When I was growing up we did a few projects at school where they would ask you to name what you parents did for a living. Answering about my Mom was easy, she was a therapist. I always new that. Heck anyone could figure that out just by talking to her for 5 minutes because invariably you would start telling her your life story. She just has that way about her. But my father, well that was a little more difficult. You see, what I knew about my father’s job was that he got up and went to work early in the morning, and came home fairly regularly around 530 at night. Usually I only saw him fleetingly for dinner just before I would rush out the door with my mother and sister to an evening dance class or rehearsal. But nevertheless I did have an answer for people who asked what my father did. He gave away the free cheese! See in Wisconsin there was this program that gave away free cheese to people in need. And though I didn’t know much else about my father’s job, I did know that he had something to do with that program. As I got older I finally got a real title for my father. He was the Regional Director for Health and Social Services for the State of Wisconsin. I still didn’t know exactly what that meant, but it was a great title!
That was his present while I was growing up. His past was something a little more colorful, but truthfully still elusive. From 1952-58 my father was a Harlem Globetrotter. Yes, you heard me right. He was a Harlem Globetrotter. And the only reason I have the dates down pat was because he had this award from the organization that hung in our house and it had the dates in raised characters on the front. I memorized them. I had to, because that was about as much detail as I ever really got about his experience. It’s not his fault totally. I don’t remember if I have ever really asked for detailed memories, I’m embarrassed to say. Amazing how we take the people close to us for granted. Their histories.
Last week I learned something more about my father that I didn’t know. Not from him, but from a newspaper article. (more…)
I have two major resolutions for 2010. My first is to eradicate fear in my life. My second is to regain control over my body. I am tackling both with this latest venture. With this post I am officially throwing my hat into the ring for the latest Mamavation weight-loss campaign. I am equally terrified and excited about this move. The campaign is AWESOME, and has proven results. I have not been very successful, since the birth of my third child, with regaining some balance with my weight. I have come to the realization that I need help. That is why I am reaching out to the fantastic Mamavation team to attain my goal; a happier, healthier life.
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My own little Christmas miracle. As I sat holding my youngest in church last night I was a little overcome with emotion. It wasn’t just the soulful music from the choir, or the spirit of the holiday, it was really about the little girl sitting in my lap, and the journey that she bravely traveled this last year. I am so in awe of her strength, her resolve and her perserverence, despite all that was hurled at her. Through it all she has remained a sparkling, vivacious spirit that lights my soul.
My daughter Jaedyn started getting ill in November of 2008. We had no idea what was happening to her. Her teachers noticed it at first, the dimming of her energy. They brought it to our attention, saying Jaedyn, just wasn’t acting like Jaedyn. If you had ever met jC before November of 2008 you would know exactly what they meant. But to those who hadn’t met her, like the new doctors we went to see, JC looked like a perfectly healthy and energetic 5 year old. They didn’t realize that they were only seeing her at half mast.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnp65acbkJw
How am I thankful? Let me count the ways…
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Yesterday a milestone was very quietly reached. My youngest daughter finished Kindergarten. When my elder children reached this milestone there was much pomp and circumstance. There were a ceremonies, complete with songs, poetry, certificates, and cake. Parents were crowded into to hot and stuffy gyms all vying for the best picture of their well dressed 6 year old as they crossed over into the World of bonafide elementary school. But not yesterday. Yesterday my youngest child wasn?t wearing her Sunday finest, but instead her sister?s hand me down pants that were about an inch and a half too long, one pink and one green sneaker,( thankfully from the same shoe style and make), a striped shirt, and a hap-hazard ponytail, (filled with a mass of tangled curls desperately in need of shampoo). Instead of a ceremony she and her classmates decorated yellow baseball caps to look like duck faces, complete with an orange felt bill and googly eyes. Instead of a stuffy gym there was an open air playground. And instead of cake there was popsicles! All of us parents were tightly gathered at the outside door of the school, just like any other day, awaiting the dismissal of our kids. And just like any other day my daughter and her classmates came rushing out the school door in a blur of energetic shrills. (But today they were all wearing their duck hats.) The children poured out onto the playground to meet us and most importantly to have their popsicles. The teachers sat on the playground benches posing for random pictures with their charges as parents milled around, not quite sure what to do. I brought giant sunflowers for my daughter which I was then relegated to carry as I followed her around the equipment like a sherpa. As she played she gradually shed various pieces of her clothing and props, such as her raincoat, her new duck necklace, her popsicle trash and the like, all of which I was relegated to watch over like the good ?Sherpa Mommy? that I am. While balancing all of this accoutrement I was able to catch a couple of candid shots of her and her sticky classmates in a feeble attempt to cement the occasion in my mind for future reflection.
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Last year I began talking to my youngest child, as I had previously done with my two older children, about the historic struggles of women and minorities and the great courage that many displayed in the past in their efforts to achieve equality and justice. Talking to her gave me pause. I wondered quietly who would stand up and face the fire hoses today should it be necessary. It has felt as though we had gone from a UNITED America to an America with concern only for the capitol “I”; that our Nation had lost its’ soul. Then came the campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama and my fears were allayed. I am so thankful that my children are old enough to understand the significance of the political races before us. That they are able to see what America CAN BE as opposed to what America has been for their lifetime up until now.?
Though I was grateful for the choices before me I personally struggled for months trying to decide, as many democrats have recently, which candidate I thought would serve our country best going forward into the immediate future. Both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barrack Obama are phenomenal political talents with a great love for their country and all of the people in it.? ?
I voted in the Illinois Primary on Super Tuesday. My vote was cast for Hillary Clinton. Despite what you may think, my vote for Senator Clinton was not a vote against Senator Obama. On the contrary, I want Senator Obama to be President… in 8 years.
The way I see it America has become very much like a long neglected garden that you might find in one of our yet to be gentrified neighborhoods here in Chicago. It is wrought with overgrown weeds and rocks of a failing economy, a horrific war and a ruined global position. Yet, before any seeds of promise and change can be planted, wrongs must be righted and the offending material must be cleared away. I feel, as many do, that Senator Barrack Obama is a planter. He is a breath of pure oxygen in a room that has been pumped full of Carbon Dioxide by the current administration. I long to see and experience all that he can bring to our country, the change that he can initiate. However, in order for Senator Obama to be free to plant we need Senator Clinton to come in with her bulldozer, comprised of her years of experience and her relationships both here and abroad, and clear out the rocks. She is the one to pull up the weeds and expose the fresh earth that will make planting possible. I do have a dream, but my wonderful parents taught me early that the only way to make dreams a reality is through planning, execution, hard work and good ole’ fashioned common sense. ?
America is in such a state of disarray, in my opinion, that it requires not one, but two great democratic candidates to restore its’ luster. And isn’t that what our Democratic party is about really… teamwork, community, a helping hand?? The primary races are not yet over. Although Senator Barrack Obama is in the lead with his many wins in the last week, Senator Hillary Clinton still has wind in her sails. Nevertheless, regardless of who the eventual nominee is it is my sincerest wish that we will come together as a party and beyond, uniting TOGETHER as a Community, with the courage necessary to marshal forward doing what needs to be done to get America back on track again. Let’s not forget, this will be an historic election either with a woman or a black man.
CHANGE is already here!
Let Your SMILE Shine On!TM?
Miss Lori
Our children, our future.
? My daughter Kaiann’s assignment last night was to write a paragraph about what she would do if she were President. I wanted to share her answer with you as a means of inspirration.
Let Your SMILE Shine On!TM?
Miss Lori
If I Were President… by Kaiann Nash age 6, 2nd grade
“If I were President I would stop all litter bugs and racism. I would end all wars and build lots of shelters. I would make sure everybody has food, water and a home and would be safe. I would love to make sure everyone is happy if I could. I would make sure every child has some way to learn and has a life and try to make them a family and friends. I? would make sure every child has healthcare and insurance.”
My children and I were trying our hands at comedy yesterday in the car. We were attempting to make up new and inspired jokes. The effort made us crack up more than the results, but they have encouraged me to share my lone contribution.
“What do you do with a dirty dog in a Laudromat?”
“You wash ‘er and dry’er!”
Let Your SMILE Shine On!?
Miss Lori
Do you believe in fate. I used to believe strongly that everything happened for a reason. hen some really unexplainable things happened and I kid of fell off the bandwagon. But I still wonder about fate. Never more than now though.
