Women’s Independent Press

Rebecca Champagne, Human Resource Coordinator

Home Instead Senior Care

1102 S Braddock Ave

“I finally feel needed again! My mother passed 2 years ago and my kids have grown.
Being a CAREGiver allows me to give back again and brighten someone’s day.” – Joyce

“If it were not for me and the other CAREGivers, Mr. M. would have had to move out
of the home that he and his wife lived in since 1947.” – Dorothy

“I never could have realized how much joy and value my clients would give ME. I am so
 grateful that Home Instead Senior Care and I found each other.” - Mira

For fifteen years, the Home Instead Senior Care® franchise network has been devoted to providing
seniors with the highest quality care in their own homes, and to arming families with the information
they need to make the best decisions about caring for aging loved ones.

Home Instead Senior Care is also the employer of choice for dependable folks like you! If you
 are looking to share your compassion by making a difference in an elderly person’s life, please call!
Senior companions are needed to assist clients with daily activities and social endeavors–like shopping,
 cooking, and in-home needs.

We are currently looking to fill all shifts for clients in Pittsburgh, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Forest Hills,
Edgewood, McKeesport, and even North Versailles; so–if you are dependable, compassionate, and can
 provide non-medical care to an older adult, please call! Vehicle required. Training provided. Part time
and Full time available. Great schedule and benefits. We are an equal opportunity employer. Opportunities
are made available to all individuals at will regardless of age, race, gender, religion, creed, national origin,
marital status, pregnancy, presence of disability, sexual orientation, ancestry, and any other status protected by law.

Home Instead Senior Care provides a range of services including companionship, meal preparation, light
housekeeping, medication reminders, shopping, errands, personal care, and more. When family members
aren’t able to help the older adults they love, Home Instead CAREGivers are there to lend a helping hand.

If you, or any organization of which you are a part, is interested in learning more, please contact our office. 
We would be happy to speak to your group free of charge about senior-focus subjects, our services, and
even employment opportunities.  For more information regarding our services, please visit: www.hisc567.digbro.com

By Julie Ann Monzi

I recently jumped on the ancestry bandwagon and decided to research my family tree.
I quickly found out that I had a job and didn’t need another one where I had to pay for the privilege of getting irritated.
A good friend who is having a wonderful time finding his long lost relations updates me on his latest findings.
A month ago he found records for one part of his family as far back as the 1400s.
During his most recent search, he informed me that he has traced his roots back to 400 – 600 B.C.
Yes, I wrote B.C. I asked him whether those records were carved on tree bark or stones.
Bolstered by my friend’s success, I joined one of those websites that assists you in your search.
There is a catch: you do need some basic information.
Like the name of your grandmother’s father. My mother has no idea.
 Her mother never talked about her family.
I found my grandmother’s mother. And her second husband.
Not her first. Not my grandmother’s father. No maiden names listed. No birth records either.
So the next logical step would be to find my grandmother’s birth certificate. Easier said than done.
Since no one seems to have it, I thought I’d check where she’d be born. Ohio. What town?
It took my parents a few days to come up with it. Back to the computer. There is no record
of my grandmother being born in Ohio. The town is close to the Pennsylvania border.
Maybe my great-grandmother went to a hospital across the border. Another genealogically-gifted
 friend suggested a road trip. Yep, I’ve got time for that. Travel to Ohio (or somewhere near the border)
to sift through dusty records to maybe find my grandmother’s birth certificate. Do I really want to know that badly?
Then there’s my father’s father. He was born in Slovenia. Which used to be part of Yugoslavia.
 Before that, it was part of Austria. The Austro-Hungarian Empire to be exact. How do you find those
records when the borders change as often as the beach at high tide?

I decided to start with Ellis Island and work backwards. I know his birth date and approximately
when he immigrated. But the tricky part is his name. Anthony Bavetz. Which used to be Anthony Bavec.
In census records it is listed as Anton, Anthon, Antoine, Tony; Bavetz, Bavitz, Bavits, etc., etc., etc.
I tried every single spelling combination with absolutely no luck. My friend gets to the
 dinosaur age, and I can’t get past 1905.
In my musings, I thought maybe it would have been better to have been born a “Smith”.
Smith is an easy name. You can’t misspell it unless of course it has the fancy spelling of “Smyth”.
But Smith is simple to research, I thought. Think again. Do you know how many Smiths are in the
ancestral databases? 54,885,407 to be exact. Guess I was wrong on that one, too.
My sister has another perspective on the search. She feels the past should be left there.
Gone. Buried. “Who wants to find an ax murderer in the family?” She has a point. Which now is
 moot since my subscription to the ancestry database expires this month. I am not renewing. I’ve got
 enough headaches with living relatives let alone getting frustrated with dead ones.
Maybe I should do what my husband’s aunt did – invent some ancestors. Aunt Pat visited an
antique store in North Carolina and came upon an old black and white photo of an Italian-looking man in a suit and tie.
She bought the picture, popped it into a fancy frame, and has it sitting prominently on a shelf in her kitchen. She gave him a name:
Uncle Reginaldo. She even gave him a background which I actually believed as she told me the story with a twinkle in her eye.
 It took my husband to burst out laughing before I realized the joke was on me.

 But who knows? The joke may be on Aunt Pat. Maybe “Uncle Reginaldo” really is an ax murderer.
 
Julie Ann Monzi grew up in the Pittsburgh area and now lives in Gettysburg with her husband,
three almost-grown children, and five cats. She enjoys reading, hiking the Gettysburg Battlefield,
 and watching British mysteries. Looking to explore your spiritual side? Check out her blog at
www.5minutereflections.blogspot.com. Julie can be reached at julieannmonzi@gmail.com.

Creating an Outdoor Oasis of Beauty and Balance

By Yvonne Phillips

YvonnePhillips1@aol.com

As spring invites us to get outdoors again and spruce up our yards, why not consider going beyond the usual habits
of gardening, and instead work with your landscape in alignment with the wisdom of Feng Shui?

With the summer months our yards can become an extension of our living space, and the garden
allows us to feel connected to nature. Since the effective application of Feng Shui techniques
do wonders for shifting the energy of interior spaces, it makes sense that the same principals
 apply to your yard and garden. A well designed Feng Shui garden landscape appeals to all the
 senses, delights visitors, and provides a calm and restorative environment to fully enjoy the summer season.

Landscaping that is energized with the flow of chi will bring life to your home, and attract an abundance of
birds, butterflies and a feeling of wellbeing. By incorporating representations of the elements, you can make
your garden a retreat oasis in alignment with the wisdom of Feng Shui.

• Remove clutter, weeds, dead plants, objects to trip on such as tools and hoses,
and other strewn debris in order to clear the space and let the energy (chi) flow.
• Don’t overwhelm the environment with every dazzling color in the book,
but choose a selection of uplifting colors such as orange and yellow, and calming colors like blue, purple and white.
• Steer clear of items with sharp and pointed angles; rather choose smooth rounded
 corners to all objects, decorative pieces, flower pots and furniture.
• Avoid placing a fence or large object in the middle of your yard or garden,
as it will block the flow of energy and disrupt the positive chi.

Elements of Feng Shui in your landscaping:
• Earth - Keep the soil fertile and the flowers, trees and grass well maintained,
as this enhances the earth element. Place round stones as a border around spaces, or as
appealing and calming decoration to enhance the grounding balance of the earth element. 
• Wood – Choose wooden planting boxes, or adorn your landscaping with
decorative wooden pieces such as a carving, bench or bamboo pieces. As a lucky Feng Shui cure,
 bamboo is used to attract health, abundance and happiness.
• Metal - Place something metal in your landscaping to encourage the properties of that
 important element, such as wind chimes or planters.
• Water - Include still or slow flowing water such as a fountain, bird bath, pond or pooled water
from a stream. It’s not encouraged to have a fast moving stream or river through your property, as this
carries the positive energy away from your home, akin to “peace or abundance flying out the door”.
 Instead, have pooled or slower flowing water which can collect beneficial chi to stay in your yard.
• Fire - For the final touches of balancing the elements, fire can be represented in various ways such as candles or lanterns, or a fire pit.

You can easily create a feel-good and ambient garden patio with pillows, blankets, and outdoor music.
Just a few extra touches and working with the surrounding landscape brings restorative benefits and
 balance to the energy flow around and through your home. You’ll feel the difference and savour your time in the yard even more

Article courtesy of Women’s eNews and Wendy Murphy
Women’s eNews website
 “http://womensenews.org/story/athleticssports/110511/cheer-her-rapist-lets-make-noise-over

By  Wendy Murphy

A Texas teen was expelled from her cheerleading squad for refusing to
cheer for a guy accused of raping her. The courts have let her down,
so about a dozen of us who are former NFL cheerleaders are standing
up. We want to hear some noise about this.
     
(WOMENSENEWS)–On May 2 the United States Supreme Court declined to
hear the appeal of a Texas high school cheerleader who was kicked off
her squad for refusing to cheer for a basketball player accused of
raping her weeks earlier.

About a dozen of us former NFL cheerleaders, standing on the
sidelines, were stunned. Then we decided to do what we can to speak up
for Hillaire, who wants her real first name to be used.
“There’s always been this idea that if you’re a cheerleader,
you’re just there to decorate the sidelines for the benefit of male
players and fans,” said Cheryl Duddy Schoenfeld, who cheered for
the NFL for two years in the 1970s. “Well we’ve got news for
anyone who believes in such nonsense. We are rallying behind this girl
and her family and we are committed to doing what we can to make sure
this never happens again–to any girl. If the school officials and
courts won’t support her, we will. We are calling on all
cheerleaders–NFL, college and high school, past and present–to step
up and join us in this effort.”

The victim’s family has been ordered to pay $45,000 in costs to
reimburse the school for having to defend against the lawsuit.

“Making the victim’s parents pay tens of thousands of dollars
because they tried to protect their child is like sending a message to
all cheerleaders that they had better stay quiet about things like
sexual assault and dating violence,” said Bonnie Gardner-Drumm,
an NFL cheerleader for five years in the early 1980s.

She calls the incident an outrage. “How hard would it have been
for school officials to just let her stay silent? Ideally they should
have forbidden the guy to play sports, but insisting that a young
woman literally cheer for a man who abused her is its own form of
abuse.”

Support ‘Really Good’

The victim’s lawyer, Larry Watts, said he was disappointed with the
court’s response, but that it felt “really good” to learn
that a group of NFL cheerleaders had stepped forward to support the
victim.

“I’ve been frustrated and shocked that no women’s or victims’
groups or even cheerleaders’ organizations have spoken out in support
of Hillaire. I just don’t get it,” he said. “This is a brave
young woman. It’s great that professional cheerleaders are now
supporting her. They don’t even know Hillaire but they know what she’s
going through and what it took for her to do what she did.”

Hillaire and her parents filed the lawsuit against the high school
after school officials in Silsbee, Texas, told Hillaire she had no
choice but to cheer for the man who attacked her.

She was willing to cheer for the team, but when her assailant was at
the free-throw line, and the squad was cheering for him in particular,
she stepped back from the others and crossed her arms in defiance.

Watts described the cheer they wanted her to say. He said, “It
went something like this: ‘Two, four, six-eight-10, come on [player]
put it in.’ Think about that. How does a school official make a rape
victim say something like that to a man who did something so
horrible?”

The accused was charged with rape and pleaded guilty to assault in
2010, but while the matter was still being resolved he continued to
play sports.

In February 2009, when the victim refused to cheer for him, she was
sent home by school officials and later dismissed from the squad for
the remainder of her high school career. The accused student continued
to enjoy the cheers and adulation of other students, parents and
school officials.

“People dismiss the value of cheerleaders as unimportant compared
to the guys,” said Schoenfeld. “It took a lot of guts for
this young woman to take a stand the way she did. She didn’t deserve
to be punished for that. It’s unbelievable in this day and age that
school officials could be so backward thinking about an issue as
important as violence against women and girls.”
Examining Cheerleaders’ Rights

In their lawsuit against the school district, Hillaire and her family
argued that a victim has a constitutionally-protected First Amendment
right to express herself by refusing to cheer for a student accused of
rape.

The federal court disagreed and ruled the teen had no free speech
rights because cheerleaders act as agents of the
school–”mouthpieces” is the word the court used–not as an
individual students.

The NFL cheerleaders, offended by the court’s characterization of them
as mere “mouthpieces,” are putting their megaphones to their
mouths to speak out.

I did, when I wrote that Hillaire should have sued under Title IX,
instead of the First Amendment, on the grounds that requiring a
cheerleader to cheer for her rapist is a form of sexual harassment and
thus an act of gender discrimination.

Another former NFL cheerleader, Jeanne Ball, is upset to hear that
there has been so little public support for Hillaire.

“Fortunately, she seems to have strong family support,” Ball
said.

Attorney Watts says Hillaire regrets nothing and is proud of herself
for refusing to cheer and for bringing the lawsuit.

“It was the least she could do to show everyone how she felt not
only about being raped, but also about being so disrespected by school
officials,” he said.

Former cheerleader Schoenfeld could not agree more.

“We don’t want cheerleaders–or any women–to stay quiet about
such things,” she said. “Many of us have daughters now–and
sons–and we want them to have healthy relationships. There’s nothing
healthy about rape and there’s certainly nothing healthy about making
a young woman cheer for her abuser.”

The school’s lawyer did not return a call seeking comments.
Article courtesy of Women’s eNews and Wendy Murphy
Women’s eNews website
 “http://womensenews.org/story/athleticssports/110511/cheer-her-rapist-lets-make-noise-over