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Show I Must Relinquish My Title As we go through life, we ac- quire a few titles. Some are obvious like son, father, etc. daughter, mother, Others may be bestowed through our work - doctor, teacher, editor. I guess mine could have been worse. For a goodly portion of the last decade and a half I have been known as The Green Sheet Lady. Which is a heck of a lot better than bag lady, I guess. Whenever wed go to a school play or a game, someone would invariably say, theres the Green Sheet Lady. It would happen at checkout stands in stores and elsewhere. Id get a lot of you look awfully familiar and dont you work for the Green Sheet? greetings when I met people. Some would just look at me as if they felt they should know me. Even when we moved into a new ward it happened. Half the people felt they knew me. It was kind of a neat feeling. Id blush and admit who I was. Actually, I dont know why Id blush. It was never anything but a source of pride to be associated with The Green Sheet. Now and again, someone would hit me up to try to get something in the paper, but not really very often. The hardest transition people had to make was when I went from Green Sheet reporter to Sentinel editor, because I could no longer accommodate some of requests that were once automatic. the If you think they were confused, you should have seen me. Things were made doubly difficult by the fact that I kept some of my old duties. Michele Bartmess must have attended a thousand never have plays and games I wouldfor my posibeen to had it not been tion. I would estimate that about 90 percent of the people I treasure as friends are people I have met through my work, or because of it. but all of Not just my the drama teachers, athletic coaches, athletes, performers, teachers, school board members, mayors, councilmen. public relations people, arts council personnel and common citizens I have worked closely with over this past 15 years have enriched my life in ways I could never Recount. Being The Green Sheet Lady ultimately opened another door one I feel I must step through. Being The Green Sheet Lady opened a lot of doors for me. Im sure I wouldnt be a member Murray Arts Council, perhaps the greatest love of my life, were it not for my association with this newspaper. My job no doubt led me to a position on the Miss Murray Pageant Committee. I served withI the Chamber of Commerce and of the That's Understandable A feature story I wrote coupled with a recommendation from a person with whom I worked closely led to an offer I didnt refuse. I go with mixed emotions. The excitement of a new job that is of the ilk my fantasies were made of. The absolute terror of giving up security and position for something that is brand new. And the pain of leaving behind friends, old and new, who have meant so much to me personally and professionally. Though arrangements may be made that I can keep sharing my thoughts in this weekly column, things will never be the same for me again. I may be in The Green Sheet, but not of it. I shall miss it greatly. - So You Say: You Don't Understand JOHH WATERBURY Dear John Letters DEAR JOHN: Im the adult child of an alcoholic father. I can admit that now, but its taken five years to be able to do so. Thats when I left home. II thought II was free once I got out. thought was leaving all the problems behind, but it hasnt worked out that way. I cant break away. I hate my father for what he did to my family, and that hate is destroying me. My life is a mess. I dont understand. SEQUESTERED AND DECADENT house for Alcohol Information has a good supply. There address is P.O. Box 2345, Rockville, Mainland 20852. But while youre waiting for their information, consider the following list that was written by Thomas W. Perrin about children of alcoholics. I think youll find it applies. It describes characteristics of this group. - I have difficulty following projects from beginning to end. -- 1 lie when it would be just as easy to tell the truth. -I myself without mercy. - I judge take myself very seriously and find it difficult to have fun. -- 1 have difficulty with intimate relationships. -- 1 overreact to changes over which I have no control. -- 1 feel different from other people. - I constantly seek approval and affirmation. or 1 am either super-responsib- DEAR SAD: e. Your last statement sums it all up: You dont understand. And thats understandable. Many times children of alcoholics cant understand, because their perception of by the reality becomes distorted so that alcoholic parent. So much their life becomes unmanageable. First of all. Id recommend you contact Alanon. Alanon consists of family members of alcoholics who ban together, and in so doing, find support, relief and hope. You'll also find that youre not alone. Next I'd recommend ordering some material on children of alcoholics to provide some insight into the special problems you are en- countering. The National Clearing- 1 am extremely loyal even in the face of evidence that loyalty is undeserved. - I look for immediate as opposed to deferred gratification. -- 1 seek tension and crisis and complain about the results. - I avoid conflict or aggrevate it; rarely do I deal with it. 1 fear rejection and abandonment, yet I am rejecting of others. 1 feaj failure, but sabotage my success. 1 fear criticism and judgement, yet I criticize and judge others. For year, we have known that alcoholism is a family disease; that it affects everyone in the family, not only the alcoholic. But until recently the connection between alcoholic and the related of their children, was somewhat vague. Children of parents alcoholics have been the unfortunate recipients of a disease process of which they had no ability to direct or control. These children have been the real losers. DEAR JOHN: I thought you might like this little piece. Its a favorite of mine. But dont try to thank me. Its nothing. NOTHING People tend to look down at the word nothing and belittle its importance; however, it can mean life or death, success or failure, joy or sadness. Mountain climbers have died when they stepped on it. Parachutists are upset when they pull the ripcord and it comes out. Farmers have lost their farms when they grew it. Ball players and coaches have lost their jobs when they scored it. Women have been whistled at when they wore it, and many women make a good living when they dance in it. Its also reason for joy when it represents the sum total of your debts. Its what you earn when you do it. I have saved it over the years and now have it in my bank account. I could go on but it will mean nothing. I just want you to be aware as you go through life that when you Continued on last page. of Editor's Note: John Waterbury is Director for Services Davspring Chemical Dependency reor and questions Intermountain Health Care, be sent to him at quests for information may21st floor. Salt Lake 1HC, 36 South State Street, City, Utah 84111. These letters form the basis for the Dear John Letters." At least 10 percent, possibly more, children in elementary schools sufa perceptual fer from dyslexia disorder which blocks their ability to read, spell or write legibly. Dyslexia, which may be inherited, scrambles letters and numbers in the brain and also can cause a similar effect in hearing. A dyslexic child may see the word dog as god, may confuse concepts such as floor for ceiling A and hostile for hospitable. may number series such as in the childs mind. become that many dyslexic say Experts children are of superior intelligence, but are often lumped with retarded children or others with learning disabilities because the disorder is not widely understood. Many prominent people have suffered from dyslexia, including Nelson Rockefeller. It caused him trouble all his life. Rockefeller was tutored at home - until he was 10. He said he never mastered spelling, but overcame his handicap by simply learning to cope with it. Thomas Edison also was dyslexic. His mother took him from school and tutored him herself in an effort to help him. General George Patton could not read print by the age of 12 when he began formal schooling. He got through West Point by memorizing whole lectures and texts. President Woodrow Wilson and Albert Einstein also suffered from dyslexia, but overcame the difficulty. The danger of dyslexia is in not recognizing it and helping the child remedy the problem through education and special help. Reading failure is the single most significant factor in those forms of delinquency which can be described as aggressive. Untreated dyslexia can result in emotional problems which turn children into delinquents. anti-so-cial- ly The Severely Naive Could Use Some Help Interpreting TV Ads by Dennis Hinkamp Consumer information Writer Utah State University Although I have never seen it, I know it is possb le to get a device put on your television to run captions across the screen if you are hearing impaired. Television guides have a little symbol by the programs that are close paptioned for the hearing impaired. What some consumers realy need, though, is a system that offers closed captioning for the severely naive. This service would give a more accurate translation of what is being said on the screen. For instance: Some Advertisement: assembly required - Translation: We couldnt figure out how to put it together, maybe you can. Ad: Contains the pain reliever most recommended by doctors -Translation: We want to confuse the issue because, in reality, our tablets contain aspirin just like 10 other brands that cost less than ours. TranslaAd: Extra strength tion: Contains more aspirin (see - above). Ad All natural ingredients" Translation: Contains -- only substances found, made or thought to exist on this planet. Ad Lowest interest rates and - Translation: easy financing Were tyring to get your attention away from the high price of our product by convincing you that $99.95 a month for the next 48 months isn't that bad. Ad: $99.95 a month for 48 months" - Translation: We know that this sounds a lot better than $100 a month for four years! (See above). Ad : One size fits all" - Translation: It is either a little too big or a little too small for everyone. Ad: Sure to be a collector's item - Translation: The collectors will be wearing overalls driving a big noisy truck and will collect these items only if they are placed in plastic bags or metal containers set in front of your house. Ad: "Lifetime guarantee" or Lifetime membership" - Translation: We don't expect to be in Continued on last page. -- |