Beech Tree News Network

I’m so glad I was born in September.  It’s not quite fall weather, but it brings the hope of fall weather, and that weather is my favorite.  Also, Obedient plant puts on its showy purple flowers just in time for a birthday bouquet.

               A few days ago, Garey asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year.  I told him I want a washtub, the galvanized kind.  I looked at some online, but you can’t tell about the quality of a washtub online, and Garey knows washtub quality, so I set him that task.

  I don’t have a particular reason for wanting a washtub.  I just want one for outside stuff, like washing my daughter’s big black dog when he has wallowed in the cow manure on an overnight visit to my house.  I could also wash a bunch of quart jars at one time, like my Aunt Della used to do during tomato canning time.  Garey asked if I would be heating water for a bath in my new wash tub, like I did as a kid on Saturday nights, on Ashes Creek.  If I’m really honest with myself, I want a washtub for aesthetic reasons.  I like the looks of a washtub hanging on a wall.  It brings me joy, and I’ll take all the joy I can get.

Growing older doesn’t really bother me, because I’m in good health.  I tend to reflect on my life each year as another birthday nears.  This year, I find myself thinking about mental health, probably because I watched the RNC, the DNC and RFK Jr. announce his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.

RFK Jr. offered statistics that included the number of American women on antidepressants.  I can’t remember the number, but it was substantial.  I am one of those women, and I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to be.  I can’t say that my childhood was worse than yours.  It might not have been, nevertheless, by the time I left home, I was pretty traumatized.  Several times as a young adult, I considered suicide.  I started taking antidepressants when my youngest daughter was twelve or thirteen, which meant my oldest daughter was sixteen or seventeen.  My biggest regret is that I didn’t start earlier.

RFK Jr. has a point, Americans probably do take too many pills, and there are a lot of chronic diseases in our country, but don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.  Anti-depressants gave me my life back.  I became a better wife, a better mom, and a better human being, because I had hope again.  I was able to look beyond myself and see others who had more problems than I did, and I was actually able to help them.

My birthday is on September fifth.  It’s on a Thursday this year.  Do you know what I’ll be doing at 8:30 AM on that morning?  I’ll be reporting for jury duty at the Butler County courthouse.  You know what else?  I don’t mind at all.  For years, I was the only office person at New Image Car Care, so I was always excused from jury duty because of the hardship it would pose on our business.  I’m retired now, so I can serve my turn.  Think of all the places in the world where a person can’t even get a trial.  It’s a fine time to be having a birthday in the good ole USA.