Maddie

Denise just told me about a half hour ago that Maddie died this morning. Technically, it was yesterday morning. I'm still not really able to react. It's never fair when a child dies. 

You may

You may gently scoop me up into your arms 

caressing my face 

wiping the dust of sleep from my eyes

And I will turn slowly your face 

warming mine like 

the sun warms the earth each morning

your words will drift over me like 

an early morning breeze moving up the sand 

down the street 

block by block 

announcing morning 

your heart will beat with mine 

as we prepare to step together into the day

Education not execution

We must make the very clear distinction between educating and executing our children. This is not to say they we literally line our children up in front of foreign squads, but when education is ineffective and does not touch the soul, then we doom them to a slow death that will be felt for generations. Therefore, we must teach compassion and caring. We must teach that they are integral in this vast, complicated world and they have value. Their decisions have value. Their voices have value. Their lives and the lives of those whom they care for deeply have value. We must also teach them that the lives of those whom they have never met, nor will ever meet have value. Without this, we slowly destroy generation after generation. This is how we execute our children so slowly that they do not even feel the presence of death as it walks alongside them day in and day out. 

Even the most rational human being will turn to the most irrational ideas in order to beat death. 

Words fall

Words fall like flakes of dried skin

Fluttering toward the ground 

Unseen 

Sometimes they drift like paper ash 

Floating on the breeze 

Either way they land on the ground 

Silent and waiting to be trampled and forgotten 

We all learn about ourselves as we go through life. I have learned that becoming proficient with new technology is hard. It looks really cool, but it is difficult to learn to use effectively. 

No, I'm not one of you anymore, so you can either accept me for who I have become or you can keep heading down your path without me.