Happy Birthday Brother...

Today is your birthday...you're 29 years old...can you believe it?  ...it seems like only a moment ago that you were skateboarding in the driveway sporting a rat tail, jams and a Rude Dog t-shirt...

A tax day baby...I picture the tax day baby kind of like the New Year's baby except in green with dollar bills scattered on the floor around him...easy birthday to remember on a day most adults would rather forget...but it was the day you were born so I know our parent's look fondly on tax day...Althought I don't remember anyone ever freaking out about taxes either...it's just one of those standing jokes...I guess I'll get the punch line one day when I'm paying and not getting a refund!  Eeek.

The first couple of years...I made sure I was home for your birthday...to be there when the moments were very rough...I called first thing this morning to check in on mom...she was getting dressed for work...she seemed well...but I could hear the sadness in her voice...I don't think it will ever disappear completely especially on your special day...I haven't called dad yet today but I called him yesterday afternoon (he sent me a text, so weird that he texts)...he was at the movies with your daughter...I sent mom and dad cards...just reminding them they are loved...while shopping for cards the other day I was drawn to the birthday cards...so I looked...cards to brother, to brother from sister...they stay on the shelves because you aren't here to give them to...

So I dig into my memory banks to remember a birthday party from the past...a memory to share...we lived on Pine Log Road...your birthday was either on Easter or during Easter weekend...b/c there was an Easter egg hunt...and there were Easter baskets involved...and your dog (Bama or Alabama - cause we had both...named after - the band Alabama) bit Pa Pa...he had on a red shirt...and that dog had a weird thing with the color red...dogs are supposed to be color blind...but that dog could see the color red and it made him mad for some reason! 

Your life was too short...you couldn't do what needed to be done to live (you know, barring some other catastrophic event)...

So for your birthday let's make a wish...a wish for someone else...a wish for someone else's sobriety...

For more information on getting help (meetings, counselors,etc.):
Alcoholics Anonymous: www.aa.org 
Narcotics Anonymous: www.na.org
Alateen - www.al-anon.alateen.org
Partnership for a Drug Free America - www.drugfree.org

Show, Tell & Sniff?

There are some things that just should not be part of "Show and Tell":

Several Thomson Elementary School students were taken to a local hospital after handling or ingesting cocaine, authorities said.

Five students were transported to a local hospital. Parents took custody of another student. All children are reportedly okay.

The children taken to the hospital were between 8- and 9-years-old.

Several said they weren't feeling well and were checked out by the nurse.

D.C. police are conducting an investigation at the school, located in the 1200 block of L Street NW.

School officials said four students ingested the cocaine, either orally or by sniffing it.

School officials confirmed that the substance was cocaine. Police tested it on school grounds.

School officials said one child brought the cocaine to school and shared it with the other kids.

Police are speaking to the man who dropped off the child who brought the drugs to school. The student is believed to have picked up the drugs inside the vehicle.

The man could face possible charges, including cruelty to children.

The student who brought the cocaine to school has been charged with possession controlled substance.

Some parents learned about the drug incident through a recorded phone message from the principal.

Others found out when they picked up their child from school.

The school will hold drug education counseling Monday. (TBD)

A parent, step-father in this case, was driving the kid to school with cocaine in the car...the more than obvious reaction to that is - That's not OK!  Coming from the Just Say No generation of kids...I know kids learn about drugs early...so obviously these kids knew what to do with it...but the fourth grader who brought it...probably has more negative education about drugs than will ever be reported in the news...

Asking questions like: What kind of a person carries drugs in the car with their child? What was he thinking? - IS well, pointless...b/c whomever the person is - has become the person using/selling drugs...Now this kid is charged with possession of a controlled substance - a fourth grader...In fourth grade, I was no more interested in drugs than I was in studying for a test...and by that I mean, NOT AT ALL...I know that's not the reality everyone lives in but it seems to me that a 9 year old shouldn't be facing drug charges...You and I snorted a few pixie sticks off of the fireplace...which is weird by itself...obviously we knew snorting drugs was bad...at the time was funny and seemed like child's play...but you're gone bc of drugs...soooooooo...was it foreshadowing???

You and I grew up in the same house but you were smoking in elementary school and using words that definitely would get us a spanking - I didn't smoke my first cigarette until college...Something in you was lured by all the things that we were told to "Just Say No" to...I don't know why....sometimes I ask myself was I a bad sister?  As an older sister, I didn't want my little brother around, you were annoying, terribly clingy, and would never play games the right way (so I was a bit of a control freak even then)...you always wanted "people" (a story for another day) to be the bad guys....I of course wanted a happy little world of make believe...Those are things we should be looking back on now and laughing about...I know our parents were good parents...I was there...but I know they have moments where they blame themselves...they always will...seems to just be natural... 

I don't know that you ever snorted cocaine or would have driven around with your daughter and drugs...but this story is fresh and was on my mind...