For Love of Country Military Policewoman (my saga continues) For your own signed copy see Amazon or silvaredigonda.ca

My first trip was to Cairo with the Canadian contingent. What an experience. We were crammed in a minibus and then in a taxi. The drive was long and exhausting. A weekend is not sufficient to see Cairo. But that was all we had. The trip was hurried and not organized. My first impression of Cairo was that it resembled Toronto, after a nuclear war. I only got to see the exterior of the pyramids. In my opinion, they were overrated. I didn’t find them impossible to make. I thought of all the tales such as those connecting UFOs to the pyramids and found them ridiculous. We continued to tour a museum without a guide. I was pleased to see King Tut, as I had missed him when he was in Toronto. The museum was breathtaking. There was so much to see, to know, so much history and I missed not having a guide to explain what we were seeing. The main hall overwhelmed me. Massive figures of Kings and their Queens stood side by side. I could feel them, their greatness. How proud a nation! What happened? I cannot help feeling sadness for these great cultures that had disappeared with time. How is it possible for a people to take a step backwards? I found the Egyptians I encountered simple-minded. At least they appeared to me at the time, where I was stationed. The people I came into contact with were the Bedouins. The men were thin and dark-skinned and appeared lazy. I also found them unattractive to women and that is putting it mildly. The women kept their faces covered and were not treated equally to men. They did the chores and any hard work. Mind you, this is what I was told. I myself had never seen anyone, regardless of sex, do too much work since I’d been there. The women, too, were slim and rather short--about five feet. It was difficult to assess their beauty since they were covered from head to foot. I’d spotted them occasionally removing their veils to show their faces to our men while on patrol. Obviously these women were not as timid as they appeared to be. I had the opportunity to meet them on occasion while on patrol and the reaction was consistent. They seemed surprised and happy as they examined me. Though communication was not possible due to our language barriers, expressions are universal. These women embraced their lifestyle and had no animosity towards mine. On the contrary they appeared impressed. I hope there comes a time when humanity can unite in equality and mutual respect. What happened to these women? How can they once sit proud, next to their men, intelligence filling their faces, full of character? How could it come to this? I obviously had to read much more about these people. I was more familiar with the history of these people than the present. A pamphlet I had read about the Bedouins describes them as indigenous inhabitants of Sinai. There are more than 10,000 divided in several tribes. We boarded a night cruise in Cairo and heard and enjoyed a combination of English, French and Spanish lyrics. We had a belly dancer entertaining us as well. It was an evening of romance, mystery and intrigue. The following day we toured an Orthodox Church. Men and women prayed separately in different parts of the church.

Excerpt From: Silva Redigonda. “For love of country : military policewoman.” www.silvaredigonda.ca + Amazon

I'm Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!Word on the Street

I am so glad to tell you that my application to sell my books at Word on The Street, in Toronto has been accepted. I have paid in full and am all ready. It is so appropriate, as I read my final draft. Next year the event will be held 28/29 Sept 24. So save the date. I will be in a dedicated space for Independent Authors at the festival. This is all so exciting. If you want a copy once my books are in, please let me know in advance. Also, if you have a show you wish me to attend, I am all in. I am also willing to share space with Artists. I am so motivated. Bye for now.

Fees are increasing to $160.00 per 50 minutes in January 2024

I have just completed (I hope) my assessment for the College and have updated my web site and Psychology Today for my practice. Now, I can get back to my final reading of my much anticipated book "Ominous". This shall now be my priority. I shall read it aloud so I can catch anything amiss. Have I told you I love this book? So, if you would like to invite me for a reading or to your bookstore, community centre, Senior home, book club, cafe etc......You know, even if you are an organizer where people cannot afford to buy books, I will come anyway to talk about either my practice, therapy or books. I now also have a functional car (which I actually have to bring in for a check up) so I am not restricted to Toronto. I do appreciate parking. I am very open to everyone. Hey Guy Buy Me is not for youth. I do not allow youth to open the book. However, the rest have no cartoons and it is quite safe though more suited to adults. It is amazing how much I have accomplished as well as having my pound of fun. Keep safe.

PTSD - As promised

The Concept of Post-Traumatic Stress: The Past, The Present, The Future from EHN Canada on Vimeo.

Bringing you up to date

Do you notice how I am always busy and then kind of catch up and then it is pulling my hair out time (I don't actually do that). But hold and behold I do have balance. I go to the gym (I won't tell you how often). I have begun to eat healthier. I figured it was time and so did my physician. He is quite patient. I received my draft Ominous once again and my publisher wants me to read it once more since she made a few minor changes. She swore it was the last time after I told her I was really swamped with work. What happened is I got an email from my college and it is time for me to supply them with a bunch of information. Our college seems to be a lot harder on us than the others. Every so many years we have to fill in paperwork, do an assessment, produce or be ready to produce our hours etc.....This year we need to be up to date about reporting of child abuse. I am up to date. However, I want to read everything they provided once again and anything else I need to read up on. My deadline to do it all is the end of December which is annoying but I understand. This is the month I paid for all my associations for the new year and I am going to pay the college soon and the college is big bucks. Each year I ponder if I should retire and then once again I pay it all, prepare everything I need and I continue. I have been working since I was 13 years old (part time of course at 13) so I guess I am used to it. I like challenges and boy do I get them. So, I guess I continue helping people which is very rewarding. So, that will keep me busy. Now, I also got involved with a lot of fun activities and so I am obligated to go and have fun. I have done most of my Christmas shopping and am giving them out. I don't want to miss anyone. I still have to go to Costco, but I love shopping at craft events and support the small businesses. Ominous should be coming out late January or February. This book is dedicated to my sister and in memory of Holy Terror. Holy Terror is in my book once again and she died while I was working on the book. She broke my heart to pieces. Mr Attitude has bandaged my heart back. Most of the scars are healed. I even supply a teaser of the next book. I do really want to be more focused this year on selling my books so if you have a book club, or know of a craft event where I can go please let me know. I always enjoy meeting people. If you want me to save you a book, let me know. The price will be more expensive this year. I would say about 25.00 because my publisher uses paper which is superb. Keep in mind that the book is worth it because I wrote it and only me. I do not use IA, nada, not only to write but to think with. I think all on my own. Thank you. I get my ideas from everyday life and experiences. Something I see or hear may just stimulate the brain. Nothing artificial. So there. That should be worth the money. It is 100% human. So that is all for now. Take care.

For Love of Country: Military Policewoman www.silvaredigonda.ca and Amazon

At first, I normally patrolled with Luke. He had blond hair and blue eyes and I found him absolutely beautiful. We got along well and I enjoyed being in his company, on or off duty. It would not be long before I was approached by another Dutch policeman who informed me Luke was engaged to be married and that he was hands off. I was surprised. We had never done anything inappropriate. Neither did he tell me he was engaged. I was attracted to Luke; he softened me. When he left the Sinai and I saw him and his team off, he had tears in his eyes as he said goodbye to me. He could barely look at me. I hope that whoever that woman was that he was engaged to would be good to him. Given other circumstances I knew that we could have been happy together, but I would never dream of leaving my country.

Our Canadian Colonel was always a gentleman, not at all like someone under his command. The Colonel commented quite casually to me one day that I would not be happy in Holland if I was to marry a Dutchman. I was surprised that he thought I was thinking of marrying period, or even considering leaving the military. I assured him that it would not happen. I don’t think he quite believed it because he continued that he was of Dutch descent and knew the differences between the cultures. One of our Canadian women did get engaged to one of the Dutch support soldiers. He left the forces to marry her and she subsequently changed her mind. I felt sorry for him giving up his career. I was in our bar when one of the Canadian soldiers approached me and said he wanted to introduce me to someone. He gave me an invitation card to attend some Officers’ Ball. I reminded him that I was not an officer and he knew I could not attend the ball. I also told him I was not interested in the man he was pointing me to. He pleaded that I at least talk to him. I couldn’t believe it, but I obliged him because I was feeling sorry for him. I sat with the officer who could barely speak English. He was from one of the South American countries. He was also very handsome, but that was not rarity for me. I explained tactfully that in the Canadian military, officers and non-commissioned were not allowed to fraternize. He said he did not care and of course I said otherwise. I thanked him again politely and returned to the Canadian soldier. “Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again,” I warned him. The soldier went to the officer and they both seemed deep in conversation. That was that. I normally stayed in my own pub and sometimes in the Dutch club when they had functions. A few times a bunch of us would tour the other pubs, but I preferred my own. One evening I was arguing with an American about what plane we had hanging on our wall. I automatically lost when he informed me that he knew what they were because he flew them.” Excerpt From: Silva Redigonda. “For love of country : military policewoman.

Suicide - Please don't - and stay away from anyone who promotes it

One night this week I heard on the news that every minute 8 men commit suicide world wide. Then the other night again on the news I heard that 50,000 people in the United States committed suicide last year. So that hasn't been removed by my thoughts as I enjoy this beautiful Christmas season. So, I want to talk about it for a bit today. I have a video of PTSD, but I will upload that next week. I took a look at what the stats are for Canada and WHO (World Health Organization). Stats for Canada- suicides are about 4,500 in Canada per year. This amounts to 12 people dying by suicide each day. WHO reports 700,000 world wide suicides a year. The Stats for Americans was approximately 50,000 this year. Just the numbers alone are startling. All these people killing themselves and what are we doing about it? I want to write to our Premiere and ask that OHIP includes mental health and not only physical care. There is money provided to organizations for mental health and charity organizations out there, but we need more. We need to ensure that anyone needing mental health care is covered for it. This should be world wide. There should be support groups initiated specific to this group as there is for AA. And no organization in my opinion who is provided for funding should have MAID on their platform. I believe the objective is to save a life and not take it. There are good insurance plans out there and employers seem to be providing more benefits for this. However, there are so many people who do not have the luxury of insurance and they need help too. I think we fail as a society if we close our eyes. Look at all these lives - gone. Their hope - gone. One of the first things I do if I have a client who is suffering from suicidal thoughts is suggest they share their thoughts not only in the therapy room, journaling et...but with family and those close to them. I also always recommend a full phyisical and psychiatric assessment. Medication can help, sharing can help, learning ways to cope can help and I also try to determine when this started and why? Right now with the internet there are all kinds of people out there who are preying on people. I think it was just this week, that a 12 year old boy killed himself. Someone out there on the internet, told him to pay or otherwise he would release sexual photos of him. Please if there is anyone who is reading this that is being preyed upon right now - go to the police and if you are a minor, please share this with your parents. Talk to them. Don't let some creep steal your life. They are counting on getting away with it because they have you suffer shame. You have nothing to be ashamed of, the creeps do and this extends to pedophiles. Don't give them money because they will ask you for money again and again. Then there are those who who encourage you to kill yourself. We have one guy in jail because he was the cause of so many deaths. He used to be a cook of all things. I know he targeted Canadians, Americans and Brits who are now dead, so he can make a buck. Does he feel responsible? I doubt it. So remember, talk about it.....talk and talk.....If you are at the point where you do want to commit suicide, go to an emergency hospital. Seek professional help. Seek a support group. Practice mindfulness. Work out the problems in your life with support. Nothing is worth your life. Perhaps it is time to make changes. If you are a child please talk to your parents. If you cannot talk to them, talk to a teacher, religious leader, or counsellor at school. If you are bullied, report it and ensure it stops. Tell yourself each day that you love you and that you are worth it. Look in the mirror and tell yourself you are a decent person and a loving person. Surround yourself with positive people. Why not this year tell yourself you want to make changes. You want to live. Take care of yourself. What do you think? PS. They release a new number 988 for suicide prevention. Also, be aware that 211 is available as a resource of mental health organizations. Find out what is available where you live. Have a good weekend.