Feb 27, 2003

Hurray!!  This is day #4 of successful Atkins (staying under my 40grams of carbs) and keep my house beyond reproach.  OK, well, there could probably be some reproach around there somewhere, but it's much, much better than before.  Both kids are actually asleep at the same time right now, so I'm going to finish this up and get busy cleaning unimpaired by little kiddie needs, then I am going to help Delena with the speech she needs to do tomorrow.  Details on that will come in tomorrow's post in the journal.

I posted this once before and I want to repost the info just in case someone is reading it now who wasn't reading it then.  I very much need to find this guy:

This is a very bad picture taken in December of 1976 of a man named Jeffrey Dean Fox.   Jeff was raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  He is the son of Dean and Carolyn Fox.  Dean had a brother named Wayne and they grew up in the Casey, Illinois area.  They later relocated to Paris, Illinois.  Wayne and Dean were the sons of Clorine or Corrine (not sure which, they called her Clorine, but that doesn't sound like it should be someone's name) Fox, who was born a Kelly.  Her father's name was Frank.  I believe Jeff had a sister named Becky.  Jeff was living in Pleasant Ridge, Kentucky when this picture was taken.  The mailing address was in Utica.

In 1987, Jeff was in the US Navy and was in Tennessee (if I remember correctly).  He was married and had two sons who were approximately 6 and 8 at that time.  I believe he was an enlisted member and not an officer.  He is NOT the LtCol Jeffrey Fox who was in the Air Force and killed in the Gulf War.

There are approximately 72 pages of Jeffrey D, Jeffrey Dean and Jeff Foxes listed in Yahoo People Finder.  I do not have his social security number, so tracking him through that is not an option.  The US Navy has no information on him after his discharge.  I have contacted every Jeffrey Dean and Jeffrey D Fox in Yahoo, but have only gotten started on the ones without D's or Deans.  It's exhaustive, that's for sure.  I have gone through every other People Search and White Pages type sites I can find on the net and have used Net Detective software with no luck.

Jeff had a few tattoos when I knew him (last saw him in April of 1977).  On his arm, I believe it's the left, there is one that says, "Tweety Bird" and one that says, "Lisa."  He has a blue "hard times mark" in the corner of his left eye orbit.  He has dark brown curly hair and beautiful, blue eyes and a wide, generous smile.  At that time, he had freckles.  He was about 6 feet tall and weighed approximately 170 pounds. 

If anyone knows this person or has a good connection with people who find missing family members, I'd really appreciate a heads up.  I have very little money to put towards this, but it's essential that I find this man.  His son very, very much needs to contact him and has absolutely no means to do so. 

I'm off to shower, clean house and help Delena write a speech.

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening.  I'm still working hard on the low carb.  I'm peeing a lot, which is a good thing because those carbs definitely hold a ton of excess body fluid and I'm glad to be rid of it.  I don't plan to weigh or measure until I am finished with the two week into period.  Today was a much, much easier day than yesterday.

Of course, today would not be complete without mentioning that today the world lost the kindest, sweetest man that ever walked the earth.  Fred "Mr." Rogers died at the age of 72 of stomach cancer.  I can't even appropriately formulate the words to express my sorrow over his passing.  Of course, he was elderly, but I feel a huge vacuum my life without him in it. 

Mr. Rogers is very, very important to me.  I watched him from the time I was in third grade consistently through to the present with my 6 children, whose births span 1978 - 1999.  Mr. Rogers was a paragon of what a child should see as adult influence.  He devoted his life to the love, validation, education and molding of young people.  I am quite certain that thousands and thousands of people can say that many days, Mr. Rogers was the only person who told them that he liked them and especially liked them just the way they are.  That phrase, spoken by Mr. Rogers, broke me to tears more than once.  I lived my life around people who wanted me to, no demanded that I change.  My whole life I've been required to be thinner, smarter, quieter, more active, more motivated and just about any other superlative... always for the benefit of someone else, often in the guise of it actually being "for my own good."  One day, I saw Mr. Rogers look into the camera and say, "I like you just the way you are," and the tears began.  After that, every time I heard him say those words, the same feelings of extreme relief and temporary reprieve would wash over me and I'd usually tear up again.

One thing many people don't think about as far as Mr. Rogers conducted his show was that he always made sure he was on par with the children.  He never, ever talked down to them.  He made sure any drawings he did or crafts he created were on par with the caliber of skill a child would exhibit.  He asked all the questions that a child would ask.  He showed us things that a child would like to know.  How are crayons made?  How is paper made?  How is music made?  He gave them consistency, routine and predictability... enter, sing the same song, take off the suit jacket, put on the sweater (the sweater has gone to the Smithsonian), take off the loafers, put on the sneakers, tie the sneakers and say, "Hello, Neighbor."  I get angry any time I see someone making fun of Mr. Rogers and I'm not an easy rise in that department.  Like my son (the one who called him "Jim Rogers" when he was 3 and would not be convinced the man's name was Fred) wrote in his own journal today, "And if I see anyone talking some smack bout my man Mr.. Rogers, I swear to god I will find you, rip off your jaw, step down your throat and kick your ass from the inside."

Time for me to go have a good cry and miss someone else.  Between Mom and Mr. Rogers, I'm not doing so well.  I'll be fine... I just cry easily.

Love,

Good God, She's Verbose!  There's More!