Re: 's family background.

[Guest guest]

Jan, I read these stories you shared with great interest. I wish they

weren't so sad. It is mind-boggling to think about what some people have

lived through.

But don't think that you have to compare your own problems to those of

others in order to decide whether they are significant. Problems are

problems. Sure there are degrees of severity, but that doesn't mean the

smaller problems are NO problem. If something is bothering you and you

want to talk about it, we are here to listen.

You do have a wonderfully positive attitude and bless all of us here

with it. Thank you for your uplifting posts.

And thanks, too, for your kind words about me and a. It's my

pleasure to be a part of this group and do what I can to help.

[ ] 's family background.

>

> : I enjoyed your family history story very much. My

sister-in-law who is 78 now was born in Chckoslavkia(sp) of a German

father and a Chek mother. During the beginning of the war, the German

Army moved in and occupying her town. She fell in love with one of the

young German soldiers and married him. He stayed in the town after the

end of the war and they had a small daughter. The Russians by then had

taken over the town and set about wiping the town of the face of the

earth. They took all the young men into the town square and shot them,

her husband included. And because her father was German extraction,

they shipped the whole family as they did others back to Germany in

boxcars. They separated the children from the adults and it was months

before they were able to locate her daughter and then she was in a

hospital barely clinging to life as they had poisoned the children and

many died. She escaped in her slip and only was able to save a picture

of herself when she became engaged and her wedding ring which she

braided into her hair. She, her mother and father, daughter, and

younger daughter lived in a garage with a dirt floor for a few years,

before my brother-in-law who was in the Army met and married her. He

spoke no German and she spoke no English at the time but they fell in

love and he brought her to th US and were married almost 30 years before

he died.

>

> I am fasinated by stories like this. My cousin married a man from

Hungary that was spirited out of prison where he awaiting a death

sentence by the underground when the 4 day revolution took place. He

had been a State lawyer for the church in Hungary and his first wife and

boy were killed for their beliefs. Once I asked him what it was really

like during that time and he said " I can't begin to tell you but if you

read " The Bridge at Andau " (I think that spelling is correct)by

Michenor you will get a small measure of what it was like. " I read the

book and cried. If he went through just what they went through in that

book, I don't know how he kept his sanity let alone continue to

function. He died 20 years ago from total heart failure making him a

cardiac invalid for 14 months before he died. It was attributed to the

treatment he recieved in prison. I know it was his faith in God that

kept him going.

>

> When I hear stories such as your grandmother and others, my own

problems seem so small and not worth the attention and concern and worry

I give them. I try to maintain a positive attitude (though hard

sometimes)and remember others have worse stories to tell than I do and

went through much more hardships than I ever have. My pain seems

insignificant when compared to others. Many people on our group suffer

far more than I ever have. They always know and understand what I am

going through and I feel as if they are a blessing in my life.

>

> I want to thank you and a for everything you do for the group.

You are the mortar between the bricks that keep us together.

>

> Jan in CA +/:=)

[Guest guest]

I agree 100%. We all have problems. That doesn't mean that mine are more

important than anyone else's. Jan, you are extremely important to this

group. You have helped me more times than I can count. I love reading your

posts and look forward to them.

Love and Sincere Hugs,

Stacey in PA

[Guest guest]

Thank you Stacey and .......for all your kind words. I try to stay on top

of my negative feelings and replace them with a more positive thought. Most of

the time it works but sometimes, it can get to me. I try to read something

every day (or many things) that has food for thought or happy tales. When I

read something that touches me whether it's happy or moving, I find it does

something for me to share it. The idea being if it will help change someone

else's mood or boister their happiness then it puts a warm feeling in me and I

don't think about my problems as much. Many of the things I send on are things

that I would want to say but get a block when I try to really, really express

myself. Does this make any sense? I wonder if I'm just rattling on sometimes.

But thanks to you all, it's becoming easier (still not totally there)to express

myself.

I am feelling better tonight, though now you can really tell it's an upper

respiratory infection. The Motrin is surely helping much more than the Xtra

Strength Tylenol and the other medication is helping to break up the congestion

in my throat and chest. I didn't even realize that congestion was the real

problem. The " flare " has toned itself down. I did quite a bit of sleeping

today. The reason I don't feel I can take the other day off is I've only been

on the company payroll since the 3rd of June and I don't have that much time

accumulated to take off. Some has to be saved for when my daughter goes to

court to make the restraining order permanent.

I will close for now because I have over a hundred posts to go through and would

like to read a few before I go back to bed. Thanks again for all the warmth and

caring you all give. Prayers, ((((hugs))))), and happy thoughts to

you all. Jan in CA +/:=)

bintherdunit@... wrote:I agree 100%. We all have problems. That doesn't

mean that mine are more

important than anyone else's. Jan, you are extremely important to this

group. You have helped me more times than I can count. I love reading your

posts and look forward to them.

Love and Sincere Hugs,

Stacey in PA