An Example Of A Hurt That Only Truth Can Heal (To At Least Some Extent)

"Notwithstanding the opportunity to reach for a better outcome, there was no need for Jonathan, or for us, his parents, to live in shame, and certainly no benefit in living with the weight of such a lie."

This is the exact opposite of how my father feels; and this is notwithstanding that I inherited his OCD/Anxiety, Depression, and ADD. I found out from one of his maternal cousins that his paternal grandfather committed suicide, not died of Black Lung. When I confronted Dad, he gave the excuse that I was too young to know the truth about Great-Granddad's death; and this is despite that the sons of my Granduncle Tony (z"l) was honest with his own children upfront about how their grandfather died, meaning that Dad could've been as honest with me as Granduncle Tony was with his children.

Too often, people who have other things that they want to hide, hide whatever they can with bubbe meises instead of telling the stranger-than-fiction truth; and it has only "certainly no benefit in living with the weight of such a lie." In fact, the bubbe meises make it worse, especially when the truth hits—and when you, for example, ended up in Sheppard Pratt for threatening suicide before you knew what partially explained it: i.e., that your father's paternal grandfather actually committed suicide and passed on his Depression to your grandfather (and you've figured out that your late grandfather had Depression, and that he passed it on to his oldest child), your father, and you.

Cami's First Full Day Home

Having Cami home has been a series of ups and downs, and adjustments. The ups include Cami's learning of commands such as "Sit", Cami's and Reilly's development of a rapport, and loved ones' adulation of her—including the vet's good impression of her. The downs, on the other hand, include
Reilly's jealousy, Mom's failure to understand that Reilly was fine in picking up Cami by her scruff, and Cami's having accidents (including tonight, which is why she is currently on my lap—she awaits "Mimi" to change her crate towel).

At present, the 2.67-pound runt of her litter is on my lap—and hopefully staying there instead of falling off of my lap or climbing up onto the table, and hopefully not having an accident on my lap (Meanwhile, she just went back into "Mimi"'s arms; since she was whimpering and I decided to take all precautions to avoid my lap becoming her temporary potty pad.).

Short Biography Pfc. Bernard "Bernie" Stanley Czarnecki, U.S. Army 111th Infantry Division Medical Corps (WW2, DOW)

(As originally written for and sent to family friends)

Born in Sugar Notch, Pennsylvania on March 15, 1920, Bernard Stanley Czerniecki was the youngest son of Ashkenazi Crypto-Jews Julian and Alexandria Andrulewicz Czerniecki. Entering the United States Armed Forces shortly before he turned 21 years old, Bernard (now Bernard "Bernie" Stanley Czarnecki) served in the 111th Infantry Division Medical Corps of the United States Army for exactly five years—from December 12, 1940 to December 12, 1945. Bernie enlisted shortly before his brothers Edward ("Ed")—who enlisted on January 21, 1943—and Joseph ("Susi")—who enlisted on February 17, 1941—did (Incidentally, Bernie either re-enlisted on the same day as Susi enlisted or did not have his original enlistment recorded until the day that Susi registered.).

Having received a shrapnel-effected wound in combat, Bernie underwent surgery to remove the shrapnel. Given that the surgery was botched, Bernie was discharged from the Army at the Newton D. Baker General Hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia. From Baker Hospital, he moved to the Veterans' Affairs Housing and Hospital complex in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Living at the VA Housing and Hospital complex in Lebanon for the rest of his life, he succumbed to his received-in-combat injuries on July 16, 1963 in the VA Hospital in Lebanon.

He died of Schizophrenia and a Coronary Occlusion as a result of his battle wars at 6:30 AM EST in the VA Hospital on that July 16th. Having an autopsy performed on him by Dr. A.H. Heisey of Quentin, Pennsylvania, he was not received by his family and the George Strish Funeral Home in Ashley, Pennsylvania until July 20th. Once he was received, he was buried in Holy Family Cemetery in Sugar Notch.

Pfc. Bernard "Bernie" Stanley Czarnecki, then, was:

1. One of the Nazis' post-war victims of the Holocaust. Since Bernie came from a Crypto-Jewish family, he—along with his brothers Ed and Susi, along with his other family members—was a target of the Nazis solely on account of his Jewish heritage.
2. An unrecognized Jewish-American soldier of World War Two. Whether he even received a Purple Heart is unknown, and he has nobody who the Department of Veterans' Affairs considers to be a next-of-kin family member who may claim.
3. A Jew who had to go through the additional agony of having an autopsy performed on him—since Jewish tradition forbids autopsies except for in cases when the law and/or extenuating circumstances require that an autopsy is to be performed on the Jewish decedent in question.*

*All information comes from documents that were found on Ancestry.com, Bernie's nephew Anthony "Tony" John Czarnecki, Jr. (1946-2014) and other family sources, and prior knowledge. 

יהוה As My Witness, I Am Telling This True Story

When I was outside and Reilly saw the neighbors' dog Leo (to whom she takes a particular affinity), she bolted out of her coat (the buckle of which she had chewed and made loose) and to the fence. She interacted with and chased Leo, who was the one who came to the fence in the first place (and his human mother had to pick him up to get him back over to his house—and imagine picking up an about-two-years-old Border Collie mix who could bolt over to see Reilly like that! Yes; I was perhaps a bit of a jerk for recording it, too, admittedly—running over would have made the situation worse, though. Besides, I can't run! Also, staying and recording the video does give me: firstly, a memory to share with others; and secondly, corroborating evidence that I did nothing wrong.).

I did eventually coax Reilly into the house with a promise of peanut butter. Incidentally, she did get some exercise on this rainy day and while "Mom-Mom" and the UMBC alumna known as "Auntie Michelle" were at Michelle's commencement ceremony and on a visit to Reilly's "Great Mom-Mom". 

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