CarmenJimersonCross
Bio
proper name? CarmenJimersonCross-Safieddine SHARING LIFE LIVED, things seen, lessons learned, and spreading peace where I can.
Read, like, and subscribe! Maybe toss a dollar tip into my "hat." Thanks! Carmen (still telling stories!)
Stories (113)
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BACKROADS
SEEING THE SOUTHWEST OVER A THREE DAY WEEKEND in any location is improbable. The region is filled with historical remnants extending from three coinciding wars, the 1846 Mexican-American War, the 1861 Civil War, and the 1846 Mexican-Indian War. Lucky enough to get the brief visit on a layover en route from Dallas to Detroit by way of Alaska, my stay in the Tucson, Arizona area found me in receipt of a tour through Tumacacori, Arizona, its neighboring communities or the artist colony at Tubac, Arizona and what later became Carmen, Arizona... a now thriving residential area that blossomed from a mobile home and modular home community featuring horse trails and ATVs.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Wander
HOLDING ON
ENTERING MILITARY BASIC TRAINING IS A DECISION MADE by most women. Women are not obligated to enlist, but many do. They enlist for travel... education... socialization... a change of life direction and to support family ideal. Waking up to perform 2 a.m. guard duty is a "least worry" issue of details relegated regardless of title enlisted to. Guard duty in the frigid cold in the middle of a warm cozy night's sleep is quite different. That's a slap in the face that endures over the entire span of hours spent pacing and peering into the frozen airspace around the length of traveled way. Choke it down if you're out here for the "family ideal." You're doing it for them... the children, that lovin' man back at home or to impress mom and dad. You are there to make the difference... there, to hold the family head high as any other military family has over the decades of civil existence. You are doing a "noble thing." Open your eyes and walk.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in The Swamp
THANKS FOR THE RIDE
I WAS TOTALLY DEPRESSED when they walked into my life in the body of a woman about my age.. with M.S. Multiple Sclerosis, her acupuncture specialist for pain, her hubby, and preoccupation with writing a book about the wife of a religious leader made up the purpose for living. "I have this friend I want you to meet. Your agonies seem to be similar to hers. She's in our local group. Be ready Friday evening now that your son is gone off to college and I'll introduce you." I agreed with reservations. I rarely went anyplace lately, unless it was a necessity for grocery, pertaining to a class I was enrolled in or a trip out of town to visit family and friends back home. There had been too much commotion over the recent onset of war and the involvement of troops from the National Guard unit I was enlisted to. I was set aside as nonparticipating due to the late location of military records proofing injury in an accident and residual effects of the injury sustained. I was told for the second time to, "maintain contact." Veteran Affairs was going to contact me regarding follow up on my active file. I agreed to meet the father of my son's classmate on Friday.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Humans
HOLDING ON
COMING HOME WITH A DENTED IDEA OF LIFE AND TIME led into wondering where to turn next. The state proffered compensation in exchange for credentialing brought over from the prior state of residency. To oblige them was the only passage open. Papers were turned over and within one month there was an opportunity to buy a car, or at least put a deposit down. Two weeks later and the first of fifteen personality assessment exams, the requirement of attaining employment and the mandate that it be held for at least one year for a passing or near acceptable rating was issued. When scouring the local ads and following through on word of mouth referrals produced no sure-footed result, a friend from the past can and did provide. The resettling of a small-town municipal office created a gap for hiring several office personnel and tying into the ongoing "welfare reform" program bought federal and state funding to buffer new hires to any department. Office Superintendant... a friend of my mother since before my high school days... and Office Administrator... the job title given me by a long time acquaintance... mayor of the town... were brought on in the Department of Public Works along with an office assistant and two maintenance workers. A renewal of the expired Public Health Department within the municipality brought three additional positions. The Office Administrator position was guaranteed for the term of one year... long enough for the state's challenge to finalize and determine the applicant employable. It was granted and I made the most of it.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Confessions
HOLDING ON
DEVISING A SMALL BUSINESS as a fallback, alternate plan after college is not necessarily an easy task. All college studies and independent study projects, thesis and internship skills, and life skills included with the summarization of skills and contacts from prior employment blown by what society has to throw at us; we have a zero starting point.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Confessions
THE BACKROADS
WE TRIPPED OUT to AUSTIN, for a planned weekend that led to a host of delightful finds. Once settled into rooms booked at THE WESTIN AUSTIN Downtown a three-day weekend presents time for carousing the local eat spots, shopping, museums, and sizing up a few nightclubs. THE KINGDOM, discovered during a day walk to the Capital Metro Rail... an inner-city rail system designed to alleviate driving from outer edges of the city, was a second night stop to shake out cramps from the long ride to Texas on the Amtrak Texas Eagle. The lines outside during open hours were validation that it was a valuable find. For anyone loving the jumping beats delivered by "house music" and a cool atmosphere which manages to maintain a constant chill on a room crowded with dancers and wall hugging oglers this is the place to loosen up. We didn't have much time for meeting and exchanging numbers of anyone newly found but the regulars seem to hit it off and not end up leaving alone. The lounge hours hold until 2pm on weekdays and 4:30 a.m. weekends.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Wander
BACKROADS
WHETHER FOR A HOLIDAY of just a three-day-get-away, a stayover away from home at a hotel can be a total stress break. The LUMIERE HOTEL and CASINO in downtown St. Louis, Missouri was the perfect escape which doubled as a holiday gift for seniors who "wanted nothing." A room booked months in advance and a starter cash gift bag set up with bonbons, peppermints and a fanny pack for each was the beginning note to the surprise gift. With the "ditty bag" gift handed to each in the parking garage before setting foot inside, eyes were wide and jaws dropped lower with each step along the trail in the well laid out hotel side of the casino so that one can enter and not realize it's morning without wandering the floor in search of good coffee. Beautifully decorated and cost effective, a two night stay in a queen suite plus meals for three, plus the ditty bag treats and $50 each spending money set me back less than six hundred dollars. The player token card issued at registration was free with a provisional option for winning additional money or meals during the stay at their facility. Registration allowed them to direct any winnings to the name and number encoded on the card issued upon arrival. The room looked out over the pavilion of seats and greenery while also providing an awesome view of the arch and the Lumiere hotel spa next door.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Wander
INTENSE
I YELLED IT LOUD AND PLAIN, " Leave me alone!... I'm not interested... I have a husband... if you don't quit, I'll cut your fuckin dick off!" I reached for the knife I'd taken from the table at the restaurant earlier. I was serious. He... they were driving me crazy and no amount of complaints or waving for help had changed the situation. That had become my line of defense.. a warning of pinched nerves for uninvited sexual throes. Uninvited and seemingly part of a game... gender-centered or not. A game... hate game short of the usual punch and slap approach offered by "other than affectionate" men.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Psyche
HOLDING ON
The noise was deafening but the neighbors had grown accustomed to the young Garcia's self-entertainment Francisco also called Frank by his father, and Frances by his grandmother Nana was preoccupied by the image of himself playing with either Chicago or Santana as a bass guitarist. At 18 he was full of idealistic dreams. He fancied himself as a real looker compared to most of the other boys in his class. Hillcrest High School didn't have many of Hispanic descent but it was where he had been placed the previous school year. Prior schools, Saint Francis de Sales in Chicago and Saint Gerard of Markham were more strict than this High School. Here they didn't monitor students. After this summer he would have to return unless his parents moved again. They and Nana... his mother's mother were the Guiding Light in his life. Bianca Marie his younger sister was just that, a younger sister who followed his every lead. He was practicing Bumphead, a tune from one of the many Santana albums in his possession.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Confessions
Family Disagreement
NOT SO UNCOMMON but heart-rending and sometimes debilitating if not a life risk, are family arguments, especially those that flare into a family feud. Otherwise labeled DYSFUNCTIONAL, families that struggle within itself, against itself can never gain peace within until members are willing to forgive and or forget each other's transgression and trespasses. One person has to be the "bigger man" which the connotation of the word is enough to draw new heated arguments.
By CarmenJimersonCross4 years ago in Families
