Neurological Complications Following COVID-19 Vaccination

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 25, 2023

“Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.” Phaedrus

What does this look like to you? Some sort of ancient drawing of a demon or the devil? It isn't what you may think it is. I was shocked when I discovered exactly what it is in the exam room of a neurologist. It is called the Circle of Willis.

The Circle of Willis is the joining area of several arteries at the bottom (inferior) side of the brain. At the Circle of Willis, the internal carotid arteries branch into smaller arteries that supply oxygenated blood to over 80% of the cerebrum.

This is the rest of the picture I saw.

 A search result showed that only 20-25% have an intact one.

Neurologists know a lot of things about how humans work. The thing is, they keep learning new things. One of them is how the Covid vaccine works. We don't know what they know unless we figure out what we're seeing, then we search for answers. I need to be clear on this. I have gotten the vaccine and boosters every time. I've only had one experience that I can complain about, but last year I got the flu shot at the same time. I felt like crap for two days. This year I got a booster and then waited 2 weeks for the flu shot. Everything is OK. Most people do fine with it but some people should be careful, especially if they have a neurological condition.

My husband does. We asked doctors before he got it because it seemed as if every time he did, I had to call 911. Each time the EMTs got him to the hospital, the doctors found something wrong with him, so they passed off his reaction to whatever they found, dismissing the vaccination connection. It didn't cause his condition but because of it, it got worse. 

We asked his doctors, the pharmacist, and a neurologist if it was OK for him to get the shot and they said they didn't hear anything about complications. The thing is, they just didn't hear about them but they exist.

 Neurological Complications Following COVID-19 Vaccination

Purpose of Review
A variety of neurological complications have been reported following the widespread use of the COVID-19 vaccines which may lead to vaccine hesitancy and serve as a major barrier to the public health aim of achieving protective herd immunity by vaccination. In this article, we review the available evidence regarding these neurological adverse events reported, to provide clarity regarding the same so that unfounded fears maybe put to rest.

Recent Findings
There is a greater than expected occurrence of severe neurological adverse events such as cortical sinus venous thrombosis, Bell’s palsy, transverse myelitis, and Guillain–Barré syndromes along with other common effects such as headaches following different kinds of COVID-19 vaccination. Precipitation of new onset demyelinating brain lesions with or without detection of specific antibodies and worsening of pre-existing neurological disorders (like epilepsy, multiple sclerosis) are also a matter of great concern though no conclusive evidence implicating the vaccines is available as of now.

We didn't know what was going on with his brain until this year. We just knew it was doing something to him that wasn't causing the other physical problems, but it made it worse.

I am still going to get the boosters because I'm OK with them. He isn't. If you have a neurological condition, check with your doctor first before you get the vaccine. Listen to the experts you trust and ask them about what you found in case they don't know about it. Too many of them don't seem to know because all this is new to them too.

The pandemic turned the Golden Oldies years into the Golden Lonelies!

The pandemic turned the Golden Oldies years into the Golden Lonelies! The article on Spectrum news about seniors being hit by loneliness because of the pandemic hit me hard. For me, it was moving into a new state 4 months before the pandemic shut everything down. The new state was hard enough for an extrovert like me. I was planning on solving that problem by getting a part-time job since I was close to retirement age. Most of the friends I made over the years were with coworkers. The pandemic killed that idea. My husband and I are both high-risk, so, I decided to just wait it out and take early retirement.

Three years later, I haven't made any new friends. I thank God we have friends living not too far away that we've had for decades and our daughter is up here too, or I'd go completely insane. (Confession, I'm close enough to it now.)

During all this, I realized that some of the people I called "friends" turned out to be not interested in anything more than what politically motivated them. They refused to wear a mask or understand what COVID was doing to people. They refused to get vaccinated. Why? Because their political leaders were saying it was all a hoax. 

They were supposed to be "Christian" but apparently, anything that Jesus preached they should do, didn't matter anymore. Lying and hating was Okie Dokie with them. They turned against people they pretended to care about, leaving people like me, not just dealing with the pandemic, but dealing with the loss of trust in everyone.

I still wear a mask shopping because when too many people were not wearing them when there was a mask mandate, now I wonder what kind of germs they're running around with and not bothering to even cover their sneeze or mouth when they cough. Plus, I went for a checkup yesterday and they are still under mask mandates. 

I think all of this, caused me to see people in a way I don't like. I mean, not everyone is evil, selfish, despicable, or reprehensible, but there are a lot more than I ever thought there were. 

Now that my therapist got me passed grieving for the loss of my friend to COVID, we're working on getting me to want to be around people again. That will be great because it turns out, there are a lot more seniors like me not out there but are wanting to be. 

The thing that cracked me up a bit about the article was the woman they interviewed said she filled up her days with reading. I filled them up with writing books. If you have PTSD, there are lessons in this article for you too because part of PTSD is isolation. It's easy to lose trust in others when you have it and hard to gain it back but if you don't try, it will never come back to you. Your therapist can help with that. Last night we went out for dinner and I got to hug some people again!

Aging in Upstate: Film addresses isolation and loneliness in New York before pandemic hit

Spectrum
By Mark Goshgarian
Nov. 28, 2022

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — "Reading. I did read," said Louise Wiggers, 77, of Findley Lake in Chautauqua County.

That's how she dealt with the isolation she felt during the pandemic. She even missed out on seeing her twin grandchildren in person for a year and a half.

"It was very difficult. And they changed a lot during that time, absolutely, they did. Yeah, it was hard. it was very, very difficult," said Louise.

Isolated, but not lonely, she lives with her husband of 55 years, Kent.

"So, we weren't seeing anyone, really. Even our neighbors because of our age and our being at risk," said Louise.

The two spent hours watching their favorite TV shows and movies on BritBox, not knowing day to day just how long they would have to stay cooped up.

"It was frustrating. And you know, I think I would say I was a little bit angry about all of that, too," said Louise.

Chautauqua County Office for the Aging recently hosted a screening at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown of the documentary "All the Lonely People," which chronicles a cross-section of adults sharing their experiences living in isolation.
read more here

Study found 63% had significant symptoms of PTSD families of Covid-19 ICU patients

"Even that small act of compassion from the health care team to the family can really have a really powerful impact for those family members and their risk of developing these (PTSD) symptoms," Amass said.

And that is how everyone heals, no matter the cause of PTSD. Compassion goes a long way toward helping them.  When you read the rest of the article, please keep that in mind so that you never undervalue the power of love.

Family members of Covid-19 ICU patients may emerge with a different condition, study says

CNN
By Madeline Holcombe
April 25, 2022

Amass and his team surveyed family members in the months after a loved one was admitted to the ICU with Covid-19 in 12 hospitals across the country. Many of the people studied were limited in visitation and contact with the patient. The study found that of the families that responded to the survey, 201 out of 316 (about 63%) had significant symptoms of PTSD.

CNN)When thinking of post-traumatic stress disorder, your mind may go to a movie about war.

It's a quiet day at base camp when suddenly the enemy launches an attack. The main character is scrambling to respond to incoming fire, making quick decisions about how to respond to danger that is largely out of their control.

In many ways, it's a lot like the experiences of families of patients in the intensive care unit with Covid-19, said Dr. Timothy Amass, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

These family members, too, often see an abrupt change in circumstance, have to make difficult decisions quickly and feel a loss of control, he said. And often, they come away from the experience with symptoms of anxiety, depression and PTSD, according to a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
read more here

what we know is not all that can be seen

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

April 5, 2022

Fox News' viewers can change their attitudes with exposure to CNN on MSNBC shows that what we think, is always based on what we know. The problem is, what we know is not all that can be seen. And that is usually the reason why things don't change for the better. 

The research was conducted by Political scientists David Broockman of Stanford University and Joshua Kalla of Yale University. What they found is that people only know what the source of their information tells them. We live in a time when we want to learn the easy way, the quickest way and all too often, we learn based on what we already think. If we are not curious, we do not search for answers. We stopped reading manuals as soon as we were able to find a video on YouTube about how to do what we want to do. What this research shows is, when people have a different source of information, they begin to realize that what they know, is not always what is real.

Part of what’s interesting about the study is that it captured not just the difference between CNN’s and Fox News’ ideological outlooks, but also their differing commitments to sharing certain facts. Most notably, CNN was more likely to offer factual information that reflected more poorly on Donald Trump — and the Fox viewers who switched realized this: Participants who switched were less likely to agree that “if Donald Trump did something bad, Fox News would discuss it.”

This happens all the time. It happened with COVID. How many times have you had conversations with people who said COVID was a hoax and did not want to believe any facts? I know it happened a lot of times with me when I was shopping and people would ask me why I was wearing a mask, as if I was the stupid one. I'd look at them and think they were selfish and ingorant. I wore one because I didn't want to infect anyone else if I had been exposed to it, including my husband. I didn't want to be faced with living with regret that I did not do something so simple to protect him. The study shows where COVID deniers got their information from.

The switchers were more likely to care about Covid, learn different information about current events and feel more negatively toward Trump and the GOP. This isn’t to say the experiment revolutionized people’s worldviews. The Fox News viewers who switched to CNN generally continued to hold perspectives that accord with a right-wing media diet and worldview, and the experiment didn’t change whom they’d vote for. Even so, it's still striking that it took just four weeks for some of them to shift in some attitudes and observations of facts.

When I wrote part 2 of The Lost Son, Alive Again, this was the topic of the book. Chris and his friends wanted to help people see the truth because all they knew were lies. Chris didn't just battle ignorance of #PTSD, he battled the ignorance of people thinking they mattered more than anyone else. He showed how evil people were outnumbered by people doing good.

Read ALIVE AGAIN and learn how to fight to get people to see what they have not seen.

 

'True Definition of Soulmates'

Married Couple of 44 Years Dies of COVID While Holding Hands: ​​'True Definition of Soulmates'

William and Carol Stewart of New Hampshire died of COVID-19 within moments of each other

People
By Jason Duaine Hahn
January 05, 2022

A couple from New Hampshire who contracted COVID-19 during the holidays died within moments of each other while holding hands.

According to a GoFundMe set up by their family, William and Carol Stewart died on Dec. 30 after a battle with COVID-19 that "took a turn for the worse" while the couple was hospitalized at Parkland Medical Center.

"Bill and Carol peacefully passed away hand in hand with their loved ones bedside," their nephew, Tim Stewart, wrote on the campaign page. "They fought a long and hard battle with covid, both intubated and on life support."

"I truly believe that the power of prayers and all the kind words that have been shared over the past few weeks is what kept them fighting," he added. "It also kept us hopeful for the best. We sincerely thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We never really have enough time with our loved ones."

Eight members of the family tested positive for COVID-19, Noke said, and her parents were unvaccinated against the virus. She hopes people who haven't received the shots yet do so.
read more here

I wrote about something like this happening in the second part of The Lost Son. The difference was the couple were vaccinated but too many others around them were not. This is from Alive Again by Kathie Costos published on Amazon November 15, 2021

Can I see the future? No. I see what is happening. I see how good people believe liars and rumors more willingly than they see the truth and facts. What I see more is how too many think that God has turned away from them.

I see churches, houses of worship, turn from what scriptures they speak, yet do not practice. I see too many people being turned away from those buildings advertised as God's House, while ignoring the place where God lives within each of us. Too many value the rich and ignore the needy. They condemn the sinner while committing their own sins and justify themselves by saying they not as bad as those they condemn. I see too many fail to search their bibles for what is true as much as they fail to search their own souls to know why they cannot hear God's voice.

But more so, I see miracles happen all around us that prove God's love is alive and competes us to act out of love as well as spread hope to this troubled world.

1 Corinthians 13 New International Version
13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

 

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

 

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

 

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

 

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

 

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

 

10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

 

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

 

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Don't Die WIth Regrets

Yesterday I lost one of my best friends. Gunny died of COVID. I called him to see if he'd answer, knowing he was in the hospital and unlikely he'd answer, I tried. His wife answered the phone and she told me he passed away a few hours before I called.

I asked her if he ever got the booster and she said he had never been vaccinated. That was the second shock. He told me he was. Knowing Gunny, I have no doubt he didn't want me to worry about him, so he lied to me.

The last time I talked to him, he called me from the hospital and basically made his goodbye call to me. I think he knew he wouldn't be going home to his beloved wife.

Gunny and I had a very odd friendship, but we didn't have to make it work. We had political debates but that was secondary to what mattered most to both of us. He cared about my family and I cared about his. 

I am struggling with losing him. I am also struggling with the fact that had it not been for him, I would have given up on the work I do on PTSD. For fifteen years, he explained things when I was confused, encouraged me when no one else was giving me any feedback from this site or my videos. He corrected me when I made typos, which I did often. We talked a couple of times a week for all those years. Now I have no one to do that for me. Gunny said I helped him and became the voice in his head. He has become mine and I will try to remember all the things he told me when I need hear his voice.

If you have not taken COVID seriously, then take those you love seriously enough that you want to do everything possible to protect them and not leave them with regrets that can never be undone. Every times I get vaccinated, I think about my husband and his health, and does the same for me. No one likes getting a needle in their arm. I got all of them and so did my husband. 

If nothing else, you need to be able to make peace with the fact that what you decided was something you can die with. No, I don't mean live with. What you decide cannot be undone once you have infected someone else, or ended up putting your family through getting their hearts ripped out while you are dying in the hospital. You cannot undo it if you tell someone else something that isn't true, they decide to believe you and end up enjoying their last few days on earth by getting infected by others who carrying the killer inside of them. What you cannot undo, will be carried with you throughout your life. Sure you can ignore it, pass it off, excuse the fact that you believed someone else, but the truth is, you made the choice.

Make a better choice before it is too late for you and those you love.

Please pray for my friend

One of my best friends Gunny is in the hospital fighting for his life. He has COVID and is on oxygen. All he asked for was prayers. He has come to believe in the mighty hand of God and trusts the power of prayers. If it is not His will that Gunny be healed, then he wants prayers for his beloved wife.

Post-trauma days of living different lives as survivors,

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

December 4, 2021

If you listen to any news program, the chances are, you have no idea what is going on when it comes to PTSD. Until we do, finally, understand that while the causes of PTSD are different, what comes after in the Post-trauma days of living different lives as survivors, will remain the silent suffering of millions around the world.

Survivors had been suffering in silence long before I came along into this life. The issue that grieves me most of all, is the simple fact that none of it had to happen.

None of it will change until we actually manage to change the conversation we're having, and what we settle for the press continuing to ignore.

I read, what are considered to be, strange things all the time. It makes sense to me because as a survivor, I am strange to others, and I'm OK with that. What give me more comfort is the fact that when I read strange things, I find how much we as humans surviving life, are all linked together.

Reading "Front-line healthcare workers at risk of suffering from PTSD", on The Morning Star covered what is happening with healthcare workers facing the continued battle against the pandemic. They are expecting over 200,000 new cases of survivors dealing with PTSD. It shows what most experts know.

Professor Neil Greenberg, a PTSD specialist at the college, said: “It’s a common misunderstanding that only people in the armed forces can develop PTSD — anyone exposed to a traumatic event is at risk.

“However, clearly there are jobs, including working in many healthcare settings, where experiencing traumatic events is more common so the risk of developing PTSD is unfortunately much higher.”

“Early and effective support can reduce the likelihood of PTSD and those affected should be able to access evidence-based treatment in a timely manner,” Prof Greenberg added.

Yes, you read that right. It isn't just about people in the military. PTSD strikes survivors, no matter what they survived. The problem with the article is that it also strikes people going about their daily lives when something happened to them without warning, leaving them to wonder if it was such a good thing they survived it or not.

PTSD from occupations also hit all over the world. Keep in mind that these people are still facing life as the rest of us, and then their jobs are piled onto their shoulders taking care of the rest of us, and all too often, each other as well.

Here in the US, our healtcare providers are dealing with the same linked traumas. For providers with PTSD, the trauma of COVID-19 isn’t over by the Association of American Medical Colleges

Even before the pandemic, 16% of emergency physicians self-reported symptoms of PTSD. Recent data, including an unpublished survey conducted in the fall of 2020 and presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in May, suggest that as many as 36% of front-line physicians suffer from the condition. And that statistic omits those who don’t meet strict diagnostic criteria but have still experienced powerful psychological effects. “Health care workers had to worry about not having enough beds, not having enough ventilators. They had to move into fields they didn’t know,” says Jessica Gold, MD, a psychiatrist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who treats physicians. “They saw their colleagues die or had to intubate their co-workers, and they had to worry about ending up that way themselves. Those are huge traumas.”

The article points out many differnt, important points, however, this one applies to everyone suffering as survivors of the causes of our traumas.

For providers suffering from PTSD and the hospitals that rely on them, what lies ahead is unclear. Once a person develops PTSD, it can last for years. More than a decade after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, 27% of police responders were still suffering symptoms, for example. But certain treatments, including anti-anxiety medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, have been shown to help. Bankhead-Kendall certainly finds her therapy useful. For one, she’s learned to cry more. “My counselor told me I needed to not keep things bottled up, and to grieve, so when I’m feeling really sad, I find an appropriate place and I cry,” she says. “It seems really simple, kind of silly, but it helps.”

It doesn't seem silly to me, or any of the other people out there getting the right kind of information about healing. We have to let out the pain before we can heal hope.

If you have PTSD, get  help to heal and then pass it on. If you read something in your favorite news source and they get something wrong, let them know what the truth is. If they get it right, praise them so they continue to be beneficial to other survivors.

Reach out to anyone, no matter what caused their PTSD and understand it is not a contest between who is suffering more, but is a quest to help them gain strength from your experiences. Be the miracle for others the way you had someone start yours!

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD.

When will Canada take PTSD in firefighters seriously?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 19, 2021

We are killing ourselves through suicide was the headline by Shannon Pennington ex IAFF Calgary, Executive Director, NAFFVN. It was something he wrote July 11, 2011 and I posted. I reposted it because of this newspaper article. Ontario plan to help first responders deal with PTSD. "Labour Minister Kevin Flynn says the stress and danger faced by police, firefighters and paramedics can have a lasting and serious effect not only on their physical health, but their mental health as well.Labour Minister Kevin Flynn says the stress and danger faced by police, firefighters and paramedics can have a lasting and serious effect not only on their physical health, but their mental health as well."

So why bring it up again? Because apparently not much has changed.

WARMINGTON: Even firefighters off with PTSD face unpaid leave and firing without jabs

The City of Toronto has told off-work firefighters with post-traumatic stress or other on-the-job injuries that until they are vaccinated, they are cut off from their worker’s compensation insurance payments. the Toronto Sun has learned.

For several firefighters, this was a “punch in the gut” they did not need.

“I went off on PTSD prior to the mandate,” said one. “I have been informed by the WSIB that the city contacted them to tell them they will not be paying me … This despite being diagnosed by a WSIB psychologist.”

Another firefighter said he’s been struggling ever since he wasn’t able to revive a patient.

“I wake up in a sweat every night,” said the firefighter.

This is when they are in need of compassion. Not cancellation. Firefighters who received this ultimatum to get vaccinated or not be able to feed their families say they were stunned by the correspondence on City of Toronto letterhead that has Acting Fire Chief and General Manager Jim Jessop’s name at the top and is CC’d to Payroll, Human Resources Consultant (Disability Management) at the bottom.
Read more on the Toronto Sun

Don't get me wrong here because I am all for getting vaccinated. I am looking forward to getting my third shot because of all the people out there who won't even get one, or wear a mask, or do anything else because they don't believe it. Forcing them to decide what they will do, is a no brainer. They have to pick one, like get vaccinated, wear a mask, stop acting like there is nothing to worry about, or get tested once a week on their dime. Forcing firefighters out of work because their jobs gave them PTSD is stupid! They can't work, so the rule should not apply to them. Are they trying to make it worse for them?

VA acknowledges it’s ‘not there yet’ with coronavirus testing for employees

Federal News Network

Nicole Ogrysko

June 3, 2020

The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have on-demand coronavirus testing for its employees up and running just yet, despite its best intentions to screen anyone who presented symptoms or believed they had been exposed.

VA has tested about 12% of its health workforce for the virus, Richard Stone, executive-in-charge at the Veterans Health Administration, told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday afternoon.

His comments contrast with those the department made one week ago before another congressional committee, when Jennifer MacDonald, chief consultant to the deputy VA undersecretary for health, told a House appropriations subcommittee any symptomatic employee or anyone who wanted a test could be screened.

“We’re not hearing that,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the committee’s ranking member, said. “We’re not hearing that from the folks on the ground. We’re still hearing that they’re not being tested.”

“Senator, you are exactly right, we’re not there yet,” Stone said. “Although we’ve tested over 12% of our employees, and it is our intent to have on-demand testing for all of our employees, we’re not there yet.”

read it here

West Point cadets have tested positive for COVID-19 after forced ceremony

16 West Point cadets test positive for COVID-19 upon returning to campus for Trump's commencement speech

Task and Purpose
David Roza
June 1, 2020

According to the campus newspaper, The Pointer View, the 1,100 cadets of the class of 2020 started returning to campus last week.

(U.S. Army/Matthew Moeller)

At least sixteen West Point cadets have tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) upon returning to the New York campus President Donald Trump's upcoming speech at the school’s commencement ceremony on June 13.

USA Today first reported the infections. A West Point spokesman confirmed the article’s findings for Task and Purpose.

The 16 cadets are receiving treatment but are not showing symptoms of the disease, Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, West Point’s superintendent, told USA Today.

Of the 16 affected cadets, 14 tested positive for the antibody which indicates they contracted the virus and subsequently recovered, USA Today reported.

The number is a small fraction of the 850 cadets who have returned to campus since spring break in March.
read it here

VA Employees say VA "not offering widespread testing" for COVID-19

VA Says It's Providing a COVID-19 Test to Any Employee Who Asks. Employees Say That's Not True.

Government Executive
ERIC KATZ
Senior Correspondent
May 29, 2020

Veterans Affairs Department employees across the country are disputing a claim VA leadership made to Congress on Thursday that any employee who wants a COVID-19 test—for any reason—could get one.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie speaks during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Thursday. ANDREW HARNIK/AP

Government Executive heard from employees at a dozen VA facilities in as many states who said the department was not offering widespread testing for the disease related to the novel coronavirus. In most cases, they said, only symptomatic workers could receive a test. That reality falls in sharp contrast to the situation described by VA’s top leaders.

“We also have testing available for our employees,” Jennifer MacDonald, VA’s chief consultant to the deputy undersecretary for health, said at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Thursday. “Any employee who is symptomatic, who is concerned they have been exposed or requests a test is able to receive that.”

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie added VA was no longer experiencing any shortage of testing. “We do have an adequate testing at this point,” he said.

Employees, however, said their experience runs counter to those claims.

“That is absolutely not a true statement at my facility,” said one Ohio-based VA nurse. “If you’re symptomatic, that’s the only way [to get a test].”
read it here

Not "tragically bound to the starless midnight"

Judge by the "content of their character"

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 30, 2020

Our nation is facing an epidemic of historical proportions. We have a pandemic claiming over 100,000 lives in a span of about 3 months. We have over 40 million unemployed. Healthcare workers are dying while trying to save lives while many other providers are losing their jobs. Protests to reopen the states have included individuals showing up with guns. Many people are regarding the pandemic as someone else's problem. We have racists, no longer ashamed of how they view fellow citizens. Native Americans are dealing with the virus killing them in higher number, poverty, lack of services, at the same time they are under threat of losing their lands. This is a nation in crisis.

“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated” ― Thomas Paine, The Crisis

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." as Thomas Paine said so eloquently, applies to what this nation faces today. More and more people are forgetting how we got where we are and the price paid by generations who came before them. They forget that entire generations risked their lives in service to this country in times of war, as well as times of peace. They paid for the freedom so many others want to claim as their "right to enjoy" at the same time they want to remove the rights of others.

While those who entered the military were from all political sides, color, states and religious beliefs, they managed to set aside their differences and were willing to die for one another. We should take that to heart, especially now, but we have faced the crushing burdens before. The difference is, we learned from them.

In 1968, someone filled with hate assassinated Rev. King after he was willing to pay the price to achieve social justice for Black Americans, peacefully protesting and speaking out against using violence to respond to violence. I was alive then and remember it. Just as I was alive when President Kennedy was assassinated, and his brother Bobby was killed. Yet all of these men moved the majority of my generation to stop seeing people based on color of their skin. It was about the "content of their character" that mattered.

Looking at what is happening in this country right now, we have witnessed a reversal of that. Are there bad police officers? Yes, but not all police officers are bad, but while the majority are good, they are all being attacked for what the few bad ones do.

We see protestors flooding the streets, rioters and looters destroying property and burning down businesses in their communities during a pandemic. We see some others showing up to protest orders by the governors of their states with arms, attempting to intimidate their fellow citizens and politicians to yield the better judgement for the greater good to do their will. Are all protestors committing crimes? No, but again, they are all being blamed for what a few do.

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

While anger and fear have gripped this nation, we are forced to expand our view aways from what is on the news and see what else is happening to find signs of hope.

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The majority of people in this country are trying their best to do the right thing. Mankind is not "so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war" because there is "peace and brotherhood" still alive in the shadows of one of the worst times in this country.

People of all political sides, color, states and religious beliefs are stepping up for their fellow citizens and the greater good. People are regarding the "content of character" that requires a heart that will not judge anyone by anything else. Thoughts are motivating action to fight against hopelessness. Prayers are motivating action to help others suffering by finding way to do whatever they can for total strangers.

Yes, these are bleak times in this country, but we have been in darkness before. We survived those days because others stepped up refusing to accept what "was" because they dreamed of what could be.

Father and Son Marines Beat Enemy Together...Both Had COVID-19

SC veterans, father and son, battle COVID-19 together

WBTV News
By Jason Raven
May 29, 2020

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Thomas Bowman Jr. said in early April he began feeling under the weather.

Thankfully, both men have been released from the hospital and have made full recoveries. (Source: Family photo)

He originally thought it was his chronic sinusitis acting up. But on April 5, he began feeling worse and his symptoms were getting severe.

“The symptoms of COVID-19 had begun forming in my lungs. Headaches. Shortness of breath,” he said.

Bowman Jr. -- a Marine Corps veteran -- was admitted to the VA Hospital in Columbia. Bowman had pneumonia in his lungs and a high fever. He tested positive for COVID-19.

When he was talking with doctors, he remembered he had visited his mother and father a few days before he started to feel ill.

“Bowman Jr. had recently cut his own grass and his mother and father’s grass. He was very concerned they could possibly contract this illness,” Dr. Amy Lucas at the VA Hospital in Columbia said.

Bowman Jr. followed his father’s footsteps when he joined the United States Marine Corps. Now Thomas Bowman Sr., a Vietnam War veteran, followed his son’s footsteps when he also tested positive for COVID-19 and found himself hospitalized.
read it here

What will you do when life is good again?

Life will be good again

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 28, 2020

There is no way of sugar coating it. Life sucks right now! Over 100,000 Americans died because of a pandemic and over a million have been infected. Over 40 million are unemployed now, businesses are closing for good and states struggle to figure out how to reopen things the best way possible. Too many people have dismissed the guidelines of how to stop the spread and only seem to care about enjoying themselves without regarding the other people in their lives they deliver the infection to.

Yes, things suck right now if you only look at what is wrong. Yet if you look at the flip side of all of this, there are many good things going on because people wondered what they could do to make life better for others.

People are stepping up and showing up, in whatever way they can. One of them is Dolly Parton.

Dolly Parton Donates a Million Dollars to Coronavirus Research at Vanderbilt but that is not all she has done. She is reading books to kids online. And last night, she put up a song she wrote to offer everyone hope that not only will life be good again...but they can be better people too!

When Life Is Good Again

Dolly Parton

When life is good again

I'll be a better friend

A bigger person when

Life is good again

More thoughtful than I've been

I'll be so different then

More in the moment when

Life is good again

I'll open up my heart

And let the whole world in

I'll try to make amends

When life is good again

We've been brought to our knees

We've been so ill at ease

There are no guarantees

But you know life goes on

This too shall pass away

Bring new and different days

We need to change our ways

And right our wrongs

Let's open up our hearts

And let the whole world in

Let's try to make amends

When life is good again

I'll open up my doors again

And hear the message in the wind

Repent of all my sins (Hallelujah)

When life is good again

I'll try to be someone

On which you can depend

A helping hand to lend

Let's open up our eyes

And see what's goin' on

If we're to move along

From where we've been

Let's open up our hearts

And let the love shine in (Shine in)

We've all got knees to bend

And we'll just pray 'til then

Ask God's forgiveness when

Life is good again

And it's gonna be good again

(It's gonna be, it's gonna be)

It's gonna be good again

It'll be alright (It'll be alright)

God's the reason for all things

You want rainbows, you get rain

We'll all be forever changed (Forever changed)

I'll sell my boat and fly my kite

Walk in the park, go out at night

And hold my loved ones extra tight

When everything is on the mend

I'll even drink with my old friends

Sing and play my mandolin

We'll make it through this long dark night

Darkness fades when faced with light

And everything's gonna be alright

When life is good again

This is what patriots do for their county

Most of the people in the US are really patriots doing whatever they can for their country. They put others ahead of their own lives. Sure they want to be out in the sunshine and enjoying their lives, but right now the priority is saving lives.

This is the difference between what a real patriot is, and what others want to pretend to be.

Patriot

a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors. "a true patriot"

This is what a patriot does!

And stands up against those who pretend to be patriots!

These people wave flags and pretend to be fighting for "freedom" but they are selfish and do not care how what they are doing spreads death!

from CNN

This is what patriots did for Memorial Day Weekend

This is what selfish people did.

Wearing a mask is what patriots do!

Veterans: "worst impacts to their mental health could come after the immediate crisis is over."

Suicide risk for veterans could grow as coronavirus crisis winds down

Military Times
May 22, 2020

Before March, about 15 percent of all VA mental health appointments were conducted over the phone or via video conferencing. Today that figure sits at 80 percent. Telephone appointments for those patients rose from about 170,000 a month before the pandemic to 768,000 in April alone.

Veterans’ isolation and stress from the coronavirus pandemic could increase their chances of suicidal thoughts, but health experts are warning that the worst impacts to their mental health could come after the immediate crisis is over.

An orthopedic technician takes a patient's swab sample during a screening for COVID-19 symptoms outside the Keesler Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., on March 23, 2020. (Kemberly Groue/Air Force)

That’s because of long-term problems with personal finances, lingering health issues and misplaced expectations of mental health issues disappearing with a return to pre-crisis life.

“During the actual crisis, suicides can go down. It’s in the aftermath that it gets worse,” said Barbara Stanley, a research scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, during a press call sponsored by National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention on Thursday. “We expect to see fallout in terms of possible increases in suicide as a tail going forward.”
read it here

Remembering on Memorial Day

Update Back fromNew Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery

Ceremonies for Memorial Day canceled...but honor remains

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 25, 2020


All across the country, Memorial Day events have been canceled because of COVID-19. While many are not even trying to honor the day, any more than they are trying to honor the rules to keep others safe, in houses all over the country, people honor this day.

Honor Flights had to be canceled. Rolling Thunder ride was canceled. The list goes on, but bargain shoppers still search for sales.

Later today I am going to a cemetery for the first time because their event has been canceled. I want to avoid crowds as much as possible. So do most of the people I know.

This is for those among us who miss the reverence of Memorial Day events.


One of the projects I did in Valencia College for Digital Media, was this video. Friends did a pretty good job even though they were not actors and the man who played Dad, had long dreadlocks, he had to stuff under his hat. I rented the uniform for him.

The thing that got me the most watching it again, was they wanted to do it because of their love for those who do serve...and the Mom was in the Army!

Dance with my father again!

When I lived in Florida this was one of my favorite events to honor the men and women on Memorial Day...they paid tribute to those who died in all wars....Glen Haven Memorial Park, Winter Park FL, Memorial Day Service 2011