that could
vote, only 2,319 of them took time to
vote in the lastmayor's election.
Americans paid taxes and
watched the news and sent tens of
thousands of Americans in harm's
way to fight in countries over 6,839
miles from our home for the right
to vote and to keep us safe to vote
and participate in democracy, yet
11,704Wayne citizens didnot vote.
It could be blamed on the city
clerk only keeping the polls open
from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. but would 6
a.m. to 9 p.m. attract the 11,704 who
didnot vote? I don't know.
As it is - only 16 percent of
potential voters in Wayne actually
voted and the mayor was given
another term by a mere 9.8 per-
cent.
Is that what your friends, neigh-
bors and family members are fight-
ing and dying for? They are giving
more than 100 percent and Wayne
kicks in almost 10 percent.
Isn't that shameful?
AlfredBrock,
Wayne