Today is dedicated to Martin Luther King.  I think about how much this man helped change our future, not just for African Americans but for all.  For me it is a day of action.  This man changed equality in so many ways.  He did it peacefully.  My favorite quote is "Take the first step in faith.  You don't have to see the whole staircase.  Just take the first step."  I used that initially after my divorce.  It took everything that I had to take that first step.  I wasn't capable of having that blind faith back then.  It meant my being humbled. 

I remember when I needed help.  Falls United Methodist Church was the one that helped me the most.  My own church didn't help me at all except for later when I used the food bank.  Falls United Methodist Church was directly behind Texas Nightlives.  A bar that my ex husband frequented with his new girlfriend, now wife.  A bar that he took our oldest daughter to on July 3, 2010 which was my weekend to have visitation.  In order to receive that help, I had to submit to God in a way that my pride kicked in and fought me on.  I learned what it meant to be submissive to our God that day. This church and bar share a parking lot.  The very place that sin occurs daily is the very place that I receive a huge blessing.  It was Martin Luther King that helped me take that first blind step.  He was the first to show me what Love is and what its power holds for me.  He taught me to take ownership of my feelings, my thoughts, and my actions.  It should be said that he showed me the way to better things. 

Looking back at that time in my life, I realized that my ex was ticked that I left.  Yes that is my sin against my ex even though I felt that I was justified.  My ex is the type of man that wants to punish and humiliate women in general.  I wouldn't say that he is a "sexist" because he likes it when the rights of women goes his way.  I have realized that his intent was to throw me out of the house, keep our girls from me, and to disgrace and humiliate me.  I foiled that attempt.  He still to this day continues in that thinking.  He doesn't realize that I can no longer be humiliated.  I refuse to bow down to him as he is not my God. 

It took me several months to heal from my situation.  I can say without a doubt that I am not there yet.  I am getting there.  The biggest step for me was forgiving him.  I forgave him not for his sake but for mine.  I had to choose between life or death as defined by God.  I chose life in God's eyes.  It is vitally important to my girls that I have healed.  It shows them the path of healing and love in an area filled with so much darkness.  If they see that glimmer of light shining down on them, they will seek it and fill their hearts with love and lightness.   I pray daily for all of them to be shown lightness and blessings. 

I enjoy discussing the Bible.  My boyfriend has a chronological bible.  In Genesis, I was reading how God created mankind.  When I was in high school, a friend, Elliott, made a comment on creationism vs science (the Big Band theory).  How do we know what God's time is?  Truth is we don't.  We don't know if God's day was 24 hours or a thousand years. 

When I was studying Anatomy and Physiology this past semester, I was amazed at how similar the human neuron is to the universe. This is a neuron image down below.  It is so similar to the image of the universe.  How can God not be involved?


Here is an image of the universe. 


I see the similarity in other things too.  Look at a cross section of the human bone.  It is similar to that of a cross section of a tree.  For me, God exists.  For me, God has saved me from the darkness.  I believe that parents are responsible for raising their children in God.  I believe our schools are to teach us Mathematics, Science, English, Language skills, and other subjects.  If I can at the age of 17 figure out the connection of God and science, then so can our children.  They are not dumb.  I do not believe that our state and federal legislators should legislate our beliefs to us. 

This is also about the blame game.  Where did it start?  It started in the beginning verses of the Bible.  It is often termed original sin. 

In this version of Genesis:

But for Adam^[f] no suitable helper was found. ²¹ So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs^[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib^[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

 ²³ The man said,

   “This is now bone of my bones

   and flesh of my flesh;

   she shall be called ‘woman,’

  for she was taken out of man.”

 ²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

 ²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

This is why Divorce is so painful to people.  We are tearing the flesh.  The other part of Genesis that shows the blame game is the following.  Notice how Adam blames both God and the woman.  Notice how the woman blames the serpent:

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”

 ¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

 ¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

 ¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

 ¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

   The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

 ¹⁴ So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

Original sin is man's natural tendency to blame everyone else but ourselves for our problems.  Funny how God has tried for centuries to tell us that since we are of free will, we keep choosing our problems and we blame others.  Until we are honest with ourselves and our loved ones, we will continue to blame one another.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

As a veteran, I have to get my prescriptions filled through the VA system.  It always requires a long wait.  I am often at the VA for hours.  This is just the standard prescription.  With my Accutane prescription, I have to go to the Research Pharmacy.  The lady that runs that pharmacy is awesome and great.  Don't get me wrong.  The Houston VA pharmacy has great techs working there.  I love interacting with them.

Prior to using the VA system, I had a job with Time Warner that allowed me to use pharmacies such as Walgreens.  I like them more than any others.  Their prescription prices are better than even Walmart.  I like them because I can speak with their pharmacists directly.  Recently Walgreens and Express Scripts had a contract that expired on January 1, 2012. This gave many people to get better prices on their prescriptions, allowing more people to use their savings towards necessary items.  You can still use the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens

Tricare which is a health care program for military families.  Tricare is part of the Express Scripts program.  Many families have to find other pharmacies instead of Walgreens which is virtually everywhere.  Walgreens is committed to lowering the cost of medication for patients.  Other pharmacies often have higher prices.  Walgreens' pharmacists provide a special service in that they help patients understand their medication, what they interact with, and help patients make the best decisions over their healthcare.  Many military families are losing this valuable service. 

Express Scripts wanted to control all of the content in the new contract.  Walgreens did not want to increase prices.  They wanted to keep the prices level and flat so that Americans can keep more of their income to be able to purchase mandatory necessities in life.   Express Scripts wanted to control over the definition of what drug is a generic and brand name.  T

I am now following Walgreens on Twitter and Walgreens on Facebook.  I recommend other customers to do the same.  I fully support this campaign of Walgreens.

I need to explain that I am anti abortion and anti adoption.  I feel both do not promote a responsibility to one's offspring.  Children are the future of our country.  These two issues promote children as being disposable and replaceable. 

Texas has a new ultrasound sonogram law that concerns me on a deep level.  I don't think that even Planned Parenthood as addressed the very issue that concerns me as a woman, a mother, a daughter, and a human being in general.  Normal ultrasound sonograms are usually done at twenty weeks.  It is usually done to determine the health and sex of the baby. 

Many consider ultrasound sonograms in the respect of this image.  The gel on the belly with an imaging tool running across it.  However it does not detect the baby under twenty weeks during this method. 



However in order to show the ultrasound sonogram images for pregnancies less than 20 weeks (usually eight to ten weeks), women are forced to undergo a vaginal ultrasound sonogram.  Here is the image of Texas legislator, Carol Alvarado, D-Houston holding the vaginal wand to be used in these types of sonograms.



Okay seeing that thing frightens me.   This procedure is to be enforced upon women and doctors.  This will be a procedure that will be used in many Crisis Pregnancy Centers.  Some of which are not qualified to perform this type of procedure.  Doctors do not man these types of centers.  I know as a mother that I would not want this wand being shoved up my daughters' vaginas if they get pregnant.  To me this is a form of rape, legally mandated.  It requires women to give up their right to privacy and the right to their own medical decisions.    It forces doctors to be in a position that is uncomfortable for their patients.  Texas has gone too far with this law. 

Here is the image in action (Thank you to Burnt Orange for the information). This is a scary image if you think about women in terms of your wife, your daughter, your sister, your mother, your aunt, and your grandmother.  They want to mandate this.  This is a form of legalized rape by the state of Texas.  None of the male Republican representatives and senators were fazed by this at all. 



In one news report from Houston, I am even more so given pause for concern.  There is discussion of making sure a woman has a fully informed consent with abortion.   I quote:

Chief Judge Edith Jones, who authored the opinion, disagreed.

"In attempting to ensure that a woman apprehends the full consequences of her decision, the State furthers the legitimate purpose of reducing the risk that a woman may elect an abortion, only to discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that her decision was not fully informed," Jones wrote.

They talk about the psychological effects of abortion on women but there is no discussion of the psychological effects of adoption on a birth mother either.  In a majority of states, adoptions are still closed to all of the parties of adoption.  There is no single state that provides any kind of support of that birth mother or help her maintain contact with her relinquished child.  There is actually no decent literature of the effects of adoption on a birth mother. 

This is real scary.  I worry about all of the women in the state of Texas.

What is domestic violence?  It is legally defined as the following: 

The continuing crime and problem of the physical beating of a wife, girlfriend, husband, boyfriend or children, usually by the woman's male partner (although may be female violence against a male). It is now recognized as an anti-social mental illness. Sometimes a woman's dependence, low self-esteem, and fear of leaving cause her to endure this conduct or fail to protect a child. Prosecutors and police often face the problem that a battered woman will not press charges due to fear, intimidation and misplaced "love." Increasingly domestic violence is attracting the sympathetic attention of law enforcement, the courts, and community services, including shelters and protection for those in danger.

I have modified this definition to include men instead of being just on the side of women.  I do this because I have had male friends abused at the hands of their girlfriends and wives.  I do this because I am now involved with the kindest of men as a boyfriend.  He is teaching me what it means to be loved and treated as a treasure instead of a piece of property.  In the last blog, I  posted the recent statistics involving domestic violence and rape.

Most arrests occur when there is obvious signs of physical abuse.  It is much harder to prove emotional, sexual, mental, and verbal abuse.  Wikipedia defines these types of abuse as Psychological with the exception of sexual as the following:

As of 1996,^[4] there were "no consensus views about the definition of emotional abuse”. As such, clinicians and researchers have offered sometimes divergent definitions of emotional abuse. However, the widely used Conflict Tactics Scale measures roughly twenty distinct acts of "psychological aggression" in three different categories:

1. Verbal aggression (e.g., "Your partner has said something to upset/annoy you");
2. Dominant behaviours (e.g., "Your partner has tried to prevent you from seeing/speaking to your family");
3. Jealous behaviors (e.g., "Your partner has accused you of maintaining other parallel relations").

The U.S. Department of Justice defines emotionally abusive traits as including causing fear by intimidation, threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner's family or friends, destruction of pets and property, forcing isolation from family, friends, or school or work.^[5]

In 1996, Health Canada argued that emotional abuse is motivated by urges for "power and discontrol",^[3] and defines emotional abuse as including rejecting, degrading, terrorizing, isolating, corrupting/exploiting and "denying emotional responsiveness" as characteristic of emotional abuse.

Several studies have argued that, unlike physical and sexual maltreatment, an isolated incident does not constitute emotional abuse. Tomison and Tucci write, "emotional abuse is characterised by a climate or pattern of behaviour(s) occurring over time [...] Thus, 'sustained' and 'repetitive' are the crucial components of any definition of emotional abuse."^[6] Andrew Vachss, an author, attorney and former sex crimes investigator, defines emotional abuse as "the systematic diminishment of another. It may be intentional or subconscious (or both), but it is always a course of conduct, not a single event."^[7]

Subtler emotionally abusive tactics include insults, putdowns, arbitrary and unpredictable inconsistency, and gaslighting (the denial that previous abusive incidents occurred). Modern technology has led to new forms of abuse, by text messaging and online cyber-bullying.

As of 1996,^[4] there were "no consensus views about the definition of emotional abuse”. As such, clinicians and researchers have offered sometimes divergent definitions of emotional abuse. However, the widely used Conflict Tactics Scale measures roughly twenty distinct acts of "psychological aggression" in three different categories:

1. Verbal aggression (e.g., "Your partner has said something to upset/annoy you");
2. Dominant behaviours (e.g., "Your partner has tried to prevent you from seeing/speaking to your family");
3. Jealous behaviors (e.g., "Your partner has accused you of maintaining other parallel relations").

The U.S. Department of Justice defines emotionally abusive traits as including causing fear by intimidation, threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner's family or friends, destruction of pets and property, forcing isolation from family, friends, or school or work.^[5]

In 1996, Health Canada argued that emotional abuse is motivated by urges for "power and discontrol",^[3] and defines emotional abuse as including rejecting, degrading, terrorizing, isolating, corrupting/exploiting and "denying emotional responsiveness" as characteristic of emotional abuse.

Several studies have argued that, unlike physical and sexual maltreatment, an isolated incident does not constitute emotional abuse. Tomison and Tucci write, "emotional abuse is characterised by a climate or pattern of behaviour(s) occurring over time [...] Thus, 'sustained' and 'repetitive' are the crucial components of any definition of emotional abuse."^[6] Andrew Vachss, an author, attorney and former sex crimes investigator, defines emotional abuse as "the systematic diminishment of another. It may be intentional or subconscious (or both), but it is always a course of conduct, not a single event."^[7]

Subtler emotionally abusive tactics include insults, putdowns, arbitrary and unpredictable inconsistency, and gaslighting (the denial that previous abusive incidents occurred). Modern technology has led to new forms of abuse, by text messaging and online cyber-bullying.

Symptoms of emotional abuse vary.  I found this site that had a series of questions that applied.

Take a moment to consider these questions.  Your partner might have behaved as though these things were okay, even though it's obvious that they aren't okay...:

Do you feel that you can't discuss with your partner what is bothering you?

Does your partner frequently criticize you, humiliate you, or undermine your self-esteem?

Does your partner ridicule you for expressing yourself?

Does your partner isolate you from friends, family or groups?

Does your partner limit your access to work, money or material resources? 

Has your partner ever stolen from you?  Or run up debts for you to handle? 

Does your relationship swing back and forth between a lot of emotional distance and being very close? 

Have you ever felt obligated to have sex, just to avoid an argument about it?

Do you sometimes feel trapped in the relationship?

Has your partner ever thrown away your belongings, destroyed objects or threatened pets?

Are you afraid of your partner?

I have highlighted the ones that I have endured during my marriage to my ex husband.  He often gaslights things as if they did not exist. Gaslighting is a common occurrence in domestic violence.  You can find various articles here, here, here, and here.

I also found this article.  One particular quote also stood out for me.  My ex used to do this to me all the time. 

If someone calls you derogatory names, even if they say they are joking, they mean to hurt you and keep you in line. Abusers sometimes cover themselves by blaming you, saying that you need to lighten up or that you are too sensitive. You are not too sensitive; you are feeling in your gut that this is not the way you should be treated. Abusers have a way of making you think that this is normal behavior and that it is you who has the problem.

I did not know what it was until a few months ago exactly what gaslighting was.  Many times the courts ignore this abusive phenomena. I found that courts with their decisions often encourage this type of behavior without realizing how damaging this is to the children that they claim to protect. 

Domestic violence has been a topic that has concerned me for a while.  For me, that topic is no longer a real concern personally.  My relationship with my boyfriend is solid.  Our fights are more about philosophical issues, namely abortion vs adoption.  I began researching the topic recently just to see what information is out there because a new CDC study came out last year about sexual violence and domestic violence against women in particular.   They included men in their study this time as well.  Their findings were the following:

For women:

• High rates of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence were reported by women.
• Nearly 1 in 5 women has been raped at some time in her life.
• One in 4 women has been a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in her lifetime.
• One in 6 women has experienced stalking victimization during her lifetime in which she felt very fearful or believed that she or someone close to her would be harmed or killed. Much of stalking victimization was facilitated by technology, such as unwanted phone calls and text messages.
• Almost 70 percent of female victims experienced some form of intimate partner violence for the first time before the age of 25.
• Approximately 80 percent of female victims of rape were first raped before age 25.
• Female victims of violence (sexual violence, stalking, intimate partner violence) were significantly more likely to report physical and mental health problems than female non–victims.
• Across all forms of violence (sexual violence, stalking, intimate partner violence), the vast majority of victims knew their perpetrator (often an intimate partner or acquaintance and seldom a stranger).

For men:

• About 1 in 7 men has experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime.
• One in 19 men has experienced stalking victimization at some point during their lifetime in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed.
• Almost 53 percent of male victims experienced some form of intimate partner violence for the first time before age of 25
• More than one-quarter of male rape victims were first raped when they were 10 years old or younger.
• Male victims of violence (sexual violence, stalking, intimate partner violence) were significantly more likely to report physical and mental health problems than male non-victims.

Children are often in the middle of these disputes.  They see these things daily.  I understand that men are sometimes victims but a majority of the victims are women.  We still have a long standing issue with domestic violence in our country. 

Recently President Obama updated the FBI's antiquated definition of rape and this definition also include men which is the following:

The revised FBI definition says that rape is “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object,” without the consent of the victim. Also constituting rape under the new definition is “oral penetration by a sex organ of another person” without consent.

The original definition was established in 1929.  It took this long to redefine it.  President Obama requested for $777 million dollars to address violence against women.  Congress only gave $592 million dollars.  It is not enough to actually help victims of domestic violence period.  It is still happening with way too much occurrence.  I know that it happens to men because it happened to a male friend of mine. 

I decided to watch the news reports across the country for a week.  In this week alone,  I found many many stories.  In San Francisco, the sheriff is being brought up on domestic violence charges because he left a bruise on his wife.  He was re-elected for the position.  A county commissioner in Nelsonville has been charged a few times of domestic violence.  He was convicted but he still has his job.  Even Boxer Mayweather was found guilty of domestic violence charges.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  In several pages of google searching, I only found one case of a woman being charged with domestic violence.  These are all cases of physical violence.  There is no mention of emotional, mental, verbal, and sexual violence.  In Houston alone in the last twenty four hours, two stories made the Houston Chronicle news.  One story where the ex killed a woman's dog.  Another man stands accused of stalking his ex.

I have been a member of fathers' rights groups over many years.  I did this to drum up support for birth fathers who have been forced by state laws to relinquish their parental rights against their will.  That is an issue that will always be near and dear to my heart.  I am a daughter of such a man.  They keep the records sealed so that he and I can never find each other.  That we can not ever show the vast discrimination that men deal with in when it comes to their children.  Recently I came across many of these groups stating that mothers are the ones inflicting abuse on children, not fathers.  I stepped back.  I know personally that it is not the case.  I believe that fathers are just as capable as mothers of raising children.  However, men are just as capable if not more so of being domestically violent towards mothers and children.  They actually cause more damage than a woman could. 

Next, What exactly is the definition of domestic violence?

Saving money is one of the most important tasks these days of my life.  I have to look at so many new ways to save money so that I can move ahead in my world.  I can remove the crunch that is often on my boyfriend who supports me in so many ways.   My expensive habits are smoking and coffee.  I love both.  I can't really quit smoking as I am on medication that prohibits me from taking Chantix and Zyban.  It is a price that I have to pay in order to get my health on the right track.  I have searched high and low to find decent coupons on both to help save money. 

I check into various ways of saving money.  One is through Savings.com.  You can find awesome coupons on various companies.  I like shopping at Kohls and Victoria's Secret.  Of course I  usually shop at their outlet shops.  I can't afford a regular bra from Victoria.  They range from fifty dollars to over hundred dollars.  Forty percent off a bra could come in handy.  I may not like their commercials but I do love their bras.  They are comfortable and do not cut into my skin.  So how do you save money?

I have been a fan of his movies for years.  Madea is just totally hysterical and so down to the earth.  Three of his movies have deeply affected me.  “Why Did I Get Married?” was one of those movies.  I cried and cried at one particular character.   She was very much like me.  It didn’t matter what her color was.  I felt her emotions.  I felt her pain, her humiliation, her anger, her despair,  and her utter shock at how her marriage turned out.  Of course, my favorite part is when she hits her husband over  the head with a wine bottle. 

I bought For Colored Girls a while back at Blockbuster.  I had wanted to see it.  I knew it was a chick flick but a man could learn a lot from this movie.  He could learn the psyche of a woman.  It is based on poetry written in a series of 20 poems by Ntozake Shange.  The poetry is recited when the women conflict with each other.   Sometimes it is lift one another up.  Sometimes it is a fight between sisters.  Sometimes it is a fight between mother and daughter.  The male characters are very different.  Some are good and some are bad.  There isn’t a consistency.  These men are outside the periphery of these women’s lives. Although it is based on the African American's woman experience, women of all colors benefit from the experience of the movie and the Broadway play.  Women in general can feel the pain of the characters.  Many of us can join in the bonds of womankind as a result.  It is ultimately that bond that heals women in general.  I can vouch for the healing relationships of women.

The most heart wrenching scene is when a veteran, living with one of the women,  tries to force her hand in marrying him by holding their children by their arms outside a fifth story window.  His grip is slips and both children fall to their deaths.  Another woman is raped by an acquaintance.  Another woman has an abortion where she nearly dies from the procedure.  The abortionist is NOT a medical professional. 

Each story is intertwined with the other.  Each story on its own is horrible and crushing in itself.  Each woman develops friendship with the others.  I did not see the Broadway play.  So I cannot make a judgment on how Tyler Perry brought it to the big screen or if it was even transcribed according to the original poet. 

I often wonder how Tyler Perry can know the heart of a woman like he does.  I have never seen a man reach into the soul of a woman and poetically bring it to life in a movie like he does.   A man cannot begin to comprehend the pain that is in a woman’s heart and how she faces that pain with all that is her. 

I most definitely give this movie many thumbs up as it is an awesome movie that opened my heart even more.  I miss the female bonds that I developed through the years.

I am blending religion with sex.  I woke up reading about a horrible new Texas law forcing women seeking abortions to get a vaginal sonogram.  Wow!  That alone shocks me.  I had never heard of such a thing.  Non medical professionals are making laws that affect the very lives of Texas women.   It is the insertion of a "want" inside the vaginal area of a woman to get project a picture of a fetus.  I am one of those that believes abortion and adoption are bad.  They do not promote God's purpose for a woman.  A woman is designed to be a mother.  Women should not be breeding for other women to have children.    It goes against God in so many ways that it blows my mind. 

We have so many children in care as it is.  We can't even take care of those kids.  So many people are promoting agendas to add more children into the adoption mill usually at the expense of the child himself.  I personally believe that we need to be practicing more comprehensive sex education.  We need to be teaching our teenagers how to use condoms, how their bodies work, and how to protect themselves.  Our kids are going to have sex.  We can't get around it.  I have sat down and spoken with both of my daughters about their bodies and how it functions.  I know that I will do it again with my youngest.  Diseases are spread so quickly through sex that condoms are just as an important necessity to know and understand how they work. 

With the latest crew of Republican thugs, I worry about the reproductive health of my daughters. We have so many of them wanting to eliminate all forms of birth control.   I want them to be able to have children of their own.  It is vitally important for them to be able to educate themselves, protect themselves, and make decisions over their own bodies. 

It really ticks me off.  We now have many soldiers returning from two wars now.  We are in the worst economy ever.  Many will not be able to find jobs that help support their families.  Many are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Many are having marital problems.  They are not getting the health care that they need to have a successful transition into civilian life.  Yes it most definitely ticks me off.  I am a Desert Storm Veteran.  I know from personal experience how badly America treats her veterans. 

News from Washington state is enough to make one stop and take a deep breath.  Here is a veteran who fought in Iraq.  Here is a man whose soul was devoured by military engagement who did not receive any support.  He was kicked out of the military for DWI.  No help just the boot.  Right before Christmas, there was another veteran involved shooting in Minnesota.  How many before the military and the Veterans Affairs offices around this country realize that they are not doing enough for our soldiers?

It has been this way for Vietnam veterans.  It took them thirty years before they recognized it.  Desert Storm vets such as myself have been dealing with the health effects of decisions made by the military and the VA for twenty plus years.  I know that my skin disorder, Hidradenitis, has been blamed on everything else but the nerve agent pill, anthrax vaccinations, pesticides, and depleted uranium.  I am tired of being blamed for something that was caused by the decisions of the leaders of the United States military. 

Is it going to be 20 years plus for returning veterans of Enduring Iraqi Freedom?  The VA needs to step up to the plate and care for all veterans.  We paid with our lives, our livelihood, and our health.  It is time for them to step up and care for all of its veterans.