Dear Abby is written by Pauline Phillips and daughter Jeanne Phillips.
School Breakfast Programs Give Kids a Needed Boost
DEAR ABBY: I am a grandmother who volunteers in a third-grade class. Last week, a child I was reading to turned to me and said, "Grandma, have you ever been so hungry that you couldn't play at recess?" It broke my heart that an 8-year-old girl could get her brother and herself off to school, but not have food for breakfast.
Of course, our elementary school has a free breakfast program. The irony is that some parents would rather send their children to school hungry than sign them up.
Unfortunately, many children complain of hunger during the school day. My teachers and I have started a classroom pantry so we can provide a nutritious snack to any student who, because of hunger, struggles to read, solve an arithmetic problem or play actively on the school grounds.
Abby, please let parents know that their children need nourishment in the mornings. Most schools provide breakfast and lunch for free or at reduced rates. Being well-fed will help their children succeed in school. -- VOLUNTEER GRANDMA
DEAR GRANDMA: I'm pleased to print your letter. Everyone should know that breakfast has long been considered the most important meal of the day. Schools should remind parents that nutrition programs are offered to students who need them.
If parents fail to sign up their children for breakfasts or lunches out of some misguided sense of pride, the teacher or principal of the school should make sure the parents are aware of the importance of the program. If that fails, then child protective services should be informed of the plight of truly neglected children.
DEAR ABBY: I am an atheist. I keep this to myself most of the time because of people's misunderstanding and fear. Over the years, a number of people I cared about drifted away once I told them about my beliefs.
I'd like to share with you and your readers what I do and do not believe in:
(1) I believe in the Golden Rule.
(2) I believe each human life is precious; indeed, all life is precious.
(3) Terrible things have been done in the name of religion, but in the end, I believe much good has come to the world because of religious beliefs.
(4) I don't believe in God or any other supernatural being, including the devil.
(5) I believe with death we cease to exist. Therefore, while we are here on Earth it is our job to treat each other and ourselves with care and do as little damage as possible.
America is based on freedom of -- or freedom from -- religion. It's uncomfortable feeling that I continually need to conceal my true beliefs from others.
Thank you for listening. -- STILL A GOOD PERSON
DEAR STILL: As recent events have proven, many evil acts have been done in the name of religion. While atheists are in the minority, you owe no one an apology for your feelings; they are your own. We live in a free country, and freedom means being free to believe what you want to believe.
Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: "Abby's Favorite Recipes" and "More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby." Send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $10 (U.S. funds)
to: Dear Abby -- Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included in price.)
Abandoned Pets on Roadside Will Rarely Find Good Homes
DEAR ABBY: Over the years, I have seen many letters in your column about dogs and cats, but I can't recall seeing one about a hidden problem -- abandoned pets. My neighbors and I live in a rural section of Washington. We constantly see dogs and cats dumped on our road. Frightened, they run from help. They are chased by predators. With no hunting skills, and no food or clean water, they suffer in unimaginable ways -- dying slowly.
I vividly remember the plight of one cat. Maybe the owners thought by leaving it close to a house, it would find the loving home they could not provide. Day after day, it haunted the roadside. I stopped many times to try to lure it to safety, but it would hide frightened in the underbrush. Eventually, it was hit by a car. It had sat for days on the edge of the road, confident its owners would return to take it home.
Abby, please ask your readers to think twice before taking on the responsibility of an animal. If they must get rid of a pet, take it to a shelter. Dumping a pet on the side of the road is not the answer. People who live in the country have as many pets as they want and can afford. -- PET LOVER IN TENINO, WASH.
DEAR PET LOVER: Your letter is an important one, and it carries a message that has appeared in this column before.
Pet owners should indeed think twice before dumping an animal they want to dispose of. They should rid themselves of the fantasy that it will survive, because it probably won't. If they cannot bring themselves to take the animal to a shelter, then they should call a veterinarian for referral to a pet rescue group.
DEAR ABBY: As chief of staff, secretary and head policy maker of the Long Beach Society of Couch Potatoes, I must say that your correspondent Ann Fink of Florida, with her exercise program for lazy people, neglected to mention a few favorites.
I hereby submit our local program for California Couch Potatoes:
-- Skating on thin ice
-- Casting aspersions
-- Throwing caution to the wind
-- Bending the truth
-- Digging up dirt
-- Flogging a dead horse
-- Going the extra mile
-- Jumping to conclusions
-- Lashing out
-- Upping the stakes
-- Quashing rumors
-- Dancing up a storm
-- Marching to a different drummer
Our group urges that you don't push your luck, for fear that you could end up pushing up the daisies. -- MAX GATOV, LONG BEACH, CALIF.
DEAR MAX: You seem to have an unusually active group of couch potatoes. As with other produce from our great state, California Couch Potatoes are larger and more fully developed than those you usually see sitting in doctors' offices in the other 49.
Dear Abby is written by Pauline Phillips and daughter Jeanne Phillips.
For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more attractive person, order "How to Be Popular." Send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $5 (U.S. funds only) to: Dear Abby Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)
DEAR ABBY: When you printed my letter about the thousands of former prisoners of war who had never gone to the Department of Veterans Affairs about benefits available to them, you touched many lives. It has enabled many former POWs and/or their spouses or widows to finally receive benefits due them. We American Ex-Prisoners of War have been extra-busy because of what you did.
Our work is all volunteer. The rewards come when we get letters like the one I'm enclosing from "Mrs. K." in Oklahoma.
Mrs. K.'s daughter talked with me about her father, who died 15 years ago. It turns out I was in the same German POW camps as her father. His best buddy and I could write nearly identical letters about our forced march in blizzard conditions in northern Germany in January 1945.
She told me: "I have four sisters. We all agree that this is the most excited our mother has been in a very long time. Words do not adequately express our gratitude."
Abby, if you would consider including Mrs. K.'s letter in your column, it would no doubt reach more World War II and Korean War POWs who need a nudge. -- FRED CAMPBELL, SAN ANGELO, TEXAS
P.S. Another nice thing you did was to forward a letter to me from a Ms. Moore in New York. She had seen my letter in your column and wrote to ask for help in locating someone who might have known her father, a bombardier/navigator who flew flying missions out of Assam, India. (Naturally, the plane's name was "My Assam Dragon.") Ms. Moore never knew her father. He died on his last mission in World War II. I put her in touch with the China-Burma-India Association.
She said in her letter that her father was part of a Moore family in Harrison County, Ky., going back 200 years. Well, my mother was a Moore -- and HER family came out of Harrison County, Ky., same era. So it's possible you have connected some kinfolks.
DEAR FRED: It's letters like yours that make writing this column a thrill. I'm gratified to know that we were able to help Mrs. K. from Oklahoma. I am frequently told that when I print a letter, the writer hears from long-lost friends and acquaintances. But in the case of Ms. Moore, I'd say 200 years is a record. Read on:
DEAR ABBY: Thank you for printing Fred Campbell's letter. My husband has been deceased since 1986. He was a B-17 pilot during World War II and was shot down May 4, 1944. He was a prisoner of war until April 29, 1945, and the conditions were deplorable.
After reading the letter from Mr. Campbell, my daughter contacted American Ex-Prisoners of War for more specific information about the legislative changes regarding former POWs and special benefits available. Mr. Campbell followed up my daughter's inquiry personally.
For years before his death, my husband suffered from puzzling ailments. One of the most puzzling was bouts of swollen feet. Mr. Campbell recognized that as a possible symptom of ischemic heart disease.
Fortunately, my husband kept good records, and we had an autopsy done when he died. Those records enabled the VA to decide favorably on my behalf and determined that after all these years that my husband's death was, in fact, service-related. The additional benefits I am now receiving have helped relieve tremendous financial worries for me.
Had I not seen your column, I would not have pursued a review of my husband's records. You have provided a wonderful service to your readers. Thank you again. -- MRS. K., WIDOW OF AN AMERICAN EX-POW
Dear Abby is written by Pauline Phillips and daughter Jeanne Phillips.
To receive a collection of Abby's most memorable -- and most frequently requested -- poems and essays, send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $5 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby -- Keepers Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included in the price.)