You're in Kathie Harrington's World » Kindness

Las Vegas Metro Volunteers fly high at McCarran Airport

Kathie — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:39:47 +0000

My husband, Tim, is a member of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Volunteer Police Department. They were named the #1 volunteer police department in the United States for 2011. That is Sharon Harding, (bottom left photo) holding the trophy, along with Capt. Maczala, from L.V. Metro, and Earl Beach, director of Metro volunteers at McCarran Airport.

Year-end stats for the McCarran Metro Volunteers are staggering with 3375 shifts and 163,509 public or department assists! Total hours these men and women volunteered at McCarran airport totaled 18,983. That is just for McCarran. Metro Volunteers assist the public all over the Las Vegas Valley in various positions. We can all be proud and grateful for their dedication and time.

When you’re traveling in or out of McCarran Airport and see a YELLOW SHIRT, ask a Volunteer or just say, “Hi.” They’re there to assist YOU because they care.

Humpty Dumpty’s “Jollyness” to You

Kathie — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:41:21 +0000

Be sure to visit On the Road with Humpty Dumpty. He’s getting ready for a

Merry Christmas and Humpty New Year.

A Santa list for Social Skills with ASD

Kathie — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:11:59 +0000

What better time to teach social skills to children with ASD than at Christmas!

Santa would so approve.

I believe that all children with autism want to please their parents, teachers, friends, speech therapist, and yes, Santa. I believe they don’t always know how. In fact, I know they don’t know how to make the right social choices. Many people without ASD don’t make good social choices either.

Christmas is a perfect time to make comparison lists of right vs. wrong, good compared to bad, and in Santa terms, between naughty and nice. Start making your lists of naughty and nice things to do for the holidays and compare them. Talk about them. Do the nice ones – together.

Acts of “niceness” at Christmas

encourage good social choices year round.

Bullying – with a deadly ending

Kathie — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:19:45 +0000

-Bullying- A Family

by Patricia (P. K.) Harrison, MA, CCC-SLP.

Seeing It, Hearing It, Stopping It

I have been a speech-language pathologist since 1983—the last 11 years in the public school system. I’ve always loved my job and enjoyed knowing that I help kids succeed despite their obstacles and differences. But one day, my job and mission became very personal.

On Feb. 7, 2009, our precious 16-year-old son, Alex, took his life after being the target of bullying so intense he saw no other way out. My husband found his lifeless body near a big maple tree one-half mile off our property, shot through the heart with a note nearby stating, “I love you guys. I am sorry, but I just cannot take it anymore.”

Sadly, my husband and I did not even know the extent of what he had been enduring. All we saw was our beautiful, wonderful son. Alex was an amazing, intellectually gifted child (150 IQ), who was like his peers in so many ways. He was one rank away from being an Eagle Scout, participated on the tennis and ski teams at his school, loved video games, and had a nice group of friends, a girlfriend, and a loving, close-knit family.

But with his gifts, however, came social differences. Alex was shy and quiet until he came to know and trust you. This “quiet differentness” made him an easy target, one who did not fight back. All of us who work with kids know the ones who are “different” for any reason can become targets. If no one stands up for them, and they don’t stand up for themselves, they remain a target.

So, how did this happen to us, to our son? We have asked the same thing over and over and over. It seems many of our schools have become places where unkindness has become the norm.

When unkindness is allowed to flourish with no one calling students on their behavior, the norm is created. “Bullycide,” sadly, is now the vernacular more and more families are facing. Our son took his life after the bullying became too frequent, too intense. Yes, bullying has always been around, but with the influences of social and other negative media, kids cannot escape its grasp. It’s 24-7.

Those of us in education must to do a better job of watching what is happening outside our rooms, in the hallways, on the playgrounds, and in the lunchrooms. We can no longer say, “I don’t have time. It’s not my problem. I am sure they will work it out.”

I urge you to become involved in anti-bullying efforts at your schools. Every single staff member is responsible for making sure kids are in a safe and secure learning environment. It’s too late for Alex, but it is not too late for all of the kids in all of the schools we serve. Take a stand and help them.

Patricia (P. K.) Harrison, MA, CCC-SLP, is a clinician at Wexford Missaukee Intermediate School District in Cadillac, Mich. Contact her at tompkalex@aol.com. To honor Alex’s memory, visit his Facebook page, In Loving Memory of Alex Harrison (seeithearitstopit), or visit http://seeithearitstopit.org.

Housewife’s Lament

Kathie — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 03:04:24 +0000

“Housework never killed anyone,

but why take a chance?”

Thank you United Spinal Association 2012 Calendar

I love it!

Kathie — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:59:30 +0000

Iowa Capital

Iowa Friends

FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
IOWA FRIENDS: Always bring the food.

FRIENDS: Will say ‘hello’.
IOWA FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.

FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs.
IOWA FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad

FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
IOWA FRIENDS: Cry with you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
IOWA FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing, and just being together.

FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
IOWA FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that’s what the crowd is doing.
IOWA FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds’ back-ends that left you.

FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
IOWA FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, ‘I’m home!’

FRIENDS: will visit you in jail
IOWA FRIENDS: will spend the night in jail with you

FRIENDS: will visit you in the hospital when you’re sick
           IOWA FRIENDS: will cut your grass and clean your house then come spend the night with you in the hospital and cook for you when you come home

FRIENDS: have you on speed dial
IOWA FRIENDS: have your number memorized

FRIENDS: Are for awhile.
IOWA FRIENDS: Are for life.

FRIENDS: Might ignore this.
IOWA FRIENDS: Will send this to all of your Iowa Friends.
     Which one are you?

I cannot take authorship for this piece ~ but I love it.
Copy, change the state and send it on to YOUR friends.
We all need to show kindness and love to everyone.

Don’t buy into Valentine’s Day

Kathie — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 01:02:16 +0000

: On our wedding day, 1967

Yes, this is my Valentine, Tim, and we have exchanged our share of Valentine’s Day gifts since before our wedding day in 1967. This year, when I look at the statistics: men will spend an average of $159.00 and women will spend an average of $75.00, with all of America spending over $16 billion dollars on this day, I wonder.

Not that a day of love is not important ~ it is ~ but maybe we can do acts of love for each other instead of buying love. Why, we could even try doing acts of love for strangers. Think of the world we would live in then. We would have not only a day of love but love all year long.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you

to those you love

and to those you meet.

Do you know what Editorial Without Words is?

Kathie — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:12:50 +0000

My husband, Tim, is a Shriner. He has been a Mason and Shriner for over twenty-five years. One of his joys, since semi-retiring, is driving the Shrine van between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Several Shriners from the Las Vegas Shrine Temple volunteer their time to drive children and their parents over to the Shrine Hospital in Los Angeles for doctor appointments and hospital stays. One of Tim’s favorite stories is telling about two four-year-old children having races in the hospital waiting room ~ in their mini-walkers. Love, caring, and kindness abide with Shriners.

Editorial Without Words

That’s the title of this picture, statue, monument, symbol

of Shriners everywhere.

Today, the famous photo is an integral part of the Shriners Hospitals logo, and has been reproduced on stained-glass windows, mosaics, tie tacs, pins, and in statues. A larger-than-life replica of the “Editorial Without Words” stands outside the International Shrine Headquarters building in Tampa. Photographer Randy Dieter presently serves as graphics editor for the Kentucky Post.

Noble Albert Lanier Hortman, the man in the photo carrying Bobbi Jo, passed away on December 6, 2009, two months shy of his 81st birthday. He lived a full life and was one of the fortunate ones to make a place in history that will live in time immemorial.

Click to see more images of Editorial Without Words

Ted Williams and his Golden Voice come alive

Kathie — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:06:20 +0000

A voice, a Golden Voice, is all about speech. So, I thought it only appropriate to post that voice on my site. Ted Williams, perhaps you had a disability with drugs that lead you down a destructive path in life. That is nothing compared to the ABILITY you have and to the opportunities that lie ahead. Carpe Diem!

To all of us with Golden thoughts, Golden dreams, or Golden chances ~ Carpe Diem ~

Top Ten Christmas songs in Kathie’s World

Kathie — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:52:37 +0000

Music ~ Music ~ Music ~ Nothing is better than Christmas music to get us in the spirit of the season and to evoke memories. To those who wrote the notes and the lyrics, and to the artists who sing the songs we so love, I salute you. You give us joy, warmth, dreams, and sugar plums to dance in our heads, be they two or ninety-two.

After culling through Top Ten lists of favorite Christmas Songs on the internet, I decided to post the Top Ten Christmas song list in Kathie’s World. I enjoy listening to a variety of artists who instill their own version of tried and true popular Christmas songs. Take for instance, Neil Diamond and how he ”Neilizes” everything he sings. I simply call it “Neilization, ” and I love it. Or, Bing Crosby, with his unmistakable, mellow, voice from the past ~ it just wouldn’t be Christmas without Bing.

So here is my list ~ here are my songs ~ here is what I’ll be listening to plus so much more ~ enjoy the season of music and dance ~ find the CHRIST in Christmas in whatever you listen to.

Kathie’s World Top Ten Christmas Songs

1. The Eyes of a Child by Air Supply

2. Let There be Peace on Earth by Vince Gill and daughter, Jenny Gill

3. White Christmas by Bing Crosby

4. The Prayer by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli

5. Merry Christmas Darling by The Carpenters

6. I’ll be Home for Christmas by Bing Crosby and/or Neil Diamond

7. Oh Holy Night by Andy Williams and/or Celine Dion

8. Go Tell it on the Mountain by Aretha Franklin and/or Gospel Choir

9. Silent Night by Josh Groban

10. The Christmas Song by Barry Manilow