today's musings
So I feel like I never update when I'm feeling okay. Today was pretty decent, maybe a little work-filled, but not overall bad.
I went over to Germantown, this section of Quincy that's pretty bad off. I guess if Quincy has projects, those are them. I work at the after school program that's on campus for the kids in that town, and they're just really great kids. I can't believe what their lives are like though. I was talking with two boys, and they were telling me how their fathers had both died in like the last six months or so. It absolutely broke my heart, because all these kids are under 12 years old. And they were just like throwing it back and forth, like they'd accepted that that was how their life had gone, which, I guess, is a good thing in a way, but they were also still talking about how much it sucked, which is the understatement of a lifetime. And so many of these kids get shipped around to foster home after foster home with no permanent family. I don't even know what I can really do to make their lives better. It's like even though I'm listening and being a friend and mentor, they're teaching me so much about the real world. I mean, I know the pain. I've felt the pain, I continually feel it. And I have people close to me that are going through even more loss than I am at any given time, but it's different to have a daily reminder in these kids how precious life is. And how precious all of their lives are. I guess I'm just rambling, but I hate that almost no one loves these kids. I think I'd maybe like to work in Germantown when I graduate. Hell, I could do it now. I should do it now, even though I'm leaving. Even being there for six months is better than not doing it. But how can you make someone feel loved? It's a long time period kind of thing, not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You can't make someone feel loved for long if they only experience it once during their life. It will always be a fleeting moment that they pull on to keep living, but it's not enough.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about loving people. People of other religions, races, ages, and levels of income. I can't look away from homeless people any longer. Actually, I guess I'm lucky cuz I never really did to begin with. I can't understand how people can pass someone on the street without at least smiling to them. These people are totally ignored...it's like people think if they don't look at them, they can never become one of them. But I've met homeless people who have graduated college, who have families, who had good jobs. People had better start looking into others' eyes. I don't know what the world will be like if we don't.
I went over to Germantown, this section of Quincy that's pretty bad off. I guess if Quincy has projects, those are them. I work at the after school program that's on campus for the kids in that town, and they're just really great kids. I can't believe what their lives are like though. I was talking with two boys, and they were telling me how their fathers had both died in like the last six months or so. It absolutely broke my heart, because all these kids are under 12 years old. And they were just like throwing it back and forth, like they'd accepted that that was how their life had gone, which, I guess, is a good thing in a way, but they were also still talking about how much it sucked, which is the understatement of a lifetime. And so many of these kids get shipped around to foster home after foster home with no permanent family. I don't even know what I can really do to make their lives better. It's like even though I'm listening and being a friend and mentor, they're teaching me so much about the real world. I mean, I know the pain. I've felt the pain, I continually feel it. And I have people close to me that are going through even more loss than I am at any given time, but it's different to have a daily reminder in these kids how precious life is. And how precious all of their lives are. I guess I'm just rambling, but I hate that almost no one loves these kids. I think I'd maybe like to work in Germantown when I graduate. Hell, I could do it now. I should do it now, even though I'm leaving. Even being there for six months is better than not doing it. But how can you make someone feel loved? It's a long time period kind of thing, not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You can't make someone feel loved for long if they only experience it once during their life. It will always be a fleeting moment that they pull on to keep living, but it's not enough.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about loving people. People of other religions, races, ages, and levels of income. I can't look away from homeless people any longer. Actually, I guess I'm lucky cuz I never really did to begin with. I can't understand how people can pass someone on the street without at least smiling to them. These people are totally ignored...it's like people think if they don't look at them, they can never become one of them. But I've met homeless people who have graduated college, who have families, who had good jobs. People had better start looking into others' eyes. I don't know what the world will be like if we don't.