Out of the Mouth of Babes...

Two posts in one night? Trust me, I'm just as amazed as you are!

I'm desperate for sleep, but in my settling down routine, half of the time I'm thinking of "blog posts" that never get posted. Why? Mainly because I write out the entire thing in the time it takes me to settle down and go to sleep. Then sleep happens and by the time I wake up, I either don't remember what I wanted to post, or it's not nearly as eloquent as it was in my drowsy state. Either way, it never actually gets written.

That was a long way of saying I was thinking before going to sleep this thought popped into my head and I knew that I had to write about it, because this is rather important to me.

My cousins are over. They're here for week. My mom has decided to make it her "life's mission" to get them to bond for a week during the summer here in SF. Two are sisters, and one is our cousin. Two are near in age. Efi is almost 16, Valerie just turned 15, and Yadi is I think 13. Now, the two oldest ones go to the same high school but run in very different circles. Mainly Valerie's fault because she has serious issues. I get it, her mother is crazy. However, I'm going off on a sleep deprived tangent.

Back to my point. I'll try to post more on my cousins later. They will be here for a week after all. Today, well yesterday, Yadi asked me about Sailorman. I had Valerie assist me making some oatmeal raisin cookies, and put the majority of them in a ziplock bag which is stuck in an APO box. Yadi (who seriously has a problem with finding the stop button when it comes to eating) asked me why I was taking the cookies away. I replied that I wanted to send them to my fiance who was in Iraq. She stared at me with a completely blank expression, then asked me why he was there. I pretty much stared at her and said "because there's a war going on there?" While I recognize that she lives in the ghetto, (I know that sounds really harsh of me to say, but it's true. My mother grew up about a mile away from where her sister lives now, and it was only through hard work and getting her masters degree that she is where she is, instead of in that two mile radius like the majority of her six siblings) are you serious?

This war has been going on for almost her entire life. How can she not realize that it is still going on. She then asked me why he was there. I said because he was out there fighting for our rights and freedoms. She then said: "I thought he was supposed to be lovable. Why he is out there making war and KILLING people with fighting?" OMG. I realize that this is how the majority of ignorant Americans see the military, but.....sigh. I tried not to be angry. Instead, I was calm, and said "sweetie, he's out there because he's fighting for our rights to be whoever we want to be here in our country. It's because he's willing to put up with horrible things for us that we're able to enjoy the beauty that is this country." I don't think she got it. That saddens me more than I can describe.

We also got to talking about my wedding, and when it was going to be. I told her it was going to be in Virginia, and she said she wasn't going to VA for my wedding. By this time I was getting kind of snippy and told her "sweetie, no one's invited so don't worry about it." Her sister snorted at that. She then asked me why I wasn't having a wedding. I guess the idea that I wouldn't want one didn't occur to her.

I guess how she sees me got changed. How I see her got changed too. I know she's only 13, but she lives in such a small bubble. She doesn't see the world, she doesn't even see the country. I doubt she even gives much thought to her state. She lives in her radius of a neighborhood, and that's it. Her only "dreams" involve getting a job that has the greatest output of money for the least amount of education or effort on her part. She didn't even know what the Civil War was, or who Lincoln was. I don't know whether to despair of her, or the educational system. I suppose to quote Sheldon "yet another child left behind."

*Please don't think me harsh when talking about my cousin. I wish so much for them, especially that they dream much bigger than they do. The fact that they don't know current events, let alone history of our country saddens me to a degree I don't think I could ever properly describe. Giving them access to books is something I've attempted to do for years. They're content to live in their bubble. Today's conversations just proved how grateful I am to my mother for studying to provide me with all the opportunities I've had during my life. I know that I want to do the same for my children someday. If anything, this conversation has cemented my desire to finish my degree, something that I'm sure will make my mom very very happy.