This Post Is Not About Death (Repost)

...It is about Appreciation.

The etymology of the word eulogy is:
mid-15c., from Gk. eulogia "praise,"
from eu- "well" + -logia "speaking,"
from logos "discourse, word," from legein "speak."
Eu legein meant "speak well of."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At a recent get-together, I found myself watching her out of the corner of my eye.
She was smiling, carrying on as if people had no knowledge of her ominous prognosis of Stage IV Breast Cancer.
She works as a physician and continues with her life as a wife, mother to two, sister and a friend to many.

I had never been really close to her, but we've been acquainted for a long time.
In the 12+ years that we had gone to school together, she had always been nice to me.
Smart (the type that regularly got exempted from final exams) and talented but never arrogant. A kind and a very decent person.
Always a leader, but not a power tripper.
That night, I was in awe of how upbeat she was despite all that she was going through.

As the evening wrapped up, I impulsively told her what I thought of her.
I know she knew why I told her this,
because she smiled, hugged me and said: "I'm fighting this--but thank you."

When did the word eulogy evolve to mean: "To speak well of someone only upon death?"
Why wait?

Desperately Guilty

The scene entailed Teri Hatcher's Desperate Housewives character (Susan) at a hospital, being told by her gynecologist that she might be hitting menopause.
Susan replied, "Can I just check those diplomas because I just want to make sure that they are not from some med school in the Philippines."

This type of derogatory remark is not only unnecessary and hurtful, but is also unfounded, considering the presence of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the health care industry. Filipinos are the second largest immigrant population in the United States, with many entering the U.S. and passing their U.S. licensing boards as doctors, nurses, and medical technicians.
In fact, the Philippines produces more U.S. nurses than any other country in the world.
So, to belittle the education, experience, or value of Filipino Americans in health care is disrespectful and plain and simply ignorant.
- email from Kevin Nadal

Although I agree, there is a but.
How about not making this about Filipinos but focusing instead on how various forms of media tap into ethnophobia as a means to entertain?
Everyone that uses anyone's difference as fodder for a laugh is guilty of this.
I know I am.
The tongue-in-cheek placement of a photo of a man in drag,
The exaggerated regional drawl I might put on,
The mocking of one's decidedly hyper-religious beliefs (sorry mom and dad),
The email-forwarding of one culture's rodent, canine or feline cuisine...
are all seemingly harmless attempts at humor.

But is it in fact harmless?
It is only harmless to the person not in drag,
not with the accent,
not with the gigantic crucifix or
not sitting down to a meal of rat.

Amazing how the moment the ethnonym arrow hits us straight on,
we are quick to call a foul.

I know I am guilty.

~Chesca

Do Not Wish Your Life Away

glumbert - A Wonderful World

(Thank You Ron Davison of RWrld. and thanks to your sister too.)

What "Do Not Wish Your life away." tells me on this pleasant Thursday Morning:


Live in the moment.
Focus on the positives.
Let the pains be "good pains"
-that which we learn from
-that which we grow stronger from
-that which we can look back with some sort of sense of accomplishment.