With the exception of Native Americans, all people residing in the United States today have "roots" elsewhere.  My humble heritage primarily is from the British Isles. My ancestors on my paternal grandparent’s side emigrated here in the 1850's from Ireland...County Cork and County Kerry to be more specific.  Once in America, the Goggin clan initially became railroad workers and later proud firemen for the State of Maine and the Maddocks lineage came from England with a recorded family tree that dates back into the 1500's. On my maternal side, the Ingalls line is also well-documented and easy for anyone doing genealogy research to tie into (I'm told that all Ingalls living in the United States have common ancestors) and the Farrell’s seem to have came from seafaring people originating from many ports of call. Like everyone else, my ancestry is a mixture and I am the product of people coming to America to pursue the Great American Dream. Many of us are a unique blend of many cultures and some of us are products of many races blending together over time. This great country we call home has come a long way since our founding fathers invited people from all foreign lands to come here. As our ancestors heeded that call, they came here to live together and stand united by becoming American citizens. 

Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty are the following words:

For many, those were the first English words that greeted them as they passed through the buildings on Ellis Island on their way to pursue their dreams and destiny. Now many years later, as the 2008 presidential campaign progresses, we will hear about hot issues like illegal immigration, but my objective today isn't to express my personal views on the current immigration problem or to debate who is right or wrong as our borders are flooded by people seeking a better way of life. My intention is only to make people aware of an integral part of American history that is in true jeopardy.  Like many other historical places that fall by the wayside to make room for expansion and modernization, Ellis Island now stands in need of our help to preserve its legacy so it can remain forever “the golden door”. Anyone interested in lending a helping hand on their ancestors behalf or who is knee deep in the throes of genealogy research and needs alittle additional help, please visit Save Ellis Island or The Statue Of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.

At 18 we are branded "adults".  At 18, the world is still primarily viewed in terms of black and white. Shades of gray come with age and experience. At this crucial point in our lives, many of us decide to forsake higher education by jumping into the real world by becoming gainfully employed (for some this should read painfully employed) or we take the plunge and go for the gusto by pursuing a degree in a field of our own choosing.  For many this is the first major decision we make as an adult. Then we spend the next several years changing our minds and tweaking our goals until we finally get to know ourselves and stop trying to please those around us. Others, the "untouchables" who come from various socioeconomic backgrounds actively pursue a career in being parasites and actually find they are rather good at their parasitic endeavors. For them, once a tick, always a tick! The nonparasites among us struggle to stay afloat, to maintain their humble lifestyles and to find periods of actual personal growth without being prompted to do so. The light at the end of the tunnel is realizing that we can and will survive in this world without compromising our own values or anyone else's.

At 18, we still are invincible and immortal. We don't think of mundane things like life insurance and health insurance. Those things are for people who are firmly rooted in middle age with families and responsibilities. At 18, as we leave the nest, those realities aren't things our parents enlighten us with. Yes, we are told to go to college so we can get a good job because a good job is required to support a family and a humble lifestyle, but we probably haven't been told to practice safe sex because a few minutes of pleasure can effect the rest of our lives or to trust in love because the real thing will still be there when we let go. Unfortunately, these are things many of us learn the hard way at the University of Life.

I often wondered what would have happened if I had developed a healthy curiosity in the art of being responsible.  Instead of investigating life somewhere over the rainbow, what would have happened if I had taken some of my squandered time and money and invested it in something of value? What would have happened if I had researched affordable health insurance as soon as I was no longer covered as a dependent on my parent’s policy? Would my world have been a different one than the one I choose?  Would I have realized that 18 year olds get sick and even die? Would I have looked at my own health with a different attitude?  Would I have realized the activities I participated in then might not affect me immediately but they might catch up with me 20 or 30 years later? Would I have realized that my immorality is a myth and that living on the edge and flying by the seat of my pants would one day be viewed with less enthusiasm or even with miniscule amount of regret?

Hmmm, I wonder why hindsight is always 20/20...

I often wonder how much actual thought goes into who a person decides is the right candidate to represent the American people on any level or if it's just another popularity contest. Is it true that we vote for whom we think looks best, speaks best or has the best looking spouse? No, that can’t be so! What would that say about the American public? Surely, each of us takes the time to really scrutinize each candidate, so as we make our final selection, we do so armed with as many facts as we could find. Surely, we don’t discount a person based on age, physical appearance, religion, race, sex or political affiliation.  Surely, each of us listens carefully to what each candidate says and then weighs it against our own beliefs.

I realize there are many sides to any issue and all sides claim to be right, just and moral, but in reality, those concepts are as abstract and subjective as the political arena itself.  What I would like to see during this political bloodletting season is for people to strive to dig deeper into the issues and see where actual changes are needed most and what impact those changes will have on our country not only now, but in the future. We also have to search to find who's most likely to implement those changes instead of paying attention to all the negativity being tossed around in order to win votes.

Childhood is where people learn appropriate playground behavior, yet the political arena seems to cast fair play to the wind.  Maybe each candidate needs “mom” to step in and scold them for their bad behavior. What I pay close attention to as the bloodletting begins is how each candidate reacts to being attacked by both their opposition and by others in their own party. I always ask myself questions like: Do they welcome confrontation hoping that it gives the public a rare glimpse inside their persona? Or do they hang in the shadows trying desperately to avoid any type of confrontation so they won’t have to take an actual stand on anything? Do they condone “exposing” their opponents by using various mudslinging tactics? Or do they try to stick to the facts and to the issues? Do they lie down and simply take the attack by turning the other cheek? Or do they use confrontation as a way to bring attention to the key points to their own platform?

Instead of mudslinging which runs rampant during any campaign, the candidates might be better served by revealing a side that people rarely see by staying focused on their platform and issues thus showing people what really matters most to them as a leader and as a citizen of the United States. I realize that this isn't likely to happen because we, the voters seem to encourage that type of negative behavior by historically voting for the person who carries the biggest stick and who is most adept at mudslinging and verbally bashing their opponents.  Only during a presidential race is making a mistake looked at as a sign of weakness instead of being a sign of strength in character and as a sign of being human. 

Regardless of what stations in life anyone holds, we all make mistakes because each person on this earth is human.  Only during a political campaign is the admission of making a mistake viewed as a sign of waffling and weakness instead of a sign of true character.  A wise man or woman learns from their mistakes and readily admits when making one, but a presidential candidate views any mistake as an opportunity to not only slay their opponent for being human, but to divert the focus from the issues. All this straying from the task at hand and the inability to stay focused on the important stuff makes me wonder if all politicians aren't ADD or ADHD! What I would like to see happen from now until the election in November 2008 is for people to keep an open mind and not to quickly judge anyone as being the best person for the job.  What I would like to see is for us, the voters make the candidates work hard for our votes.  Can that happen? I think everyone knows the answer to that question and it's up to us to make it happen our way.  

Have you ever been in one of those painfully awkward situations that under different circumstances would be hilarious solely based on the absurdity of the situation? Let me share a perfect example of just exactly one of those situations that would register about an 8.9 on the Richter Scale of Ridiculous Situations.  Unfortunately, my daughter is marrying into a family who makes Archie Bunker (remember him?) look like a bleeding heart liberal. These people have opinions about everything whether an opinion is warranted or not because we, the general populations are poor, misguided fools. Now, we all know that a wedding is supposed to be the bride's day...most grooms know their place and that place is to agree as often as possible with his future wife and to show up for the ceremony, of course.

Let me first say that my daughter's fiancé tries very hard to be respectful to both families and I admire him for keeping the peace for the most part, but there have been times when I had hoped he would step in and put an end to all the unnecessary hoopla and outrageous behavior, but for reasons I won't go into here, he either can't or won't draw the line and make some concrete boundaries. Perhaps he knows best, but due to the lack of boundaries their wedding has evolved into a painfully awkward situation.

When my daughter, Christina started making wedding plans., the thought never occurred to her to ask her future sister-in-law to be a bridesmaid because she dislikes my daughter and only barely tolerates her.  My daughter was caught off guard when her future mother in law insisted that her daughter, Jennifer be in the wedding party.  My daughter thought it over and had serious reservations about it because not only does Jennifer dislike my daughter, but she also dislikes my son, Daniel and his wife, Kris who have been asked to be in the wedding party. My daughter saw the potential for "her day" being turned into the wedding from hell.  Reluctantly, she asked Jennifer to be a bridesmaid because she saw it as a way to include his family and keep the peace. Then, when my daughter picked out her colors and the dress style she wanted her bridesmaids to wear, she was abruptly told that Jennifer doesn't look good in that color and because she has tattoos the style of dress my daughter picked out wouldn't look good on Jennifer. My first thought was ...whose wedding is it anyway and so what if Jennifer doesn't look good in that color or has tattoos? I held my breath as my daughter compromised and changed the color to suit Jennifer and her mother. Actually I don't think Jennifer has any true desire to be in the wedding...she hasn't worn a dress in over 10 years and is the type of person who is like a permanent rain cloud hovering over the picnic waiting until the best moment to have a sudden downpour.  In other words she isn't a warm, fuzzy type of person and takes pride in being confrontaional and unpleasant, but I think the real mastermind behind the whole bridesmaid thing is "momma" and "momma" can be a tad bit on the controlling side at times!

I suggested using tattoo cover up, but my daughter fears whatever she says or suggests would be interpreted as being offensive in some way. I say HOGWASH!!! I even went as far as to suggest that instead of running everything by "momma" that she needs to bypass” momma" and deal with Jennifer directly..afterall Jennifer is an adult. Needless to say, all my pep talks about having things the way she wants them because it's HER day have been futile because it seems her plans keep getting conveniently undermined every step of the way.  The focus isn't where it should be and that's on making sure my daughter and her future husband have a wonderful wedding.  Somehow it keeps getting twisted and everything centers on what Jennifer wants and how his family will feel and what they will say. Oddly enough, the people who have done the least in helping prepare for the wedding by being emotionally or financially supportive have had the most to say. Why do I feel like this may be a very common problem? And I hope someone shoots me o at least disowns me if I ever turn into this type of mother-in-law (this is where my daughter-in-law is supposed to step in and tell me how wonderful I am...LOL)

Sometimes the truth can be hilarious...both my daughter and I got a good laugh from the "wedding invitation" below  because we knew if it were up to his mother to have the invitations printed, they probably would have read something like this: