Important Information

Especially for my Texas friends although everyone is welcome. If you qualify on any of these needs, please, consider going. You may also want to check to see if a similar event is happening in your border state. Thanks for reading and considering.

Volunteers neededCenter for Human Rights and Constitutional Law is leading the effort to reunite families, and has been granted 2 days to interview 1000 children being held at Casa Padre facility in Brownsville, Texas, July 12-13.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED on massive scale - please forward to folks you know who are:
- lawyers
- translators/interpreters
- medical and mental health professionals

“From Law Professor Wendi Warren Binford, leading an effort to reunite children separated from their parents when they sought asylum with their families.

The team is being led by Peter Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

“We are being given access to the children at Casa Padre in Brownsville, Texas, on July 12-13 and need massive help. Approximately 1,000 children are being held there and we have the right to interview every single one of them under Flores, but we will only have two days and 9-12 hours per day to do so. Every interview takes approximately one hour, which means that we will need approximately sixty attorneys, plus interpreters. We need some interpreters to speak indigenous Central American languages as well as Spanish and other languages around the world (last week our team was looking for a Punjabi speaker while interviewing a child at one of the Border Patrol stations). We also are seeking volunteer pediatric medical and therapeutic professionals who can volunteer to provide support onsite both days.

Almost no private citizens are allowed to meet with these children, but a limited number of attorneys can under Flores and we need more volunteer attorneys on our team in light of the current crisis. If you go to Brownsville (or one of the the other sites where children are being held), you can document who and where these children are, who their parents are, and as much as the children can recall of where and when they were separated from their parents so that we can provide that information to the court and seek their prompt reunification with their families.

There is no travel funding available and all work done is on a volunteer basis. If you cannot help with the visit at Casa Padre on July 12-13, we also will probably need volunteers for visits to the ORR/Southwest Key facilities once those dates are set.

If you are willing and able to volunteer, please contact me at wbinford@willamette.edu and I will help you with paperwork to get your background check started and the introductions you need to possibly be added to the Flores team.”

It's Allergy Season

So ~ yesterday Dean and I have a conversation about ingesting pine pollen (which is all over everything so I make sure to rinse the mint, etc). This morning he sends me an article on pine pollen. I comment that he finds the most interesting articles and if this one tells me pine pollen will lower my cholesterol, I will have a fit. 

Guess what??? 

It. Does. !!!! 

And is good for raising testosterone levels in men and has some anti-aging properties. OMG And the nice man writing the article says that you don’t have to buy the products, you may want to forage for your own pine pollen. Forage???? All I have to do is wipe the deck tables. LOL Hey, I thought is was genetics keeping me looking so young. Maybe it’s living with pine pollen. So funny. 

Family Wedding

(Photo by Greg Badger, professional photographer)

Here we are, the Mix side of the Mix/McKay clan. We are all together so very seldom that I was excited to have a formal picture made with all of us including our newest member, the bride herself, Samantha! 

Dean and Susan, Trinity and Akira, Joshua and Sam, Michelle and Marc, Meredith and David.

Dean and I of course are the grandparents of the groom. Trinity and Akira are his siblings ~ and yes, Trinity is in a tux because she was one of her brother's attendants. Michelle and Marc, the parents of the groom. Meredith and David, the aunt and uncle of the groom.

This shall remain a favorite of mine for a long time to come.

The Wall Street Journal

It's fire season again and even the Wall Street Journal is reporting on a major fire in Colorado. Son-in-law David is piloting the Chinook with the bucket underneath.

And that's why you are seeing this picture. David made the Wall Street Journal!!

While I have your attention. If you are in a wild fire area, please:

1) evacuate if you are asked to

2) do not get in the way of those fighting the fires. They are trying to protect you and your property

3) if you fly drones for fun, keep them out of the skies around working helicopters!

Many thanks to all those in the air and on the ground fighting fires this season!

A Wedding Surprise

Joshua and Sam were getting married. It was a lovely ceremony and all was going smoothly when suddenly Amanda, the officiant, turned to Joshua and asked:

Joshua, will you hurt and anger Sam?

and Joshua replied,

I will.

You could feel the tension on the hill. What? No, wait, that's not what is supposed to be said. 

And then she asked,

Is that your intention?

and Joshua replied, 

No. 

Oh - phew. You could feel us all relax as we realized where this was going. Back and forth between the two of them, the questions were asked, the answers were given, reminding us all that marriage is not some blissful, dreamlike state of existence, but rather the hard, caring work of living together and sharing life with all its complexities. 

I have attended a Lot of weddings in my life as bride, mother, and wife of a pastor for 36 1/2 years. I do believe this one was the most "real" of any of them. Yes, we say "for better or worse" but I am not sure the couple ever really understands what "worse" means. Somehow, facing these very real questions about what their real life will be like no matter what their intentions, seems to me a very good way to start a marriage.

May they be generously blessed on this rocky, frustrating, delightful, exciting, loving, intentional journey called marriage!