I'd like to share another picture with you at this time:
 I was ten years old--and had just celebrated my birthday thirteen days before. Back in my day, kids (at least, those growing up in a middle-class environment) were often sheltered from some of the harsher realities of life.
For that reason, I didn't realize until, several years after that, how close this photo came to not being taken.
I knew about my dad's heart surgery that took place that fall and how he had to return to the hospital because he had an infection--and I knew on the day this picture was taken that he was finally home for good, and I was very happy about this.
What I didn't know was how close he'd come to dying. The complications that he'd experienced were the same ones that took the life of columnist, Lewis Grizzard, many years later.
Something else I didn't realize was how close I'd come to not turning ten years old.
You see, the year was 1962--the year of The Cuban Missile Crisis when "the button" came so close to being pushed...
 There are a lot of opportunities to push buttons in life, and not all of them result in mushroom clouds.
My goddaughter, Michelle, is an Avon Lady, and, although she conducts a significant amount of her business over the Internet to several areas of the country, she also acts like the traditional Avon Lady at times and rings doorbells. "Ding-Dong! Avon Calling!" So, you might say that she pushes buttons and, overall, gets great results--and, one more thing, when she gets great results, so does Invisible Youth Network, because a minimum of 5% of her profits go to us. Keep her in mind if you don't have an Avon Lady, as she can be your Avon Lady no matter which part of the country you call home.
There are fascinating places along the lines of Roadside America where you can push countless buttons that will result in trains and other miniatures becoming animated.
And there are a number of other buttons that will yield positive and peaceful results when pushed.
The button at the top of this page will enable you to donate to Invisible Youth Network--a wonderful organization of which I'm proud and happy to be a part!
Go here for more details about donating.
Read our mission statement:
Invisible
Youth is an expansive online network that provides resources and
support for homeless, at risk youth and related organizations.
We do this, every day, in cities across America. We carry out our
mission through our partner organizations and volunteers who go to the
streets in order to find, stabilize and otherwise help homeless and at
risk youth improve their lives.
Our focus goes beyond street outreach and extends to deterrence,
research, resource, seminars, training and workshops that we provide to
the communities and via the Internet. But all facets of our mission are
guided by that our volunteers shall tell kids that they care about them
and then, at every point, prove it.
Although our slogan is "Advocating for America's Youth," our endeavors
are towards all homeless and at risk children no matter their
geographical location, this being done by getting the word out about
various other organizations who have programs in different parts of the
world that help to give vision, visibility, and voice to their local
youth.
And you'll quickly come to realize why the button at the top of this page is such a very special button!
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