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PAGE 4 - THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013
Opinions expressed by writers on this page are their
own and not necessarily those of The Georgia Post
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Act Independently - Be Accountable.
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safe. -Thomas Jefferson
Guest Editorial
”Sleep With My Fathers
ft
Seeing My Father In Me
By Robert Morrison
On turning 60, George
Washington wrote in letters
to friends: ’’The time is not
far distant when I must sleep
with my Fathers.” I was a
history student reading those
words. My professors told
me that Washington lacked
Thomas Jefferson’s ’’peculiar
felicity of expression.” Even
though I was studying at Mr.
Jefferson’s university, I found
it hard not to feel the beauty
of Washington’s words.
’’Sleeping with my Fathers”
was Washington’s poetic
way of describing his own
impending death. I read them
rather more literally. They
reminded me of my own
father coming home day after
day from his carpenter’s job.
He would sit with me in our
family’s TV room and tell me
wonderful stories of his sea
going days. He had sailed to
47 countries before, during,
and after World War II and
he was a fount of knowledge
about the wider world.
Sometimes, our story hour
would turn into wrestling
on the TV room floor. Pop
would then tell me about the
need to defend myself from
neighborhood bullies and
teach me some self-defense
moves.
Not infrequently, we would
fall asleep on that floor. We
would only awaken when my
mother would come in and
yell, ”Les, take a bath and
come to supper.” My father
always smelled of sweat and
sawdust. It was an honest,
sweet scent.
Pop was proud of his work.
He could drive nails faster
and more accurately than any
man I’ve ever known. And he
often worked high atop con
struction sites, as sure-footed
as a Mohawk. His ham
mer would tap out a steady
rhythm: ’’pop, POP, pop.” It
was rare that a nail required
more than three swings of his
hammer.
Pop would only intervene
in coming-of-age fights if
the toughs ganged up on me,
or if one of them threatened
me with a knife. Then, he
would march over to the gang
leader’s house and tell his old
man to come out. Pop would
tell that father that if his son
used a weapon or ganged up,
he would ’’knock his block
off.” He never had to back
up his words with his fists.
In those happy days, even
the toughs had fathers in the
home.
It’s painful for me to read
every weekend the reports of
murders in our inner cities.
Emergency Rooms in our
major cities see too much of
the ’’rod and gun club” casu
alties. More than two-thirds
of the teen murderers in our
prisons are fatherless young
men.
Liberal politicians and press
lords focus on race, poverty,
education, or other indicators,
the so-called ’’root causes” of
urban homicides. They want
to target more federal pro
grams to those mean streets.
As if those streets don’t have
targets enough.
Rarely do the pols and
pundits acknowledge fa
therlessness. My blue-collar
neighborhood was no garden.
I often had to fight. But there
was a limit to the violence.
Fathers like mine enforced
that limit.
There’s another factor to
consider when dealing with
the sources of violence:
religion. In their now classic
study, ’’Who Escapes? The
Relation of Church-Going
and Other Background Fac
tors to the Socio-Economic
Performance of Black Male
Youths from Inner-City
Poverty Tracts,” Richard B.
Freeman and Harry J. Holzer
showed how some young
men avoided entrapment in a
host of destructive behaviors
and attitudes. Church-going
was then seen (1985) as a
protection for vulnerable
youth. The work of Family
Research Council’s Marriage
and Religion Research Insti
tute (marri.org) powerfully
reinforces the Freeman and
Holzer’s conclusions.
When I first read those
words of George Washing
ton, that sweet reference to
sleeping with his Fathers, my
professors did not point out
that those words were taken
straight from Scripture. ”So
David slept with his Fathers
and was buried in the City of
See SLEEP, Page 5
Not a single day has gone
by in the last 12 years, that
I have not thought about my
father. I miss him every day.
His birthday, Father’s Day,
my birthday and other holi
days just bring out the deep
pain of his absence.
But I have so many wonder
ful memories that make me
smile. I am partially who I
am today because of my fa
ther. He had compassion for
life and people and believed
in the Golden Rule and
treating people right. He also
thought your words should
line up with your actions.
He gave long lectures about
right and wrong and had to
look at all sides of a situation
when something happened.
He was a great listener and
though I had rather go ahead
and get a spanking than listen
to an hour long lecture, look
ing back I learned a lot about
how things are not always as
Our calorie sources, activi
ties and environment that we
keep ourselves surrounded
with, will not only shape us
mentally and physically but
will also shape our future
health as well.
I will try to address these
three separately so that you
can pinpoint weak spots
that may be causing sticking
points in your weight loss
goals, However, when these
three are combined, “you
have a fat burning tool chest!
#1 Our Calorie Sources:
the choices we make for our
calories dictates to the body
our intention for our energy
needs. This is why, “when we
eat or drink something that
absorbs rapidly, it puts a lot of
glucose/sugar in our blood for
energy.” If this energy is not
needed due to inactivity, “our
body will store this extra en
ergy in our fat cells” causing
them to get bigger. And since
our body bums off sugars
first, it will not release stored
fat into our blood to bum until
our sugar is low enough to
switch energy sources.
they seem.
Daddy would not be very
happy with the state of our
nation today. Having served
his country, he had a lot of
pride in the country and
believed in the Constitution.
His political views were
somewhat different from
mine and we had many a dis
cussion over the candidates
who were running.
It’s really very funny look
ing back because my father
was a man of few words so
his long lectures and the long
discussions we had were
not something most people
would relate with him. The
latter years of his life, he
was starting to admit that my
political views may be more
on target.
The quality of life in his lat
ter years was not anything to
brag about. He had been sick
for some time. In fact, I came
back to the middle Georgia
When we eat excess
calories, especially the fast
absorbing ones and we don’t
bum this extra off through
exercise or activity, our insu
lin “if working properly” will
remove it from our blood to
keep from a sticky mess hap
pening in our blood supply
and our body parts!”
The neat thing about our
body is that it knows how to
release an energy snack into
our system when we need it
badly enough and it does this
by releasing the calories we
have stored in our fat cells,
“body fat is simply stored
energy.”
Remember when eating lean
or very low calorie for several
days you should have a cheat
meal, (where you eat and
drink pretty much anything
you want). “This cheat meal
simply helps reset your me
tabolism at a higher level.”
#2 Activities & Exercise:
this is really important since
activities and exercise not
only bum calories while
being active, but also help
you continue to bum calories
area because he got sick
and I wanted to be closer to
spend more time with him.
He could not get out of
bed, had to have oxygen
and could not really enjoy
his coffee anymore. It was
painful watching him go
downhill but made it easier
to accept his home going
when the time came. I knew
he was no longer having to
struggle for every breath and
was now able to fish and
walk without having to rest
every few steps.
Still, we are never really
prepared I don’t think and
as a daddy’s girl, it took its
toll on me, especially when
two years later, I would lose
a husband as well. But my
father had instilled in me to
persevere and keep going.
My faith helped in keeping
me strong and going as well.
My father believed in me
no matter what and told me I
through the toned muscles
these activities and exercises
help create. The more toned
muscle you have the higher
your metabolism will be. One
pound of muscle will bum ap
proximately 13-17 calories a
day. Activating these muscles
will change it to a higher calo
rie bum rate, “sort of like a
car that bums fuel if left idling
but will bum even more when
revved up or in motion.”
“Simply put, activity and ex
ercise help clear the system of
excess energy so insulin will
not have to tote it off to store
in our fat cells for later.”
#3 Our Environment:
getting family, friends and
co-workers to support our
fitness lifestyle can be of big
benefit not only to us, but it
can have a ripple effect on the
ones around us! We gradually
become like our environment,
so it’s very important to keep
things and people around that
have a positive impact and not
a negative one on our fitness
goals!
Calorie Sources: surround
yourself “kitchen and work-
Pay at a Time
Victoria ’’Vicky” Simmons
vsimmonsS4@gmail.com
could do whatever 1 decided
to do and I believed him.
I shared his love for music
and writing. He played guitar
and banjo and I tried to play
as many instruments as pos
sible. We would sing some
times with me at the piano
and daddy on his guitar. On
long rides we would sing
gospel songs and at times
when I start to feel sad, I
can hear daddy singing one
of his favorites ’’There’s A
Rainbow of Perfect Love”. It
always makes me smile.
I look a lot like my dad, at
least that’s what everyone
tells me. He would not be
too happy that I am sporting
short hair, as he loved it long,
but he would tell me I am the
one who has to fix it, so if
that is what I want, it’s okay.
My father, who grew up on
a farm, was not like some
of his other siblings who
thought girls should grow up
to be wives. He believed in
education and encouraged
both my brother and I to get
all we could. He wanted his
daughter to be able to pro
vide for herself and not have
to depend on a man.
If your father is still living
today, give him a call and tell
him how much you love him.
If he’s in heaven like mine,
let the memories soothe your
heart.
Happy Father’s Day to you
and yours. Be blessed.
Your Health
by Wade Yoder
Master Trainer & Fitness
Nutrition Specialist
jlace” with foods such as
fish, chicken breasts, turkey
breasts, occasional good qual
ity red meats, eggs, beans,
dark colored vegetables,
sweet potato, quinoa, brown
rice, whole grain pasta, and
snacks such as apples, nuts,
peanut butter (without the
bread). Drink 1/2 your body
weight in ounces of water,
and by the way “cold water
helps your body bum more
calories.”
When you combine a
cleaned up fitness environ
ment, active lifestyle, and
good dietary choices with
water as a fluid of choice “you
have a fat burning tool chest”
that helps turn that stored
energy (body fat) into a bum-
able fuel!
i -4
My father gave me the greatest gift anyone
could give another person, he believed in me.
— Jim Valvano
uotable Quote ~
A Fat Burning Environment
published every week by Crawford Publishing, LLC.
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