My Dad
I'm embarrassed to say my first thought was that of relief when my mother called to say that he was dead. It had been five long years and I was completely exhausted trying to deal with him. Finally, it was over. In the last few weeks, his health had worsened, so I had called the nursing home that Sunday morning and asked the supervisor if I should drive the 130 miles to see him. She said he wasn't doing very well, but that he seemed to have nine lives; one minute he was at death's door, and the next he was sitting in the recreation room having another cigarette. It's a good thing I didn't make the trip, because less than an hour later, my mom called to say it was over.
I remember when I first noticed that there was something wrong with Dad. I lived only about a mile away from my parents, and I walked over a couple of times a week to visit. That particular day as I walked up the driveway toward the back door, he stepped out of the garage and whispered in a secretive voice that he needed to talk to me. He was concerned that his backyard neighbors were growing marijuana behind their garage and he insisted that I come with him to take a look. Their fence was less than a foot away from the back of their garage, and it was apparent to me that there wasn't enough room for them to mow behind it. In the meantime, my brother showed up, and we both assured Dad that having grown up in the 1970s made us somewhat experts on marijuana and this wasn't it; it was just weeds! We thought we'd heard the end of it until my mom called the next day to tell me that he'd gone out during the middle of the night with a flashlight to take clippings off of the offending plants and had taken them to the police department for identification. They assured him they were just weeds, but thanked him for being such a good citizen.
It was a short time later that I remarried and moved 130 miles away.
With dental, digestive, and other corporal problems such as diabetes and obesity proliferating in the United States, the public is becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of unhealthy foods. Some ingredients that had previously been deemed harmless and have been in use for decades have recently been proved to be harmful and even potentially lethal. Thus, scientists, nutritionists, and food manufacturers are becoming more concerned about detrimental eating habits originating from the consumption of damaging ingredients that are copious in foods. A greater concern, however, is that these ingredients can still be found in a variety of food products and have yet to be withdrawn from grocery shelves. It is difficult to conceive that such toxic ingredients as high fructose corn syrup can still be found in a plethora of foods and drinks, even after multiple experiments that have proven that high fructose corn syrup is severely detrimental to the human body and the usage of HFCS, instead of diminishing, has dramatically augmented over the decades.
However due to globalization, import and export viruses is more easily transmitted. Over the past century the global community especially Asian has been affected with new strains of the influenza virus. The changes in the virus can occur in two ways “antigenic drift” which are gradual changes in the virus over time. This change produces new strains that the antibody may not recognize. “Antigenic shift” On the other is a sudden change in the influenza virus which ‘’ results in a new influenza A subtype or a virus with a hemagglutinin or a hemagglutinin and neuraminidase combination that has emerged from an animal population,” as seen with H5N1 virus. This change leaves people defenseless against this new virus. (CDC, 2013) Currently there is no vaccine to combat all strains therefore “Planning and preparedness for implementing mitigation strategies during a pandemic requires participation by all levels o...
The lobbyists of the corn industry have introduced HFCS as a healthier version of sugar with fewer calories, but this is simply not true. To understand t...
National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. (2004, August 11). Environmental Roadmapping Initiative. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from Plastics Impacts, Risks and Regulations: http://ecm.ncms.org/ERI/new/IRRPlastics.htm
Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most commonly used polymers which can be identified into two plastic identification codes: 2 for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and 4 for low density polyethylene (LDPE). Polyethylene is sometimes called polyethene or polythene and is produced by an addition polymerisation reaction. The chemical formula for polyethylene is –(CH2-CH2)n– for both HDPE and LDPE. The formation of the polyethylene chain is created with the monomer ethylene (CH2=CH2).
Today’s unprecedented technological advancement has accelerated the pace at which everyone is living. Time becomes a limited resource that every person tries to make the most use of. Therefore, convenience is the major quality highly valued in today’s world. Plastics strongly demonstrate such quality; plastics are light-weighted and disposable. Consequently, the use of plastics is prevalent, from simple objects, such as bags and bottles, to more complex components, such as computer boards. The benefits of plastics are countless; for instance, plastics are disposable and waterproof. However, many critics have raised questions regarding the threats posed by phenomenal plastics. What are the downsides of plastics? How should we cope with the plastic pollution around the globe? Susan Beraza has the answers to
To go into every minute detail that separates three generations would require a multi-volume set of books, so for the sake of time I will focus on a few major aspects. The first thing that comes to mind is technology. In the last century life has been dramatically altered by major technological advancements. From communication, to transportation, to medicine, nearly every facet of life has evolved in the last century. I grew up in a much different world than my parents, grandparents and especially great grandparents.
When I go to sleep at night, do you care? Do you even miss us? Your bottles and mistress I need to know, I need to know why are you walking away. Was it something I did? Did I make a mistake? I was raised by my mother for the majority of my infant years the reason is because my father left before I was born. He went missing for a few years and we didn’t know how he was or if he even was alive, I remember thinking to myself, if my father ever thought of us while he was “missing”. One faithful day out of the blue we received an old crusted letter and it was from my father stating that he was no longer in Mexico and was inside the United States. “What on Earth was he doing there”, I thought to myself. Over the course of my beginning years I didn’t
Interacting with others, in the context of a social institution, is a common phenomenon that takes place every day. Through this socialization, members within society interact and learn about what is expected of them. These social expectations are most commonly communicated through socialization agents, such as the family, media, peers, and religion. To start, the family is one of the social institutions that each individual is born into. By interacting with parents, and maybe even brother and sisters, a baby begins to understand what behavior is and is not normal and expectable. Through the influence of family members and the individual 's interaction with others in society, the individual begins to form his/her own views and beliefs. This view of the family is known as the functionalist theory. When considering whether different age groups agree that it is best for a family if the man is the money maker and the woman takes care of the home and family, it is crucial
What is a family? When people hear the word family, they automatically think, mother, father, children, aunts, uncles and grandparents, but the true meaning of Family in the dictionary is: a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household or descendants of a common ancestor. It’s one of the most important social group that one can belong to because people learn their value and the meaning of life. Family is the ones that teach each other about life and how and what to expect when starting a family of their own. They care and tend to one another’s needs creating a bond that is of trust that should be cherished. They are the ones that get together at the dinner table during the holidays, birthday celebration or life achievements
What is family? Each person defines family according to what family means to him/her. The concept of family means various things to different people, yet the meaning of the word can bring different emotions to the person who hears it. But no one is born into this life alone. Everyone has known the bond of family, at least at birth, and for many it is a bond that can last life long time.
Everyone seems to define family differently, however, the significance of family is the same. For you, family means everything. You can always count on your parents and siblings for help and love. Family is very valuable and important to you and should never be taken for granted. No one can deny that family is the foundation of our generation. A family is where we all start our life journey and helps us grow to be successful throughout our lives.
My family Is made up of my two parents and brother. My parents are both young at the age of 40. My younger brother is 16, I would consider his age a decent gap between us. Although this has never stopped us from getting close, we have been best friends since birth. My immediate family of the four of us is small, but my extended family is very large. My entire family lives in Duluth MN, except for me.
There are six classifications of plastics, each assigned a number. Numbers 1 and 2 are commonly recycled, 4 is recycled less, and the others are generally not recycled. The first is polyethylene terephthalate (PET).[2] PET is commonly used in making liquid containers such as plastic soda and water bottles and has many other applications.[1] Recycled PET also has many applications, including textiles, sheets for tapes, and the bottle market.[2] The second type of plastic is high-density polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is used in milk, detergent, and oil bottles and plastic bags. It is crushed into flakes and washed, then dried and shaped into pellets. Some uses for recycled HDPE are trash cans, flower pots, lumber, and other non-food applications.[2] The third type of plastic is vinyl or poly vinyl chloride (PVC). Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is the fourth type of plastic, and is used in many plastic bags and shrink wraps. It has the same chemical makeup as HDPE but is less dense and more flexible. Recycled LDPE is used for plastic trash bangs and grocery sacks and plastic lumber, as well as several other applications.[2] The fifth type of plastic is polypropylene (PP), which is used in food wrap, some carpets, and bottle tops. P...
There are so many different types of family relationships. Whatever form a family takes; it is an important part of everyone’s life. My family has played an important role in my life. Good family relationships serve as a foundation to interactions with others. Supportive families will help children to thrive. The quality of the family relationship is more important than the size of the family. Making the relationships priority, communication, and providing support for one another is key to developing relationships. Family relationships are what make up our world today; they shape the ways that we see things and the ways that we do things.