A sweet, sweet child . . .

Ryann left this world today at only 1 and a half years old.  I remember holding her in church.  I can't imagine what loss her parents must be feeling right now.  I'm a firm believer that no one should ever have to watch their children die.  I'm not sure of the details, but it was sudden and unexpected.  Ryann was a happy bubbly little girl, all smiles as I remember, very mild mannered and easy going.  There was something very contemplative about her too, as if she has some special intuition.  I know her parents thought the world of her and were so excited to bring her into the world and give her their love. Her mother, Damie, started a blog detailing their adventures which I loved reading.

Please, keep this family in your thoughts and/or prayers. Please, hold tight and treasure the children and family and loved ones that you have.  Life can be all too fleeting on this earth.

Lastly, I take comfort in the thought that our extreme loss at losing someone is our best and most poignant reminder of how precious and loved that person was.  The deepest grief always sprouts from the deepest love and we should acknowledge the strength of our love for others in our own way.

Love to you Damie and Jared.

Love to you Ryann.

Inspirational Person of the week . . .

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

By Michael Moore Thursday, Apr. 29, 2010

When Brazilians first elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva President in 2002, the country's robber barons nervously checked the fuel gauges on their private jets. They had turned Brazil into one of the most inequitable places on earth, and now it looked like payback time. Lula, 64, was a genuine son of Latin America's working class — in fact, a founding member of the Workers' Party — who'd once been jailed for leading a strike.

By the time Lula finally won the presidency, after three failed attempts, he was a familiar figure in Brazilian national life. But what led him to politics in the first place? Was it his personal knowledge of how hard many Brazilians must work just to get by? Being forced to leave school after fifth grade to support his family? Working as a shoeshine boy? Losing part of a finger in a factory accident?
No, it was when, at age 25, he watched his wife Maria die during the eighth month of her pregnancy, along with their child, because they couldn't afford decent medical care.
There's a lesson here for the world's billionaires: let people have good health care, and they'll cause much less trouble for you.
And here's a lesson for the rest of us: the great irony of Lula's presidency — he was elected to a second term in 2006 and will serve through this year — is that even as he tries to propel Brazil into the First World with government social programs like Fome Zero (Zero Starvation), designed to end hunger, and with plans to improve the education available to members of Brazil's working class, the U.S. looks more like the old Third World every day.
What Lula wants for Brazil is what we used to call the American Dream. We in the U.S., by contrast, where the richest 1% now own more financial wealth than the bottom 95% combined, are living in a society that is fast becoming more like Brazil.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984864,00.html

Sounds like a good President to me, how about you?

Inspiration of the week!

My inspirational person of the week is Hilary Rodham Clinton.

She is a force to be reckoned with and has proved invaluable time after time. Sadly, she has announced that she's done with direct politics after this term, but I don't blame her. It's not easy weathering personal criticism at every turn during one's whole career and it's most certainly not easy to weather the crazy schedule she has as Secretary of State.

Here's some basic info:

As Secretary of State, Clinton became the first former First Lady to serve in a president's cabinet. She has put into place institutional changes seeking to maximize departmental effectiveness and promote the empowerment of women worldwide. She has set records for most-traveled secretary for time in office. She has been at the forefront of the U.S. response to the 2011 Middle East protests, including advocating for the military intervention in Libya.


I was amazed at how busy she is!  I encourage you to browse the Secretary of State website, it even provides her daily schedule. http://www.state.gov/secretary/

Either way, she has made great strides in turning around the toxic foreign policy of the Bush administration, she is a great advocate for health, human rights, and empowering women and girls. She definitely one of my top heros (despite the fact that I do not completely agree with her on her every policy, but no one will) and I will be very sad to see her leave politics. Hilary Rodham Clinton, I commend you and appreciate all that you do for us and all that you have done.

International Woman's Day

In honor of today, I would like to honor my mother. She inspires me to be considerate of others, she inspires me to stand up for myself and others, she inspires me to be me, who I really am inside.

My mom and me.

My mom and her mom.

I appreciate you mom, and I appreciate all the women who have inspired me throughout my few years so far.

This post was written for the One Wee Voice International Women's Day campaign. If you're a blogger and would like to share your wee voice by celebrating a woman in your life, then link up below.