Ebola, the one we lost

 

Good news! So far everyone in the United States has survived Ebola, except one. Those who are currently infected with Ebola are being treated in our hospital system, are improving, and by all accounts for now, are on the mend. I am grateful, but then there is Duncan, the one who died.

 

Who knows where Ebola will take its toll next, we simply do not know. We have no idea how far reaching Ebola could become, before it all ends. But there are a few things we do understand about Ebola. According to the CDC, Ebola is transferred from one person to another, that being; sweat, saliva, blood, stool and urine. The CDC and WHO (World Health Organization) also said, that Ebola can live outside the body for a period of time, and the CDC said the first symptoms are usually a fever, headache and stomach pains.

 

Reassuring news for the majority

 

 We also know so far that the majority of the populace will never come into contact with a person infected with Ebola.  Our primary concern and urgent need per President Obama and the CDC is for containment of Ebola at its source of outbreak, being parts of West Africa. Our secondary concern is for all persons traveling from the affected areas, be sure they are well and have not been in direct contact with any person with Symptoms of Ebola. Those who are American citizens, who have tested positive for the Ebola Virus in Africa, are being flown home with all precautions taken, and transferred directly to the hospital. So far, the Survivor rate has been very good.

 

Weakness, vomiting, diarrhea

and all other survivors of Ebola

The percentage rate of transmission to health care workers caring for those infected with Ebola IN THE UNITED STATES? Has been extremely low per the CDC. Few people who have been quarantined IN THE UNITED STATES have tested positive for the Ebola virus to date.

 

My Hopes

 

My prayer, and hope for Africa, who has endured so much throughout the ages, is that she as a Continent, will be stronger and more capable to handle these types of outbreaks, including Malaria, which kills thousands every year.

 

Still, my heart is sad for the one we lost. Thomas Eric Duncan. My heart is glad for Nina Pham. She is a nurse who cared for Thomas Duncan. As of today Nina is doing well.  Many believe that Thomas Duncan could have lived. Many believe that he could have been placed on the “improving’ list but, it will not be so. He was the one we lost.

 

 

Update: As of today, 10/15/2014, a second nurse who also treated Thomas Eric Duncan has been diagnosed with the Ebola Virus. The possibly shoddy treatment that Thomas Duncan received may affect more people. Let’s all hope that the CDC guidelines regarding Ebola be adhered to strictly, or else we could have a national emergency on our hands in the United States as well.

 

 

Brick

Part 3, I Remember (Conclusion)

 

As I Remember….

 

That horrid day of events, the days following, the loss of thousands of lives, the loss of firemen, the look of sheer terror on the faces of those who narrowly escaped.  I remember that day, yes that day, the day that two other passenger planes were still unaccounted for. Yes, the day when one of them crashed in a field and the other, the last attack was hurled into the pentagon.

 

 

 Unbelievable…

 

Is what 9/11 was, simply unbelievable? Somehow that fateful day caused millions of Americans to kneel and pray, it was nothing better we could do but pray, it was all we had left to do was pray. Pray for our nation, pray for the families, pray for our president, pray for our unseen enemy. In some strange way, love was easy to come by in those days, we cared for each other, and we cared for our nation, our young and old signed up to fight. Foolishness stopped, crime subsided and we as a nation, we were on our knees

 

 

 

Beverly Williams

AKA: Bluetulip

 

Part 2 I Remember

  Part 2,

Head Spinning, I stood there

 

I stood there as long as I could. We both in a sort of head spinning reality.  Too many realities.  The reality that we were no longer untouchable. The reality that we were now exposed and vulnerable. The reality that we have people who do not love us. It was shocking to say the least. The United States of America had its share of struggles for sure, but outside of the self-inflicted Civil War and Pearl Harbor, we had been insulated from war, insulated from dangers that inflicted other nations. We had survived hundreds of years, untouchable. It in itself was a miracle. We took the war wherever it needed to go, but not on our soil. We had been immune from the severe sufferings that other nations had endured, sometimes by us. But that day changed everything. It became our Pearl Harbor, except the group responsible didn’t hit our military, it declared war on the very soul of this nation, these planes, and those people had declared war on America.  We had nowhere to hide and there were still planes missing, unaccounted for as the FAA did all in its power to contact every pilot to have the skies over America, and cleared.

 

First time in our history since the Wright brothers got us started in the friendly skies. The skies were no longer friendly and on that dreadful day, in that dreadful morning, every plane not landed was under enemy control. We didn’t know who we were fighting, we just knew that someone had just declared war on us, and we had to answer this sinister ploy. Now we had to bring them down, whoever they were.

 

 

I did what my grandmother did….

 

I found myself once again doing what my grandmother did so often, that was to pray. We as a nation were kind of lost and stunned.  There was nothing left to do but stay glued to the radio and internet on that day and pray. I wanted to go home, I felt like I did when President J.F. Kennedy died, sad. I wanted to go home like I did when I was a child and the principle announced over the public address system that the president of the United States was dead. School closed early that day, jobs sent workers home, it was a sad day then and it was a sad day on 9/11/01; looking back, I think 9/11 was on a Thursday or Friday, I don’t want to check, I just feel that it was because I wanted to get to church, I needed answers, I wanted to feel safe and I wanted to understand Gods plan in all of this.

 

 

Sunday Came, People came

 

On that Sunday, I hurried to church to find hardly an empty seat. People who I hadn't seen for a long time showed up that Sunday, they too were seeking answers, they too needed a shelter. I believe most of America’s churches were full that Sunday. I mean where do we go when hard times hit? What do we do when things are so far out of our control that we feel scared? We as Americans turn back to the God of our fore-fathers, yes, we do as my grandmother did when I was a child, and we find ourselves praying. Somehow, what was so important prior to 9/11 became trivial, even petty. We saw people jump out of windows, we heard phone calls of men and women saying goodbye to a wife, a mother, a son or daughter. We all experienced the horrors of that day and it brought us to our knees.

I Remember, Really.... Part I

 

          I do. I was on my way to work and I heard the radio announcer say, "we are hearing that a plane, possibly a private plane just hit one of the twin towers'. Memories grabbed hold of me and I remembered hearing about the stories in the early 20th century, when radio was the only means of hearing the latest and the greatest. I remembered my grandmother sitting by her radio, listening to the then Pastor Milton Mathis. He was pastor of the Prayer Garden COGIC, in San Jose Ca. The announcer would come on, and she would say, " We are live, from the Prayer Garden Church of God in Christ, 651 N 6th St, San Jose Ca'. The broadcast came on at 11:00 PM every Sunday evening. When Pastor Mathis would pray, my grandmother would place her hand on the radio as a point of contact. By faith, she would take in, and agree with the prayers. Sometimes for others, sometimes for herself. My grandmother, Lettie Ann Smith was a strong women in God. She was a saint, and I loved her with all my heart. She was the first Jesus I ever experienced, she allowed Him to live through her, and He did. She was a quiet, prayerful women, who had suffered the ending of slavery in her day. She lived through Jim Crow, and many other inconveniences of being a beautiful, but black women. She had 15 children, my mother was the baby of the bunch. My grandparent were married for 70 years, prior to her leaving this earth and moving to her eternal home.

 

 

Radio was once king

 

            Even though television had been around for a while, they never seem to mind not having one. Grandmother and Papa were content, and with her eyes of faith, she needed nothing more to see. So, when I heard the radio announcer on that day, September the 11th, I was transported back in time without even realizing it. I actually thought it was a drama being played out as in days gone by, days before my time. New York, Planes, What? It was real dramatic, too dramatic to be true. I pull into the parking lot at work, then up the stairs to punch in. As a Medical Assistant, it was my duty to beat the physician there, and usually I did because he was being held up at the hospital, discharging patients and whatnot, but today was to be unlike other mornings. I walked into his office to turn on his computer as I did every morning, except this morning he was already seated. He was in his leather chair, seemingly glued to his computer screen, streaming in the news, the news about a second aircraft hitting tower number two. I was so taken back, I was startled as one jolted out of an inopportune nap, I could not believe it was true, the story that I heard on the radio, the story that I dismissed as fallacy, was neither. It wasn't just another story, nor a fallacy, it was real, a plane really did hit tower one, and another plane had just hit tower two.

Because Justice Isn't Blind.... Part 1

I say it is time for us to change our “justice’ system. Lady Justice is not blind. She sees income, race, notoriety, she pays attention attention to income we all know of a case or cases where we questioned the outcome. From OJ Simpson to George Zimmerman and thousands of other verdicts where we find ourselves angry, stunned or outraged, over the outcome. Even the Judges these days are dumbfounded at the jurors verdicts. I mean really, the Judges are appalled too!  

I believe its fair to say that justice is no longer just. It depends on who you are, who you know, how much affluence you have, even what side of the tracks you’re from, will bring into bearing, the conclusion or sentencing handed down for your crime. Just recently, our cocaine laws were changed to bring about improved equality between the haves, "cocaine cowboys", and the have not, the poor crack head, who were once-upon-a time, mostly black men and women. The "cocaine powder boys" received a much lighter fine /sentence then the crack head, (same cocaine) with two very different outcomes. Let’s call this one, “discriminatory justice’ 

 Two days ago I read of a 16 year old rich kid in Texas who killed 4 persons in his Ford F-10, one was a child. Because he comes from a rich family, he got off Scott free, no really. Let’s call this one “no justice’ or “poor little rich kid justice’ Then you have a Michael Vick who goes to prison for hosting dog fights, no justification, were speaking of justice here. We will call this, “example justice’ or “are you kidding me, justice’. 

 As I said before, Lady Justice is not blind, and neither are we. I say it’s high time we stop pretending as if we have a JUST SYSTEM, by way of laws or punishment and began the process of bringing about a real system that is truly just. Therefore I’m suggesting that we computerize our justice system as far as punishment goes. Let’s take out the people aspect that hangs one man and frees another, for the same crimes, and. a few things must be left out when we do........  (Part 2, to be continued)

In Memory of the Honorable Nelson Mandela

Again,....another great one is gone from among us, The Honorable Nelson Mandela. From Poverty to prison, from prison to president. Like  a story from the Bible, a black Moses, a Joseph,  who lived his amazing life before us all, and we all were made better because of him. A man of peace, and compassion, a person who live out forgiveness after suffering such great injustices. A man who climbed above the pettiness of small minded men and women who would prefer to keep things as they were, unequal, unjust and apart-heid. A man who encourage me and millions more to forgive our oppressors.. Mandela lived a legacy, if that is possible. He is loved and respected by many, of all races.  He stirred our conscious to act. 

  In memory of Nelson Mandela, who chose to let go of  insurmountable pain and suffering he endured, l say,  why not I?   If Mandela could look past the decades of being imprisoned and come out a free man in his mind and heart, then why not I? . If Mandela could pardon those who treated his brothers and sisters like gum on the bottom of their shoe, then why not I?. If Mandela could rise up out of the trenches of oppression and occasional melancholy because of it, then why not I? In loving memory and gratitude of Nelson Mandela, a man we shall not soon forget.

BW