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Belfast Remembered – Author Unknown.
Because I know it will get lost in a flurry of Tweets and status updates on Facebook, I’m going to put this tribute to Belfast right here for safe-keeping. I don’t know who wrote it and wish that I did so I could say thank you, and with a nod to Van Morrison’s Coney Island, “Wouldn’t it be great if it was like this all the time?” A Belfast poem (author unknown). I’ll speak to you dear stranger, if you really want to know, So listen and I’ll tell you why I love this city so, Belfast is an Ulsterman with features dour and grim, It’s a pint of creamy…
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Aging, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Depression, Health Statistics, Memoir, Mental Health, World Health Organization
All in Your Head . . . on World Mental Health Day.
Mental illness affects all of us, but there are still many myths and misconceptions about these disorders. If people are willing to talk openly about mental health, we can defeat stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses. ~ Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter October 10, 2018 marks the 26th anniversary of World Mental Health Day, established by The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). This year, the day brings focus to what young people are facing in our world today and the resilience they need in the face of hardship, life changes, discrimination and destruction. We all know the intensity of youth, the adaptations we must make to the multitude of changes within…
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Arizona, Blog Awards Ireland 2018, Dispatch from the Diaspora, Ireland, Irish American Connection, Irish American relations, Irish Cultural Center, Irish culture, Irish Diaspora, Libraries, Mary McAleese, McClelland Library, Memoir, Phoenix Landmarks, Phoenix Sister Cities, Seamus Heaney
Etched in Stone: An Irish Oasis in the Desert
*A version of this blog post originally appeared in The Irish Times on October 1, 2018 With family and friends just a mouse-click away, we might be forgiven for believing we can feel at home wherever we are in the world. Migration seems less complex and consequential given the abundance of opportunities for virtual connections to home, but “the ache of the uprooted plant,” persists, reminding us that sometimes there is no substitute for a real social network in a physical space. For the Irish Diaspora or for anyone seeking to connect or reaffirm a connection with Ireland, an unlikely opportunity exists in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun, best known…
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BC Action, Breast Cancer Advocacy, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Pinkwashing, Susan G Komen Foundation
Please Don’t Pink for this Warrior – I’m Talking to You Ford Motor Company.
About a month to go before October disappears and all signs of breast cancer awareness disappear from grocery store shelves and perfume counters, from America all the way to Ireland where they are painting it pink as well. In their place, will be the autumnal hues of Thanksgiving, and some of us will forget to be aware of breast cancer, until the same time next year. It’s been eight years since since a doctor diagnosed me with invasive breast cancer and told me I was simply one of the eight women who will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. It’s been eight years since I started paying attention to…
