Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. [27], No. [30], Ed. 1 Thursday, December 5, 2013 Page: 4 of 12
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Page 4 ★ Crowley Star ★ Thursday December 5, 2013
www.crowleystar.net
HEALTH MINUTE
COMMENTARY
Its not too late
to get flu shot
By BRENT ANNEAR
Texas Medicine
If you haven’t received
your flu vaccination yet, it’s
not too late.
Texas physicians say
getting vaccinated against
the flu is the best way to
protect yourself and your
family from flu during the
holiday season and winter
months.
Flu, or influenza, is a
highly contagious respira-
tory virus that is much
more severe than a com-
mon cold. Even healthy
people can get very sick
from the flu and spread it
to others. Every year about
200,000 people in the na-
tion are hospitalized from
flu-related illness.
“Vaccines are one of the
safest and most reliable
ways to guard yourself and
others from infection,” said
Dr. John T. Carlo, chair of
Texas Medical Association’s
Council on Science and
Public Health. “When more
people get vaccinated, we’re
all better protected.”
An annual flu vaccina-
tion is recommended for
anyone six months of age
and older. On average, one
out of five Texans gets in-
fluenza each year. Influenza
can be especially harmful to
older people, young chil-
dren, pregnant women and
people with chronic medi-
cal conditions.
“Some people cannot
get vaccinated because of
certain medical conditions,
which make them more
vulnerable to catching the
flu,” Carlo said. “So it’s
important for those around
them to be vaccinated.”
National Influenza Vac-
cination Week is Dec. 8-14.
It’s the perfect time to get
a flu vaccination to avoid
spreading the disease to
family and friends during
the holidays.
This year, several differ-
ent types of influenza vac-
cines are available, includ-
ing a high-dose vaccine for
senior citizens and non-in-
jection, nasal spray vaccine
for healthy people ages 2
through 49 years who are
not pregnant. Talk to your
doctor about which vaccine
is right for you.
Once you get vacci-
nated, your body works to
build immunity, a process
that can take up to two
weeks. Sometimes you
might have a mild reaction
to the vaccination, such as
a sore arm or achy feeling
for a day or two after your
vaccination. But whatever
discomfort you may feel is
minimal compared to the
severity of the actual virus.
Brent Annear is the me-
dia relations manager for
the Texas Medical Associa-
tion. Contact him at Brent.
Annear@texmed.org.
Crowley-jkStar
Volume 27, Number 30
12 Pages in 1 Section
(ISSN-1092-4965)
Periodicals Postage Paid at
Fort Worth, Texas 76161 and
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‘The greatest of these is love’
My parents’ home in New
York’s Hudson Valley was
the place our large, rambunc-
tious, extended family met to
celebrate and commiserate.
It was home base for
many aunts, uncles and
cousins who lived and trav-
eled to the far corners of the
earth. We always managed
to find our way back home to
my mom and dad, Aunt Jo
and Uncle Bill.
Established in 1945, just
after daddy arrived home
from World War II, our home-
stead was the foundation of
our incomparable bond.
My mother died, unex-
pectedly, almost 39 years
ago. The first Christmas
without her, my older sister,
Peggy, and I, were left with
the monumental task of
preparing meals — and the
house — for our loved ones.
I was young, single, and
had a slight notion as to
where to start our dinner
preparations. I had always
been the one to assist mom
in the kitchen, but I was just
the sous chef while she ran
the show from start to finish.
She had been hosting our
Candy
McMichen
Consider This
family’s
Christ-
mases for
so long,
she made
it look
effort-
less and
always
seemed
to pull
every-
thing off
without
a hiccup despite her annual,
“I’ll never be ready!” protes-
tations. She loved Christmas
and wanted it to be special
for everyone.
As Peggy and I arrived
home, Daddy’s relief seemed
almost palpable. He was
happy to have us all together
and trusted us to know “what
mom would have done.”
Peggy and I delegated
all the housekeeping chores
to others as we sat at the
kitchen table to strategize
our meal plans.
The Christmas turkey
seemed the best place to start
and on down the list we went.
I was the family baker,
my sister the cook. A small
difference in some families,
but now, with a professional
pastry chef in ours, a rather
large distinction.
My mother’s recipes were
in her head, so I was left to
recall her specialties, best I
could, to put our shopping
list together.
“The devil is in the de-
tails,” proved to be true as
we struggled to get every-
thing “just right.”
By the time Christmas
dinner was on the table, we
were exhausted, physically
and emotionally. We missed
mom, cried and hugged, and
missed her some more.
We had a bittersweet
time that week and have
remembered our frustrations
and struggles through the
years.
Although I was happy to
be with my family, I was mis-
erable and glad to get back to
Fort Worth. Sadly, I certainly
wasn’t looking forward to the
next Christmas.
I shared my feelings with
my pastor when I returned
and he smiled, hugging me.
I did not understand how
my mother, singlehandedly,
provided Christmas for all of
us, year after year, and loved
doing so. She always had
the sweetest, most loving at-
titude. Why had she not been
as miserable as I was?
“Your mother’s joy,” my
pastor explained, “was in
knowing she was providing
a special time for all of you.
Her blessing was your hap-
piness.”
Her love for us tran-
scended any fatigue or
frustrations she might have
experienced along the way.
How could I have been so
blind?
My Christmases have
been different ever since and
now I have come to appreci-
ate my mother in a new way.
What a blessing she was and,
what I pray, I may be to my
family.
Thank you, mom, for
your selfless gift of love. Your
legacy lives on within our
newest generation.
Candy McMichen is the
special projects editor for
Star Group Media and may
be reached at candy.mcmi-
chen@thestargroup.com.
* Sorry, sir, there’s no smoking allowed ”
DEVOTIONAL
You want to kiss me under the what?
Well, ready or not,
Christmas and all that comes
with it is barreling down on
us like the comet ISON. It’s
the most fattening time of
the year, and what happens
under the mistletoe stays
under the mistletoe.
Mistletoe. Everybody
loves that evergreen. I will
have it all over my house in
hopes my wife will somehow
feel obligated to smooch on
me one more time.
I got to thinking about
that word today and what
a strange name for a plant
that is. Obviously some for-
eigner or somebody from the
Northeast would be behind
all of that. I had to look it up.
I thought it would be
spelled like I pronounce it,
“MISSILE TOE,” and the
origins of the word might be
from some ancient Chinese
fire cracker maker loosely
translated from a name that
actually means RocketFoot.
It turns out Mistletoe is actu-
ally stranger than that. Just
plain strange.
The word mistletoe is
Troy
Brewer
Fresh from
the Brewer
derived
from the
Anglo-
Saxon
words,
“mistel”
(dung)
and “tan”
(twig) -
misteltan
is the Old
, English
version
of mistle-
toe. It’s
thought that the plant is
named after bird droppings
on a branch. Mistletoe is a
word that actually means
“Pooptree.” I like Rocketfoot
a lot better.
Mistletoe is also a poison-
ous parasitic plant. So if I tell
my bride, “Look honey, we’re
standing under mistletoe,”
what I am actually saying
is, “Look Honey, nothing
screams romance like stand-
ing under the branch of a poi-
sonous, parasitic poop tree.”
Now if you think that
will stop me from corner-
ing Leanna in the kitchen,
you don’t know me. I don’t
care what that word actu-
ally means, I just like that
Leanna has to stop what
she’s doing and give me a
kiss for the sake of tradition.
I have spent nearly the
past two decades pastoring
a congregation, and I know
a lot of us Christians have
wasted a lot of time and
energy on bashing traditions.
That’s not me.
I know that a lot of the
so-called Christian holidays
we celebrate have pagan
roots in some way or anoth-
er, but actually everything
I am a part of is like that. I
have been guilty of driving a
Ford Taurus even though a
long time ago, people some-
where else, used to worship
that constellation. It might
have manifested something
evil, but it was because of
the traffic on Interstate 35W,
not the origins of the name
Taurus.
My point is that I think it
is a mistake for any Christian
to get caught up in irrel-
evant battles that place us
in insignificant positions of
influence. I know for me, if
I have time to fight on those
frivolous fronts it’s because
I am not fighting what I
should be fighting.
Enjoy Christmas. Make
time for your family. Ap-
preciate the gifts that God
has given you. Make some
memories. Have a personal
revival. Don’t let the culture
or your religious view of
Jesus squeeze out the love
of Jesus from your sea-
son. And if the people you
run around with, or wor-
ship with, or make a stand
against worshipping with,
won’t let you have fun this
Christmas, then get away
from them!
I have to go now. I want
to see if I can corner Leanna
under the romantic branch
of a poisonous, parasitic
poop tree.
Troy Brewer is the senior
pastor at OpenDoor Church
in Burleson and can be
found at www.opendoorex-
perience.com.
The Crowley Star welcomes letters to
the editor for consideration for publica-
tion. Letters to the editor are offered
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expression of personal views on matters
of concern.
Residents are encouraged to use the
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with the newspaper's readers. Letters
are individual opinions and not those of
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Each letter must be original, limited
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writer and bear the address and phone
number of the writer. Only the writer's
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with the letter. The Crowley Star does
not withhold the writer's name for any
reason. Anonymous letters or letters
signed by an unidentifiable pseud-
onym will not be published. The phone
number and address are necessary for
verification of authenticity or clarifica-
tion of content. Letters which cannot be
verified will not be published.
The Crowley Star reserves the right
to edit all letters. Letters deemed libel-
ous, slanderous, unclear or otherwise
unacceptable will not be published.
Thank-you expressions singling out
individuals or organizations will not be
published. Poetry is unacceptable as a
letter to the editor.
During election campaigns, the
Crowley Star will accept letters to the
editor discussing issues or offering en-
dorsements. The deadline for election-
related letters is two weeks prior to
Election Day.
Address letters to: Editor, Crowley
Star, P.O. Box 909, Burleson, TX 76097-
0909. Letters may also be faxed to
817-295-5278, or e-mailed to publisher®
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letters must include the writer's com-
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Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. [27], No. [30], Ed. 1 Thursday, December 5, 2013, newspaper, December 5, 2013; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth809250/m1/4/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.