Food For Thought: This is my story...what's yours?

My Story

I am from noisy dinner tables, comforting warm hugs, overly excited weekend bags packed and heavy sighs of relief upon returning home.
I am from calloused hard working hands and long beautiful words.
I am from footprints in the sand, ladybugs and a bushel and a peck.

I am from burnt bread, Chinese noodle cookies, blueberry pancakes and half eaten broccoli slipped under the table to the dog.
I am from stifling uniforms and fancy jazz shoes.
I am from camp fires, board games, decks of cards and countless wonder years.

The pictures of my life tell a surface story, but the lessons lurk behind the smiles. The scars of wisdom leave imprints on my heart, marks of what lies deeper.
I have danced through days and survived lonely nights.
I have battled heavy legal books and filled empty computer screens with lovely words.

I have been a punching bag, a shoulder to lean on and an ear to bend; just as often as I’ve needed the bag, the shoulder and the ear.
I have been absolutely certain and I have been utterly lost.
I have felt the praise of highest honors and the desperation of not making the cut.

I have lived scary beginnings, confident middles, and bittersweet endings. Peppered with self doubt, over-zealous mistakes, content memories and pure happiness; all imperfectly scattered through my life.

I have neatly fold wisdom, hope, questions, uncertainly and fear into piles, and gingerly packed them into the baggage of my life.

This is where I am from.
This is what I have carried.
This is my story.


xoxo
Lana

DELCO gets involved in National Take Back Day

The common adage used to be that marijuana was the “gateway drug” but times sure have changed. Statistics, provided by the DEA, explain that every day, on average 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time. Studies conducted by the DEA in a National Survey on Drug Use and Health, shows that in 2009 alone, 400,000 more people recreationally used pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants and sedatives for the first time rather than marijuana.

One of the biggest problems with prescription drugs is that people do not view them as harmful as “street drugs.” Yet, according to the Center for Disease Control prescription drugs—opioids and antidepressants, are responsible for more overdose deaths than “street drugs” such as, cocaine and heroine, are.

So how do we begin to remedy this problem? How do community members ensure that their medicine cabinets are not unintentionally dealing drugs? Participate in National Take Back Day. http://www.dea.gov/

This Saturday, September 25, from 10am to 2pm the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) will host the first-ever nationwide prescription drug take-back day. Glenolden Borough Hall, along with Aldan, Springfield, Brookhaven, Upper Darby, Upper Chichester, Media, Upland, Eddystone, Ridley Park, Tinicum, Devon, Wayne and Sharon Hill are among the 14 locations countywide that will serve as a drop box locations participating in this event. At the end of the day, the DEA will transport all prescription drugs to Media, the county seat for proper disposal.

The DEA encourages citizens to properly dispose of these medications at the drop boxes. Flushing the prescription down the toilet is not a method of proper disposal. Recent Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have detected pharmaceutical drugs varying in concentration in the water supply. To ensure that water stays pure and people are not abusing these prescriptions the take-back program is the best way to dispose of old drugs.

Recent studies show the majority of abused prescriptions drugs are obtained from family and friends medicine cabinets and the hope of this campaign is to eliminate that factor. This program hopes to make communities safer and lives healthier by preventing increased pill abuse and theft. Residents and community members are encouraged to bring all unused prescriptions, including those that are old and expired, to these sites for destruction. The service is free and anonymous with no questions asked.

To find a drop location nearest you, go to http://www.dea.gov/ and type in your zip code.

Inside Out

Here is some food for thought about a topic we all try to avoid, but as the Daily Times Newspaper pointed out, is a topic that we cannot escape. "The Heroin Epidemic." 

Drug abuse, pill popping and now heroin-- is and has been running rampant through Delco. When I read the cover story in the paper yesterday it had me reflect on my own experience watching a friend, become destroyed by drugs. If anything, this article, this epidemic, is speaking to our 20something generation. We have to stop thinking that "partying" "doing pills" or "getting high" is cool, normal, or socially acceptable.

I am taking a class this summer for my Master’s Degree called “Writing the Unspeakable” and so the Daily Times Article inspired me to write this piece...

Inside Out

I haven’t decided what’s worse? Knowing he was lying dead in a coffin somewhere or knowing he was "dead", killing himeself each day, but still dragging himself through life?

The latter had to be worse. At least when you’re dead… really stiff as a board, eyes stuck open, mind off, dead, then there isn’t any hope left. You’re gone. You have to accept it and everyone left behind has to accept it as well. There is no more space in time for “what if’s” no more “maybe’s” no more prayers or wishes or hopes. They too have all settled into what we affectionately call closure.

We can allow ourselves to grieve and eventually to forget. We allow our minds to manipulate the memories—we forget the tragic, the dark, the heart wrenching parts and we let the happier, “before” memories take over. Eventually we allow ourselves to let go of the hurt, disappointment and loss. We “let go” because we want to, and because they are dead, so we have to.

So don’t get me wrong, I am not wishing death on him. God No! It’s nothing like that. It’s just that for me—the bystander, the friend, the outsider; I had no control. I have just had the displeasure of watching the beautiful person I once knew fade away into the dark depths of drugs. I could only watch as he got worse, and kept using. For me, it was like standing by a pool, watching someone you love drowning and not being able to reach in and pull them out. That’s how I felt at least. That’s why I think that maybe death would have been easier.

With death there is a definitive end.

So, maybe if he were laying in a casket instead of walking down the street I would have had to let go much sooner. Maybe then I would have been able to disregard the “what if’s” the “maybe’s” the prayers, wishes and hopes that lurked in my mind.

But he’s not dead, not then and not now. Somehow he “survived” all that drug use. His body survived at least, so he’s not physically dead. There is no coffin, no funeral, no eulogy—and no closure. See the catch 22?

He, as I remembered him, was forever changed by the drugs. The liquid poison raced through his veins and erased him. The person I loved, I knew, I grew up with…he was gone. His body was still there, reminding me of who he once was, but he was gone from the inside out. That’s the hardest part. Helplessly watching a loved one turn into a drug addict is one instance when it feels okay to think that death may have been easier than life.

Watching someone die inside out made it all feel so backwards.

Manhattan in Delco? Swarthmore Hair Studio

Do you hate those hair salons where you feel like you’re just a number? Where dozens of stylists come and go, your're stuck with a different person each time and you're almost certain they spent more time staring at themselves in the mirror than they did looking at your hair? You feel like you're whole experience was a flop and you're not sure why you paid so much to be rushed through? Well STOP going to that cookie-cutter, wanna-be salon and pay attention here… Go to Swarthmore Hair Studio.

It’s within 20 paces of the Swarthmore Train Station, nestled on quaint Park Avenue in the heart of Swarthmore. It is conveniently located in Delco, but don’t be fooled, because the second you walk through those doors, you feel as if you’ve walked into a luxurious Manhattan Salon.

Swarthmore Hair Studio  has undergone a major face-life and the results are beautiful. This Aveda Concept Salon was recently remodeled from top to bottom and features state of the art equipment. For instance, usually when you get your hair colored, the processing generally takes 30-45 minutes. At Swarthmore Hair Studio they no longer use that hair-stressing electric heat that is both time consuming and requires constant monitoring to avoid over or under processed color. Instead, they have invested in a new special Roller-Ball Circular Infrared Processor. The processor is used to orbit your hair application making five rotations per minute at 60 Hz. For the client it provides a relaxing, warm, therapeutic heat that takes only about 10 minutes, saving you more than half the time! This is only one of many of new technological advancements used regularly at this salon.

One of my favorite aspects of this salon is that you can have your hair done by the owner Patricia Ukropec herself. Unlike other salons in the Delco Area who fall short, where you are shuffled around from stylist-to-stylist like a cattle call, at Swarthmore Hair you can have your hair done by the owner herself. Patricia (Pat as she likes to go by) has 30+ years of experience and has been a salon owner for 25 years. She stays on the cutting edge of hair fashion, style and design by attending classes and workshops at the Aveda Academy in Minneapolis and London, as well as attends International Hair Fashion Shows in London, Paris, Milan, Prague, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Take it from me, if you want a Manhattan feel with a personal touch - Check out Swarthmore Hair Studio, you won’t be disappointed.

Swarthmore Hair Studio,
4 Park Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081
610- 544-6620

xoxo
Lana

First Bite

Today is the first day... first bite, of my “Food for Thought” section. I decided to go with "Food For Thought" because my blog sounds like it implies cocktails (which is does NOT) so why not have this section sound like it involved Food (even when it does NOT). Its a little backwards...but I think it works!

I am writing this section because I know that people are multi-tasking...

updating, checking, following, downloading, emailing, messaging, texting and still trying to maintain relationships, responsibilities and just life in general.

Whew! I’m tired just thinking about all the stuff we have to do.

So don’t worry….I get it! Sometimes you just don’t have time to sit down and read something long. This is why I only update my blog once a week. I don’t want to be another check on the daily “to-do list" of life.

So if you only want to read a little, or you love my work and just can’t get enough….(I’m hoping it’s the latter) this section of my page will focus on local tid-bits and will be updated more often than once a week.

So keep checking back and remember…Friday is the big day! Not just TGIF because it’s...

• The start of the weekend
• We can go out
• Grab a drink after work
• Take a break
• Know we can sleep in the following day  

But because its also the day new posts are published on my blogs homepage DUH! Okay maybe not the highlight of your weekend...but a girl can dream... :)

xoxo 

Lana