Even though I don\u2019t feel that old, I\u2019ve not only lived through the last Ice Age but now I\u2019ve also been able to navigate through the deadly specter of Global Warming. \u00a0However, all this has been replaced by another haunting danger, Climate Change.<\/p>\n
If you are old enough, you remember that there was an environmental scare that began in the early 1970\u2032s which proclaimed that our waste and living habits were causing the earth to usher in the next Ice Age. \u00a0Then a decade or two later, we were accosted by Global Warming. \u00a0Now it appears that in these few short years, I\u2019ve passed through these threats only to be battling Climate Change.<\/p>\n
Frankly, I was just getting used to the cold when Global Warming was ushered into the environment. The past few years of Florida\u2019s freezing winters make me almost yearn for the good, old days of Global Warming.<\/p>\n
Before all the environmental scares asking us to conserve energy and eliminate waste, I was reusing and repurposing everything that passed through our household. \u00a0In the 1960\u2032s and 70\u2032s, \u00a0my children and the teenagers in my youth group used to mock me because I was constantly \u201creusing\u201d almost everything. \u00a0I was a cheapskate because paper grocery bags were carefully folded and securely tucked between my water heater and the wall waiting for their next life. \u00a0To some observers, I was a hoarder when jars and bottles were put under the sink for another day\u2019s journey. \u00a0When old newspapers were used to wrap broken glass and other garbage so that the trash wouldn\u2019t hurt anyone or smell, I was mocked with yucks and ughs.<\/p>\n
Medicine bottles, egg cartons, plastic containers were valuable commodities resurrected into different objects because of their reuse. \u00a0We even repaired our TV\u2019s and stereo sets rather than buying new ones. \u00a0I recovered old furniture. \u00a0A sharp butcher knife became our lawn edging tool; and my scissors were a magical piece of equipment with multiple purposes that saved us from buying objects that were \u201cpurdy\u201d but we really didn\u2019t need.<\/p>\n
Now the schools and all forms of media shout to the world about waste and that is a great thing. \u00a0However, it kinda annoys me. \u00a0This is the same group of folks who mocked my efforts to make do, rather than replace.<\/p>\n
In the same vein, it was people of my generation who forced institutions for people with intellectual disabilities to close because these parents said to the professional community, \u201cMy daughter (or son) is part of our family and we won\u2019t put her away. \u00a0She will come home with us and she will be raised by us.\u201d \u00a0The families were mocked and ridiculed for their naive thinking by many people who believed\u00a0they<\/strong> knew what was best.<\/p>\n The actions of these loving families saved our nation billions and billions of dollars over the next 40 or 50 years. \u00a0Additionally, their children have become the employees who are THRILLED to do the jobs that no one else will do. \u00a0As a result, the mentally challenged community has become taxpaying citizens.<\/p>\n Yet, in the time of budget cuts, so many things are being defunded or replaced with less and less. \u00a0The mentally challenged community understands the situation that we have made for ourselves through waste and fraud. \u00a0They know that things are changing and their services will be reduced. \u00a0As a community, they are more than willing to do their part. \u00a0However, in some states, when many other line-items in the state budget are \u00a0increased in the newly passed legislature, the \u00a0budget for these courageous men and women with disabilites was greatly reduced.<\/p>\n Perhaps it\u2019s time to remember the billions of dollars that have been saved by these careful, loving parents and reclaim the heritage that they fought to make possible for their children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though I don\u2019t feel that old, I\u2019ve not only lived through the last Ice Age but now I\u2019ve also been able to navigate through the deadly specter of Global Warming. \u00a0However, all this has been replaced by another haunting danger, Climate Change. If you are old enough, you remember that there was an environmental…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,10,28,85,12,41],"tags":[690,21,688,696,7,699,701,691,13,19,689,692],"class_list":["post-507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-inspirational","category-mentally-challenged","category-prayer-2","category-religion","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-inspiration","tag-inspirational","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-mental-retardation","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-religion"],"yoast_head":"\n