Gosh! So much has happened. I really need to do better about posting.
First, my husband and I just got back from D.C. and all the inauguration festivities. We left our son at home because we figured that it would be CRAZY to bring an eight-month old to D.C. in the middle of winter. It was the longest I've ever been away from him (FIVE DAYS!!). It was rough, but not as bad as I thought it would be even though I missed his first steps. Although I enjoyed being able to be a part of everything, if there is one theme of the week it is LINES! Lines for everything. I really expected things to be more organized than they were. In fact, some of it was just pure idiocy. Such is government. Other than that, I enjoyed the experience and I got to see Michelle and Barack at the Western Ball. I can live with that.
It was also a nice time for my husband and I to be together. We are still learning each other and dealing with the growing pains that occur when two people merge lives and throw a baby in the mix. It was nice to know that we are still connected.
As mentioned, my son took his first steps! I guess he was officially nine months old when he did that, but he's been standing on his own since January 3. He's progressing quite nicely! I guess we're doing something right.
School is starting back up again and I have a FULL load. In law school you aren't even allowed to enroll in 18 hours without a dean's approval so I had to do that. I am externing at the Supreme Court 10 hours a week in addition to my school schedule, being a mom, wife, chef, and housekeeper. This ought to be interesting.
Did I mention I'm participating in a national law school competition, too?
I also found out that I made the Dean's List for the first time last semester! I am thrilled. My first year was so difficult, maybe more because I was so sick from pregnancy than from school. I felt like it really hindered my ability to perform my best, but I just wasn't sure. Making the Dean's List was something I needed to prove to myself and I'm glad I did it.
Oh, one of the highlights of my D.C. trip was seeing my best friend's work in "ManifestHope: D.C." an inaugural art show she participated in. The show was very selective, it was put on by Shepherd Fairey's people. You can read more about it and her work on her blog:
www.blueingreenonrepeat.wordpress.com
Pretty cool, huh?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
To Undo What's Been Done...
I just watched the Oscar Grant video and I am nearly in tears. If you have not seen it, you can see it here: http://cbs5.com/local/oakland.BART.shooting.2.900634.html
First, I am not an insensitive person. I have never personally witnessed anyone be shot or killed or hurt for that matter. I have never seen a violent fight, honestly, I've never really seen a fight. I've just never personally witnessed anyone be hurt. Even movies unnerve me at times because I watch them with a "what if this were real?" perspective. "No Country for Old Men," was shocking to me.
I say all this because I want you to understand how sensitive I am to violence. My reaction may be more sensitive than others. For example, my husband has seen his friends die in a car accident, witnessed shootings, seen people beaten within an inch of their lives, etc. This video may impact him differently.
But I felt like crying.
It was just so senseless. Killings like this always are, but this affected me differently. Maybe because I saw it. Maybe because I'm sensitive. Or maybe because I watched that officer, without rhyme or reason, without much forethought, take the life of someone's father, someone's son, someone's friend.
As if he was shooting an animal, swatting a fly, smashing an insect. As if the person he was killing was irrelevant. Like his life was worthless. He was no one to that officer. It didn't matter he could have been everything to someone else.
What do you say to his child? What would I say to my son if Oscar had been my husband? What do you say?
What do you say to his mother? A woman who spent 40 weeks carrying that man, fed him, clothed him, made sure he went to school, watched him graduate, who invested TWENTY-TWO years of her life in his. What do you say to her?
There is nothing to say.
There is nothing to say to undo what's been done.
And that is worth crying for. Not just because OBVIOUSLY this could be any of our son's. Not just because there are people who simply do not value life, and in fact, value some lives less. But because there is NOTHING to say to undo what's been done.
First, I am not an insensitive person. I have never personally witnessed anyone be shot or killed or hurt for that matter. I have never seen a violent fight, honestly, I've never really seen a fight. I've just never personally witnessed anyone be hurt. Even movies unnerve me at times because I watch them with a "what if this were real?" perspective. "No Country for Old Men," was shocking to me.
I say all this because I want you to understand how sensitive I am to violence. My reaction may be more sensitive than others. For example, my husband has seen his friends die in a car accident, witnessed shootings, seen people beaten within an inch of their lives, etc. This video may impact him differently.
But I felt like crying.
It was just so senseless. Killings like this always are, but this affected me differently. Maybe because I saw it. Maybe because I'm sensitive. Or maybe because I watched that officer, without rhyme or reason, without much forethought, take the life of someone's father, someone's son, someone's friend.
As if he was shooting an animal, swatting a fly, smashing an insect. As if the person he was killing was irrelevant. Like his life was worthless. He was no one to that officer. It didn't matter he could have been everything to someone else.
What do you say to his child? What would I say to my son if Oscar had been my husband? What do you say?
What do you say to his mother? A woman who spent 40 weeks carrying that man, fed him, clothed him, made sure he went to school, watched him graduate, who invested TWENTY-TWO years of her life in his. What do you say to her?
There is nothing to say.
There is nothing to say to undo what's been done.
And that is worth crying for. Not just because OBVIOUSLY this could be any of our son's. Not just because there are people who simply do not value life, and in fact, value some lives less. But because there is NOTHING to say to undo what's been done.
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