...when, there is no Arizona...

(from Facebook 4/4/2012)

"...didn't think I would ever love a song about someone lying...but "There is no Arizona" is very special to me...this song was popular the spring Jordan was on life support...in fact the first time I heard it was a couple days after Jordan was hurt...I remembered thinking that my soul was as dry and barren as the song was depicting...someone I loved, trusted, thought I knew... had just been accused of beating my kid almost to the point of death...and we were realizing there was no freakin Arizona...these days were are so glad to have overcome..."

‎"...one of the things we do not do often enough or completely enough in our culture, is mourn or grieve...instead we shove it down, act tough, and defy our emotions to betray us...as though there is any strength in denial...in being stoic...putting on a brave face is ok for a while, but acting like it never happened is insane...let's not do that each other...let's not act like it is weak to cry, hurt and mourn...because there is strength in facing life as it actually happened..."

Songs sometime have the ability to transport us to a different time and place. This one takes me back to the week of May 10, 2000.

"...her heart sinks lower in her chest..." 
...and I am transported back to a time when my son was being kept alive by machines.


You don't know who you are, or what you are capable of, until something this horrendous happens to one of your children, and you can do nothing. 

If you want to no why shelters, counselors, social workers and self-help groups drill about things about safety, getting away from abusive men, and making better decisions...its because they know that when we make decisions when we are damaged, someone is apt to get hurt...

The Bible even speaks to this, in Proverbs, 22nd chapter...

"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: lest you learn his ways and get a snare unto your soul"

And rest assured there is a snare in not getting away from a violent man...he can hurt you, kill you, damage your children, so bend and twist you that you are no longer the vibrant, capable person you once were...and heaven forbid you keep going back to him...or worse find an even more abusive man to replace him with. It is called the cycle of abuse for a reason; because once it is set into motion it can be nearly impossible to untangle from...and even if you do survive what is left of you is so mangled that you barely recognize what is left. 

Why did I write "The House that Silence Bought"? 
...to gain attention? 
...to blame my problems on others? 
...to shame my family? 
Hell, NO. 

I wrote it because it is important to break the cycle of abuse before it takes a toll on your life that is nearly priceless.
....my son is permanently disabled...and not just because some maniac crushed his skull at age 7 months...but also because of what abusive relationships had already wreaked on my emotions and confidence...and also because my family of origin was in such denial they couldn't be bothered with much else other than judgement and condemnation...it is years later, and they still don't fully grasp what all contributed to Jordan being disabled. 
Freak of freakin nature, people who have always called themselves family, are social with the children's father; who was the abusive man I had left just weeks before running into the man who almost killed my kid. 

Like I said, it is called a cycle, for a very good reason. 

It would be one thing if children's father had ever acknowledged his abuse, and I had processed his remorse and chosen to forgiven him. But to this day he claims he was never abusive and that I am crazy. He is a lovely human being. Of course I say "lovely" sometimes, when I want to cuss. 

"‎...so take the time, those of you that have been abused to deal squarely with what actually happened...cry, shout, scream into a pillow...cry some more...feel each of your feelings fully...fear, anguish, hopelessness, anger, resentment, abandonment, rejection...whatever it is...feel it...mourn...grieve the loss of all the lies that had to be shoved down your throat in order to accept the situation...and get help...from a counselor, from God, from church...from friends...and if you are fortunate to have a a loving, emotionally healthy family, from them as well...get help...break the cycle...don't become a statistic or a cautionary tale..."


In physically abusive situations there are very few choice outcomes...death, injury, disability, annihilation and assimilation of a person's self-esteem, confidence and autonomy...or becoming a cautionary tale...case in point. 

If you need immediate assistance, dial 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

...greater treasures than Mega Millions...

Mega Millions was recently over 1/2 a billion dollars...
(and at the same time Powerball was over 60 million)

...but get this, a few months ago Jordan learned how to give kisses...(before it was a very hard concept for him because of partial blindness and coordination)

...so now I get kisses everyday...he says 

"you give me a kiss and I'll give you a kiss" and he does...and so how very rich am I ???

(posted earlier...)

So sometimes I get grief about posting a lot about the novel "The House that Silence Bought", about my kids, and specifically about my son Jordan. And whatever. 

Jordan and overcoming abuse was the inspiration for the novel...some of you know that, some not. Please read the novel, we would appreciate it. I used to think that the book would be just a forum for Jordan later in his life; mainly because he has no idea he is disabled. But these days I fear he make make it to later in life. He is nearly 15; but behaves like a 5 year old. That is hard for a parent to face. But what is harder to face is that he is not growing very much. There may be many reasons for this; for instance he is on a lot of very damaging medications. These drugs not only potentially damage his liver, mess up his sleep patterns, but also when conbined seemed to be affecting his growth. So of course prayers and welcome. 

I used to wake up nights wondering what would happen to him after I died. But lately, I am scared for a different reason. I mean I do not know how  much longer I will have him. Reality says, though, that none of know how long we will have anyone that we love. 

So if I brag on my kids...especially Jordan...uhm, get over it maybe...part of it is normal mom stuff...part of it is part of framing his life...and those of us who love him, need that. 

We all spend a portion of our time here on Facebook trying to sound educated, intellectually stimulating and politically attuned...again, whatever...lol...because I for one think life is incredibly short and blessed...and what might make the world a better place is appreciating what we have, while we have it. So when you run out of clever posts, just take a few minutes and brag on your kids, your spouse, your friends...the people you love.

(Jordan ~ the  inspiration for the novel "The House that Silence Bought")

If you need immediate assistance, dial 911. 

The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). 

Tallulah Bankhead/highly functioning, dysfunction

Order on Amazon!!!


Barnes and Noble!!!

Parable Christian Bookstores
Barbara's Bookstore!!!

Portland / Local Author
Tate Publishing

(Also being marketed in Internationally in countries like Japan, Sweden, Finland, Germany...!!!)

A portion of the proceeds from novel help support local women's shelters

****************************************************************************

Being non well-behaved...and other family connections...measures of empowerment...

"I have always loved the quote about well-behaved women rarely going down in history; and Miss Tallulah Bankhead was proof of that. I have been a fan since I realized she was of the same family that the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile, Alabama was named for; because I grew up in Mobile. But surprise, surprise I found out just today from our family historian that I am actually a distant cousin (4th cousin, once removed) of Miss Tallulah...small world. Elizabeth Adeline Bankhead was my great, great, great grandmother...freakin a!" 

I can truly relate to not being well-behaved...just thought it was me! lol.
Just finished my first novel...called "The House that Silence Bought"...now available on Amazon.(...guess the well-behaved have their own clubs!!!)

So...not that there is significance in it...but I didn't know...and I loved Tallulah for years without knowing...and I am not saying that I am considered non well-behaved because of being related...but at least now I fit in somewhere: in the non well-behaved women's club!!!

So being outspoken and seen as outrageous is not the hideous thing I once thought. I mean I speak out against domestic violence...that's not exactly shocking behavior...but because I am very vocal about my stand, it still puts me in the brazen category...and if that's the way it has to be, so be it!!!

But here is an aspect that might need to be explored...how might I have thought differently had I known this connection as a kid? Would I have looked at the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile, Alabama a little differently and with pride? Would I have seen a little less wrong with me being the way that I am if I could relate it in terms of her being gifted, outrageous and family??? I am thinking as a kid I might have. Kids search to figure out who they are. I mean you cannot ride on the coattails of someone's else life...but it also is what it is. Like when they get on Ancestry.com and say "my so and so lived next door to the Wright Brothers"...I mean connections are part of who we are and how we see ourselves. Kids brag about how their relatives came over on the Mayflower...or how many generations they can trace back...freakin a, I would have liked to have known that I had family, even distantly, that was exceedingly interesting, accomplished and outrageous. Small world. In reality it would have been odd for our paths to have ever crossed, I was born in the 1960's she died in the 1960's...but people have connected over less, that is for certain. 

My self-esteem could have still been tragically low even if I had learned this growing up...but it sure would have added spice to family gatherings...lol.

So what does any of this have to do with abuse, recovery and rebuilding issues? Maybe nothing...maybe a little. I do in fact, as I am writing feel differently about my connections in life for knowing this. I am prouder now to be as outspoken as I am about passionate things. 

So where ever you ended up Miss Tallulah, I tip my baseball cap in your general direction and say "hey"...because we non well-behaved women should stick together!!! lol

She had her passions, good bad or otherwise...and I have mine...oh that I could be half as noted and notorious for mine as she was for hers!!! Yesterday I didn't know. Today I do. 

Source: http://home.hiwaay.net/~oliver/tbintro.htm 
(but had I known she was family sooner <4th cousins>, I would have been my own source...lol)

There wasn't therapy like there is today back then. I say that because many of Miss Tallulah's extreme behaviors might have been softened or relaxed by counseling. It was said that she used to joke about having been raped when she was a kid. But what if it hadn't been a joke? What if it had happened and she simply had no one to whom she could confide? It might have gone a long way in explaining her overt sexual and inappropriate behaviors. I don't suggest this to be unkind. In reality if she had been molested and never got help for it, then she did well to be as highly functioning as she was. I bring it up to say anyone can be abused...even the famous, the not yet famous, the educated, the intellectual and the wealthy. she was a family member that I never met; but sure would have like to.


***************************************************************************
Tallulah Bankhead was born in Alabama, daughter of Congressman William Bankhead (later Speaker of the House, 1936-40). Her mother died of complications from childbirth several weeks later, and she was raised in part by her aunts and grandparents. She was educated in New York City, Staunton, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Her exhibitionist personality was apparent from an early age.

Tallulah Bankhead's first part in a film was in 1917 and her first stage role in 1918. After a few other minor roles in film and on stage, she went to England in 1923, where she became famous for her flamboyant personality and deep voice, and was popular in the six plays in which she appeared.

Tallulah Bankhead returned to the United States in 1931 with a Paramount Pictures contract, and then was off to New York in 1933, where she was diagnosed and treated surgically for advanced gonorrhea. Tallulah Bankhead then returned to the New York stage in Dark Victory, Rain, Something Gay and Reflected Glory. Her 1937 film, Antony and Cleopatra, was considered a definite flop.

In 1939, she received awards for her work in The Little Foxes by Lillian Helman, and in 1942 she won awards for her performance in Skin of Our Teeth. Her film performance in Hitchcock'sLifeboat in 1944 won yet more awards; in 1948 she starred in Otto Preminger's A Royal Scandaland in 1948 she starred on stage in Private Lives by Noel Coward.

Tallulah Bankhead retired from the stage in 1950, beginning a radio show with many celebrity guests. In 1952 she hosted for a television show and published her autobiography. She appeared on Steve Allen and Lucille Ball's television shows and starred in a nightclub act in Las Vegas.

Several attempts at reviving her stage career either failed or had modest success. Her last acting performance was on the television series "Batman" in 1967.

Tallulah Bankhead married actor John Emery in 1937 and they divorced in 1941. She had no children. After her 1942 success, she bought a home in rural New York where she entertained frequently. Estelle Winwood and Patsy Kelly were among the guests who lived with her there. Her name was linked during her lifetime with many people -- men and women -- and she carefully nurtured her wild reputation.

Tallulah Bankhead was active in politics, supporting Democratic and liberal causes and campaigning for Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was also a fan of the New York Giants.

(http://womenshistory.about.com/od/actresses/p/tallulah.htm)
*****************************************************************************
If you need immediate assistance, dial 911. 

The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

Born to unusual, but nice, parents, Michelle/Shelby grew up rather uneventfully, living mainly in the deep south (Alabama). Later she would learn that it was her parents' love for her that not only brought them together, but had kept them together. And so life was ideal in many respects and distressing in others. Eventually though the family did scatter like leaves on an autumn morning. Fortunately she was able to extract a sincere appreciation for love, beauty, and an abiding respect for those who at least try.

The single greatest influence in her life was the remarkable time spent with her paternal grandmother;  it was under this influence that she thrived. Her grandmother introduced her to not only fine Literature, but also the Arts and the Opera. And it was beloved grandmother who told her that if she wanted to be a great writer she must first learn to be an avid reader.

Early adult life would be peppered with indecision, failings, and the haunting of things not learned in childhood. But as is the case with most sincere artist, out of the angst of life came a great capacity for creativity.

Shelby considers her writing a gift...a joy, a tremendous responsibility, and something that helps to define her life.

Ms. Anderson is a graduate of Oregon State University; and is also currently working on a master's degree.

She lives in very picturesque Central Oregon with her two children. 

Michelle aka Shelby Anderson's Facebook Page