Ascension Magazine

DISEASE DOESN’T DIVIDE FAMILY

Miss Allissa Leggio is a happy, active, and special ten year old. Allissa is a triplet and she and her brothers Brandon and Tyler attend Episcopal School in Baton Rouge. The trio live with their Mom and Dad, Darrel and Kathy Leggio, who own and run Brewbacher’s Restaurant in Gonzales. The Leggio’s are a typical south Louisiana close-knit family who spend most of their energy and time happily together. So when March 20, 2008 arrived it seemed to be another routine day for this happy group.

Soon after she awoke that day, Allissa told her mom that she felt a little ‘shaky’. There seemed little reason for concern and Kathy told her to eat breakfast and then see how she felt. Initially, Allissa felt better after eating, but soon she was once again ‘off’ a little. Mom told her that she would be going to the doctor’s office just ‘to be safe’. But Allissa’s regular doctor was not available that morning so she had to see another doctor who noticed something ‘odd’ during her examination of the young girl. She ordered some tests and the results of those tests confirmed her suspicions. Kathy Leggio, the unsuspecting young mom, was devastated as the doctor informed her that her daughter was diagnosed with the chronic disease type 1 diabetes. Overwhelmed with worry, Kathy broke down in tears as the doctor told her about her child’s illness. Allissa meanwhile, heard only the ‘Di’ part of the word diabetes, saw her mother crying, and asked her mom if this meant she was going to die. At the time, Kathy did not realize the seriousness of the disease and she comforted her daughter, with the doctor’s help, telling Allissa that she would be fine and that it meant that she would have to change her diet and monitor her food intake and her blood sugar levels, but everything would be alright. While that was true, Kathy could not have imagined how significantly this news would change her life and the lives of her family. More

QUE SERA, SERA - THE YEAR 2009
PREDICTIONS FROM BAR-NACK THE MAGNIFICENT
by Bill Delaune

Oh the fond memories we’ll have of the year 2008. Everybody’s 401K went kaput. O. J. Simpson finally went to jail. And George W. Bush went off into the Texas sunset leaving us with a country in mass destruction.

But that’s why the Good Lord put our eyes in front of our head instead of the back so we can see where we’re going and not where we’ve been. So let’s peer into our crystal BCS ball and see what’s in store for the year 2009…

January -

Controversy rears its ugly head at the first Gonzales council meeting of the year when some of the older councilmen forget that the town has a new mayor for the first time in 32 years.

“That’s not the mayor,” says one pointing at newly-elected Barney Arceneaux. “Johnny Berthelot was a friend of mine and he’s not Johnny Berthelot.”

“That’s not the mayor,” chime in another. “The mayor doesn’t have that much hair.”

When newly-elected Chief of Police Sherman Jackson arrives to restore order, a new refrain breaks out from the same senior group.

“That’s not the chief. Bill Landry was a lot-uh-a lot shorter.”

On the national scene, newly-inaugurated President Obama vows to lead a national health program by taking a 5-mile hike each morning and giving up soda pop for good old H2O.

The major networks-enthralled by any move the President makes-all carry the same story lead on the six o’clock news-“Obama Walks on Water”. More

DON'T FRET THE GUITAR
By Joel Bourque

The guitar pick is the most used guitar accessory out there. Many of us can't play a note without one. There endless styles of picks available and it's up to you to find which one works best for your playing style. Picks differ in shape, thickness and construction material.

The conventional shape of guitar picks is a rounded triangular shape. The most popular pick shape is the Fender 351. This comfortable pick is modeled after the first commercial pick made by the D'Andrea Company in 1922. This is the standard in guitar picks for most companies. Another popular shape are Jazz picks. These are are smaller and rounder in size and are great for fast picking. Dunlop has developed the shark fin which has many different playing surfaces for strumming and picking. Triangle picks are larger in size,in the exact shape of an equilateral triangle and are good for heavy strumming.

Thickness can range from thin (as little as .25 mm) to heavy (as much as 3.0 mm). Thickness is probably the most important feature of a pick. Thinner picks are good for strumming while thicker picks are best for soloing and picking. There is no rule that you can't pick with a thin pick or strum with a heavy pick,again it depends on your picking style. Some players use a variety of picks for different situations while others use one pick and adapt their picking technique to achieve different sounds. More

THOUGHTS FROM BULLY: I'VE GOT YOUR BAILOUT RIGHT HERE!

Our beloved country is going to Hell in a Hand Basket, Fast!

Bail out here. Bail out there. Bail out everywhere.

I wish I had a job that I could come up with stupid ideas and get paid for it.

I wish I had a job that if my stupid ideas didn’t work and I got fired for my stupid ideas, I would receive a million dollars to release the company from my work contract for having stupid ideas.

Apparently there are plenty of these jobs out in the world and I missed the boat. I guess I am just stupid for believing that hard work pays off.

Everyone is turning to the Government these days to get paid. The new President has indicated that his solution to the financial crunch is creating 4 million jobs. That’s great but there is one thing he over looked. . If these jobs are there available so the lower income citizens have a job and can be productive citizens, there is one thing he over looked. THEY WON’T SHOW UP!!!!! The lower income citizens of the United States of America are a bunch of lazy bums. They have their hand out for a hand out. More