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Volunteers, Community Support Are Essential for School Success

By Natalie Everett Patriotic Americans nationwide are up in arms

At 75 years old and after raising six children, my wife and I are blessed only with one granddaughter and one grandson. Few of our children have married. Is this a trend in our society, today? 

A recent Around the Water Cooler question asked:

In troubled times, it is too often easy to put pejorative labels on those who disagree with you. In recent speeches Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney have labeled those questioning the war in Iraq as appeasers and House Republican Leader John Boehner has said Democrats who question the administration's methods of interrogating and prosecuting terrorists are "more concerned about protecting terrorists than protecting the American people."  Boehner's comments were so distasteful that even President Bush said he wouldn't have said them the same way.

I’ve never had so much fun in my life before I moved to Gilroy, seven years ago. I used to live in San Jose—where neighbors were cordial but where we all stayed to ourselves. On the weekends my husband and I either entertained close friends at our home or visited these same friends at their homes across town. My life revolved around my job and family life (all good things) without any interaction with my community. I often felt like City government and issues were miles away from me and that I was just an onlooker in my community.

Where the heck is Al Gore when you need him? 

This Labor Day is different. The old truths about a dynamic

It had to do with my wife's and my legacy. Somehow, I had to show our daughter, our executor, and her husband where our property was located in the wilderness of Oregon. They had the time and inclination. Our other three sons didn't.