Ignorance is bliss....or is it?

Shopping is getting more and more complicated these days, don't you think? It used to be I simply shopped for a bargain. Coupons, grocery store specials, etc. dictated what went in my shopping cart. But with all of the warnings about carcinogens and toxins lurking in everything from milk to produce to cleaning products to fabric softener....yikes!! I'm starting to gain a new appreciation of the phrase, "Ignorance is bliss." I guess that is until someone I love ends up with cancer or severe asthma or fibromyalgia or....oh wait, I've had all of those! Hmm. I wonder where they all came from.

Let's see. Asthma...maybe that's linked to being raised in a home of smokers...or perhaps it has to do with spending 18 years of my life breathing in asbestos-tinged air from the asbestos plant two blocks away. Fibromyalgia. That's linked to my Epstein Barr Virus Syndrome that I've been suffering from since 1973, before they even had a name for it! We've discovered a sensitivity to chemicals, particularly formaldehyde, is to blame for that. As I've been struggling to walk lately, I'm wondering how much of it has to do with the body powder I use daily that I just discovered over the weekend contains that dreaded toxin. Of course, having been married to a husband who worked at a chemical plant and brought all of the super-toxins home on his clothing every day couldn't have helped matters much when I was a young wife and mother. As far as the cancer goes...who knows? There are so many possibilities there.

As of four years ago, I now also have to live with being a Type 2 Diabetic. Woo hoo. The doctors suspect this came from my polycystic ovarian syndrome (oh, did I forget to mention that one?!), since we do not have a family history of it. But wherever did the POS come from? Who knows.

The bottom line is, I'm not the healthiest person around and never have been. I live with a considerable amount of pain most of the time. And it makes me angry as I learn more and more about the poisons in the products we consume every day that could have led to much of what's wrong with me. THAT is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about getting the word out to the rest of you about what not to feed, put on or use around your children!! I wish someone had educated my parents when I was young...and even more so, I wish someone had cared enough to educate me when my own children were growing up.

Of course, I don't expect anyone to follow every last bit of advice I dole out. I don't follow it all! But if you make one or two changes that ultimately benefit your children (and/or the environment), I feel as though this blog has served its purpose.

Thanks for reading...and caring. I treasure you.

Hana