Displaced Children

My girlfriend, Sheri, writes for the Indianapolis Star News in the In Touch section. She has several entries in the News Online Blog section and often gets picked for entries in the actual paper. I am so proud of her and think that she is a brilliant writer. She is very good at making one think about an issue and seeing different points of view. This is exciting for all of us Sheri fans as we have been reading her personal blog for a couple of years. You can catch her writings at:

www.IndyStar.com/intouch
www.livingwiththeoldies.blogspot.com

In late November, she wrote a piece about Safe Havens, referring to the recent news regarding the parents dumping their children without consequences on a law passed to original past to protect newborns.

I find this all very interesting. I want to share my thoughts with you. This was my comment to her post:

My prospective is different. I think that we should have a system in place for every state that a "Safe Haven" be available. A child, regardless to being 1 day or 17 years, needs to have a safe place to live. They are not capable to provide life skills before adulthood. Grant it, many must develop the skills sooner, but you would think that in this great country we could at least take care of our own.

I have worked in environments that are not traditional homes for children. I had the pleasure of working both at the Indiana School for the Deaf, as well as DAMAR. Some came from strong loving families trying to provide a better environment for the child's needs. Some were placed there after difficult circumstances.

I have known children that truly had no self worth left. I have known children that have never felt love. I have seen countless children abused beyond belief. Some had mental challenges that made living with them difficult for a parent to handle and cause them to harm these children. Children with cigarette burns up and down their bodies. Broken bones, scars, and broken spirits. Some gave themselves self inflected wounds. Many had been sexually abused as well. I knew a teen that spent years performing sexual acts with animals not knowing any better as his mother put him through this to make money.

I am not trying to get off the subject. I realize that the bulk of this topic is the fact that parents were running off to Nebraska to drop off kids for different reasons.

So be it. The child is better off in the system than in an unloving or poverty stricken home. A child should have meals, shelter, and love. If it can not be provided in the home, the child is better off with a chance of survival.

It is not a perfect world out there.

Our children should not have to suffer so deeply in our society with resources that are available to better there lives. We provide this kind of care for foreign need, why not in our own backyard?

My two cents for what it's worth.

Mickey Mouse Tattoo?

I am very clumsy. I trip on my own two feet. I bonk my head all the time & twist my ankle so many times it's a wonder I haven't broken it a time or two.

On Saturday, I was climbing in my closet trying to get Santa hats for the girls (annual Christmas picture time). I didn't have a strong grip and came down crooked and too fast. I think I twisted my ankle, but the worse part was slamming into the door frame on my back end.

Annie heard the crash & came to pick me up off the floor. Owe Owe Owe! I faked being okay as I had plans to meet up with a couple of friends and didn't want Sergio to worry about my twisted ankle.

I survived. The pain past in a couple of days. Last night while showering I noticed the bruise... it looked like a Mickey Mouse Tattoo! Outline of the famous ears & head. Right there on my rear end! Not cute. I keep trying to look at it though. It reminds me of the cow we saw at Disney with the outline on her side (saved her from the slaughter house, Disney bought her!)

Happy December!

December is one of my favorite months! Not only is it when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, it holds other special dates for me.

My Mom has a birthday on the 13th. She will be 68 years young. She works way too hard, cares for my father, and has her Line Dancing. She does enjoy life, I just wish she could do more line dancing than working.

Emily, my oldest daughter, will turn 20 on the 18th! How can that be possible? She still my baby! It seems so strange that she will out of her teens. I have a twenty year old? Strange.

Sergio & I will celebrate our 22nd anniversary on the 20th. Now that is really strange. The years have flown. Are we where we thought we would be after twentysome years? Well, not exactly. But things never really fall into place perfectly, do they? At least I we can truly say we are happy. That we made a good decision in selecting each other to spend a lifetime. And I am lucky that I still get giddy when I see him (at least 90% of the time! ha ha!)

Christmas break will have my Annie home for two weeks and Emily home for three weeks. I will cherish that time with them and make the most of it. I will try not to drive them nuts.

The weather will be chilly. Perhaps we will have some good packing snow. Sergio is getting a new snow blade so he will be excited like a child with the snow, then tired like an old man, sore from all night pushes. Hopefully all will pan out and he can schedule his regular job and the plowing hours.

We will also have the opportunity to break bread with friends and family. There will be parties and cooking. I am hoping Sandy will get me and the girls in on Christmas candy baking!

With the change of the month I am going to put on my big girl panties and cheer up. I am going to make this the month that I love and enjoy every minute. Or at least do my darnest!

Anthropologie

Are you familiar with this store?
It is my Annie's favorite store. I too am very fond of it. Annie bought her bedspread there as well as many clothing items. I have shopped there for both her and Emily at Christmas and Birthdays, but have yet to buy myself anything substantial (I did buy a cool Monogram Hook that holds my necklaces).

Annie is very stylish with decorating as well as clothing. She has a vision and can pull things together very well. Her room will eventually have an Anthropologie flare. She also would rather have a couple of nice pieces of clothing from there than many things that are more commonly found. She picked a vintage looking dress for a dance. No one else had it and she looked lovely.

This store is really cool. You can get wonderful gifts from books (I have purchased style guides and fashion icon books) as well as door knobs, kitchen ware, bed & bath items and of course the finest clothing items.

Unfortunately, the store is not cheap. Expect to pay top dollar. But, sometimes it is worth paying a little extra to get something a little more extraordinary.

To check out Anthropologie, if you do not have a store near you, go to anthropologie.com