I am headed up to the Middle School today to help pass out books. The school has a great initiative led by their enthusiastic new librarian. They purchased copies of I,Q, by Roland Smith, for every student and adult on the campus. The money came from a donation, and the author kindly signed each and every copy. Now the entire population of the school can read the same book and discuss it in every class - just for fun. After reading, the school will collect donations of the gently used books and pass them on to one of their sister schools. A really cool idea!
As we toasted bagels and stirred yogurt this morning, I told my seventh-grader that I would be at her school for ninety minutes today. She paused and mentally ran through her schedule, then responded, "Well, I won't see you, but I'll feel your presence." She gave me a finger high-five and skipped off leaving me with a smile and a bemused expression. Isn't that what we want for all of our loved ones, that they feel our presence even when we are not physically with them? To treasure each moment that we share and stamp ourselves firmly on their heart while feeling the engraving of their worth on our own. This only happens when we go deep and share vulnerable emotions and pieces of our stories. Her statement obviously has spiritual connotations, as well, and I want to point out to her that mine is not the only presence she can feel. We are all so loved, beyond what we can even comprehend. I'm so glad she knows that love from me, and can only point to an even greater source of strength and comfort.
Family Photo
Family Foundation
Monday, February 10, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Child Detainees
I started a new round of three classes at the GEO / ICE Detention center today. We are in our last rotation before starting over with the women, and today's class was a group of men from B Pod. Possibly due to the bitter cold which has kept all the detainees inside and stir crazy, we had a large group of 28. Class went well, everyone seemed focused and put at ease by my attempts to speak Spanish. As I went from table to table helping with translation to English, I was startled by the youthful appearance of many of the students. Several upturned faces barely had hair sprouting, with round faces and acne speaking of teenager-hood.
The guards came to take the 28 back to B Pod and as they filed past us, nodding and offering thank yous, it was again obvious how young a few guys were. I asked Rachel how old they had to be to be detained at the center and she said 18, but GEO/ICE has to go by whatever documents they have, and many of those are forged and inaccurate, especially if the young men are trying to seem older to get jobs. On a few occasions where these errors have come to light via found documents, the youths (as young as 16) have had to be held in a special populations unit, for their own safety. The young men I saw today were in blue uniforms, meaning that their only offense was crossing into the US without documentation. Now they are imprisoned, developing emotionally and mentally in an institution, with stays paid for by us the taxpayers. Something here has got to change.
The guards came to take the 28 back to B Pod and as they filed past us, nodding and offering thank yous, it was again obvious how young a few guys were. I asked Rachel how old they had to be to be detained at the center and she said 18, but GEO/ICE has to go by whatever documents they have, and many of those are forged and inaccurate, especially if the young men are trying to seem older to get jobs. On a few occasions where these errors have come to light via found documents, the youths (as young as 16) have had to be held in a special populations unit, for their own safety. The young men I saw today were in blue uniforms, meaning that their only offense was crossing into the US without documentation. Now they are imprisoned, developing emotionally and mentally in an institution, with stays paid for by us the taxpayers. Something here has got to change.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Battle of the Books
Last night William participated in a "Battle of the Books" competition for all elementary schools in the Cherry Creek School District. It's a fascinating competition based on the idea that each team member reads between 7 and 15 books off the required reading list and then the team pools its resources to answer fairly detailed questions about any of the books. I did wonder, as I heard questions like, "This book had a deadline on July 4," and "This book started off on an unusually warm summer day," if perhaps we should be discussing the themes of the books, the lessons learned, or perhaps the emotions the books evoked. Then my competitive side scoffed at my new-agey side and condescendingly noted that you couldn't build a competition around themes and emotions.
Internal battles aside, William's team of four boys and two girls did well. They scored in the top six out of 22 teams and made it to the final rounds, where they suffered a bit of a setback. When we discussed the results on the way home, I assured William that the journey could not be judged by its final step, that he had to consider the success of reading the books, meeting every other week since October to discuss them, and winning the school competition, he said, "Oh, it's just like the Broncos and the Super Bowl." Indeed it felt familiar, and when I saw an article about John Elway's season-ending remarks I noted that he said much the same thing. For the first time in my life, I actually believe it, too - the hard work, self-improvement, and bonding with teammates really is its own reward. Maybe I've convinced myself in time to convince the kids, which would be the best prize of all.
Internal battles aside, William's team of four boys and two girls did well. They scored in the top six out of 22 teams and made it to the final rounds, where they suffered a bit of a setback. When we discussed the results on the way home, I assured William that the journey could not be judged by its final step, that he had to consider the success of reading the books, meeting every other week since October to discuss them, and winning the school competition, he said, "Oh, it's just like the Broncos and the Super Bowl." Indeed it felt familiar, and when I saw an article about John Elway's season-ending remarks I noted that he said much the same thing. For the first time in my life, I actually believe it, too - the hard work, self-improvement, and bonding with teammates really is its own reward. Maybe I've convinced myself in time to convince the kids, which would be the best prize of all.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Flashback
Over the weekend we celebrated my dear friend Heidi on the occasion of her 50th birthday. As you can see from the photo above, Heidi looks more like 28 than 50, and many people accused me of getting her birthday wrong. They said, "she couldn't possibly be 50," and the answer is that she's not. She's young at heart and in spirit, healthy and strong, positive in outlook, and generous in every way. Those attributes belie her chronological age and ensure that she will be young for as long as I know her, and after.
It was so much fun to have the '80s theme to focus on; the outfits worn made me smile and laugh so hard that my cheeks hurt the next way - the best kind of sore! By going out on a limb with their outfits, hair, and jewelry, folks walked in with their social barriers down and set the stage for laughter and some funky dancing! Occasionally, when watching a husband - wife team get down like they were teenagers, I would picture the expression their 5th grade son or daughter would wear if they could witness the scene. I am sure the kids would have been horror-struck, but to me it was a great affirmation of the positive energy among our friends and in our neighborhood. It's amazing how fast the years go - Heidi said the person who helped her shop at H&M had not even been born during the 80's - but also fun to look back and see how many great experiences those years contain. Here's to more good memory-filled years.
It was so much fun to have the '80s theme to focus on; the outfits worn made me smile and laugh so hard that my cheeks hurt the next way - the best kind of sore! By going out on a limb with their outfits, hair, and jewelry, folks walked in with their social barriers down and set the stage for laughter and some funky dancing! Occasionally, when watching a husband - wife team get down like they were teenagers, I would picture the expression their 5th grade son or daughter would wear if they could witness the scene. I am sure the kids would have been horror-struck, but to me it was a great affirmation of the positive energy among our friends and in our neighborhood. It's amazing how fast the years go - Heidi said the person who helped her shop at H&M had not even been born during the 80's - but also fun to look back and see how many great experiences those years contain. Here's to more good memory-filled years.
Monday, February 3, 2014
You are the Prayer
I just finished a yoga class which had a wonderful title; "You are the Prayer." (And I mean just finished; the class was on YogaGlo on my computer so I am still sitting on my mat as I type). The teacher kept repeating this mantra, "you are the prayer, you are the one who prays, and you are the one who answers." At first read it sounds glib, but after 45 minutes of deep breathing and posing with this mantra, it resonates with me. We pray a vital prayer with our whole body, our breathing, our heart, our mind, however we place our hands - we are the prayer. We are also the one who prays - that's easiest to grasp. But the punch comes with the thought that we are also the one who answers. That could be interpreted as God answering through us, tripping our awareness in some new way or through a new person or situation. It could also be interpreted as our higher self responding, in soft ways that we need to pay attention in order to hear. "You are the prayer, you are the one who prays, and you are the one who answers." Think about it.
And on more mundane levels, the Super Bowl was the worst football game in history. Broncos fans, including my girlfriends who texted rants and moans all night, were incredibly disappointed. But the headlines this morning calling out "shame" and "embarrassment" are out of line. Granted, the Broncos played badly but they were beat by the better team. It doesn't make sense to malign the individuals or call down shame on anyone. My husband noted that it must have been especially difficult after a week of hype and adulation, which made me think - best not to listen when people heap praise on you, because then you're able to tune them out when they criticize or try to shame you. To return to the theme of the day - you are the one who answers, and ultimately, we have to learn to seek approval from within ourselves.
And on more mundane levels, the Super Bowl was the worst football game in history. Broncos fans, including my girlfriends who texted rants and moans all night, were incredibly disappointed. But the headlines this morning calling out "shame" and "embarrassment" are out of line. Granted, the Broncos played badly but they were beat by the better team. It doesn't make sense to malign the individuals or call down shame on anyone. My husband noted that it must have been especially difficult after a week of hype and adulation, which made me think - best not to listen when people heap praise on you, because then you're able to tune them out when they criticize or try to shame you. To return to the theme of the day - you are the one who answers, and ultimately, we have to learn to seek approval from within ourselves.
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