Apple Far from the Tree

May God bless my daughter Lauren; she is a fabulous seven year old child and I love her more than anything in the world as I do my wife and son. They (whoever they are??) say the apple does not fall far the tree and they (?) are right because my daughter has the same eating habits I had when I was a child. Also her reactions to certain foods are identical to mine now and when I was her age, it really is uncanny. She will eat a hamburger but it must not have anything on it which means plain.

I was the same way when I was a kid and actually ate meat this drove my Dad crazy. He hated to go to McDonald's with me because I made everyone wait; McDonald's doesn't have a ready to go plain hamburger (at least I was getting a fresh hamburger!!). In fact I think McDonald's introduced the special parking place off to the side of the drive-in just for me. I could always see the pain in my father's face when I would order my plain hamburger but to his credit he put up with me. I think he always wondered where I actually did come from!!

Now; fast forward 30 years and I have a daughter who does the same thing. We order her a plain hamburger and when we get home we open up the plain hamburger only to find it has mustard on it. My wife tries to scrape all the mustard off and hide it with ketchup (my daughter will eat ketchup but nothing else can go on the hamburger) but invariably my daughter finds a snippet of mustard and will stop eating the hamburger.

What am I supposed to do because I did this when I was her age. It would certainly be hypocritical of me to force her to eat the hamburger but on the other hand she should eat what is put in front of her. This presents a strange moral dilemma to me and that old adage of what goes around comes around certainly applies. I did not yell at her actually I was chuckling because I remembered those times my Mom and Dad put up with me in the same situation. I talked with my daughter and told her to eat what she can but she will not get anything else if she doesn't finish her hamburger. She understood but it didn't motivate her enought to finish the hamburger. She ate what she could and called it a night.

My eating habits evolved or as some say devolved over my lifetime. I am a very picky eater which has caused me to become a vegetarian for the past 15 years. There are so many things I don't eat and this is really not for political reasons it is mostly for health reasons but it started out because I was so picky and evolved into some type of psycho eating. This is one of the ironies I have in my life and also makes it so difficult for some people to believe I couldn't stop my gambling by myself. I have this very strong willed self discipline when it comes to food and exercise but I let the gambling take over my life. I know it is very hard to understand but I never really took the time to get the help necessary and truly look into myself; left unchecked self-denial is a very powerful negative attribute. Now I am taking the steps necessary to take back my life and eliminate gambling and my character defects by truly examining myself.

As you can see I am very compulsive person in most aspects of my life which is another reason gambling took over my life. I am seeking some type of balance which leads to a purpose filled life. I am finding this purpose and realizing the things which really do matter such as my family. No more taking them for granted or for that matter taking anyone or anything for granted. My life is filled with blessings and I am finally discovering these blessings.

I would be remiss not to send out a GET WELL to my grandmother. The woman is 83 years old and appears indestructible. She was walking home from the grocery story the other day only to (this is where is gets muddy) fall or pass-out or get hit by a car or all of the above. She remembers walking and then waking up. Someone who was driving by allegedly found her on the side of the road who then contacted the next door neighbor who contacted the paramedics.

My grandmother was in the process of selling her house of 48 years to move in with my mom. My grandmother will have the distinct pleasure of going from her hospital bed (God willing) to her new home at my mother's house. She didn't even get a chance to say good bye to the house she had lived in for so many years. She said it doesn't bother her and I believe her because a house is just four walls and a roof a home is made with your character. Her home is defined solely by her and she will be at home with my mom.

My mom sent pictures of my grandmother from her hospital bed and it sure looks like she got hit by something but there were no witnesses and no one has come forward to take responsibility. Maybe my grandmother did fall and she didn't get hit by the car who found her on the side of the road because I would hate to think someone wouldn't come forward if it was an accident. Grandma (GG) GET WELL SOON!!! We love you very much!!