HEY ALL...
I'm so sorry, I can't visit this site as often as I wish & that I didn't respond earlier. I appreciate all the kind remarks & answers, but I HAD to quote wroe...she & I are so much alike!
There are many of you that I have grown to love & appreciate your personalities on this board. I wait, "with baited breath", to hear your opinions & responses, because they mean a lot to me. I wish I could check in every day; I can't. I have too many commitments & family issues to allow me to do so. And that is why I need to respond to Wroe. 
"Wroe... I TOTALLY GET IT, HONEY!" I have been where you have been...and sometimes still am! Ask LJ! IF in some way, some how, I can repay LJ's kindness to me to you, I will be happy! Kenn has shared his challenges with us & we have seen what happened to 2 cents.
In regards to your response, Wroe; Yes, I AM truly blessed. I lost my FAITH just like you did, for a while. However, Because of the people that God brought into my life, (and some of those people were those that posted the same feelings I feel)... I was able to FIND IT AGAIN! Am I rock solid? Oh for Heaven's Sake...no way! Things occur in my life on a momentary basis...FORGET the daily or MONTHLY! LOL!
I can CHOOSE to live in the moment & worry about... (LIFE, CRAP)...I got tired of it! I finally figured out that I needed to go back to my basic beliefs. God is Good... Life is Good...People are inherently Good. I had to find my happy, positive self. It is who I am & the person I will always be. "Everyone is Good, you just gotta find it!"
Sometimes you gotta look for it, Wroe... sometimes you gotta look real hard! But you WILL find it, it IS there. Especially in our sweet, little old town. Read the past posts... I did. So many good people...so few "bad people". We all have to just believe, come together & fight to keep Muscatine the AWESOME & SAFE town we all grew up in. When our family came up against the gangs... it was HARD! WE DID IT! The few against the many! It can be done! WROE- For evil to prevail - good people need to give up & turn a blind eye to what is happening. Is that what you want your children to see? Is that what you want your legacy to be?
Wroe, I'm only saying these things to you because these are things I have said to myself. You don't have to jump on the bandwagon. Do what you need to do for your family & yourself. I choose to fight... I choose to look @ the positive when life throws lemons @ me. I want to feel peace & serenity.
I want to live in Muscatine, Iowa... NOT CHICAGO, OR NEW YORK, or those other crime ridden towns! I REFUSE to allow our Muscatine children to fear walking or riding their bikes to the Riverfront, or our library because of harrassment. I REFUSE to allow my children/grandchildren to be afraid in our schools!
We all need to band together to make this board the most Awesome board it can be - where we can all be "brothers & sisters"; have squabbles- yet work it out.
I think that is why I originally posted about the "National Posts". I AGREE & UNDERSTAND why we all need to make a stand nationally. Sigh! I just feel like, in our safe, little town that we have issues that are a priority. tlou
The person that I referred to earlier that was ill before, got sent to Iowa City today for major surgery! I followed an ambulance to the University, scared to death. 
(Tlou is dancing in the rain & telling the Universe to go find another victim... this one REFUSES to answer the phone)! 
