The Booze Runner

I have been looking over more of what my cousin Peter sent me from Guernsey and found something else about my ancestors that I find very interesting and quite amusing!

In one of my previous posts I talked about my 1st cousin 2x removed Linda Mary West, who earned a spot in my "West Women Hall of Fame" since she was such a kick-ass kind of woman.  Well, Linda had a son named Frederick William Harper.  Fred was born in Plymouth Devon, the Garrison town where his father was stationed and his parents liked to drink on weekends and kick roughneck ass.  It was not surprising to learn that Fred was not exactly an angel whilst growing up in Guernsey.  Apparently, his paternal grandfather Jack "Happy Harper, the Laughing Policeman" thought nothing of chasing Fred's ass across the "Bridge", belt in hand to keep him in line.

When Fred was 16 years old, he sailed on the SS Olympic to go live in the US.  Whilst there, Fred got a job running booze trucks over the Canadian border for none other than Machine Gun Kelly, during the height of prohibition. George "Machine Gun" Kelly is probably considered one of the most famous "gangsters" from the prohibition era.  His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson sub-machine gun.  Here is a "mugshot" of him that was taken after one of his arrests in Memphis:

George "Machine Gun" Kelly

According to family history, a watchful eye was kept on Fred while he was in the US by a family member who was a policeman.  This relative advised the family back over in Guernsey to send Fred home before he ended up in the electric chair. 

Fortunately, Fred didn't end up in the electric chair as predicted!  He eventually went back home to Guernsey and married Kathleen Florence Campbell and had 5 children.  Fred died on 09 August 1979 in Guernsey.  Here is a picture of Fred:

Frederick William Harper

What was really amazing to me after looking at Fred's picture is that he bears a striking resemblance to my brother John Martin West, who sadly passed away on 21 October 2009.  They had the same forehead, hair, eyes, nose and face shape!  The only major difference is that John's ears were different than Fred's.  God bless their souls and may they both rest in peace!

Three Weeks in the Red

I have had my "Ladies Time" for more than 3 weeks now, and quite frankly, I am starting to get pretty worried about it!  I was in non-stop meetings for most of the day all of this past week at work and my female problem didn't make it a pleasant experience.  I have also felt very edgy during this time and I know that it is hormone related.  I called my Primary Care Physician's office yesterday and left a message on the nurse's phone. The nurse called me back about an hour later to say that they were going to call in a prescription to the pharmacy, but needed a telephone number. Unfortunately, since I was in a meeting all afternoon, I didn't get to call them back in time to provide a number.  Now I have to wait until Monday to get my prescription, which is unfortunate.  I must say, my doctor and her staff are really great!  They are very responsive and attentive, which is not the usual case during the times that we live in.  My doctor really listens to me and is very open minded, which is also great! 

I also see a specialist named Lisa Gorn at Body Logic for Bioidentical Hormone treatment.  I have been taking Bioidentical Hormones for the past year now to help keep things balanced so that I can enter menopause as gracefully as possible, when that time comes.  I took my saliva test last week and sent it to the Lab because I had a regular quarterly appointment with Dr. Gorn this Tuesday coming up.  Unfortunately, I got a call yesterday from her office to inform me that the Lab is going to have to redo my test, so they will have to reschedule my appointment.  I missed this call as well due to marathon meetings. I really need to talk to Dr. Gorn on Monday.  My PCP's nurse warned me in her message yesterday that the prescription that they are calling in for me could cause blood clots, which has me quite worried!

Hormonal imbalance is not fun and can make life very miserable.  Men and women both suffer from these imbalances and Body Logic has treatment programs for all.  For anyone who might be reading this who has hormonal issues, Body Logic can help you!  They practice preventative medicine vs. traditional medicine, which helps to allay health problems before they arise and get to the root cause of any existing problems. They have offices all over the United States and I am sure that they have international colleagues as well.

Here is their video:

I know that Dr. Gorn will be able to adjust my treatment to take care of my current problem.  I will be glad to get this back under control. It has not been fun this past month!

5/2/12 Update

I just recently underwent some Ultrasound testing which revealed that I have uterine fibroid tumors and ovarian cysts.  The fibroid tumors are small, but there are a good number of them.  I'm still having the same problems that I posted above and I'm certain that the fibroid tumors are the culprit.  I am going to the doctor next week to seek treatment that will stop this problem as I'm very tired of it!

The West Women Hall of Fame

My newly found 3rd Cousin Peter Edwards just recently sent me 3 books from Guernsey as follows:

• I Beg to Report . . . by William M. Bell - This book is about policing in Guernsey during the Nazi Occupation.  It tells about how Jews who lived there were sent to Auschwitz and the local population was dominated and treated horribly.  Police who helped people received harsh prison terms.
• Memories of a Misspent Childhood, by Peter Edwards - This is a hilarious and also heartbreaking account of my cousin Peter's childhood in Guernsey.  To say his family was dirt poor would be an understatement! 
• Family History - A detailed history in both pictures and stories about Peter's Paternal and Maternal ancestors.

I am still looking through everything that he sent me. Although I am quite touched by all of it, there are a few things that have really jumped out at me.  The biggest thing that has garnered my attention is cousin Peter's Grandmother and my 1st cousin 2x removed, Linda Mary West. Linda was quite a woman, and is now in my "West Women Hall of Fame".

Linda was one of ten children born to my Great Grand Uncle William West and Selina Harriet Thoumine on Roland Road in Guernsey, Channel Islands on 4 August 1874.  Linda married William Henry Harper on 3 July 1894.  According to family oral history, William Harper certainly met his match when he married Linda. 

William was a gunner in the Royal Artillery and in 1897, he and the family moved to Plymouth, Devonshire, England, which was a Garrison town where drinking and fighting was the norm on weekends.  According to family oral history,  William and Linda took great pleasure from these weekend activities and would hit the town after wagering who could knock out the most roughnecks, and Linda invariably always won!  There ain't nothing like a kick-ass woman, especially a West Woman!

Here is a picture of Linda circa 1923 :

Linda Mary West circa 1923

Sadly, she ended up dying at the age of 58 at 7:30 PM on Sunday, 21 May 1933.  Apparently, she had stuck her foot into a boiling tub and it ended up becoming "septic".  She underwent an operation at Country Hospital two days previous but it was too late to help her.  It is said that right after this operation she was getting off of a bus to go home and had to pass a couple of roughnecks fighting.  Her son ran off of the bus to make sure that she wouldn't get hurt, but by the time he got there, both of the roughnecks were unconscious on the ground.  Apparently, Linda had knocked their heads together. Lord have mercy!   It is a shame that such a healthy and physically powerful woman ended up dying for such a strange reason!

Long live the West Women!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep . . .

Throughout my childhood, my mother always had a beautiful picture of a guardian angel hanging in our bedrooms.  The angel was a lovely blonde woman in flowing robes looking over two young children crossing a dangerous, rickety bridge. I used to ask my mother about those children in the picture as I was worried about them getting hurt.  My mother always told me that we all have guardian angels looking over us to protect us from harm   Here is the picture:

My Childhood Guardian Angel

I know that this has to be true, since there have been more than several occasions where I thought for sure that I was going to get seriously hurt, but something happened at the last second to avert disaster. I'm sure that it was my guardian angel protecting me from harm as it was not my time to die.

My brothers and sister and I always knelt down by the bed before we went to sleep to say our prayers, and this was one of our prayers:


Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
to whom God's love commits me here,
ever this day,
be at my side
to light and guard,
to rule and guide.

It's a Catholic prayer to a Guardian Angel.

The reason I am remembering all of this today is that I saw something very disturbing on the TV while working out at the gym late this afternoon.  The news reported that Sarah Burke, the 29 year old Olympic Women's Freestyle Skier died today from brain injuries that she sustained a week ago during skiing practice in Utah.  I was shocked by this news!  I remember seeing her and Shaun White skiing at an Olympic event not too long ago and she was fantastic!  She was a pioneer who got her particular genre of skiing onto the docket at the Olympics.  It is likely that she would have been favored to win her event in the 2014 Olympics in Russia. What a tragedy!  She was such a beautiful and talented girl, not very much older than my own daughter!  Here is a video of Sarah:

All of this is a poignant reminder that we don't know how long that we have on this earth.  When it is our time to die, that will be the end of our time on this earth.

For some special reason, it was Sarah's time to die.  I pray that she was escorted to heaven by beautiful angels, where she will be at peace for eternity.   Meanwhile she lives on here on earth in her skiing legacy.

Rest in Peace, Sarah!

Send Me An Angel

Fortunately, I am feeling a good bit better today than I did yesterday.  I only worked a half day today.  I got up and got in a really good cardio workout at the gym, then went home, ate breakfast, then took a nap. I got into work at 1:00 PM and stayed there 4 hours.

I have read over my last few posts here and have given alot of thought about the way that I have been feeling lately, especially the last few weeks. I am very blessed in the fact that my immediate family is a very good support system  and they really do love me and I love them too. I am also blessed because I have a very good job which enables me to support and take care of my family.  I have worked very hard to be able to do this, but there are many people out there who have also worked hard and have not been as fortunate.

Although I do acknowledge my blessings, I have come to realize that there is something missing in my life and I cannot find it. It is a very lonely and empty feeling. I have been searching and reaching out, but nothing has come back.  I know that I am not going to find what I am looking for on Facebook and that I have been reaching out to the wrong people and in the wrong direction.  I need to find the right way.

After all of this thinking that I have been doing, something jumped out at me today.  It is actually a beautiful song by the Scorpions called "Send Me An Angel".  Here are the lyrics to the song:

Wise man said just walk this way
To the dawn of the light
The wind will blow into your face
As the years pass you by

Hear this voice from deep inside
It's the call of your heart
Close our eyes and your will find
Passage out of the dark

Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star

Wise man said just find your place
In the eye of the storm
Seek the roses along the way
Just beware of the thorns

Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star

Wise man said just raise your hand
And reach out for the spell
Find the door in the promised land
Just believe in yourself

Hear this voice from deep inside
It's the call of your heart
Close your eyes and you will find
The way out of the dark

Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star
Here I am
Will you send me an angel
Here I am
In the land of the morning star

So, here I am, will you send me an angel who will help me to fill this emptiness.  Here I am, in the land of the Lone Star.

Here is a picture of Michael the Archangel:

Michael the Archangel

Here is the Scorpions video:

Please help me to find the passage out of the dark . . .

Pour Some Sugar on Me (Please!)

I am in a really terrible mood this afternoon!  It is so bad that when I was at Target about an hour ago, I felt like running over every person that got in my way with my cart!  Even though there were some really flipping inconsiderate people blocking the aisles with their carts while they did nutritional analysis or price comparisons on something, it is so unlike me to feel this way!  I can honestly say that around 99% of the time I have a genuine smile on my face, but this is not the case today.

January is a very bad time for me, and the wind outside sounds like a screaming banshee.  Although this is not helping my mood, it is not the true reason for it being so bad.  I am not going to go into the real reasons for my melancholy state today, lest it make anyone who might care to read this think that I am an idiot.  Truth be told, I feel like a real idiot today.

So, in keeping with what is becoming my usual style here on my blog, I am going to put some appropriate music here to go with my words.  As such, I will summon up Def Leppard to accompany my post today, because I am in such a bad mood that  I beg of somebody, somewhere to pour some sugar on me, please!

I hope to wake up in a better state tomorrow.

Until then . . .

You Can't Always Get Want You Want

I will be the first to say that I am blessed.  I work very hard, but have a good life, thank God!  I also have to say that I have had some aching disappointments since 2012 has dawned, and these disappointments are people related.  I have absolutely no right to have any expectations from those involved, but I can't help but feel somewhat sad about it all. 

I have really wanted things in the past and am now thankful that I never got them as it would have been disastrous had my hopes been realized.  I have always been a daydreamer and got in trouble for it at times when I was a kid in school.  My grown up daydreams have helped me to get what I am missing in my life and relationships, even though it is only in my mind. So I guess that my daydreams will just have to stay put in my mind, until I can find some new ones to replace them, and it is certain that the new ones will eventually become disappointments as well.

So, I will embrace the wisdom of the Rolling Stones for tonight's post by saying "you can't always get what you want".  But the part that I have to remember is "if you try sometimes, you get what you need".  Fortunately, I have all of my basic needs, but there is something missing and I have not been able to find it, not even in my daydreams.  Hopefully, I will find it one day before I leave this earth.

I will close my post tonight with a very appropriate song by the Rolling Stones:

Don't the Stones just say it all!

Until tomorrow . . .