Rejoyce Wilson-Herbert

When times are hard, not everyone takes the road of honesty and decency. Strangers, friends and even family members may be tempted to take advantage of others. But everyone deserves to live with dignity and freedom.

Because of the tremendous amount of public awareness and our collective involvement in bringing child abusers to justice, we have seen a noticeable decline in child abuse, abandonment, and neglect cases in recent years. These steps are encouraging to those of us fighting to protect another relatively defenseless sector of our population ... our elders. This group suffers many of the same types of abuses; both physical and emotional. Some are abandoned, others neglected, others abused by family, friends and strangers -- the very people entrusted with their care. There is a tremendous need for public awareness on this subject in order to stop elder abuse.

The person who coined the phrases that say that no man or woman is an island and that no man or woman stands alone, put into words one of the great truths of Mother Nature. Ask yourself this question ... Could I really live without another human being?

A caregiver is anyone who cares for a person who is unable to care for his or herself; a caregiver could be anyone from a physician, a baby–sitter or a custodial care Para-Professional. There's is a challenging yet rewarding task that all-too-often goes unnoticed.

Teaching our children fiscal responsibility is teaching them to plan ahead. Unfortunately, while many parents plan their children's lives from birth to college, after college those children are on their own to navigate life’s different stages. Those who've learned to plan ahead do more than just party and spend money. They plan ahead.

When I was growing up, grandparents were revered for their unbelievable capacity to love and their wealth of knowledge. Although mine passed away before I had the opportunity to tap into their wisdom, there were several surrogate grandparents in my community that showed me as much love and concern as a biological family. As an advocate for the elderly, I am shocked and appalled when I hear stories of the abuses faced by this group. Someday we will all approach this golden age. Now is the time to take action and set the stage to protect our elderly and infirmed.

We've all heard the axiomatic phrase "Forgive and forget," but how many times should we forgive? Jesus said that we should forgive seventy times seven times in one day. This means that in a given day, we should have the capacity to forgive 3,430 times.

How do you want to be remembered? I was asked this question about twelve years ago. That question brought me back to my adolescent years, when my father asked me, “What pathway in life will you choose? If you had two wishes, what would they be?” I answered my father by saying, “I want to be just like you; wise and happy.” As the years went by and my interest in helping people became the dominant force in my life, I found myself thinking about my legacy. What legacy will I leave behind for my children, grandchildren, and great- grand children?

With the Thanksgiving season fast approaching, many of us will be giving thanks for all of the goodness we have in our lives. Some may have more to be thankful for than others, but all around we all have one thing in common to be thankful for; our life. My dad once told me that when a man has his life, he has the world in his hands. He was also known to say that everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die.

So many times we hear the phrase “I just want peace in my life.” Or how about “You give me peace of mind;” what is PEACE? Is peace a state of mind? Is it an emotional feeling? Or is it a natural part of every human being that can be activated with a thought or desire. Why does it seem as though some people live in a peaceful state of mind, while others seem lost and unhappy?