Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Disabilitites And Disaster Response

For those who live with some form of disability life can be quite challenging.  In some cases it can prove fatal.

The Sacramento Bee reports that many of the 85 plus persons who died in the Camp Fire disaster were affected by a disability that prevented their escape to safety.  You can read the full article at https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article222044970.html

This sobering fact highlights the need to form a strategy to deal with future efforts of evacuation during times of crisis.  If you or someone you know is dealing with a disability it is advisable to plan now for every possible scenario.

Monday, December 3, 2018

The Gift Of Life


August 25, 1921.

A big stone house in a small, rural township.

The gift of life is celebrated once again.

Quietly.

Humbly.



On this same day a Peace Treaty is signed.  Again.

Twenty years later it will fail.  Again.



The child was named George Showers Gehr, the third to bear that name.

Like most individuals, his was a life of contrasts.

His first eight years were an age of prosperity & growth.

The next ten were just the opposite.



They called it The Depression, but it was more than that.

For a child becoming a man it had to make a mark.

Lessons learned;

Life changed;



Change is constant and at times, traumatic.

In his 22nd year he learned a new lesson: War!

The country boy was now on foreign soil.

The quiet, peaceful farm was traded for horror and death.



He was forced to fight the country of his ancestry,

            In a plane,

            With no engine!



Though he survived, he paid a price.

            The loss of his friend;

            The loss of his brother;

            And the loss of innocence.



But wars end and life resumes.

A new career leads to a new love.

The kid with 13 siblings marries an only child.

(The ironies of life are revealed in multiple ways!)



By some standards his life was modest, but don’t tell him that!

He celebrated the Gift of Life daily

            Through his family, his friends, his faith.

Through ups and downs,

            Through sorrows and joys,

                        He found a peace he longed for.



His was a life of the highest ambitions:

·         Love

·         Joy

·         Peace

·         Patience

·         Kindness

·         Goodness

·         Gentleness

·         Faithfulness

·         Self control



The Fruit of the Holy Spirit, in full bloom, in one man.



My father.  My hero.  My friend.



  





Written by George Douglas Gehr on November 27, 2018

as a tribute to his father, George Showers Gehr,

who went home to be with Jesus November 24, 2018