Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2019)
A6 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2019 Making a good choice Dear Annie: I had my 14th The best day of my life came birthday two weeks before I gave more than 45 years later when I birth to my son. The hardest thing received a phone call, and it was I have ever done was to sign the my son! paper for him to be adopted. The Many times a birth mother entire time I was preg- really has no choice or is DEAR nant, I tried to think of unable, for whatever rea- ANNIE son, to raise a child, and if any way I would be able a loving family is unable to keep and raise my son. to have a child of their At 14, I completed my own but is able to give first semester in ninth that baby a loving home, grade but had to drop out it is a truly great thing. my second semester. I cried and prayed each I still regret that I was night for a way to keep ANNIE LANE unable to be the mother Creators my son, to be able to take my son needed, and I Syndicate Inc. care of him. For years, I am grateful that he had a would look into the faces great life with his adop- of boys and then men to see if I tive parents who loved him, and recognized my son. I silently cel- that he does not hate me for my ebrated each birthday, and prayed choices. — A Loving and Thank- he was OK and in a loving home. ful Mother Dear Birth Mother: Your let- I didn’t actively try to find my son as I didn’t feel I had any right to ter is extremely touching. You look for him, to interrupt his life, sound like a beautiful person and or to have any claim to be a part mother. May your letter help peo- of his life. I never gave up hope ple who are wondering if their and never gave up praying that he birth mothers wanted them. Dear Annie: We know that was happy and healthy and that he would somehow know from schools and food manufactur- all the “talks” and “love” that we ers are cognizant of nut (or pea- shared while I was carrying him nut) allergies, and we all can have that he would somehow feel that empathy for those suffering from love and not feel abandoned or these allergies and the limita- tions it puts on their families and unwanted. themselves, but we have a con- dition in our family and it is not being addressed in public places — obesity. My granddaughter has Prad- er-Willi syndrome and has an insatiable appetite, which can cause obesity and early death. She is hungry 24/7 and will never, ever feel full even after eating. When visiting a school I am appalled with the overabundance of candy and treats everywhere. Gingerbread houses at Christ- mas decorated with marshmal- lows and candy — a treat for children but a torment for my granddaughter. I would love it if schools could take food out of classrooms and back in the cafeteria. It would help my granddaughter, but it would be a blessing for all children to place food as an option only in certain places rather than in the class- room. — Empathetic Grandma Dear Empathetic Grandma: I certainly empathize with your complaint and think that you raise a valid point. However, food has long been at the center of many traditions in our society. Rather than trying to do away with that altogether, we might try using more healthful foods. TOMORROW’S HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc. ARIES (March 21-April 19). What gives the others a right to command your time? It’s not a “what;” it’s a “who, and the “who” is you. Your time is yours and, arguably, among the most precious things you own. You’ll deliberate before giving it away. arrived. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Where you want to be is not so different from where you stand, but great courage is still needed to rise up and make the few key changes necessary to get there. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You made your choice. Or did you? It felt like a semiautomatic response to your environment motivated by basic human needs like survival, identity and belonging. Can you really be credited or blamed for that? GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Maybe it’s not fair that people expect more of you than they do of others, but it’s only because you keep doing such a fantastic job, raising that bar to new levels. CANCER (June 22-July 22). Happy relationships seem to come so easily to some. Then again, who really knows? Everyone has a public and private face. The only way to really find out what’s going on in the inside of a relationship is to tend to your own. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Clutter isn’t just a little mess to be cleaned up whenever; it’s a represen- tation of disorder and wonky alignment. Cleaning it up, even a little, will cause seemingly unrelated and magical good fortune. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’re starting to think of things in their broader context. You’re seeing how they relate and affect their environ- ment, what they are connected to and what they cannot do without. New insights come from this big-picture thinking. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Ask a scientist — the act of observing changes what’s observed. You can’t interact without influencing the situation. But with a quiet, neutral approach, you might glimpse the version that was there before you FRANK AND ERNEST BLONDIE THATABABY SALLY FORTH PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN B.C. LOLA DILBERT SIX CHIX BIZARRO MUTTS NON SEQUITUR BABY BLUES WIZARD OF ID ZITS ROSE IS ROSE SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). One way to stop worrying is to write things down. Make lists. Make a list of things you can control about the situation and, just to remind yourself, another list of things you can’t. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Like an elevator in a high rise, you have many buttons to push. And people who push a lot of buttons are going to have a very slow ride to where they need to go. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Because you’re so creative, you can make sense of the illogical, find links between seemingly unrelated things and weave together disparate ideas — all skills that will serve you well over the next three days. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’re not always inclined toward the spiritual advice to meditate, pray or seek enlightenment. There are practical ways to get to the same place. Anything that helps you grow as a person also expands your spirit. TOMORROW’S BIRTHDAY (May 2). You’ll heal your pain, overcome fear and create a different sort of daily flow. All this helps you manage the things that used to hold you back. By July, you’ll feel so successful that you won’t crave any ex- terior trappings to prove it, and yet they’ll show up anyway. You’ll get family together for fun and memory-making. Cancer and Taurus adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 46, 6, 7, 38 and 44.
