Even though it looks like I have a lot of packing left to do, it's not as much as it seems. It's simply scattered over a large area. The only real hindrance is the wiring to the lights on the trailer.
I managed to haul a load of items I cannot take with me, run some errands to the store for pain killers and plastic bags then start cleaning the shed.
I didn't stop until 9.30 pm but I'm still unsure if I can be on the road early tomorrow morning, and if I can't it will be Sunday before I leave.
Homelessness - A Test of True Compassion
Many of us believe that we are compassionate people. But are we really? Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary formally defines "compassion" as the "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it."In our daily lives, some people think of compassion as "love in action." Many religions encourage us to strive to be compassionate people and admonish us to "love our neighbor."Summarizing these definitions, it would appear that compassion could be defined as "love in action for our neighbor in distress with a desire to alleviate it." So, whether we are compassionate people depends upon our own attitudes and desires to help.Personally, I believe that we are all, with the possible exception of a very few, born with compassion. Thus, for most of us, the quality of compassion is already within ourselves from birth -- we need only to find and awaken our compassion. Further, as we live our lives we can choose to nurture and expand this quality, as we are encouraged by many religions, if not all, to do.But, what about the "neighbors" for whom we have compassion? Do our neighbors have any role in our developing or exercising our compassion? It would appear, at least from the above discussion, that our neighbors do not. However, what our neighbors do, how they appear and what we expect from them may influence how easy it is for us to exercise and develop our compassion.The easiest example of this is the whole topic of babies. It has been said that babies are born adorable and loveable, at least to their parents, so that their parents will take care of them regardless of how much work is involved. And most of us know and expect that there is a tremendous amount of work involved in caring for a baby.Then we have the examples of children and adults with special needs who cannot take care of themselves and must rely on the compassionate treatment from others. Their caretakers know and expect that their jobs will be challenging and yet, ultimately rewarding.There are also those people among us who have suffered a personal or family loss. These losses can be traumatic events affecting people's physical, mental and emotional well-being. Included within the losses that people can suffer is the loss of everything people once possessed. For most people becoming homeless can be a traumatic event.For whatever the cause, homeless people have suffered the loss of what most of us consider our human basic needs -- they have lost their personal shelter, their expectation of having food on a regular basis and most of their clothing.Whether homeless people are sheltered or unsheltered, they have, for whatever length of time, lost their personal experiences of having their own homes. When people lose their experiences of having their own homes, they may also lose their hope for having their own homes again.Even their feelings of self-worth may be negatively affected by the trauma they experience as a result of their homelessness. For example, a homeless friend of mine recently said, "No matter what you say or how you treat me, I know that I'm at the bottom of the food chain."As with any of our responses to traumatic events, the hopefulness experienced by homeless people by virtue of becoming homeless may be expressed physically, mentally and/or emotionally. The results of the traumatic event of becoming homeless may also be expressed by some homeless people through the misuse of substances, including cigarettes.In addition, because we as a society have provided few public bathrooms, showers and even fewer public laundries, many homeless people may not have access to facilities where they can perform acts of basic hygiene. The results are obvious -- homeless people often appear disheveled.Finally, we housed people often expect homeless people to "pick themselves up by their own bootstraps" and become housed again. Please see my article, Homelessness Myth #15: "Just Pull Yourself Up By Your Own Bootstraps," in this regard.Because many homeless people are and remain unhoused, our expectations of them to become housed, among other things, are not met.It is basic human nature that when people do not meet our expectations of them, we may become disappointed and/or resentful. Without greater understanding of ourselves and others, we are unlikely to extend compassion to those whom we feel have failed to live up to our own expectations, who have disappointed us or to whom we feel resentful. Hence, we housed people with unreasonable expectations for homeless people may feel disappointed or resentful of them because they have failed to live up to our unreasonable expectations.It is because of what homeless people do, how they appear and what we expect from them, that we may find it challenging to have compassion for them.However, "our neighbors" includes everyone. Therefore, I believe that the test of true compassion is whether we can care for all of our neighbors, including our homeless neighbors whom we may find the most challenging to help.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-schanes/homelessness-compassion_b_1429207.html?fb_action_ids=3797547626085&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline#access_token=AAAAACuIpepUBACIKGlizkYSEJ1q8hf0NxIM7ymyFQ9VjCeKQkGHnu8RhdRk3bv5qbFAqfdOZCfYa55ZA8ZA1oKehx5s5eRbSqSNG0jBnQZDZD&expires_in=5025
I don't believe I have EVER witnessed any none violent crime that can be as devastating as stealing someone's home. I am walking in Dorothy McKeevers footsteps, day by day, month by month, year by year.Liam Griffin, I sat in your law office with two witnesses as you gave me your promise, your guarantee, that our money would be returned before harm came to us.
Patricia Ogilvie-Huckins you were present the day I signed contract with your son. You walked out of the kitchen with Sylve Huckins and your son introduced me to you. He told you that I was the British horse trainer he had told you about, the one he was going to build the home and barn for. Why didn't you say something? There may be a rational and reasonable explanation but I have spent over 3 years, homeless, not understanding it. I understand it even less knowing that though I was a total stranger, both Dorothy McKeever and Sally Canning you KNEW, and you knew what your son had done to them and others.
Dr. Kenneth Ogilvie, I contacted you and simply asked for a reference, not knowing that Robert Huckins was your cousin. Robert Huckins had just stolen over $30,000 from the domestic violence shelter, HEAL, yet everyone was trying to hide it. There was a history of stealing large amounts of money. $65,000 PLUS from Nancy Canning. $89,000 PLUS from Dorothy McKeever, $45,000 from Francis McKinney. The list just goes on and on and on.
Because of Robert Huckins I ended up paying $140,000 to be homeless.. sat in the cold, emotionally, physically and financially broke. In the middle of a recession, with no way to recover the stolen funds.Today Robert Huckins has his own home...
He also has OUR home.....
He also has a lot of people's money...
And his freedom.
Women are not banks or loan institutions. Women should not be the source of a retirement fund for people who don't want to do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Holding women hostage while playing with the judicial system, a horrendous game of cat and mouse extending YEARS, with the victims whose very homes, families and stability are in jeopardy is cruelty, as cruel as a physical beating. It is financial and emotional RAPE. Homelessness is not justice. It is a slow, painful death.
Please, I beg with everything I have within me, please convince Robert Huckins to stop this torture and return the building fund he stole from us so we too, can have a home.
Relevant pages:
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.
http://roberthuckinsvictim.blogspot.com/2011/12/white-nothing-but-white.html
