6 • August 2018 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


WFC has Healthy Snacks for Me when I visit their Store!


Parents are not Superhuman! by Gabriel A. Fraire of Healdsburg, CA ~ gafraire@comcast.net


since having children there have even been times when I have craved it. So, when my wife said she was tak- ing the girls for an overnight visit to see their aunt I was elated.


U


Wiggles is a 11 year old Puggle and comes to Western Farm Center because he loves the selection of food and gets to go in the store and meet other dogs. His owner also shops at the store be- cause crickets are available for his pet turtle. A friend told him about WFC and he’s been a loyal customer since! Another positive is the fact he gets a lot of help from the staff and a much better selection of pet products to choose from than any other pet store in Sonoma County!


Vaccination clinics every Sunday from


9:30am to 11:30 am


Ask about Our FREE Rewards Card!


Since 1967 we’ve been the favorite place to shop for your pets & farm animals!


Western Farm Center (707) 545-0721


21 West 7th Street • Santa Rosa


Mon-Sat 8am-5:30pm • Sun 9:30am-4pm www.westernfarmcenter.com


6 • August 2018 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. “I’ve got nothing to do today but smile.” ~ Paul Simon Golfing at Mayacama 2018!


So why did I wake up depressed. My down feelings weren’t related to any specific inci- dent. By intents and purposes I should have been in a fan- tastic mood. There wasn’t any activity that pushed me into the state of numbness. I just woke up that way. I lay down on the couch. I didn’t turn on the television; I didn’t read any magazines or look through the paper. I just lay there. Within a few minutes I was asleep. Some-


sually, time alone is a great bless- ing. I have always relished it and


time later in the night I woke, changed and went to bed. There are just some days that need to be worked through regardless of how one feels. Just because you are a parent doesn’t mean you are super human. The next morn- ing I still felt a little out of sorts and


wasn’t quite sure how


the day would unfold.


I thought about ignoring my appointments


or trying to


cancel them, but that would have only added to my stress level because I would have still needed to see these peo- ple.


I’d like to say that some- thing fantastic happened to me that changed my whole day’s outlook and I arrived


I want to


tell all parents, it is okay to sometimes be depressed for no apparent reason...


home a different person. I would like to say that. When I arrived home the family was back. After we got the kids in bed and the house went quiet, I hoped for a few moments with my wife to talk out my feelings but she fell asleep. The next morning I was fine, back to normal. Maybe it was having my fam- ily home. Maybe it just was one of those things. I want to tell all parents, it is okay to sometimes be


depressed for no apparent reason. It just happens. Don’t beat yourself up about it. It will pass.


Gabriel A. Fraire has been a writer more than 40 years. He is also the current Healdsburg Literary Laureate. He can be reached through his website at: www.gabrielfraire.com


“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.”


Emily Dickinson


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