You Can Do Anything

Yesterday I was pushing a 6-year old on a playground swing. I said, "How high do you want to go?"

"All the way to the sky! And then I want to kick a cloud and make it rain!"

He said this with such conviction, such excitement, that I couldn't help but smile and tell him how awesome he is. This particular child is legally blind. He doesn't actually know how far away the clouds are, he only knows that someone told him they are up there raining down on him. And for a few minutes he honestly believed he could reach the sky if he pumped his swing hard enough.

This, for me, was a brilliant lesson in believing in yourself. According to the American Foundation For The Blind somewhere around 60% of blind and visually impaired people remain unemployed. At 6 years old this little boy has no idea that many people don't expect him to ever be able to work. He is absolutely brilliant. At the age of 6 he can add and subtract numbers in his head faster than I can. I have many children in my life who I firmly believe will change the world. I believe he can do anything. I believe he can figure out how to make it rain...

Because when I woke up today it was pouring.

Thank You Joel Burns

I don't cry when I watch a sad movie. I don't cry at tv shows. I don't cry when I watch the news.
I absolutely broke down when I watched this video. Take the 13 minutes. Watch this. Share this. This is a message the entire nation, the entire world, needs to hear.

Deportation

CNN has two stories today about elderly people who were brought to America as infants or children and have been threatened with deportation. One of them was brought here as an infant and has been living here for 101 years. The other two men are in their 70's and served in the American army in Vietnam. Are we truly this xenophobic? That we are threatening to send back people who have lived here for decades and didn't CHOOSE to come here, but were brought here as infants?

I do believe people should only be allowed to be here legally. But isn't this getting a little ridiculous?

History repeats itself, and everything works in cycles. I can only hope this extreme xenophobia settles into something a little more logical and humane one day.

Oh, the 101 year old woman was able to gain citizenship. And then, of course, people are crying out "she'll be able to get social security benefits now!" Who cares? She's 101 years old! How many years will she be collecting these checks? Really?