Breath Easy With Flat Stanley

Breathing is something everyone does, something we don't think about really. But, that was not always the case. Tuberculosis also called The White Plague killed 1 out of 9 people just in Columbus Ohio alone in the early 1900's. Think of 9 people you know, 1 in nine died because of a breathing problem.

Flat Stanley came across this Ohio State Historical Sign at 1520 Old Henderson. After reading both sides of the signs and researching further he learned what a remarkable woman Carrie Nelson Black was.

In 1898 Carrie started Instructive District Nurses Association, in 1911 she started Mother's Day in Ohio, in 1913 she help start an open air school on Neil Avenue. The open air school was open to children who lived in a home where one or more people were afflicted with TB. In 1921 she started the Countries first FREE Cancer Clinic!

She was a woman before her time, always caring for others, lobbying for better public health. She spent 30 years as President and CEO of The Breathing Society (formerly known as The TB Society) which she founded in 1906.

A Tuberculosis dispensary located at 40 S. Third Street in Columbus provided care for those without funds to care for themselves. She taught many that good medical care, proper nuitrition and clean air was a right that should be afforded to all.

Columbus became smoke free in 2005. Sadly, there are still areas in our country who've not yet caught up to that important step of protecting one's right to breath clean fresh air. There are still places in the country that allow smoking in public buildings.

The Breathing Association continues Carrie's legacy by providing education, and financial assistance to those in need to protect everyone's right of Public Health.

Carrie was the wife of Samuel L. Black a Probate Judge and Major of Columbus and mother of 3. Carrie and her husband Samuel Luccock Black are buried in Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.

So Stanley has a message for all, stop smoking if you smoke and don't start the habit. Encourage all you love to stop and or not to start as well.

An activity to help explain the importance of breathing could be blowing bubbles. If one can't blow out due to a breathing problem, one can't enjoy the fun of blowing bubbles. Then get a whistle and let the kids blow. Blowing a whistle is also blowing out. Kids love to blow whistle and will remember this because of the activity. Depending on the age of your child have them chew gum (a cool minty type). Then remove the gum and have them suck in....the opposite of blowing out; but still shows the importance of breathing. When they suck in, they'll feel the coolness.

Do you have a child in sports? Talk about how differently they breath when exercising, when their heart is beating harder. Talk about how much harder it is to breath in certain weather conditions. These things are more visual and promote understanding.

Haven't left you with a word puzzle in a while, so here's one with 20 words related to what Stanley learned.

Breathing Words

X I G T Q I S X E J H G H S Q D H O R G
O E T I H W O I H N N K T L G P X E L Q
G R N B U N U I S I L Q L N R N H D P V
K E A Z E S W H H O M Q A C F T U C P U
R L C L Q R M T G I L S E R O C R L Z C
X C S I K R A O M J M U H M I I N P U K
Z O L G L E X F K O I C C D A Y Z I E I
N K G I R B G S K I M L Y R P I Y K W G
G I Y B N U U E L B N O R Z E Q F T C L
O Z Y K F I R P C L J G A I T B B K A A
Y Q O L N X C B A A L E S E B R U C R E
K Y R P Z A A P D C H I N M P Y I T R W
K I X T A Y Q R Z K Z T E Z M Q P B I E
A N V L W T R N X U L X P X U R V K E E
W H E E Z I N G K J C U S C A N C E R R
A R D I Y Q M V C J S E I E U G A L P F
D G I L F T C X R W M S D O O N K N Z S
X Z W J W M S E W J L V K R E C P F J E
N B A C S C L M R Y V S B C T Y R K V Y
A N D O C X E V F B T J D S O T U Q L I

AIR
BLACK
BREATHING
CANCER
CARRIE
CLINIC
DAY
DISPENSARY
FREE
HEALTH
LUNGS
MOTHER
NELSON
PLAGUE
PUBLIC
SMOKE
SMOKING
TUBERCULOSIS
WHEEZING
WHITE

You should be able to cut and paste the puzzle in order to print it. Until next time, Friday June 25th, Flat Stanley Out.

In case you've missed any of Stanley's Friday Fun, you can catch up here:

• April 23, 2010 Books and Parks (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
• April 30, 2010 Traitor or Hero (Worthington, Ohio)
• May 7, 2010 Flat Stanley and his friend Captain Pinney (Worthington, Ohio)
• May 14, 2010 First Flight and Flat Stanley (Worthington, Ohio)
• May 21, 2010 Up The Indian Mound with Flat Stanley (Columbus, Ohio)
• May 28, 2010 Flat Stanley goes to Camp (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
• May 31, 2010 Honoring Those who Served on Memorial Day (Upper Arlington, Ohio)
• June 12, 2010 Signs and Flat Stanley, (Worthington, Ohio)