fun. I would highly recommend this center-they REALLY care for INFANTS! They make me SMILE!thanx

to purchase two heifers.These animals will help a family in need and in turn the community. We are proud of the care that our children show for their world and that they choose to take an active role in helping those in need.

acts of heroism in our community within the 2012 calendar year.

We need the communitys help in identifying and recognizing our local heroes. Your Real Hero nominee may be a friend or family member, a neighbor, a stranger or co-worker. The nominee can be a professionally-trained lifesaver or simply a Good Samaritan. There are several categories for nominations including: First Responders (Medical, Law Enforcement, Firefighter, Military, Dispatcher, EMT/Paramedic), Give Life, Community Partner and a special category this year for Super Storm Sandy.

Nomination forms can be obtained by sending an email to jane.Ward@redcross.org or calling 267-246-4305. The deadline for nominations is March 22, 2013.

UP is all of the above and much more. It is the feeling that whatever is happening has become too much: too much to do, too much to face, too much to feel. It is the feeling that no matter what I do I will fail. I cant possibly accomplish whatever I set out to do or what someone else has asked me to do. Giving UP is the feeling that life has put too many bumps in front of me and that it just isnt worth it anymore.

The feelings that go with giving UP are tough to face. They are feelings of failure, loss, anger, frustration, sadness and much more. It is the worst, not the best in wanting to give UP, to quit, to walk away, to not face the bumps, the lumps, the pain or failure.

Giving UP creates the feelings that often send people in the wrong direction: doing drugs, drinking too much alcohol, eating too much food, eating too much chocolate, watching too much TV, becoming a computer addict, a workaholic, etc. These are bad coping skills. The skills that lead to giving UP are not the skills that lead to a happier life. Giving UP leads to depression, sadness, loss, injury and unhappiness.

Switching gears to NOT giving UP means having to add the NOT. Moving forward to finding ways to making things happen. NOT giving UP is meaning one has to push harder at finding ways to make things work. If I choose NOT to give UP I need to be creative and look for ways to succeed. Sometimes it is brainstorming alone or with others to find new paths to travel. Sometimes it means having to give UP the things that have kept me from succeeding.

We often create a self-fulfilling prophecy where we set ourselves up to fail. We dont believe that we can do it so we find excuses, reasons & other people to blame rather than looking to find a way to face the challenges. Changing that to a self-fulfilling prophecy of gain is the other side of the coin. If I switch gears I can start looking for ways to make things work, to make things possible, to make things happen. That doesnt mean that I will always succeed or make things happen if I do it, but I do have a better chance of making it happen.

I am on my annual ski trip to Lake Tahoe where I ski with the Disabled Sports USA. I called the director, a friend for over 25 years, and tearfully told him that I was coming to Lake Tahoe but I could not ski because I had broken my ankle. In 51 years, I have never gone on a ski trip knowing that I couldn't ski. Every year, I look forward to my ski trip. I live to ski.

I have had a broken ankle since November, two weeks before having breast reduction surgery to help heal my back problems caused by the disease that has been with me for 27 years. My left breast developed a 2-inch hole, which took two months to heal. The ankle hasn't.

The disease that I have is called eosinophilia myalgia syndrome. My ex-husband, our son, and I were victims of the L-tryptophan poisoning in the late 80s where 20,000 people were affected. It is considered the first genetically modified disease similar in which the whole body was toxically poisoned. I was pregnant at the time and my son was born with the disease. The US government wiped our disease off the books in 1996 hoping to hide what occurred. It is the same as Agent Orange.

I left Pennsylvania for my ski trip with well wishes from all my patients who knew I was in excruciating pain and couldn't walk on my left foot. I told them this was an example of making lemonade out of lemons. I was going to go and face my sadness with lemonade.

Today, I am soooooooo happy I faced the challenges and traveled to Lake Tahoe. I am swimming, healing, doing computer work, writing this article, having meals with friends, going to a movie (which I haven't done in about 10 years), and celebrating my birthday. My disabled ski school friends have given me lots of hugs and hopes for next year.

It is so important to tackle the demons that keep us from functioning. I will be going back to my patients with wonderful stories of how I not only survived, but also thrived. NOT giving UP saved the ski trip!

NOT giving UP can lead to success. We need to take small steps to get to that better place. It means learning better coping skills, ways to turn the imagery to positive thoughts. Doing yoga, exercising, eating healthy and keeping the body healthy. It means finding ways to make ourselves feel better; not doing things that will harm us in the end. It means having to pull ourselves up when we feel down and depressed and reaching out to others to get help when we need it.

I know for myself it took about 10 years before I finally asked the doctor for a Handicap placard. It felt like being a failure. I would no longer be doing things like everyone else. Today I proudly put my Handicap placard up, ask for help and admit I dont want to do it alone. I want the support of others. I want help and becoming successful at getting to my goals with and without help.

10 thoughts for NOT giving UP

1. Take the negative thoughts, write them on a piece of paper, crumble it up and throw it as far as you can. 2. Use the Stop & Think tool. Stop & Think, decide if it is a good choice or a bad choice and then focus on what you can do to make it a good choice. 3. Write all the reasons you feel are reasonable to give UP. 4. Write all the reasons to NOT give UP. 5. Write a letter to someone you know cares about you. You can mail or not mail it. 6. Take a nice hot bath & think about what you can do in the situation you are in. 7. Do your yoga, and if you arent, sign up for a class. Use that time to recharge. 8. Make a really healthy meal, then clear away the dishes & write down something that would make the difficult situation feasible. 9. Do 15 minutes of exercise, or whatever you can do. 10. Affirmations: Look in the mirror & tell yourself 5 things you like about yourself.

Reprinted with permission from mobileWOMEN.org.

of others which means I need to be stronger than my other counter parts, the not disabled. I need to eat, sleep, work, pay bills, etc. just like everyone else, but it takes me a lot longer to accomplish those goals and I have to work harder. Similar to the old saying, that women had to work twice as hard, accomplish twice as much to be equal to any man. Being disabled is the sam

It is a strange way to think for many, but being disabled means I must be able to face challenges that others never face. I once said to a friend that I can spend 2-3 hours a day just doing things that need to be done for whatever I need to do: special drops in the eyes, massaging my neuropathy, eating special foods, preparing special foods, using a medical device, etc. Each time I am doing one of these extra things I know it is part of my day, but also taking away time I could be walking, reading a book, talking on the phone, emailing, etc. That means also that I have to get everything else done that people who are not disabled get done with fewer hours to do it.

How I face tomorrow affects how I think, feel and can make or break my day. If I have had a bad today, then I have to decide if I want to make tomorrow good or bad. I can create a self-fulfilling prophecy and make tomorrow-another bad day or I can choose to work harder to make tomorrow a good day.

I was working with a teen a few months ago and she was having a really rough time with her cheer leading coach. Her first impulse was to quit, to walk away from the pain she felt. I suggested to her to think about it further. If she quit she would have to live the rest of her life having to face that she quit with bad feelings. If she didnt quit, worked harder to do better, that even if she didnt succeed she would feel better about herself at the end when the season was over. She would leave the sport with the feeling of success rather than failure.

There are days I want to just throw in the towel and quit, but then I look in my imaginary mirror and ask myself, If you quit, then what? What will I do? What would quitting really look like? Then I usually start to think about what that really means. How would that affect my son, my dogs or even my patients? Would I really be willing to do that, to quit?

When I come to my senses I know I dont have the ability to quit which means that I then need to figure a way to take a small step in the right direction, whatever that right direction may be. It might be taking a few minutes to de-stress, to make myself a healthy salad, to play piano, to pet the dogs, etc. It means doing something to help face the next challenge and remind myself that there will always be challenges and that I am actually stronger than all of those other people out there that give up.

I remind myself I am not a quitter and that tomorrow might be better. If tomorrow isnt better, than I remind myself there are always more tomorrows in the horizon.

7 things to do to get to tomorrow

I remind myself I am not a quitter and that tomorrow might be better. If tomorrow isnt better, than I remind myself there are always more tomorrows in the horizon.

1. Take a deep breath, close your eyes and keep taking those deep breathes until you feel calmness returning. 2. Put a vase of fresh flowers on your kitchen table to remind yourself that beauty is a part of every day. 3. Spend 15 minutes meditating and/or petting an animal. 4. Call a family member or friend and spend 15 minutes talking with that person. Emails and texts are too impersonal. 5. Affirmations. Look in the mirror and tell yourself 5 things you like about yourself. If a negative thought comes into your head push it out. There are other times to beat on yourself, not here. 6. Make yourself something delicious & healthy to eat. 7. Look at your handicap placard and smile proudly at it. I am out in the world, not hiding and proving I am capable of interacting in the real world!

Reprinted with permission from mobileWOMEN.org.

this petite and energetic Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) is a force to be reckoned with in the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) community. Her dedication to the clients that Potential Inc. serves (from one year of age through adulthood), as well as her belief (and the companys mission) that everyone can learn helped launch Potential Inc.s licensed private school, The Springtime School, in 2010.

Perhaps one of the most delightful aspects of Kristine is her fun-loving nature, which is evident in her daily interactions with our younger clients and students. Her inquisitiveness and firm belief in a research-based approach to treatment even took her all the way to Washington state to attend Chicken Camp, which she happily will describe to anyone who inquires, What is that? when viewing her certificate and the chicken foot artwork hanging in our clinic.

Kristine most certainly celebrates the Bright Side of Life, and her work at Potential Inc. is living proof of that. Client success stories are the continuous inspiration for her hard work and dedication. One such story on our Website features a young client who went from only saying 10 words to having full conversations in fewer than 2 years and is now indistinguishable from his peers. His parents were eager to report back to Kristine about a successful trip to a hair salon recently  their child used to be afraid of this experience, and now likes having his hair cut! It is through gains like these that make her smile even brighter.

her buildings bulletin board with a monthly birthday wish for other residents celebrating their birthdays and puts out candy treats for the other residents in her building. Doing these things gives Szabo great pleasure, but because she lives on a fixed income, she often can't afford the cost of replenishing her card-making supplies.

Szabo's case manager, Bernadette O'Connor, submitted the wish for craft supplies on her behalf. Szabo has lived a life full of service to others, raising four children and working as an LPN until she was injured in a car accident and unable to continue working. Despite being wheelchair-bound, she still is able to help out one of her daughters who was recently paralyzed following spinal surgery, cooking for her and providing emotional support. She also helps out in another daughter's bakery during the holiday season, answering phones and taking orders. Her wish was granted on February 27th, 2013 when several representatives from Twilight Wish presented Szabo with a gift basket full of supplies and a gift card to A.C. Moore. Special thanks to A.C. Moore for donating the supplies and to a generous donor for the gift card.

Jen is a Philadelphia Firefighter, Red Cross Volunteer Disaster Team Leader, and also the founder of www.RedPawEmergencyReliefteam.org. Red Paw provides 24/7 emergency transport, shelter and veterinary care for animals involved in residential fires and other incidents. Jen and her volunteers work within a network of animal care related facilities, including veterinary care facilities, boarding facilities, kennels and training facilities, in conjunction with animal rescue groups and fosters in the Philadelphia and surrounding counties. All this and she's been to Haiti twice to volunteer!!!

Marion is a Critical Care Nurse, Researcher at HUP, Red Cross Volunteer Disaster Action Nurse, she is on call 24/7 to assist cardiac arrest care, and is the founder of www.sinkorswimphiladelphia.org. Sink or Swim Philadelphia, a 501c3, assists people in the Philadelphia area who are uninsured and underinsured with necessary medical expenses via Face book and web-donors. Connecting those who need help with those who care enough to give! She is still continuing her education for a Master's of Nursing and Public Health (how she fits it all in?).

What makes these girls hero's? They are Brave, Heroic, Courageous, Unselfish, Fearless, Determined, and Caring. Since they have been little they were always my perfect nieces and now that they are adults they are my hero. So this would be a great opportunity for me to let others know what I have known their whole life. All they ever ask for is help with their organization whether its volunteers or donations.

Thank you for taking the time to read their story and considering my Perfect Nieces.

Sincerely, Marion Siravo