THE DAY MY DADDY DIED~ Harold Thomas Pemberton

It's always been hard for me to share the core of who I am yet I seem to wear my heart on my sleeve. I am a walking contradiction. Strong in spirit and weak in reality at times but not all the time. When I was a little girl I just wanted my Parents to be proud and happy of me and of themselves. My Dad was so strong and stubborn. He had his demons and family was tough at times but to the core he inspired me. He shut off (a familiar guy trait), a gift I am glad I don't have but in some pretty deep scenario's he became my Daddy. The one I thought I never had. Maybe this is why I chased him even when they moved and forgot to give me a forwarding address. Approval, love, he was my Daddy. He did so many little things and some pretty big that offset anything else. I think that is called being a parent.

My Dad owned a business and was 54. My mom had been sick for many years and my Dad even made a room in their business for when she came.  I never doubted their love for each other. He was the healthy one.

I was working at HSN as a beauty buyer and his business was on the causeway not far away. I still can't remember why I did not have my car that day but I called numerous times to check on him and he kept saying to me tell your Mom I'm ok. My Mom stayed home that day and my Dad had gotten upset with an insurance agent and was not feeling great. This started around 9 am. My Dad also cut his finger off a few months prior in a die cutting machine and drove himself to the ER. He was stubborn.

My Dad finally called my Brother around 5pm because he just did not have the strength. In the morning with him getting so upset he blew out a valve and starting going into congestive heart failure. He was filling up with fluid so he just felt full.

We all came to the hospital and my Dads aortic valve was replaced. On the morning of his surgery, I drove across the wrong bridge. It was 5 something in the morning and I was so lost and worried.  I sat with him everyday for two weeks. Same surgeon that my Mom had had so it became routine for us of sorts. He never woke back up and I wonder often if he knew I was there.

We were called to the hospital and I arrived first.  His blood gases were dropping and I just sat there. There was nothing I could do. That was my Daddy. 2 hours later,he met his golden wings. He was 54 and it was Fathers Day.

I am writing this for a few reasons. One is heart month should not be just a month because it was never a minute, hour, month or year for me. It's my lifetime. The reality is if my Dad would have gone in a week earlier for a stress test or earlier that day because he was not feeling right he would still be here. I am absolutely selfish and a martyr when it come to my parents because I miss them.

Everyday

The day of my Dads surgery I walked outside and took a deep breath thinking he would be ok. I have never taken that breathe again. I really thought he would. I forget where I put things all the time yet that moment comes with such clarity to me.

I talk a lot about heart but as I am missing my family and sitting alone typing this I would give so much to have them here.

The day my Daddy died I lost faith and belief because he was the strongest man I ever knew. In so many ways he will always be.

Heart disease is known as the silent killer but yet it says so much. My Dad proceeded my Mom but both died of Cardiovascular disease and both had valves replaced. I am the third. They say 1 in 3 die of heart disease and I am the one in three that lives yet heart disease is nowhere near silent to me. I hear it in my food choices, my lifestyle choice but my genetics, that screams at me.

As March begins and heart month ends, we should not be silent because it is a great deal about lifestyle and about choices. I look back and think what I could do and can change. I am a human with many faults but each day I am trying to be there for my family, make smart choices and TRY (I say TRY), to work on my emotional and lifestyle stress.

Spring is in the air, somewhere (LOL) but being active, knowing your numbers, managing your stress and managing your lifestyle choices can all to help and save your life.

Your heart talks to you. Please chose to listen~

Here's to your heart~

Are you speaking up?

As a heart attack and stroke survivor I am often questioned. Some say, where is your scar and some say you don't look like someone with health challenges. I once, true story, was asked to wait outside of triage so they could evaluate an older man when I was having the same issues. Even those in the medical profession still tend to discard or assume because hey I'm glad I didn't fit their mold but frankly my body had a very different opinion! It bothered me and the President of the hospital called me personally afterwards but it just leads to the realization that heart disease and women is so often over looked. I was asked, did you loose a lot of weight? Did you smoke? Are you diabetic? The answer was no. I will admit I will always welcome any weight loss or a winning lottery ticket but no.

Working with AHA for so many years has taught me so much. Its not just what I have read or learned but honestly a lot about the people whom I have met and their stories. I lobbied with "You're the Cure" last year and we were divided by States and Districts. This to this day was probably one of the most amazing few days I had ever spent. Survivors from all over the US coming together for a cause and sharing our stories. Their were Doctors, survivors, advocates and just people with one voice. NIH funding and Million Hearts.

The questions I was asked were very valid. People don't "see" heart disease.

Cardiovascular Disease effects EVERY part of your body. It remains the number one killer of men and women and a leading cause in disability  with stroke.

Heart month may be coming to a close but the heart beats everyday. Imagine a battery in your favorite item and then imagine wanting or NEEDING to use it to save your life.

The heart matters. Check your engine and understand when the cars not working, you don't go anywhere.

www.heart.org
www.goredforwomen.org

Deanna

Don't close your eyes

My country soul came from my Dad. He was Barbra Mandrell, Patsy and some Yehaw but he always told me to go with the story. This is an incredible song that rings so true. Telling or sharing a story is the artistry in music.

True country, true heart and what a story.

Have a Coke and A Smile~

John Stith Pemberton was

John Stith Pemberton

the inventor of the Coca-Cola beverage. In his day Pemberton was a most respected member of the state's medical establishment, but his gift was for medical chemistry rather than regular medicine. He was a practical pharmacist and chemist of great skill, active all his life in medical reform, and a respected businessman. His most enduring accomplishments involve his laboratories, which are still in operation more than 125 years later as part of the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Converted into the state's first testing labs and staffed with Pemberton's hand-picked employees, these labs almost single-handedly eliminated the sale of fraudulent agricultural chemicals in the state and ensured successful prosecution of those who tried to sell them.

Early Life and Career

Born on January 8, 1831, in Knoxville, in Crawford County, Pemberton grew up and attended the local schools in Rome,

Coca-Cola Bottles

where his family lived for almost thirty years. He studied medicine and pharmacy at the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon, and in 1850, at the age of nineteen, he was licensed to practice on Thomsonian or botanic principles (such practitioners relied heavily on herbal remedies and on purifying the body of toxins, and they were viewed with suspicion by the general public). He practiced medicine and surgery first in Rome and its environs and then in Columbus, where in 1855 he established a wholesale-retail drug business specializing in materia medica (substances used in the composition of medical remedies). Some time before the Civil War (1861-65), he acquired a graduate degree in pharmacy, but the exact date and place are unknown.

The analytical

Pemberton House

and manufacturing laboratories of J. S. Pemberton and Company of Columbus were unique in the South. "We are direct importers," the company claimed, "manufacturing all the pharmaceutical and chemical preparations used in the arts and sciences." Established in 1860 and outfitted with some $35,000 worth of the newest and most improved equipment—some of it designed and patented by the company—it was "a magnificent establishment," an enthusiastic reporter from the Atlanta Constitution proclaimed in 1869 when the labs were moved to Atlanta, "one of the most splendid Chemical Laboratories that there is in the country."

Pemberton served with distinction as a lieutenant colonel in the Third Georgia Cavalry Battalion during the Civil War and was almost killed in the fighting at Columbus in April 1865. In 1869 he became a principal partner in the firm of Pemberton, Wilson, Taylor and Company, which was based in Atlanta, where he moved in 1870. Two years later he became a trustee of the Atlanta Medical College (later Emory University School of Medicine) and established a business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his own brands of pharmaceuticals were manufactured on a large scale. He also served for six years (1881-87) on the first state examining board that licensed pharmacists in Georgia.

Pemberton was "the most noted physician Atlanta ever had," according to the Atlanta newspapers, but he is best known for his expertise in the laboratory, where he perfected the formula for Coca-Cola.

The Origin of Coca-Cola

A few years before Coca-Cola began its spectacular rise to international acclaim, a drink known as Pemberton's French Wine Coca was extremely popular in Atlanta. Its fame spread throughout the Southeast, and the demand for the tasty beverage was high.

In 1885 a reporter from the Atlanta Journal approached the creator of French Wine Coca and asked him for a detailed analysis of the new drink. Pemberton replied, "It is composed of an extract from the leaf of Peruvian Coca,

Vin Mariani Bottle

the purest wine, and the Kola nut. It is the most excellent of all tonics, assisting digestion, imparting energy to the organs of respiration, and strengthening the muscular and nervous systems." He explained that South American Indians considered the coca plant a sacred herb and praised its beneficial effects on the mind and body. With the aid of the coca plant, the Indians had performed "astonishing" feats, he said, "without fatigue." Pemberton then admitted that his coca and kola beverage was based on Vin Mariani, a French formula perfected by Mariani and Company of Paris, which since 1863 had been the world's only standard preparation of erythroxylon coca.

In 1886 the city of Atlanta introduced prohibition, which, among other things, forbade the sale of wine. Pemberton decided to make another version of his popular drink. He dropped the reference to wine in the name of the beverage, substituted sugar syrup for the wine, and coined the name "Coca-Cola" to identify his formula. Henceforth, he would call Coca-Cola the ideal temperance drink, both on the label and in advertising.

Realizing

Coca-Cola Logo

that he needed financial backing to market this nonalcoholic version of French Wine Coca on a large scale, Pemberton formed a company for that purpose. He put his son Charles in charge of manufacturing Coca-Cola, and after prohibition ended in 1887, he again produced French Wine Coca. He announced that he would retire from active practice, sell his drugstores in Atlanta and elsewhere in the state, and devote all his time to promoting his beverages. Meanwhile, a group of businessmen responded to Pemberton's appeal to finance the new Coca-Cola Company. He was to receive a royalty of five cents for each gallon of Coca-Cola sold.

It was Pemberton's practice to organize a business as a copartnership and then convert it into a corporation. In March 1888, after being in business for eight months as a copartner, he filed the petition for incorporation of the first Coca-Cola Company in the Fulton County Superior Court. Five months later, on August 16, 1888, he died at his home in Atlanta.

On the day of Pemberton's funeral, Atlanta druggists closed their stores and attended the services en masse as a tribute of respect. On that day, not one drop of Coca-Cola was dispensed in the entire city. At sunup the following day, a special train carried his body to Columbus, where a large group of friends, relatives, and admirers laid him to rest. The Atlanta newspapers called him "the oldest druggist of Atlanta and one of her best known citizens."

 

You have to get up and try

I can't fully understand the power of my Grandmother. She just is so strong, so amazing and so willed. This past Tuesday, she went through her second round of chemo. 17 years ago she survived colon cancer, last year an aorta valve replacement and bypass and this year the cancer came back but spread.

I look at her strength and her vision. She keeps me in check. She raised 5 boys. I was in the first round of Granddaughters but we have had plenty of boys in the mix. Our life growing up was complicated like so many. There is nothing about my story that has not been heard before but to me the music in my lyric is my Grandma, Memaw.

She did share with me tonight a lot about our family heart history. We are threaded and most did not live past 60. Scares me a bit. She too had 5 Brothers.

My Grandmother is stunningly beautiful, much like my Mom was so on this flashback Thursday, I thought I would share.

Headache and Heartache

A few years ago I had a very awakening conversation with a friend. We were speaking of blogs, texts, conversations, etc. Some people just seem perfect. They talk perfect. They look perfect. You can't help but think they are perfect. This frankly makes me feel less than perfect. I don't think its anyone's natural intent to do that, ok maybe some, but I just feel like no one is.

I know my blog post sometimes are a bit all over the place but they are real. I think all the time, worry all the time and like everyone I have my ups and down's. Family to me is the most important. This past year has made me realize that more than ever. Faith, Family, Fluffies (family), Friends and Forever love. Corny. Absolutely. I hear a song in everything I do. Music is my rhythm and cooking my latest victim. When I post a song, its not a target but just a really awesome song. I am a writer so I appreciate story tellers. I do realize I need an editor at time and my English teacher would be horrified at my comma slicing but I write like I think. A little all over the place.

Heart is so important to me. I worry. This is not meant to be morbid but what about my children and fur babies? Families are dynamic so the responsibilities are always a tough decision if you have to make them. Some get mad if they aren't chosen as a God parent but then are like what......Heart health is my battery. I was devastated by the loss of my parents, Grandfather, Brother and all that followed. So I absolutely wear everything out there. I am scared everyday but not as a victim but as a Mother, a person. Did I dot the I's and cross the T's? Will they be taken care of?

Heart to me is more than a picture. Its about love and longevity. We all want love. We all want hope. We all want health. We all want hope.

Everyone matters. Everyone has a story. Everyone is born. Everyone dies. These are the FACTS.

The heart matters, in everyone.

Happy Valentines Day!

NBC & Heart Awareness

On the Viewpoint at NBC with Pat Lawson

I had a great morning at NBC News speaking about Go Red for Women and Heart Disease. It was a 30 minute segment and also very informative. Even though I was part of it, I learned too! It was a little strange as I was sitting there hearing about the fact that women are more likely to die after having a heart attack and stent placement within 5 years. My mind started to count! My heart attack/stent  was in 2010. Ok, that was a little unnerving! It just made me further realize that I need to be on top of my health every day! I'll post a link soon.

Although its heart month, don't forget to take care of yours everyday!

Log on to www.goredforwomen.org to learn more!

Here's to your heart!

What does GO RED mean?

Over the years that I have been working with the American Heart Association I have been involved with many of our initiatives. There are valuable tools to educate every age group and make heart health fun too! One of the many initiatives is Go Red for Women. It is celebrating its 10th year and helps to raise awareness of women and heart disease. I remember when my Mom had her congestive heart failure and valve replacement women were just seen as the unlikely, stressed and probably to emotional. When my Mom started showing early symptoms the first thing she was prescribed was an anti-depressant. She was not a 50 year old male that was over weight? She was petite and young. It was not until her and my Father were watching ER, ironic I know, and she suddenly could not catch her breathe that it came to the realization that something was going incredibly wrong. She was taken to the hospital and had a double valve replacement and a triple bypass. She had a zipper and the recovery, well even in the next 15 years she never recovered. I did find it funny that with her mechanical valves that St Jude gave her a warranty card.  

I like most people just did not expect my Mom to have a major heart attack. I didn't expect to have a heart attack and stroke myself and I knew better!

There are disparities in this world. They are gender, racial and personal. This is why education and using resources is so important. I can be dressed in the heart man suit, and I have, and will still see people argue that heart disease is not the number one killer. Did you know that heart disease kills more than all Cancers combined? Most people don't because we don't wear it on the outside. It is known as the silent killer for a reason.

This acronym was shared with me and it really to me defines what Go Red means:

• Get Your Numbers: Ask your doctor to check your blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Own Your Lifestyle: Stop smoking, lose weight, exercise and eat healthy.
• Realize Your Risk: We think it won’t happen to us, but heart disease kills 1 in 3 women.
• Educate Your Family: Make healthy food choices for you and your family. Teach your kids the importance of staying active.
• Don’t be silent: Tell every woman you know that heart disease is our No. 1 killer. Raise your voice at GoRedForWomen.org.

Change can is happening but it only can happen to spread the word and advocate for the #1 killer of women. Please help me share the message and although red is for the heart, GO RED means even more!

GO RED for your Mother's, sisters, friends, aunts. Imagine if it was yours.

Here's to your heart~D

Pageantry, People and Purpose

Like all or most little girls I watched Miss America. That was the dream maker and it had talent. I felt it was obtainable and all though I appreciate the Universe system as a little girl it was America. Like so many things in life I had no clue how to get involved, did not have resources and my parents weren't thrilled at the thought. We weren't the honey BOBO family. I also never felt pretty enough but it was a dream. Life is built on them.

I was a little late in the pageant world. Side lined by a life event but came back to Florida and got a job modeling full time on the Home Shopping Network. I was the fairest, unique in appearance and not model like but different. I had someone who believed in me named Barry Loper. Thank goodness! So I worked all hours of the day and would get fan mail. Most were screened as the convicts loved me but one day I received a letter. They suggested I compete in the Miss Seminole Florida pageant and were on their board. I reached out to have the blessing of having Denny and Judy Pieczonka in my life. The first local I did was Largo. I had NOOOOO clue. I rented, begged and borrowed. I came from theatre at the American Academy so I went Broadway. I even rented a costume and these girls were fierce and I just looked so out of place. I came out in this HUGE gown and it was shameful but probably funny. They had incredible gowns and sang incredible opera's. I was and still am a contralto. I am loud and strong and contemporary country. I rented a white swimsuit from someone and a gown that I taped up the bottom because it was to long.

So there I was, white blonde hair, fair as snow dressed in a gown with no one in the audience to cheer but I am sure I got a few heckles.

I was determined and not shamed. I found out I won interview but bombed the stage. I think I was screaming lost and I was so blessed to have Mary Petre and Don Morgan take me in as another daughter. They drove me to every local and took care of me. Even as far as Orlando. The year Jamie Bolding won Mary Petre told me she would win and hey I did crown Nicole Johnson in Florida and she should have won Florida prior to her winning Miss America but she did ok for herself:) 

I really don't know how to put this but to say my Mom was amazing, beautiful and did her best. Supportive, not really. She told me I won't watch you compete because I don't want to see you loose.

I committed myself to only three locals a year. I was the 1st ru and I just wanted to win Mary Petre's pageant. She drove me everywhere, I stayed with them, they were family.

I competed again in Largo and Mary Petre was in the hospital with lung cancer. I never new a Mother's love like that before. I was first ru and just broke. Two weeks later I won Seminole, she passed two days later. She was always the wings for me.

Denny and Judy Pieczonka took me in as parents and I just forever am taken back by the heart of people. I lived with them and they are and will always be a huge part of my life,

If you ever question pageants, people or faith....I was so lost and someone believed in me when I could not believe in myself.

Because of their support I won Seminole and competed at Miss Florida America and Miss Florida USA.

Dream on......

Chef one day maybe:)

I am a self admitted emotional, passionate and sensitive person. Oh geez don't I wish I could adjust a few of those qualities but I can't. I guess you have to love or like me for being who I am. My biggest accomplishment is being a Mom, although my stomach might like to argue the fact as well as my chest. I think I need birth certificates just for the twins on my chest. They deserve one's of their own. Thank you childbirth!  Probably TMI but as I am really into cooking these days the most important thing is to not eat everything I cook! Healthy choices, right? Moderation...oh and working out A LOT! I am excited for the culinary institute and OBSESSED with cooking shows. I was very happy to learn Rachel Ray never went to a culinary school and she is just amazing but I think I need that extra edge. Having been in live shopping for many years and my name is not Rachel Ray or Bobby Flay, I need that to have some fun on a network with some cooking segments. Here is hoping. I have always been in cosmetics, which I love, but who doesn't eat, right?

You want to be my family or neighbor. I am cooking like crazy and not eating it. I do "taste" while jumping rope (kidding) but it must be the family in me that ALWAYS cook family style. I have learned to adjust menus for the little loves in my life....Bella can't eat fat because of her VLCAD but she did like my cauliflower puree. It was so easy to make! Carter eats puree and Holston is still trying to figure it out. I  also have great friends who are Gluten Free and I never new the menu restrictions but after battling a sickness for the past 6 mos, I get eating things that agree with you. Although I do put Kale in almost everything. I made a pizza from scratch yesterday (a first) and put Kale on it. Much like the crunch you get with kale chips, yum!

Here's a few of my recent recipes!

 

Spaghetti with kale, polenta and homemade meatballs

Eggplant non breaded parm with argula salad and carrots

Stuffed peppers with spinach salad

Homemade pizza with kale,ilives, mushrooms, chedder, parm, oregano and olive oil

Pan fried sirloin with roasted red baby potatoes and mushrooms

Macy's Goes Red!

This is the 11th year for Go Red for Women and one of the major sponsors is Macy's! In fact, if you wear red at any Macy's you get 20% off your purchase! This morning, I was asked to speak at their rally! What a great team and great staff. Everyone was excited and wearing red! Thank you to Tyson's Corners Macy's in McClean VA for all of your support to the AHA and Go Red for Women!

 

 Here's to your heart!

Why I GO RED!

In January 2010 I had a heart attack. My son was one at the time, my husband was active duty so not initially with me. I just felt like something was stuck in my chest after battling a cold and my son was on O2 so I was having a hard time lifting him out of the crib. He was one. I did not initially go there but spoke with my husband who was around the Pentagon and he said call 911 or lay down. Laying down just gives you anxiety and I am not wired that way. How could some my age have anything wrong but anxiety? I called 911 and they were less then thrilled to see me and an infant on 02. I looked like a drama queen. My EKG was normal, I don't smoke, not diabetic, not over weight but I did have my genes working against me.  I was not crazy, crying or anything but just new something was not right. Trust in your body and be your own advocate! They took me to the hospital. Initially, they assessed me as a young women with a special needs child who probably needed just a break. The first cardiologist said well we will keep her and maybe she needs a stress test?  Another cardiologist, maybe the attending, said, well she has a very strong family history so lets do a  workup. Blood does not lie.

At this point, Andy arrived at the hospital, They came, suddenly  and said , relax you are having a heart attack, My cardiac enzymes came back and in fact my dismissal of what might be true was happening, I had a major blockage in my LAD, often called the widow maker, and if they would have sent me home, I may not be here today.  My parents died at 54 and 56 but  was 20 years younger. They placed a stent in my LAD.

Because of my vascular disease I have ischemic optic neuropathy. This has also caused child birth issues.

I have spent far to much time in the ICU from my caths and strokes. It has come to some understanding that I have vascular issues. I am blessed for great friends, great love, the AHA, Adventist Healthcare, Mike Chen, MD and my Go Red Family!


I am FOREVER BLESSED!

Here's to your heart~D

GO RED Rally!

Heart month is among us! Saturday I'll be speaking at Tyson's Corner in Virginia at the Macy's Go Red Rally at 9:45am. Please visit your Macy's department stores this month to help support the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women.

 Don't forget to wear red this Friday!


Here's to your heart!

Go heart, go red!

I am so happy that January has come and gone without a hospital stay! It may sound weird but for the past 5 years, I have spent January in the hospital so my only New Years Resolution was to get through January! I did! I am a heart attack and stroke survivor. Its funny, I was wearing a strapless gown at heart ball a few days ago and someone said to me I don' see your scars. I have stents which means they go through your groin. Hey I have had more action down there than I like and not in a good way. A few months ago I was back in the cath lab and asked if they could at least shave their initials:) My strokes cause some issues. I had to TIA's and one major. My eyesight took the hit and not that I could walk before but I don't think I will ever glide again. OK, I never was graceful.

Heart disease is scary and every day I am afraid. What Bella is going through makes me terrified. She is 8 and your heart is the biggest muscle so the biggest worry is sudden cardiac death. Heart survivors aren't visible for a few reasons. The biggest one is we wear it on the inside. It is heart month. Heart disease kills more people then all cancers combined. Just because you can't see it, it does not mean we don't wear it.

My Glass Slipper

I was so blessed to be at the heart ball last night. I changed at the ball to drive home. I am currently in Virginia Beach. There was a hole in my garment bag. I lost a shoe...how funny. Ok I am upset I lost my glass slipper at the ball before midnight.

The funny thing was when I call the hotel and said, "So I was at the ball last night and I lost my shoe. Ironically it is clear and looks like glass". You can only imagine the laughter.

So if you find a glass slipper in Baltimore and its a size 8....

Cinderella  Cinderella

Baltimore Heart Ball

With former AHA President, Gordon F. Tomaselli, M.D., professor and director of the Division of Cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. I had the please of lobbying on the hill with him last year!

Last night I attended the 30th Annual Baltimore Heart Ball. It was a great event with a lot in attendance. It was an amazing event full of everything you would expect in an American Heart Association Heart Ball! Beautiful gowns, beautiful people and a lot of beautiful hearts! I have to say one of my favorite parts of the evening was getting a picture with the Baltimore Orioles Mascot! It was also great catching up with so many beautiful title holders! Thank you so much for taking the time to be involved with the event!

With my beautiful friend, Mrs Hampton Roads, Tamika Jefferson! Her amazing Mom was there also. Love them!

30TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT SPONSORS

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