Hope

Dedicated to the memory of Sean Bell and Michael Donald...Respect... ...VOTE...Fight, Fight the Power, You've GOTTA Fight the Powers That Be! (Thanks, Isley Brothers and Public Enemy)

After such an emotional Friday, when I heard about the assassination of Police Officer Omar Edwards, I needed the innocence of a small child to remind me that I should still hold on to hope. Ashley has got to be one of my favorite children of all time. I had her brother 4 years ago when she was a baby in the stroller. Now there's another baby in the stroller who she declared was going to be mine, too. Ashley and I were to see the movie, "Up," yesterday. Well, you all know about the best laid plans. We shopped for healthy snacks as she categorized them. We did a good job of buying strawberries and water. My cajoling her to submit to a bag of chips, went unheeded. However, once we made it to the mall, it was a completely different story. After finding the perfect pair of i-Carly pink sunglasses, it was time to see the show. To our dismay, the movie was sharing the theatre with another movie. We would have had to wait much too long. Ben and Jerry helps to reduce disappointment. Keeping with the healthy theme, she ordered the biggest Chocolate Brownie Frozen Yogurt Waffle Cone I'd ever seen in my life. Six year olds have great big eyes and very small tummys. Her saying "It's low fat," had me rolling in the aisles. Needless to say, she was done and the thought of buying her a meal was out of the question. She nearly burst trying to eat her yogurt. We had fun at the photo booth making funny faces. We put dandelions in our hair and chased the clouds away by singing, "Mr. Sun," and the new song she made up as she went along. It was hilarious when she told me to sing it back to her, and now I know what I sound like when I'm teaching a new song to the class. Anyway, I learned not seeing the movie was the best thing that could have happened, because that six year old and I had so much fun. I learned there is still a reason to hope and work towards a better day. The best part of the day was when that baby told me not to forget to pray....Out of the mouths of babes.....