Robin Reports From In The Thick Of It

Teenage Drinking Ends in Tragic Death

Close to home, where I have lived for over 13 years, a tragic death of an inebriated teen happened once again. A group of teens came up with a zany idea to drink and then go on top of a warehouse roof to see the city lights-this is what happened next: Delay In Rescue Of Girl  The result is a 17 year old girl dying from a tragic accident.  Sadly, she had fallen through a skylight that gave in to her weight and dropped five stories. For over two hours her friends refused to call 911, due to their being in an alcoholic state and not wanting to be caught. Forever, the question will be unanswered - would they have saved her life had they called for help sooner?  No one will know for certain, ever.

The issue of alcohol and teenagers has been around for as long as I can remember.  It still pains you to hear of unnecessary deaths of teens who could have really impacted this world in a positive way, if it were not for some careless behavior that lead them to an early death. I look at the events that occurred for this group of teens and wonder why the heck they were out in the city at midnight in the first place.  Their curfew was midnight.  I have learned, through friends, the group went up to get a clear view of the city skyline at night. They gained entrance to the roof by someone connected to a person who owned one of the adjacent spaces to the warehouse, where this girl had fallen in.  Okay, so now they are on the roof.  What next- they decide to walk on large pains of glass?  Alcohol certainly blinded them to the risks they were taking.  Logic did not come into play. I think the worse part about drugs and alcohol is how they do blind our senses. 

I have tried my best so far to instill in my children the need to always calculate the risk/reward ratio in anything they take on in life. If only they don't succumb to peer pressure. I am sure this played into this tragic scenario last weekend. What is the worse thing that can happen for the trade-off of the reward you are aspiring for? Life is risky enough when you are sober and clear headed, add a drug of some sort and how can one accurately gage the risks they are taking?  So many unnecessary tragic deaths have occurred in our area in recent years to teenagers.  It is painful to hear.  It angers me.  My kids have not passed through there teenage years fully at this point, so surly I cannot say I have been successful in my ways as of yet. However, I hope they can learn from the teenagers who lost their lives, the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

This is the glass pane the girl fell through. Why did the kids risk walking on this glass skylight, five stories high?  Nothing is worth dying for! I cannot imagine how the teenagers that were with this girl who died will ever get over their part in her death.  It will forever haunt them.  Was the risk worth the reward?  Lastly, given they were in a drunken state, they refused to call 911 for help, they did not want to get caught under the influence. They abandoned their friend in her greatest hour of need.  Over two hours passed before someone who was not a friend of this girl called 911 for help.  They look selfish, negligent, dishonest, and weak.  How will they get past who they were for trying to cover up their own mistakes here? 

This is a sad and tragic real life story to add to the novel of tragic and unnecessary deaths that occur from teenage drinking. This beautiful girl will never set foot on this earth again. Many will forever morn her loss. Share this story with your pre-teen or teen.  It is one more reason not to go out with  friends and take on illegal substances for the cheap thrill one can get.  It is not worth dying for.   

The Danger Of What Our Children Are Exposed To

I am deeply saddened by the tragic shooting of over 40 people at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg VA.  Not only am I saddened and angered, I am deeply disturbed. I am sure I am not alone in this.  I have read in depth on the massacre and  what the student, Cho Seung-Hui wrote as to why he took on such a grizzly act. He was seriously mentally ill and obviously a threat to society for a few years now.  There are two major concerns that stand out for me.  One-why was the school or the police, after being notified of the disturbing behavior he was demonstrating, not able to have better control over this person and the people he was associated with? Should a private investigator, or monitor of some sort been assigned to keep an eye on him? The other concern, a serious concern, is where did all this anger- rage originate? 

The only way to put an end to tragedies like this from occurring is to have an educated understanding on what events lead a person in becoming so angry that he takes on killing so many people including himself. We need to have preventative measures taking place in society to lessen the chances of people taking on mass murders for revenge. It will have to be implemented in the schools, starting in grade school. In one study, I read that they have found a high correlation with high school shooters being kids with a history of being teased and picked on. We are forced to study the life of this killer prior to this disastrous event. Too easy to say he was just a sick man and not look further. However, if we only look to blame him and call him emotionally disturbed, and do not dig further for the responsibility society plays into it, we will see more and more of these events occurring in the future.  And tragically so, the amount being killed in these scenarios is becoming greater.

Bullying is abuse!.  I was not surprised in the least to see there were suggestions in his writing of being picked on and bullied. How haunting were his words, "You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience," he goes on to say, "You thought it was one pathetic boy's life you were extinguishing, Thanks to you I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people." We may call him sick and deranged, and choose to play down those words.  What I hear is someone who felt trampled on. I saw no hope of ever being accepted. He was someone who over time has been seriously wounded and wanted to hurt back.  I hope there is a full investigation into his childhood and what significant events took place or what seemed insignificant and how it truly ended up creating a young adult- out to retaliate against all his aggressors.

The most recent report on how Cho was bullied came out in an article on AOL today:

Classmates in Virginia , where Cho grew up, said he was teased and picked on, apparently because of shyness and his strange, mumbly way of speaking.

Once, in English class at Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., when the teacher had the students read aloud, Cho looked down when it was his turn, said Chris Davids, a Virginia Tech senior and high school classmate. After the teacher threatened him with an F for participation, Cho began reading in a strange, deep voice that sounded "like he had something in his mouth," Davids said.

"The whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, `Go back to China,"' Davids said.

This is a sad event for us all on a universal level.  He is a statistic in society now, an ugly statistic. We have failed him and his victims. He is one who felt he had to harm others in revenge and then take his own life to send a strong message to we the living. There has been controversey as to weather airing it on TV is appropriate.  I think with responsible reporting we can learn from this.  How can we in society make changes and take on preventive measures so children do not evolve into angry, hostile and vengeful adults? Where were the teachers and the administration to support Cho through hard times through grade school and then high school?  Why was teasing and bullying tolerated?  Why was there no one to teach him coping mechanisms to handle such difficult situations?  Why did the bullies not  have serious consequences for their actions? Lastly, we need to figure out how to stop copy cat crimes.  Where it becomes trendy to follow what other offenders have done. We need to stop the vicious cycle of mass killings of students.

One of my children had been bullied in middle school.  One incident was, a group of boys took on spitting on my seventh grader's food at lunch during school, resulting in their being punished.  What followed was other boys, friends of the perpetrators, pushing my kid into lockers in the hallways between classes retaliating for the boys being punished.  I remember the pain my child felt, the anger-humilation. After the incident, he did not want to go to school and would yell at me saying so. He said he hated school.  I spoke with the administrators of the school.  They were having issues with boys in the class and how newcomers to the school were having difficulty fitting in and being accepted.  They explained how this year specifically they were having problems with the boys in the class. The good thing was how serious the school took it on, making sure my child could be comfortable in the school once again. They talked with all the parents and all the instigators and serious consequences resulted.  They hooked my child up with other kids during lunchtime.  They brought in specialists to work on handling the bullying that was going on. With all the crisis management the school took on, I think for my child he still has a sensitivity to being teased years later.

The wounds from such bullying go deep. I removed my child from the class he was in and put him in another school, where he is accepted, having fun with others and thriving.  But I will never forget the emotional damage and the duration it took to heal from his  middle school bullies. He would share how they all laughed at him as they were hurting him, crying as he shared the tale. Bullying in school needs to be monitored and controlled.  Right now I have a friend dealing with the same kind of issue with her son in sixth grade, I see the pain in her face as she shares how  a child has threatened her son and picked on him. She is keeping a close eye on the day to day events he experiences. Sadly, the school denies anything she has said about what has happened with him. And yet her child fears going into certain classes each and every day. I believe the school is doing themselves a disservice and the children that attend the school. At the very least their response should be, we have not seen it as of yet, we want all our children to feel safe and welcome here.  We will take a serious look at what happens during these classes and how your child is being treated. How difficult would that be?

Is it that these killers are kids that tried for years to be accepted and were only teased and bullied? Their sadness and frustration evolves into anger and resentment.  No longer able to get positive attention they seek negative attention.  Which would explain the gory plays Cho wrote, or how he would take pictures of girls legs etc. making classmates uncomfortable.  His resentment festered into evil thoughts on how to retaliate and eventually did.

The family has finally spoken.  His sister pointed out how they were a peaceful loving family, she further went on to say how Cho was quiet and reserved yet struggled to fit in.

For further understanding on the tragedies that come with being bullied or being the bully, check out this unfortunate but true story in paper back, Bully: Does Anyone Deserve To Die? A True Story of High School Revenge, by Jim Schutze. Possibly schools should have required reading on the topic.

Children are a product of their genes and then in society with what they are exposed to. Seriously, though, how many babies or toddlers for that matter do you look at and feel deeply concerned they may kill 30 or so people in anger with a gun in years to come? How about when they are five for that matter? You know, the age we say, basically who they are is pretty much determined by then. I have never.  I believe come the school years, what children are exposed to plays a major role in how they behave later in life.  We let our children into society for the majority of their day starting at 6 years old.  They are home but a few hours with their parents.  We therefore lose a lot of control over what events happen during their day and the effects they have. It is not only during school, but after school.  They are exposed to music and movies and TV that as far as I am concerned have totally inappropriate material for their impressionable minds to be exposed to. If they are not exposed in their own home they will be exposed in a friends home.

At what point will we as a society step in and refuse certain material to be watched , heard or seen by our children of all ages? We complain of how sexually active our children are being at younger and younger ages.  We get angered by the violence they express towards their peers in words or actions.  This is a reflection of what they have been exposed to coming out in their acts. We need to limit the graphic material our children are exposed to.  It starts at home, but  that is not enough.  There is power in numbers.  We need to gather together and shut down the sites that expose our children to inappropriate material that leads them on a bad path toward destruction to themselves or others. I am talking about sites on the computer, on TV on the radio. Right now I have to go into a school and notify them I am disturbed by the sexually explicit music that is being played during middle school sporting events. What kind of example are we setting allowing such music to shout from the school speakers? 

How many disturbing events will take place before we recognize the need to band together for the sake of all and make sure we better control what our children see, hear, or experience?  With the freedoms we are allowed in society-we are therefore also given the responsibility to monitor on our own what we will tolerate and what we will not. We need to notify the schools when we see something inappropriate taking place. Shut down the channels on the TV or the sites on the computer that contain inappropriate material. If we refuse to watch this stuff the shows will be taken off the air given there is no audience. We have power. We need to take action-every little bit counts!  Does it anger you to hear how the actions of Cho, who killed all these students, emulated people in movies?  Cho had a photo of himself that he sent to NBC where he held a hammer, he posed like the guy in a South Korean Film, "Old Boy".  How often do we see our kids act out actions they see on film after the viewing?  What they are exposed to is impressed on their minds. The more they are exposed to certain behaviors the more it appears natural to them. 

This is an awful way to have to learn  lessons, but shameful if we don't. We need to recognize the problem  early on, during grade school years. Early intervention can save many lives.  Coping mechanisms need to be taught to those who have been mistreated.  A zero tolerance policy  need to be enforced against any abuse in the classroom or any other organized setting. Lastly, for those who walk around angry and depressed, we need to be able to identify them and get them help before it is too late for them and anyone else around them.  God help us all.

My heart goes out to all the victims and their loved ones.  The pain will be felt for years to come.

In Spite of the Nay Sayers, We Are Showing Progress in Iraq

Recently, I wrote a blog about the public smearing the President's name and proclaiming the war in Iraq as a mistake, check out my blog, The War In Iraq.  I have had people write me about this blog in agreement with my feelings.  This came as somewhat of a surprise, as the people who are agreeable with what Bush and his administration are doing in Iraq seem few and far between.  I was fortunate to have one reader send to me an article written in The Washington Post, Turning the Corner in Iraq:Democrats are Ignoring Real Progress.

This article put a smile on my face.  As I shared with my readers earlier, the people serving over there that I have spoken to want to go back, and have.  They have reported they are making a difference over there in many ways, training the army, providing security so the new government can function, and more.  And for our future security, we need to make sure the new government can function under stabile conditions before they leave. Given I have not been there myself, I have felt it necessary to give weight to what they share as they are living it.  I only know what I know from the news. 

Once again, Iam left disenchanted with our established system for elections and our short terms for elected officials. The four year term for President does not seem long enough for me.  There is always the year before elections that seems so unnatural.  It seems we always are faced with power struggles between the Democrats and the Republicans, that the needs of our people as a whole becomes secondary.  There is all this propaganda that is being sold to the public.  There is a hold back on doing necessary things due to how it may effect the future vote. There is the lame-duck congress.  I get so aggravated by this whole scenario until one of my friends eventually points out to me the reality that America is still the best country to live in on this planet, even with all our idiosyncrasies.  This is true.

I have felt there has been posturing going on between the parties using the war and the issues of Iraq as a way to gain more influence over the public for the coming election. A lot of pessimism has been sold to the public: that we are in another Vietnam,  that this is all about oil, that we make money selling guns and machines to terrorists to fight the war so we continue on.  I can go on and on. It is easy to buy in on these statements, if we are not fully informed on all the actions going on in Iraq.  This is why, having the article written by Charles Krauthammer gives me a feeling of vindication.  I really do hope we make a difference over there, a profound difference.  The people living under "Sadman Insane" were living a meager existence and in fear of being iniolated for the most absurd of reasons.  They are due a descent living. The problem is it will take time.  Our patience is running out. We have to be careful.  Do leave before the job is finished due to our impatience, may cause for a serious regression in stability over there and therefore hurt the Iraqi people far worse.  We need to finish the job we started.

I still have many ask, why are we the ones that have to go in, why is it always America? For me this is not so difficult to understand.  We have so much, we are one of the bigger guys.  The bigger guys should look out for the little guys.  We were raised with this understanding since we were youths. We also have so much in America , it is easy to be envious of us. If we are not out to make a difference to help those suffering, foreigners may want to take us down. Envy is the root of all evil. 

We are making progress. Our boys (and girls) will be out, eventually. Hopefully, in years to come, we will be proud of what we accomplished in Iraq.  I know how Bush is taking a lot of heat today. It will take years before we get an accurate read on how well we did in taking out a grizzly dictator prone to cleansing campaigns that killed tens of thousands and then rebuilding a government that was safer for the people- where people did not have to live in fear and could openly speak their minds. 

Bashing The President, Killing Our Soldiers

President Bush is being totally bashed now by more and more of the populace. It has become the "In Thing" to bash him. I just read in a news article he has had a very low approval rating for the last three months, less than 40%.  I fear for our country when we publicly bash our leaders.  I also fear for the soldiers fighting for us in Iraq as well.  Our negativism toward our president only fuels the terrorists hatred, and feelings of entitlement to keep sending suicide bombers and making attacks, as Iraq tries to get back on it's feet once again.

People die in war. It is a fact, a miserable one.   We have lived, for the most part, quite comfortable.  The majority of the population has not had to deal with a war like this ever in their lives. Even Vietnam was decades ago. We can thank those who fought for our stability and security that are no longer with us. We only need to read history books to find out how many fought for the comfortable lives we have had for so long. When we  started the war in Iraq, most of America was for it, Democrat and Republican alike.  911 woke us up to the fact we are not invincible. We wanted to fight back. I don't think any of us were prepared for the fact, taking out their leader, a grizzly dictator, Saddam Hussein, and trying to build a new government was going to take so many lives of our soldiers.  And, that getting Iraq to stabilize in the aftermath would take years.

I think leaders make unpopular decisions at times. President Bush has had to go through some hard times and has been put in the difficult position of making tough decisions. I am one of the few that respect what Bush is doing.  He is working on rebuilding Iraq. Given we started this deal, I think it would be inhumane to leave before Iraq is stable enough to go it alone.  Rebuilding Iraq will take time.  The President will make errors, have to learn some hard lessons, and have to take all our complaints and indignation.  I think the most difficult thing for him as President is he cannot fully share what he is doing, and why he is doing it all the time ,as it only gives information to the people we are fighting, and therefore works against us. How tricky and personally frustrating it must be for the President to maneuver in such a situation, an untenable situation. 

Recently, Several people holding government positions, who have helped the President fight this war have been let go for their part in the goings on in Iraq.  So many guys to take the fall. Somehow, it is supposed to give us some sense of security that things will change for the better if we get rid of this person or that.  Has anyone thought that now new guys have to come in and learn from point zero?  How are they supposed to do any better? 

There has been a lot of talk about the war being "unwinnable."  I promise you, if we say it is unwinnable we create, in fact, that it will be unwinnable.  We create our realities. I won't say it, because I know there is power in making it so just by the declaration of it.  And that is not a reality I want to live in to.  I say, it is not about winning at all. Not at this point, It is about getting Iraq on it's feet.  A while back, I read a book called, A Hundred And One Days, a Norwegian journalist wrote the book.  She was there a couple of months prior to the war and through several months that followed. 

In the book, she discussed how their government had regressed back to twenty years prior.  How people were dieing if they opened their mouth and criticized Saddam Hussein.  How the Iraqi people wanted us to help them, an yet hated us. One reason is there is brain washing about the ways of the West, the other is, it was showing the world how powerless they were in their own country.  How humiliating it must have been for them. Basically, it was come in, take our leader out, and get the hell out of here.  How naive on their part.  Of course, the problem would be in getting a new government going, and that does not happen over night. 

I find it frightening the power the extremists have over in Iraq and in the Middle East. I listened to our Congressman last week and how he said that is was surprising how many soldiers that were in Iraq wanted to return there after they came back to America. My brother has friends who are in the forces.  They insist we need to be there to get things to settle or the terrorists will be heading our way, on our land. Read The Terrorist Hunter, there are many people living in America today that are Anti-American.  It is frightening to say the least. The men in service again and again have said they are making a difference over there and are proud of it. One of my brother's friends lost partial feeling in one of his arms and hand.  He went back willingly.  These guys open my eyes. They are there risking their lives and want to go back. I only know what I read in the paper and hear on the news.

So much of what we read and see on the news is to stir up emotion and make head lines.  Pictures and videotape of people dieing surly will sicken us.  That is a 100% guarantee.  Over time it has made us decide we don't belong there-this war was a mistake- Bush is crazy and now working against us.  I wonder at times if I am truly one of the few that know I know very little about this war, I only know what I've been told. I don't feel I have much room to throw around any opinion.  I am not a soldier and my experience with war is nil. I feel it necessary to have faith in the President, he has the best advisers at his disposable to make his decisions. This is a complex situation, I expect it getting sticky at times.

Prime Minister Blair came to America and had a press conference.  He renewed my faith in our President and our reason for being in Iraq. It is taking time to get things settled.  Rome was not built in a day, why should we believe Iraq can be? I will tell you what though, our bashing of the President will only slow the progress.  That I am a firm believer of.  We cannot just support the soldiers there, we have to support getting the job done. Where is the faith?

I did a seminar once and we learned this, It "is" what you say it is.  We create our realities.  If we say it is unwinnable we will create "it is unwinnable. "  I refuse to say it.  Too many of our soldiers have died for it to NOT be unwinnable.  In their name, I just refuse.  I say, we will help build a new government there, make a difference, and will stand behind those words.

I don't fear not being part of the majority, I never have. I think in many ways in my life, it has helped me.  It never hurts to have a different perspective and at times it opens people's eyes to something they were not seeing.  I believe we started this war believing it was necessary, took out a leader and the government toppled with us being there.  I respect Bush being there to get the government back on it's feet now.  It seems the respectable thing to do.  It is awful that people have to die.  I don't blame Bush for the troubles in Iraq today.  I blame it on humanity as it stands now.  I have little respect for the United Nations and their ability to make necessary changes around the world.  As the world is getting smaller the need for the United Nations to monitor and control things globally becomes a geater necessity.  There should universal moral codes that are upheld. Our soldiers are being killed by other human beings in such destructive ways in Iraq.  I am not mad at Bush. I am mad at the United Nations for having greater control over groups around the world that kill people for obscene reasons, and in such ghastly ways.

I have read many books on the war.  Cobra II was quite an eye opening book. It's hard on the President.  But America wanted to initiate this war, no doubt. At least in reading this book you become more educated on the facts. It makes you realize how little information we the public really have. Keep in mind, does the president jeopardize his strategy by sharing all the facts? After reading this book, I keep up with the news daily. I listen to the guys who were there fighting and still are. I wonder how many Americans realize how little knowledge they have to go on before making their opinions on President Bush and weather we should still be in Iraq now.

If we leave early, will things regress to where they were before we came in in the first place? What a shame that would be.  How many lives have we lost just to have the result be a civil war that leaves Iraq worse than where it was when we arrived? And by leaving while things are a mess, are we showing the terrorists that their ways of handling things is powerful enough to make America retreat ?  Therefore, having them strike again and again like this in Iraq and elsewhere? I will say this,  I have respect for the President.  Can you imagine being in his shoes right now?  How difficult it must be coming up against all this criticism and public bashing and trying to make a difference in Iraq?  He is a strong man.  I respect him.  I have seen him again and again seek out information to determine what he should do next.  He has not given up.  He believes we need to be there and finish the job.

I don't believe the war is winnable because I don't believe at this time there is a win or loss to be had.  This idea seems ludicrous to me. I think we need to help Iraq get stable enough to get back on their feet.  Whatever it takes.  We started it over there, we should finish.  And the idea of it being done in one year or we should leave, I find this the most ignorant statement we can make.  We are telling the terrorists if you keep up what you are doing for one more year we are leaving and you can take over.  We are feeding them to come on hot and strong for a year, frighten the citizens there so they give in to them when we leave. We are creating more instability over there and destroying the progress we already have made when we push this one year dead line deal. Does anyone else see this?  Also, is it not arrogant of us to believe we can make things stabile enough in Iraq at this time, that we could possibly leave in one year?  New governments do not become stabile that quickly...show me any new government that thrived alone that quickly after their leader has been taken down.  I don't know of any.

War is ugly.  I feel for our President and the next one that comes in office.  It is not an easy thing to manage.  As for the Democrats...I would not want to be a Democrat and be the next President, not after all the bashing they have done to Bush anyway. (By the way, I don't vote on behalf of one party or the other) Iraq will not settle in a year or two or several years.  The next President will face problems just like Bush.  In time, he will not look pretty either.  To be the President is a very difficult job.  A job surely I would not want.  Three cheers for the President! He takes our shit and still stands on his beliefs, with a hell of a lot more information than any one of us citizens have on our own.

Here is my humble opinion about President Bush and Iraq. We wanted this war initially.  We went in and toppled the dictator.  But our work is not done. We are making progress. But there is a job to be finished. The negative opinion of our people is causing more deaths to our soldiers as we are feeding to the extremists we don't belong there and firing them up even more. We should stand for getting Iraq on it's feet before we leave. Show the soldiers that died in our name, their purpose there and the lives lost there was not in vain.  End of story.  Try on, if we say we can...We Can!

 

If You Cannot Visit Your Congressman In Person, Visit Him On The Web

How well do you know your Congressman or woman?  Do you know their stand on issues that matter to you? Have they been effective in Congress at serving your community? These answers are a fingertip away.  I was able to visit a website on our Congressman and find out very detailed information on many issues in our community, his stand, and how he has responded in Congress.  It was quite an informative experience for me.  Was it a first for me?  Yes. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I don't care on a regular basis about what is going on, it is always about the limited amount of time.  If you do care about what your Congressman is doing in Congress, at home, or what his stand is, don't hesitate to locate him on the web and find out.

I recently had the honor of meeting our Congressman, Mark Kirk, at a meeting at a friend's house.  Honestly, this was the first time I was able to listen to a congressman/woman face to face for a lengthy period of time.  It was a very enriching experience.

Mark Kirk represents the 10th Congressional District of Illinois. He is serving his fourth term. Many a times I have heard jokes about people in our government, and their inability to serve or other sarcasm.

Congressman Kirk is a very educated man, from Cornell,  who also holds a Masters Degree from The London School of Economics and a Law degree from Georgetown.  He has tons of experience in the government and also in the financial industry.  He is emerging as one of the leaders in Congress.

The more he had to say and share, the more respect and appreciation I had gained for him serving my community.  He is a straight up guy. He is very practical.  Explains how he votes from his heart and not by his party.  I have always wondered how one could fully agree with their party 100% of the time.  Personally, I don't vote by party, it seems too easy for the candidate.  I vote for the person. He/she has to prove himself/herself to me.  But I digress.  Back to the meeting with Mark. He shared his feelings about the war, about our rising gas prices, about problems with Lake Michigan, about our governmental leadership in America.  He is a well spoken person with a vast storehouse of knowledge. 

He spoke to the people in the room for an hour and a half and then took questions for 40 minutes longer.  This was not a fundraiser.  This was just a way for him to connect with the people he serves. In the question and answer session you could tell there were many well versed, intelligent people in the crowd.  He answered every one of them in a more than satisfactory matter.  He never missed a beat.  Every question was welcomed and responded to.  I gained such respect for this man, our congressman, and realized how fortunate we are to have him represent our interests in Congress.  There is such a difference from listening to all the propaganda or reading the papers about a person, verses meeting them and listening to them in person.  Bottom line-He is a stand up guy, with a passion for the community he serves. 

The war is a big issue right now for us in America.  Congressman Kirk is a Naval Reserve intelligence Officer who served during conflicts with Iraq, Haiti and Bosnia.  It gives me confidence to know a person who has served in the forces is representing us at this time. He feels we need to look to get out of Iraq.  When the time is right , I am in agreement. He explained how many changes have been made over the last month in our leadership when it comes to the war and the necessity for these changes. 

What I liked most about him was his absolute willingness to serve our community. He told a few people who brought up issues to contact him at his office, to continue further in conversations that were started.  He offered his willingness to listen to any issues or concerns we had.  Please contact me, he would say again and again. 

Honestly, over the years I have become a bit jaded by government and have felt I really don't know who I can trust.  It all seems such a "sell job," and then they serve and are not what you thought they would be.  Congressman Kirk renewed my faith in the people who serve our country.  It is not just a job for him.  He cares about our community. You could hear it in his voice. He shared many interesting facts with us, including our third highest spoken language in the area, Russian.  I surely did not know this.  He shared his concerns with Israel and the conflicts.  He shared his concerns about health care in America, how the poorest neighborhood in our area was a few miles from my home.  He educated us on the number of gangs there were in a nearby community.  He came across authentic and well educated on a myriad of significant topics. 

I left that meeting with a new found respect for our Congressman.  I went home and looked up his website.  The Internet is amazing.  To be in touch with people is surely at our fingertips.  So, I read his website.  I read more about issues of the day and his stand on them, and what he has done in Congress.  Once we vote in these people who represent us in Congress, we still have a say.  We surely can contact them and keep up on who they are being for us in Congress and at home.  I will look at his website more to keep up with the issues in our community and where our representative stands. 

I truly believe any concern I have I could contact him easily and would get a response.  Meeting with him renewed my faith in our leadership and made me feel that my opinion matters.  Don't hesitate to contact your representative.  If you are given an opportunity to listen to them in person, don't miss it.  I feel you get a much better picture of who they are in person, rather than the news. Look up their website on the Internet, and be in touch with the issues at hand, and how your representative is handling them.  Contact your Representative if you have an issue that matters to you.  Hopefully, you will feel the respect, confidence and appreciation that I felt when I met with ours. 

If you want to learn more about Mark Kirk, visit his blog here: Mark Kirk's Blog

   

The Holidays are Blessed Events

It is Easter Morning, and there is a special feeling in the air. Due to tradition, you can bet on it, I have Easter baskets for all my children to indulge in.  My Mom always had them for us kids all the way through college. It was something special we could always count on.  No way would I let this tradition stop. The day will start with lots of smiles.  Later today we will be spending Easter at my sister's house with her family and my parents.  I love the holidays.  The kid's sports are canceled for this occasion, and it finally gives us some time to spend with the rest of our extended family. Christmas seems like it was a year away, with our busy lives and all.  Tradition is truly the glue that keeps our bonds strong.

My sister and I have spoken the last few days about what we will be serving for Easter dinner. We spoke about the Easter egg hunt that will happen later today and all that it will entail. Many phone calls were made discussing the Easter meal we are preparing together. I think we spoke more on the phone the last few days then we spoke in three months.  The holiday has made our communication a necessity. I am grateful for it.  During the phone calls I slowly caught up with what my neice and nephew have been up to, and other members of our family. 

Good Friday is the day our family always decorates eggs. The kids are out of school. The act itself provides a setting for us all to do a project together.  It's always fun to decorate eggs.  It brings out the artist in all of us and we try to decorate an egg in a more unique fashion or better than the year before.  There are lots of smiles around the table. Lots of giggles with the inscriptions that are put on the eggs before coloring.  This year was  my daughter and her boyfriend with a heart on one, Cubs forever on another, Sox rule, and AIM names.  My kids are very proud of their AIM names. Bottom line is that it gave us an opportunity to enjoy one another in a relaxed setting.  The clock was slowed down for the occasion.

The other day, we spent Passover at my friend's house.  There were 30 people there. My daughter pointed out how fun it was and declared it as her favorite holiday of the year.  And there are no presents. It was due to the kids running around the house, finding the Afikomen together.  It was singing the songs at the table and watching Uncle Irving sing them out to the roof tops and getting a giggle out of it.  Everyone joined in singing the songs louder and louder until we were all practically screaming the chorus every time it came up. There is a service you participate at the table before the dinner.  Everyone is included in the service.  Every person recites more than one line from the Sedar books.  Every person is an integral part of the event. One family recites together one part, the next family recites the next part.  Then the children recite together certain parts and then the adults. Participating in the service is great fun.  Our host gave the children $2.00 bills as a reward for handing over the Afikomen. he bartered with all the kids what would be an appropriate amount to give to them in exchange of this treasure they have found. They love to feel the power! They  love getting the $2 dollar bills as they are unique.  And they are cut off a sheet our host buys once a year for this occasion. (They are real). Celebrating the tradition with food and friends is such a rewarding experience each year.

No matter what holiday you are celebrating with your family and friends, the holidays are blessed events. The holidays provide an opportunity to celebrate life and love with the people who you hold dear in your life. We slow the clock down and reconnect with family and friends. The traditions are always fun to participate in.  My kids are twelve and up and are looking forward to the great egg hunt later today with their cousins.  I am looking forward to the traditional meal we have with ham and all the dressings.  I am relieved we have this special day that provides us the time to reconnect with the people that are special to us.  The last few months going to see my parents has been an objective I have not met.  Thank God for the holidays. I cannot wait to give them the biggest hug and sit down for a couple of hours and share our lives with one another. I will come prepared with camera in hand to catch the very special moments we share today.

Time to prepare for Easter day.  There is a jump in my step today and excitement in the air. All the daily obligations and chores are set aside. It is a blessed day. And we got a glimpse of Peter Cottontail yesterday at my daughters basketball tournament, though it is a bit frigid outdoors, Peter has not given up on the holiday.  Okay, maybe it was not Peter, it was a friend of his.  A bunny surely crossed our path and made us feel Easter is surely on it's way.

Want to learn more about the origin of the revered Easter Bunny?  Check out The Crafty Hare

Enjoy your special day!

 

God Is Too Big For One Religion

Tonight  my family will be celebrating Passover with friends, and Sunday we will celebrate Easter with my family. Break out the wine and eggs! My kid's father is Jewish.  Members of my family are of varying Christian denominations; Lutheran, Catholic, Southern Baptist...  As a child I went to a Lutheran parochial school.I remember being in social studies learning about China in fifth grade.  I fretted when I was taught that these children if not raised Christian would not have ever lasting life and go to heaven.  This was the beginning of my curiosity about my religion verses other religions.  The curiosity and therefore intention to study other religions evolved into me marrying a Jewish man. My children and I are a product of a mixed marriage.  I was raised Lutheran and their father was raised Jewish.

Is an interfaith family too complicated? Many have asked if my life has been complicated trying to raise the children under two different religions.  I have to say, celebrating both sets of holidays makes for a very busy year.  Other than that, I find it rewarding in many ways. I believe by being raised under both religions, it makes them more tolerant of others based on race, color, sex, religion, other cultures, etc... The most important part in raising the kids in such a way is to raise them "respecting" their heritage. 

My philosophy is, "God is too big for one religion".  The more I learned about other religions the more I realized one religion could not fully encompass who I wanted to be and what values and traditions I wanted to embrace in my life and raise my children with.  Was this an identity crises?  Far from it.  It was very freeing to not feel contained or held to one belief- one way of doing things. It was a leap of faith, in essence a leap to many faiths. I just did not fit well in the lines of one.  I have learned meditation through Buddhism. I have learned more about balance through Taoism.

The world seems to be getting smaller by the day.  The ability to travel worldwide and also with the help of the Internet, we can easily be in touch with people across the planet daily. Tolerance is not enough. We raise our kids to be fascinated with other traditions, cultures and religions.  I have studied in depth many religions world wide.  The one thing I can say with confidence is every religion has something positive to offer.  On that note, we teach our children to embrace the beauty of each religion.

Factoid of the week: Colored eggs began as a Jewish tradition.  A man and son were hiding in a cave, waiting for a signal from God so they knew when they could leave safely.  The peered out one day and saw a rainbow. They knew this was the signal God gave them telling them they were safe to leave.  After that, they colored eggs the color of the rainbow. I have shared this with my children.  Every year this time they get to color eggs, celebrating both Judaism and Christianity.  We call them Spring Eggs.

Easter is similar to the Jewish Holiday Yom Kippur.  It is about forgiveness and cleansing oneself from their sins. This is what Jesus was out to teach us.  Tolerance of one another.  Passover is about being freed from slavery and persecution due to your religion.  Something no human being should ever have to endure.  Both holidays really offer great lessons in life on how to live with one another peacefully.   What a great world this would be if we would embrace these lessons in our lives.

                          To learn about Passover click here:     Passover

                          To learn about Easter click here:           Easter

Happy Easter and Happy Pesach to those of you who celebrate these holidays.  Feel free to share your holiday, if it is something other than the above. Enjoy!

Spring Break With The Family

   Spring vacation is the remedy to a long cold winter. Just back from a week of 85 and sunny every day.  Have a little color and had a lot of relaxation time.  It was a great time to get back in touch with my kids doing the little things.  Not sure about your house, but my house is non-stop action the entire school year.  It was nice to have relaxed meals together;  to lay out at the pool and giggle with one another.  Swimming with my youngest was a great time. Snuggling in bed watching TV was great fun and we felt no guilt doing so. Possibly you too saw the slime fest on Nickelodeon.  Spring break is a great time to reconnect with your young ones and re-establish the very special relationship you have with the members of the family. Okay, the mountains and the palm trees and the blue sky really made for a great setting.

It was the simple things that meant so much.  We would get up in the morning and go for morning walks as a group.  Okay, as we got heated our water bottles became sprinklers as we showered each other.  After a few days in the sun, we took off to LA and hung out at Kitsons, Ivy's restaurant and drove around Hollywood, shopping for a day. It was fun to sight see.  My daughter celebrated her twelfth birthday and got her hair cut at a salon famous for doing the "stars".  She felt so special. Back at the resort, going for meals together was pretty special as well.  Given we did not know many people on our trip, we spent a lot of time with each other.  We would sit at dinner sharing different courses with each other.  Ordered dessert for the three of us.  Everyones fork in the cake. My little one would sit on my lap come dessert every night. It was a great bonding experience.

Our everyday lives go so fast we don't have time to talk. You know, more than a minute. We spent hours at the pool covering many different conversations. We talked about the past, the present and the future.  We checked out the hot guys together- teasing one another. We applied suntan lotion to one another, shared our pool drinks.  I feel so tight with my children. 

The best part about leaving for a week or so is to leave all your responsibilities behind.  It makes for so much down time to rejuvenate.  Though the costs of vacation, can make you feel a bit squeezed for a while, the memories we made together, the reconnection to one another made the trip well worth while.  And you know, we all could not wait to come back with a healthy tan. Now we head into the final quarter of the school year.  Spring gets busy.  The outdoor sports start up and the school year starts to wind down with concerts, end of year parties and such. Spring break really gave us some time to build up for the exciting spring season.  I hope you and yours were able to get some down time with each other before the kids head back to school. As for us, we have hockey, basketball and soccer tournaments coming up in the next month. Oh, and my daughter has her theater production coming up, The King and I.  Easter and Passover will be celebrated this week.  A very joyous, busy time of year for our household.  I am grateful we got away and relaxed for a week. We got back last night and already decided where we will head next year.  Cabo here we come!

It's nice to have a destination for next year in  mind early. When things get hectic, we know we have something great coming up in the future, where we will again relax, rejuvenate and re-establish our bonds. Spring is here and we are ready to "Play Ball".