"Retard, Tard, you're retarded, that's retarded..." you get the point

If you've ever called someone a RETARD, a TARD or otherwise used this word in a derogatory manner to imply someone is stupid, acts stupid, is a bad leader, is a bad teacher, is unpopular at school or not one of your "friends", is a bad anything please raise your hand. Wow, no one? Really? Because I hear it all the time, and it is probably my biggest pet peave. How about this? Let's pretend you have, oh I don't know..., a missing foot, and so someone has decided that people with missing feet must be invaluable enough to call other people a name associated with that, i.e. "gimp". So you go through your life and you hear other people when they want to express that someone is an idiot they call them a "gimp," throw it around left and right. Does this imply that because someone is a "gimp" that they are invaluable to the world and because they have used this word in a different context, to INSULT other people who in fact do not actually have a missing foot, that you are now so devalued that you have become a playground tease word, a teenager's catch-word, an adult's ultimate insult reserved for only the most stupid or ridiculous people or politicians (not always being lumped in the 'people' category). You see, that's how I hear the word RETARD. Do I think we should pick apart every word for political correctness? Nope. Do I know people mostly don't mean anything derogarory directly to mentally handicapped people? Yep. Do I know that when a family who has someone they love dearly with a mental handicap hears or sees that word used as an insult thrown at someone else whether in print, out loud, joking or being mean, it feels like a stab in the heart every time? That I definitely know.

My daughter and others with mental handicaps, yes mental retardation, are some of the best people on earth that I know. So guess what? Call me a RETARD. It's the highest compliment. But when you are throwing around words, think about them please.

I promise most of my posts will be funny, uplifting, hopefully inspiring, but some things have to be said.

I'm back, but it's not like when Fonzie jumped the shark

I woke up early and remembered my blog. Actually, God has brought my blog to my mind relentlessly over the past few days. See, without hurting anyone's feelings, blogs to me always seemed so narcissistic. But God, being much smarter than I, has shown me that some things just need to be said. He has shown me this through friends sharing blog posts on facebook, blog posts that have inspired me or challenged my way of thinking. Because special needs children, adults, families and communities that need to support them are so close to my heart, I am starting again. Maybe someone will read something and be inspired, be encouraged and be challenged in their thinking.

So I say it's not like when Fonzie jumped the shark, a desperate attempt to revive something that didn't need to be, had said all it had to say. I may not have good ratings yet, but it's far from done.