Just Me

  Today is my last day as a 48-year-old. Not very noteworthy, but I gotta say, it has been an awesome day!   I have been busy with the freelance writing, interviewing people for articles all day. Yes, I started this morning, and I’m still at it after 11PM! I have interviewed people through email, Facebook Messenger, and on Twitter DMs! I allow the interviewee to choose which method they prefer to be interviewed so we just went with it from there!   I also FINALLY activated my new gym membership. Yay! I am excited about this gym membership and look forward to hitting the gym often! So happy to finally find an affordable gym membership! And they gave me an early birthday present: A free water bottle!   Speaking of early birthday wishes: Some of my friends on Facebook have started to wish me a happy early birthday! That is really nice.   I also created an account on TikTok. I can hear my youngest sister exclaim, “FINALLY!” Ha. She has been bugging me to join TikTok for a

I am currently reviewing a memoir for Reader Views. In one part of the book, the author talks about her run-ins with celebrities after she started her business -- and how she didn't recognize these celebrities. I could only chuckle, as I could relate. Ah, yes. The celebrity sighting without realizing it is a celebrity sighting. I have been there, many times! Then I started to remember my own experiences. Let's see, where to begin?? Well, those who are in the know are  aware I am a burn survivor. The third degree burns on my body are the result of a car accident. I was 20 months old, unconscious, and trapped beneath a burning van. Firefighters saved my life that day -- and that is why I will always have deep respect for firefighters. I have had several doctors treat me for my burns as I grew up, but my first doctor was A. Richard Grossman at the Sherman Oaks Hospital (and the part of the hospital I was in was later named the Grossman Burn Center). This hospital is located in L.A

My newsfeed blew up today.   Apparently, a YouTuber who goes by the name Mr. Beast was boasting about how he helped 1000 deaf people hear for the very first time after giving all 1000 of those people hearing aids. There was not much information shared about these people who are deaf; nothing about how long they had been deaf, how profound their hearing loss was or if they had ever tried wearing hearing aids before. All that was said about them is that all of them were deaf.   I was skeptical when I first came across the news.  I read the article and, later on, I watched the video. While it was nice to know that those hearing aids helped those individuals who are deaf, I was skeptical about whether or not they understood the sounds the hearing aid helped them to "hear."   Then I ended up taking a ride down memory lane.   When I had first received my own hearing aid, shortly I had lost my hearing when I was 13, I didn’t miraculously hear everything again right a