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Comment by Heather M. Bennett on July 25, 2011 at 12:35pm

SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!! I am married to a true life BIGAMIST!! And it is completely LEGAL according to the State of Florida!! Court documented!!

My story has already been broadcasted on CBS,WKMG, Orlando, Fl; The Orlando Sentinel; and Real Radio 104.1 (national satellite radio).

 I have been married to my husband since 2000 when we married here in Florida. He was my high school sweetheart, we are still married and have 2 children. I found out last year that he has also been married to another woman since 2005! They too, also have a child. I immed. filed BIGAMY charges in Aug, 2010 when I found out. He was arrested in Oct 2010 and arraigned in Jan 2011.

 The State of Florida has just "DISMISSED ALL CHARGES" due to a case law his defense attorney cited from back in 1974 and states "the 2nd marriage must take place in Florida"!!!!!! WHAT?????? So the state of Florida is saying that every man in America can legally marry one woman in every state and as long as no two of them are married in Florida, that they can all 51 of them live here legally! The state let him go, dropped all charges, and is doing NOTHING!! they even allowed his illegitimate wife sign for his bail/bond money using OUR married name!!!  Meanwhile, we all 3 live right here in Orlando, Fl! And they are saying it is perfectly legal! I have all documentation to support any/all facts. Please help me get this out!
 
Heather M. Bennett

Comment by Jessica on July 6, 2011 at 7:12pm

This is a story/poem I wrote about my recent trip to Joplin..

 

AWAKENING THE HUMAN SPIRIT

 

A seven-hour drive to Joplin, I am bound

And yet not ready for what my eyes and heart found.

Businesses still standing, everything all in one

Five feet across the sidewalk, destruction was done.

 

That wasn’t the worst of it, witness I did bear

My first and last name together says, “I care.”

Which was apparent, my face covered in wet stains

The tragedy words can’t convey, yet me it pains.

 

Buildings torn to shreds, nothing left but wood and nail

They proved just as our emotions, completely frail.

Imagine the largest tree was just like a feather

Blowing in the wind, by the tornado’s weather.

 

A story each house told like opening its door

Walk through, they allowed my heart to feel their core.

A mother trying to protect her infant son

To a hero saving the lives of 21.

 

You can’t help but be changed just by being there

So, step up and make a difference, if you dare.

All hands help, even if it’s an hour or two

Don’t say, “I don’t have time, it someone else will do.”

 

All strangers, volunteers, and foreigners unite

For this “one” voice to change the world, they will fight.

Fast, you connect with others to a common goal

As though everyone sees into another’s soul.

 

The city holds onto it, as they start to cope

It is not just another four-letter word…HOPE.

Joplin will recover and enter a new phase

Because human spirit trumps disaster always!

Comment by Nelson T. Enojo on January 19, 2010 at 8:14am

It was already few minutes past 8 o'clock this morning and my wife is already in a hurry not to get late again for work. I use to get her to the hospital where she works as a nurse for 18 years or more. Waiting at our gate was 3 individuals, a family from our city dump, members of our team, RGM Allianz city dumpsite initiative. It was still drizzling outside and I could tell by their faces that something is important.

One of our scavenger's has died in his sleep and they don't even know what time he passed away. He was only 38.

As we went on to get my wife to work, I told her that they needed a coffin for the body. I really do not have any money that time & yet still has plenty of accounts payable to my wife, personal loans. So with my wife with lots of bills to settle. Then she suggested as she climbed the stairs to her work, try & go to the district office & seek advice.

Together with the family, we went to the office of our district representative. There was no body around except the secretary talking on the phone. After she hangup, we told her the reasons why we are here. Luckily, it was the wife of the congressman she was talking a moment ago and dialed it back again, relaying our concern. It took less than a minute and the secretary gave us instructions to go upstairs coz her daughter is waiting for us.

Soon, the door opened and saw the daughter of the congressman with a check in her hands. She was still rubbing her eyes, a clear sign that she was awaken by the call.

Nevertheless, it was a 5,000 peso check more than enough, said the family to cover not only the cost of coffin. It was maybe about 9 o'clock in the morning when we departed ways. Everybody happy.

Thank you.

p.s. few days ago another group of families visited our place informing us of the notice of eviction they received 3 months back and will be implemented soon.

Comment by Mayke Beckmann Briggs on November 7, 2009 at 9:19pm

I think your idea of ImagineThisTv is brilliant! Bless you, and the many lives you will touch! I have posted about you on my blog already and will continue to do what I can to help this great project.

My story is that five years ago - out of the blue - and for no rhyme or reason - I wrote a children's book. I had prayed "to find a way" to express my "innermost treasure" of being and silence, and was thinking more in terms of giving spiritual retreats, but it came in the form of this little book instead, and with it, thousands of hours of struggling to learn the things you need to learn to bring a book to life. Two years later the book was published and won the Mom's Choice Award Silver Medal in the motivational/inspirational category. It is called Here You Are, and is about just that.

After I wrote the book I felt I could die. This was a strange feeling because I still have a child to raise. It felt like I had done what I had come here for. The book reminds children and adults of that which can never be taken away no matter the material circumstances. That is why the book touches those who are suffering and those who are serving the suffering. It wakes them to that in us which never suffers or dies.

I donate Here You Are to Children's Hospitals, shelters and projects people run in the world that serve children (some of these I write about on the blog). Here You Are is in Germany, England, Guatemala, Equador, India and Nepal. I would like to donate as many copies as you need (up to 1000) to take to the children you visit with your TV show if you like. It works for all age groups and is a great book to start teaching English with, too.

Let me know where to send a copy so you can see for yourself. And please - this is not to "promote my book" - it really makes children happy. And it makes me happy to see it get into their hands. If you go to the BoathouseBooks website and go to the order page, scroll down to read reviews, children's and teachers comments to get a feeling for the impact it so often has on both children and adults.

Maybe you could have a book lady on your show - to bring a collection of books to the children, not just Here You Are. Books and imagination have the power to free us of our circumstances and serve many children for many years once given to a community.

Comment by Laurie on August 16, 2009 at 10:52am

I would like to propose a TV show about the pros and cons of socialized health care. I'm from Canada and have lived in the US for over twenty years. I'm so frustrated with the mis-information we are hearing in the US, I would like to interview a wide range of Canadians who can share their stories about what socialized health care really means and/or tape a round table or town hall debate where Americans and people from countries who have socialized medicine could share their stories. My elderly mother and disabaled brother had/have the best care in the world. If they had been in the US this would not have been the case. My brother, who is a diagnosed paranoid schizophenic, would most likely be homeless and lost on the streets if he lived in the US. In Canada he gets disability welfare, free medication, a nice little apartment, a social worker who keeps an eye on him and a group he meets up with once a week. My mother, at 86, having smoked from the age of 16, had parkinsons, a pace maker, osteoperosis, emphysema, degenerative macular decease and lupus, yet when she broke her hip from a fall she was immediatetly given a new hip and physio therapy to get her back on her feet. She had the best care in he world, a compassionate staff in a clean and beautiful hospital in Barrie, Ontario....she never did give up smoking.
My friends just had a new baby in Toronto. The husband will get 8 months paternity leave with 95% of his wage paid while not at work. Granted he does have a gov job. as a writer. A few little stories about living in a democratic, capitalist country that has socialized medicine.
Is this something any of you would be interested in helping me realize on this amazing new TV series Imagine This? I have a few other ideas for shows and would like to send in my proposals.

I'm spreading the word about his great new TV opportunity.
Great stories here!! Good luck to all of you!

Comment by Betsy Borgacz on August 14, 2009 at 10:34am

I keep wondering which story would be the best to tell. I have had so many rewarding opportunities to help others who needed help. I am often the woman behind the scenes. The one that helped piece things together or lend that little extra hand to work out a tough situation. I guess my favorite story of helping others was when I was much younger. I was 19 when I got pregnant with my son and I lived in a hud (government) housing complex in Michigan. Before I lived there, I only knew that it was a place where there was a lot of crime and rumors (all negative). It showed in my neighbors and myself that there was a sense of shame living there. I wanted to do something to help change this and create pride in where we live. So I decided to start small. I decided to throw a Community Easter Egg Hunt. Something that was just ours to be proud of.
So I went to the complex manager and asked for permission. She was leary as the complex didn't have a lot of money to spend on this project. I told her I had intended to get everything donated. She surprised me by offering to match my donations if I could get them. So I hit the ground running. I went store to store until I had hay for a little kid egg search and thousands of plastic eggs and candy donated. Then it came time to let all of my neighbors know about it. I strapped my baby into his carrier and we walked door to door to tell everyone. It was a huge turnout and parents were really happy to have something so close to their homes as most of them were working many hours just to keep food on the table.

That first year was hysterical. It was me, with my big mouth and a whisle, my best friend running throughout the field hiding eggs and a few family members lending a hand with age groups. I did this event for several years, each year getting bigger and bigger, adding Americorps Volunteers and Volunteers parents from the complex, a potluck and donated snacks from Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds. We even had people from the surrounding neighborhoods coming to our event. The kids started calling me the easter egg hunt lady and would start asking me when the hunt was about February every year. To this day it is my favorite event.

The best part is that when I moved away after the 4th year doing the event to get my Masters Degree in Vermont, some of the other parents took it up the following year. Funny how something as simple as looking around for candy filled plastic eggs could cause such joy.

Comment by Betsy Borgacz on August 13, 2009 at 2:37pm

I am so "proud" isn't quite the word but it's close to have read this story of how Imagine This! TV came about. It really must've been fate for you to be in just the right place at the right time to have been introduced to these wonderful children. What a great heart you have to drop everything just to share an afternoon helping the kids get home. Thanks for making a different and inspiring the rest of us to keep paying it forward.

Comment by Sandy Mays on July 6, 2009 at 9:42am

Seven years ago, my youngest child entered kindergarten at a school in the wealthier side of the city of Lynchburg, VA. One day during that first week, she came home upset because a girl she had made friends with had been picked out of a crowd and made to feel isolated and ashamed because of her skin color. The little blonde haired blue eyed wealthy girls (at the age of five) had told my 5 year old that she should not play with this outcasted little girl. I asked my daughter why they were saying that, and she replied, "because she is brown." I then asked my child what she said back to them, and she replied, " I told them, so, she is my friend." I was so happy that my child really got it--all the examples I lead my life by had been soaked up like a sponge. I felt sorry for the little name callers and outcasters at her school because at the age of 5, I could already tell how they were being raised--already little racists, and too young to know better.
As it turned out, the little girl that was put down was a foster child. Her mother was in prison for some reason, and my heart bled for her because she was only 5, and just look what people were already doing to her.
I thank God every day for giving me an open mind and allowing me to see beyond how most white southerners in The U S were raised years ago. I realize that just helping one person is a big something, and should never be viewed as minor, and almost meaningless, because we all have to start somewhere. Tons of small helps and changes can create a major difference in this world, and in someome's life!