in his father's footsteps

"We can perhaps remember - even if only for a time - that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek - as we do - nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness."  - Robert F. Kennedy, 1966

robert kennedy fought for the poor and disenfranchised, the dispossessed and powerless.  his son, robert f. kennedy, jr. continues the fight.  the younger kennedy's words near the end of the speech below (at the premiere of the "no kidding, me too!" documentary) are eerily reminscent of his father's:

"america is a place where we're supposed to build communities. we’re not going to be judged so much based upon the wealth of our citizens or the size of our armies or the throw-weight of our weapons or the power of our industries, but how we care for the least fortunate members in our society, how strongly and robustly we fight to include all the members of our community, no matter what their disability, and how strongly we avoid the seduction of the notion that we can advance ourselves as a people by leaving our poor brothers and sisters behind. we have to go forward as a community and we have to include the people who are the most vulnerable, the most alienated, in the most pain and agony. our response to that in the past has just been to add on cruelty. and joey’s [pantoliano] up there saying we can’t live that way anymore. that it’s bad not only for the people who suffer this disease but it’s bad for all of us to live in a society that condones that."

how beautifully put.



(mr. kennedy's reference to "joey" is joe pantoliano, mental health advocate and founder of "no kiddding, me too." also, mr. kennedy suffers from the neurological disorder spasmodic dysphonia, which makes speech difficult.)

dum ego anhelo, spero (latin proverb)

no kidding, me too

love, love, love this new public service announcement from joe pantoliano's organization, "no kidding, me too!".  hopefully, joey's documentary on mental illness will air in may on pbs.  until then, click here to watch some terrific video excerpts from the documentary and from NKM2 events. 

they make every day happy!

my kids threw me a surprise birthday party on april 1.  you can see why i'm the luckiest girl in the world.

me and my shadow

meet the wonderfully adorable molly.  not technically one of "my kids", i claim her anyways.  she is sweet and hard-working and has the most sincere desire to do the right thing.  i hope kate and ian grow up to be just like her. 

molly stands just under five feet tall ~ she laughs all the time about her feet not touching the floor when she sits in the student desks.  (honestly, they dangle!) when i first saw molly's elmo and cookie monster shirts, i asked her if she would mind if i bought matching ones.  she was totally up for it.  so now, we periodically sync our wardrobes and are twins for the day. 

molly typifies why i love my job.  there are soooo many terrific kids out there flying under the radar!  they are indeed a daily blessing.

the birth of bleeding hearts

"give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where i can walk undisturbed.” - walt whitman

photo no. 382

kate's favorite thing in life is taking pictures of herself.  you have no idea how many hundreds of digital shots i have deleted that look exactly like the one below.

my students at school are the same way.  (what amazes me is just how talented these kids are at holding the camera at arm's length and actually snapping a photo with their face in the frame.)

my ornery daughter has been chastised repeatedly for taking so many photos of herself, but lo and behold, she keeps inventing new facial expressions that need to be pixelated.  oh, and here's the kicker with kate ~ if i told her tomorrow that we were going to have portraits taken, she'd throw the biggest fit.  "mom! (whiny voice). do i have to?!  (more whining)."  i can't win. 

but on the flip side, she is pretty darn cute.