Change is good, right?

Ok, in an effort to maintain my earlier (and earlier... and... earlier) pledge to sit here more often, I thought a little housekeeping might help.  Thus, you get a new page design with pretty colors (oooh) atad more info on me(aaaaah) and a photo (I wrestled with this one.  It's an older pic and it doesn't really reveal too much I don't think so I decided to go with it) of the Heir to the Throne.  It was taken in March of last year on the day the pirate and I took him across the cheddar curtain to join the march on the Capitol up in Madison.  We felt like it was important for us to go up and show solidarity with the brothers and sisters of Wisconsin's IAFF affiliates and, in turn, show support for the folks that were placed in harm's way by Governor Rat's (pictured below from an appearance in Springfield, IL with several friends)

 proposed (and ultimately passed) legislation.

We also felt like it would be a civics lesson for him that he'd never learn in school.  We gathered with other firefighters from all over Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota and their families at a firehouse close to the Capitol and we weren't inside the door for 2 minutes when the house Captain saw him and said "Hey! Kid! You like pizza?"  The Heir said he did and Cap took him upstairs and fed him pizza and root beer.  The boy was in heaven.  We took to the streets with some friends that also made the drive north and marched around Madison chanting and carrying signs.

This was one of the first sights we saw, and it helped set the tone for the day.  The day will certainly remain on my top ten list of coolest things I've ever done.  But the best part was when I heard the Heir described the day to his teacher. 

Building future progressives, it's what I do...

Last shot from the day.

I think this one is my favorite.  Peace.

Why I Walk

OK, I know, two posts in one day?  Who is this really?  Whatever... lol

So the pirate and I were talking the other day and she suggested adding a "why I walk" section to our annual W5kfC.  She'd seen other fundraisers do this type of thing.  I thought it was brilliant and immediately (ish) set out to collect comments from some of those close to us as "starters" so everyone can see it Saturday and follow suit if they wish.

After reading a couple, I thought I'd put mine up on this space.  Here goes...



I walk because, for the rest of my life, I'll remember making the phone call to the McHenry County Sheriff's Office and finding out about the crash.

I'll always remember the first time we walked into her room in the Neuro Unit at Lutheran General and the shock I felt when I saw her.

I'll always remember that "anointing of the sick" sounds so much more hopeful than "last rites"

I'll always remember the guy from Gift of Hope telling us we'd have another 24 hours to spend with her til they could "harvest" her organs.

I'll always remember that the drunk reminded me physically of a nephew and wondering if I'd ever be able to talk to the nephew again.

I'll always remember the tears streaming down the face of the Blonde Child's Mother as she read her Victim's Impact Statement in court.

I'll always remember my feeling of outrage that he only got 7 1/2 years.

I'll always remember sitting on the driveway at 2:00 AM watching the stars and wondering...

I'll always remember the "self-portraits".

I'll always remember laughing when we heard the stories about stunts she'd pull that we never knew about.

I'll always remember how much Diane used to smile and laugh before.

I'll always remember how helpless I felt when I knew she was in pain.  And there was nothing I could do about it.

I'll always remember how we figured it was nothing.

I'll always remember telling her "it's ok, I understand."

I'll always remember the comfort I found believing they were together.

I never want another family to go through what we've gone through.  Ever.  That's why I walk.

And if somebody or something holds a copyright to "why I walk" sue my ass.  I don't care.


Don't drink and drive.

I'm not totally sure what brought me back here today.  It may be that a couple friends asked recently if I was still writing, it might be the fact that we're days away from W5kfC and that's always an emotional time (both good and bad), it might be that I've had so many changes over the last year.  I suspect it's some combination of the three, but I guess the reason isn't relevant.  I'm here and you'll all pay for it...

I decided to take a few moments and welcome the Beatle Baby to the planet.  grandchild number 4 arrived about 8 months ago and he's an absolute joy.  Cute as a button, great personality, almost always happy.  I'm glad his father doesn't visit here because he reminds me SO much of the Boy Child when he was little.  Very mellow baby, almost always in a good mood.  Unlike the Oldest One, sorry OO but it's true.

But I digress...

Grandparenthood is so vastly different from parenting.   Maybe it's because we've gotten wiser as a population and we worry about so many more things, I don't know.  When mine were little we didn't really worry too much about things like oh, say, car seats, or not eating junk food (organics were for hippies back then for cryin out loud) or second-hand smoke (what? it's not like we blew it in their faces).  The Pirate and I went to a concert last night in our town.  A free, open to the public, weekly event in the park on the beach.  And I noticed the number of little kids, some looked to be no more than 4 or 5, running around with no supervising adults anywhere near them.  Granted it's a gated park, in a reasonably affluent area, but haven't these people heard of Jerry Sandusky?  The whole evening just made me kind of shake my head.  Of course, back in the day, I probably was much the same with my kids, but Geez Louise, I'd NEVER let one of the grandkids run around like that.  Heck I still keep a close eye on the Heir to the Throne and he's almost 12.  As the twitterverse says, smh... smh.

It's killing me, btw, to not put up a picture of Beatle Baby, but that's out of the question in this day and age.  So if you know me in RL, you'll just have to come out (***shameless plug alert, shameless plug alert***) Saturday for the 9th annual Walk 5k for Caitlin and see all of us for yourself.  And while you're there, take a look at what we're trying to accomplish.  We've all been through some pain the last 9 (sometimes it feels like yesterday) years and one of the things we try to do is prevent someone else from joining our ranks.

If you've never been to this site or our event before try here or this one and see what the day is about.  In 2 days the Blond Child would've been 27.  Married?  Maybe.  Kids? Who knows.  She never got the chance.

She should have.  Everyone should.  Don't drink and drive.  Ever.  It's that simple.