My friend, Jeff rang. “Hey Gale,” he said in his usual lazy drawl. “Wanna house sit my buddies place?”
I wasn’t too keen at first but when he said it was East 63rd street, where all the rich people live, I screamed ‘yes’ so hard I nearly deafened him.

Our apartment was on 53rd street, not a bad place in Manhattan, but the neighborhood was far from the glamour was attached to the address of 63rd street. We got by but money was short so I could only ever dream of living there. In fact, it was a miracle that we could afford on 53rd street. The landlord thought low rents would attract long term tenants, happy at cheap accomodation. He could make a cheerful island in a busy city.

I knew that the home-sit would put more things on my weekly ‘to do list’. I would still have to do the weekly chores I share with my roommate, Rosy. Not that I minded as I knew it would be a rare opportunity to live the good life.

I packed a few things into my suitcase, called my roommate and told her that, although I would be away for a couple of weeks, I would come back when the chores needed doing.

As luck would have it, the other apartment wasn’t too far away, so I walked. Expecting me, the doorman had the keys ready for me. When I opened the door of the apartment I knew I had made a good decision. The living room was spacious, with light colored comfortable furniture. Looking at the furniture, I imagined Nick as a guy with an appreciation for comfort and beauty.

I toured the rest of the apartment, exploring to my heart’s content. The kitchen and the bath were filled with all manner of electronic gadgets. I investigated till I grew weary and then took a bath and put myself to bed, luxuriating in fine linen sheets and the most comfortable bed I’d ever lain in.

Before I drifted off, I reflected over the things I’d seen in the apartment.

I couldn’t remember seeing anything that require a house-sitter to prevent robbery. The only point of house-sitting, as I saw it, was to provide that ‘somebody lives here’ look. As I arrived at that conclusion, my heart filled with warm feeling. I began to like that Nick person. My last thought before drifting into sleep was that if he really needed somebody to warm up his apartment, he be a good hearted, people-loving guy.

Around midnight, I woke up and went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. While the water was boiling, I tested some of the appliances I always admired at the stores, but had never had the chance to try out.

Upon finishing my coffee, I took more appliances out of kitchen cabinets and tried to figure out how they worked.

Each time I took out another appliance, my admiration for Nick grew. When I found the fashionable electric griddle with its smooth flat metal surface, I knew I was developing a crush on him. The fact that he didn’t use a simple pan for cooking which would still need a little oil no matter how non-stick it was, but instead used a special thing that cooked by dry heat, told me that Nick was a very health-conscious person. As I was always on the look-out for ways to improve my health, he looked to me like the kind of guy I was looking for.

At 8 o’clock in the morning, I suddenly realized I was still in the kitchen and knew I’d have to stop playing around with the appliances and hurry to leave for work.

A mad scramble later and just as I was about to open the apartment’s front door, the phone rang. It was Nick calling, asking me if everything was okay. I thanked him for the opportunity to be in his apartment and began to tell him with great enthusiasm how much I liked his kitchen appliances.

“What do you like most?” he asked.

I told him, but he didn’t know what I was talking about.

What he had to tell me crushed my new hopes. Nick had a decorator who, not only planned the decoration scheme, but also chose and bought all the appliances. Because Nick had to spend so much time on the road, he hadn’t even had the chance to learn what he had at his own apartment.
 Web Site: virtualgardenbooks 

Counseling

When Pastor Jeremiah approached his office Monday morning, his secretary stopped him at her desk.

She whispered, “Stephanie Hughes is in there waiting to pounce. What should I do?”

“Call my wife,” Jeremiah said grimly. “I need her now.”

Gwen nodded in agreement. “I tried to get her to wait out here, but she turned up her nose and pranced in.”

Taking a deep breath and affixing a pastoral smile to his face, Jeremiah turned and faced the lioness.

The petite redhead was posed on the edge of one of the leather chairs with her legs crossed. She wore an expensive animal print suit and a bucket of perfume. He looked quickly away. “Good morning,” he said carelessly.

He took his time laying out his briefcase, flipping on the computer, and getting out his appointment book.

She stared pensively up at him. She attempted a tragic demeanor, but it looked more like a pout.

“Stephanie, did we have an appointment this morning?” he asked, flipping through his empty day planner.

“No, Pastor, but you said you’d be available day and night whenever someone needed you. And I really need your help. It’s my marriage.”

He smiled at her in a vague way, refusing to get caught up in the dramatic undertone of her voice.

“If you’ll wait just a minute, my marriage expert will be arriving.” He could count on Danae.

She looked stunned. “Who is your marriage expert?”

“My wife, of course. She holds a degree in counseling. Surely you knew? I told the church that I always rely on her in such situations.”

Dismayed, Stephanie said, “This is a confidential situation! I can’t talk about it to anyone.” Standing up, she leaned on the desk toward him. He was glad the thick oak piece of furniture stood between them. She lowered her voice and whispered, “We’re having sexual difficulties, and I wanted to see what the Bible said.”

Looking fearlessly into her eyes, Jeremiah said, “Well, then Stephanie, I’m certain you want to talk to Danae. Biblical advice I can give, but I never discuss sexual matters with a woman unless her husband is present. Likewise, Danae never discusses a matter with a husband unless his wife is present. Surely you understand the inherent danger in such a situation? However, I can provide you with phone numbers for excellent Christian therapists who will help you with any aspect of your marriage.” He gazed sternly over his desk at her.

She blushed, shaken that her charms had not worked. Angry red spots appeared on her cheeks. Just then, a rustling in the outer office signaled Danae’s arrival. He exhaled with relief. Danae greeted Gwen and hustled in.

“You forgot your lunch, Jeremiah.” He smiled down at her, took the paper sack, and kissed her on the cheek.

“You take such good care of me.”

She smiled into his warm brown eyes a long minute, allowing Stephanie to absorb the effect. He touched her hands as he took the bag. Turning, she said, “Hello, Stephanie. How are you today?”

“I’m fine, just fine,” smiled the woman with forced good cheer. Her face looked brittle enough to crack. She didn’t know what to say now. Danae looked so very domestic in her jeans and sweater and chin-length hair. Her makeup was minimal and she wasn’t even wearing earrings.

“Pastor, maybe I’ll get those phone numbers from you later. Right now I’ve got to run and go to an appointment.”

She exited with as great a dignity as she could muster in her wounded state. They could hear her rev the engine of her car as she launched out of the parking lot.

Danae sat down. She turned the leaf on his desk-top calendar. “I’m going back over to the kids. Time to begin school!” Part of shoring up their family foundation had been attempting homeschooling. The experiment already had stretched from one year into five.

Jeremiah sniffed. “Mmmm, what did you bring me in the bag? I was expecting a salad. It’s warm. Smells great…oh, it’s cinnamon rolls!” 

“Yes, but you have to share with Gwen, and we’re starting our diet tomorrow. So enjoy it today!”

Jeremiah peered over at her. Quietly, she beamed a look glowing with love and trust. Coming to her around the desk, he commented, “You know, if I had been as smart about women ten years ago as I am now, I could’ve stayed out of trouble.”

“Well, buster, you’ve been warned. Stay out of trouble now, or the Lord with smite you with many terrible plagues.”

Jeremiah cupped her chin.

“He’ll smite me?”

“Yep. Smite. And that will be the end of cinnamon rolls and movie night and dates with me on the couch.”
“I would never gamble away dates with you.”
He kissed her on the forehead before she headed home.  She waved to Gwen, passing through the reception area. The parsonage was just across the parking lot. “Call me again if any big, bad scary women come a-knockin’ on your door,” Danae yelled over her shoulder, leaving Gwen with a giggle.
 

Making my life better, at the same time fighting back, is new to me.
It will be a surprise to those who know me. After all, when I realized that I had never done these things for myself, I was flabberghasted.

I found myself physcially weak and mentally desperate after so much fighting.
I looked for anything that would help me, to the point I started looking into alternative medicines and methods of rehabilitation. Someone once told me about a method called Chi Kung, so in desperation I began attending them once a week.

Needless to say, the Chi Kung lessons improved my energy level. The guy who teaches Chi Kung gives us also kind of ‘magical’ things to do. The ‘magical’ things we do are similiar to what you would see magicians do for entertainment; for example, we were asked to juggle tennis balls and balance a stick with a plastic plate on top of it. He says that he is teaching these things for us in order to get better understanding of the essence of Chi Kung, which is the art of flowing with the energy of the universe.

When I do Chi Kung drills, I really feel at balance with the universe.

I feel like I helped the universal flow go in the right direction when I move my body and arms in synchronized movements. I also have a strong hope that the drills will eventually help us to overcome all the terrible things that happend to me and my children.

When I juggle the tennis balls, I laugh. I feel like a little girl who got permission to play with her favorite toy. I also feel that I am gaining the power which enables me to keep several things in the air. Nowadays, I have the ability to tackle several things at the same time.

I also feel I’ve regained my ability to entertain. Having the class watch me as I spin my plates in the air or toss my balls around while moving my body gently in a circle, is exhilerating. Being able to hold a conversation at the same time is quite an accomplishement.

I’ve come to enjoy these things very much, and have found I’m much more centered and comfortable with myself when I do them. I don’t even mind that the teacher will leave the room from time to to time to laugh to himself. After all I don’t look at it as him seeing a fat lady spinning, I look at it as a good deed for the day. After all, I helped him to laugh, and that makes me feel good, because I feel good inside with who I am.

Note: I would like to thank to our Qigong teacher for his dedication for teaching us. I greatly appreciate his knowledge. God bless him for his wonderful work. Without his dedicated teaching we couldn’t improve our health. 
 

Early Life and Education
Boxer was born Barbara Levy on November 11, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York. Though her parents were Jewish immigrants, they provided a typical American childhood for their daughter. She was a student in the public schools of Brooklyn, and went on to attend Brooklyn College. In her senior year, she married a fellow student, Stewart Boxer, and graduated in 1962 with a Bachelors degree in economics. She sought a job in the financial district of New York City while her husband attended law school at Fordham University. Boxer applied for stockbroker training programs in several Wall Street brokerage firms, but in the early sixties, a woman seeking a job selling securities was completely unheard of. Unwilling to give up on a career in the financial industry, Boxer took a job as a secretary. She continued to train on her own time for the stockbrokers license exam and soon earned her brokers license.

In 1965, Boxer and her husband moved to California. The couple was expecting their first child and wanted to move to an area where housing was more affordable. Boxer gave birth to her daughter the day after she arrived in California, and in 1967 the couple added a second child to their family, and settled in Greenbrae, in Marin County. The turbulent climate of the late sixties made Boxer realize that although she was a young suburban mother, she was not content to focus on her family to the exclusion of the world around her. The Vietnam War and the assassination of both John and Robert Kennedy prompted her desire to become involved in politics.

Political Career
Since her children were still young, Boxer chose to participate in several local associations in her spare time, rather than going back to work full time. Her priorities were education, the environment and the anti-war movement. Her work placed her in contact with many local political figures in Marin County and got her noticed as a hardworking and dedicated activist. In 1971, she decided to run for public office, campaigning for a seat on the Marin County Board of Supervisors. It was the first time in almost twenty years that a female candidate had made it past the primary. Even though her qualifications and experience made her a serious contender, she lost the election by a very small margin the following November. Talking with voters during the election and afterwards, it became apparent to Boxer that her candidacy was not successful because of voters’ perception that a young mother should be at home with her children rather than on the campaign trail.

Even though her first foray into politics had not been entirely successful, Boxer was not one to give up. She went back to work, taking a job as a journalist and associate editor with the “Pacific Sun” newspaper. Boxer left the paper in 1974 and took a position as a congressional aide to Congressman John Burton. During the two years she spent working for Burton, Boxer learned a great deal about politics. Armed with this new insight and a campaign strategy that emphasized her qualifications and experience rather than her private life, she ran again for the Marin County Board of Supervisors, and this time her campaign was a success. She sat on the board between 1976 and 1981, and was elected president of the board, the first woman to hold such a position, in 1980.

In 1982, Boxer benefited from the re-apportioning of California’s congressional districts, since her new district was larger and included mostly Democrats. Her former employer, John Burton, was favored to win re-election but instead to chose to retire. He endorsed Boxer for his vacant seat, and she was elected to the House of Representatives.

Congresswoman
When she arrived in Congress, Boxer encountered some of the same obstacles as she had in her early days on Wall Street. Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, then Speaker of the House, referred to the “men in Congress” during a speech and Boxer asked him if he would include women in such statements in the future. Boxer concentrated on the same issues in both local and national politics, including the environment, defense spending and women’s issues. In 1987, she lobbied for government procurement reforms, citing a coffeepot the Defense Department had purchased for $7,600 and a toilet seat that had cost $600.

While Boxer had accomplished many of her goals in Congress, her most defining moment in her career as a congresswoman came in 1991, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. She led a group of fellow female representatives to the Senate and asked to be admitted and heard before the committee. They were refused entrance and told that “strangers” were not permitted to attend meetings of the Judiciary Committee. She would later use this anecdote as the basis for the title of her book “Strangers in the Senate” which detailed her life as a woman in politics.

Stranger in the Senate
Boxer served ten years in the House, and each re-election came with relative ease. In 1992, an opportunity for advancement arose, and she left the relative safety of the House of Representatives to campaign for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Alan Cranston. She was not favored to win, especially since San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein was seeking California’s other Senate post. The odds that a state as large and diverse as California would send two Jewish women from the Bay Area to represent them in the Senate were astronomical. However, that is exactly what happened. Feinstein and Boxer teamed up for parts of the campaign, with Feinstein asking supporters to make contributions to Boxer’s campaign, which needed the money more than her own. In political circles, 1992 became known as “The Year of the Woman,” and Boxer’s campaign centered largely on the lack of women in the Senate, and the importance of having more women in positions of power.

As she had done when first elected to Congress, Boxer continued to make the issues that she spoke about during the campaign the issues she worked on after the campaign. She was a co-sponsor of the Family Medical Leave Act, the Freedom of Choice Act and the Children’s Environmental Protection Act. She prevented a plan to dispose of radioactive waste in the California desert and lobbied for the protection of California wetlands.

Her reelection in 1998 was not as close a contest as it had been in previous years, but it was still hard going. At the time, President Bill Clinton was embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and Boxer’s opponent Matt Fong criticized her as an extreme liberal and a Clinton insider. She countered with a series of last minute ads attacking Fong’s conservative right wing views. When the votes were tallied, Boxer won the election by ten points, doubling her margin of victory in the previous election. Boxer was reelected again in 2004.

When the Senate is not in session Barbara Boxer lives in Greenbrae California, with her husband Stewart. The couple has two grown daughters and one grandchild.
By: Kim, Brenda, Our States: California, 2006