things don't just happen
i have a rediculous amount of cousins, and grew up with a lot of them around. when my aunt and uncle divorced, my aunt hauled them all off to south dakota. one of them moved back in the past few years and has basically wreaked havoc on my family. he tried to run from the navy (to mexico), resulting in dishonorable discharge, using drugs, impregnating a girl he met in tj, and robbing my grandmother (twice!), my uncle, and a close family friend. the last time, he was caught in the act and the police were called. my grandma is DIRT POOR and what little things she had, he stole and she will never get back. she had to resort to nailing her windows shut to keep him out of her house. my mom just told me that when he went to trial he refused a court-appointed lawyer and is now going to be in jail for the next 6 years. Even though he deserves it thoroughly, i still can't help but feel saddened that this is what it has come to. i guess its somewhat related to the above in that i see people around me making horrible life decisions and feel completely helpless. nothing i could have said or done would have prevented him from making the mistakes he did. i wish people would just LISTEN and stop pretending like they know everything about life. stop thinking that things HAPPEN to them and are not a direct result of their bad decisions. i wish i could just block these people out. it blows my mind the paths people take for their lives and how they can be so blind, so stupid, then make excuses or blame their situations on other things or people.