An " It's a funny life" Thanksgiving Part One

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody,



As the holiday of Thanksgiving approaches, I am truly reminded of everything I am thankful for. First of all I am thankful that I am still here and fairly healthy and that my family is healthy. The thing I am most thankful for though are the people who surround me every day. I'd like to go through a list of the people and tell you why they are so important to me. They enhance my life in so many ways. They are all like family to me and there is a good starting place.


First for my family! We will start at the top with the big man, everybody calls him Papa or Mr. V, but I just call him dad. Once when I was in the hospital I was laying in the bed just bored and all of a sudden from down the hallway I hear " YOOHOO!!!!!" while I knew that it was just my father he scared half the nurses to death! To this day whenever he calls me or I call him we greet each other with a rowdy"yoohoo". Now this doesn't matter whether there's anybody in the room or not we still do our strange greeting. My father volunteers every day at the local school where he assists with reading and math, but he hates math. I swear that every time he goes to that school he turns 14 and when he stays home he misses the kids terribly. Whenever I tell him something that I've learned on Facebook about a past student of his he quickly remembers everything about that student including their parents and how many times they came into the office and every detail yet he cannot find his glasses on most days. I am truly blessed with the father who makes me laugh every day of my life. He is perfect, even though he doesn't think so. So I am so thankful for my father.
The second person I am thankful for in my family is my dearest brother Sid. Now understand from the time we were born we were exact opposites. He's a Sagittarius I'm a Gemini, as children he was blonde I was brunette, he was skinny I was chubby, he is very religious I am not. And why change things when where adults. We're still as different as night and day. As time has gone by he has seen the light in many things and come toward my thinking in many. But, every time I have needed my brother he is been there for me. Another thing I give him great credit for is the wonderful wife he married my dear sister-in-law who is equally there for me when I need her. Now understand if my brother reads this and hears me say something good about him he may faint, so beware.

Now some of you may not know but I do have another brother, John and his beautiful Lisa. My parents brought John into our house shortly after I left for college. my parents truly fell in love with John and he has been part of our family ever since. I cannot tell you the amount of times that John and Lisa have offered to come to Green Bay whenever I've had a health problems, and there have been many times that we have taken them up on that.  While my relationship with John has had its rocky times. He is my brother and I love him and Lisa dearly and I am thankful that they are in my life everyday.

 And I'll finish this blog with my nephews. I am so blessed to have three amazing, wonderful, talented, loving and yes, they are a little crazy too. First came the twins, Benjamin and Michael. Now Benjamin from his earliest days looks like a little Sidney. While growing here up he wanted to be an Indian chief, a state senator from Wisconsin and in the end he became a Rabbi just like his father. While Ben and I don't agree on all of his philosophies and politics. I am so deeply proud of his accomplishments including his recent marriage to the beautiful Devorah Rivka and the recent event of him becoming a Rabbi. Then there is his twin Michael. Michael was always a little more adventurous than Benjamin. Being my Godson, I think is a little bit more like me" oy vey!" Michael is very intelligent. And is now in his first year of pharmaceutical college. When I was young I am wanted to be many things but one of them was a good uncle and truly my nephews make me so proud every day. The third nephew is Isaac. All I can say about Isaac is he is an amazing guy. He just appeared in his first starring role in the play Our Town. And he will be appearing in a great role for his winter musical in Aida.I see him every weekend when he brings me a meal from Papa I enjoy his company and his amazing sense of humor.

How f---ing lucky am I to have this wonderful base of support. Without these people I would not still be here. In part two of this blog I will be writing your about the people who help me in my daily life who I am so thankful for now this blog is called it's a funny life and trust me when you read about these people you will understand why I live a funny life!

Be superb!
 Richard

This Election Through My Eyes

My dear friends,

I know I don't write these blogs too often, but with the election coming tomorrow I wanted to write a bit about how I look at the candidates and the issues that we will decide on tomorrow. Before I start with that I do want to mention the horrible and devastating pictures and words that I see coming out of the Jersey shore and the East Coast that was hit by the horrible hurricane Sandy. It is at these times that I truly wish that I could travel and was wealthy. It's very hard to sit in Green Bay and watch family and friends suffer,  if I had the money and was in better health I would want to help every single one of you. Even though I cannot please know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers and I have faith that things will get better. While I am not a religious man, I do have great faith. It is that faith that has brought me through some of the hardest times and has brought me back from near death too many times. And if I can spare any of it for you I do.

Okay enough of the sappy stuff, now I'm going to tell you how I feel about this coming election. Trust me, I know that you are so and tired of hearing about politics at this point you're ready to scream and I have yelled many times looking at all these horrible ads on the TV. This election though, is extremely important to me.

As a disabled American is not only important for me to have the best healthcare I can get. It is also important that my neighbors and my friends and my family also have the best healthcare they can get. Mr. Romney felt that it was fine to make sure everybody in in the state of Massachusetts should get the healthcare they need. But now that he is running for president it is not good enough for the country and he blasts Pres. Obama for trying to do the same things he did as governor.

As a homosexual American, my governmental rights are not the same as a heterosexual American. There are different tax laws about homosexual couples, there are different laws about adoption for homosexual couples and of course homosexuals cannot get married in most of the states in this country. I was born and raised by heterosexual parents, I have two heterosexual brothers I even had a heterosexual doggie even though we wondered about her because she kept sleeping in the closet. I never had the choice to be heterosexual just as heterosexuals can't make the choice to be gay.

I'd like you to think about this for one second, how would you feel if somebody told you who you are allowed to love and who your are allowed to marry. I don't think you'd be very happy. Many people think that homosexuality is wrong because of what the Bible says. It's a sin! Well according to the Bible eating shrimp is a sin, looking at other women is a sin, eating bacon is a sin according to the Bible. So who is to judge one sin against another sin. And luckily we live in a country made up of all different religions and not one religion is in control of other religions.  Each is singular and does not represent the country as a whole. I can understand if you are in a church and you do not want me getting married in your church, that is your right. But is not your right to discriminate against me as a government.

While Pres. Obama has not done a perfect job, and I know no president who has, he has made some great and amazing progress. This time four years ago our country was at the edge of an abyss. The president had to clean up the mess left by the previous president. Mr. Romney does not understand the middle class and the poor, that is obvious by his statements.  I truly fear that if Mr. Romney is elected, I will be treated more like a second-class citizen then I'm already am. Does Mr. Romney truly care about me as a gay disabled man, I truly doubt.  But by his deeds I know that president Obama does care about me and people like me. He has stood up for me and respects me as an American citizen.

I ask for you to vote for President Obama on election day! I am not a great writer nor do I know every fact that is out there. I'm not a politician. I am simply an American who is truly frightened by the thought of a Romney presidency. I fear that we do not know what he really stands for since he has change his mind daily. I fear that he will take my rights as an American away. I fear that he will favor the rich friends who have backed him and let the middle class and the poor disappear.

These are my opinions and my opinions only I do not ask for you to change your mind I ask you only to listen to my perspective. To those who were hurt by hurricane Sandy I again send you my love prayer and energy.

Please vote, thanks

Richard