Every Year

Every year I cry during the reading of the names of the people murdered on 9/11. The people that lost their lives that day were doing nothing different from what we all do everyday. They were at work, flying on a plane, or serving the community. They didn't know that they kissed their families goodbye for the last time. They were no different then any of us are.

I would have been in front of the WTC at the moment the first plane hit if it wasn't for a doctor's appointment in Brooklyn that I had that morning. I would have been with Candace on the express bus from Bay Ridge. I didn't have to witness the panic, see the people falling from the towers, or run through the streets of lower Manhattan. I am thankful for that and I am thankful that Candace made it out of the area ok. 

I know many families that lost loved ones on 9/11. Today I think about your lost and I cry. I cry for a past that cannot be changed and a future without the people you love.

Always remember that any of us could have taken the path that would have lead us to being in those buildings or on those planes. Always remember the lost that NYC and America suffered that day. Never forget the strength, compassion, and heart that got us through the days after. And never use the memory of 9/11 as an excuse to hate.

Firefighter Daniel O'Callaghan - always in the heart of  your family

Playground Politics

I have a love/hate relationship with the playground. We frequent the Greenwood Ave playground in Kensington, Brooklyn. But really the location or specific playground doesn't matter. I think I would have the same thing to say about any playground. As I look at my feelings towards taking Ruby to playgrounds I realize that it is truly a love/hate relationship. I can put how I feel about the playground in two distinct buckets. One labeled "love" and the other labeled "hate," there is no gray area.

Love Bucket

• Ruby loves it. She sees a playground and is instantly excited. She wants to go "HIGHER" on the swing and "WEEEEE" down the slide. She wants to climb everything and run around and play with all of the kids. She is very happy on the playground.
• Being outside, especially now that it is getting a little cooler. It boosts my energy (and Ruby's) and it just feels good.
  
• Meeting all of Ruby's friends and their Moms/Dads. Ruby goes to the playground with the nanny, and when I go with her I get to meet all of the kids that she hangs out with and it really is sweet.
  
• Feeling like I am a part of the neighborhood. I never felt like I was a part of a neighborhood that I lived in before I started going to the playground. There is something about being around all of the kids and the locals that makes you feel like you are a part of something bigger.
  

Hate Bucket

• Mean children that Ruby is exposed to. I want to think that people are mostly good natured, but when you see some of these kids and the hateful things they do and say to one another it really makes me think that some people are born to be assholes. This is horrible to say, but there are little assholes running around the playground. And I want to do to them the same thing I want to do with big assholes.
  
• Stupid parents. There are two groups of parents. One group that watches their kids, one group that doesn't watch their kids. I want to yell and get into a fight with the group that doesn't watch their kids. Sure you can't and shouldn't be there at every moment. But you should make an effort to have an eye/ear on your offspring at all times. (Usually these are the parents of the little assholes.)
• Toys on the playground. Toys are for at home, keep the toys at home. That is all I am going to say about that.
• Teenagers and pre-teens on the playground. I didn't like teenagers and pre-teens when I was one, I definitely don't care for them now, especially when they are acting like animals and not being mindful of the 2 year olds wandering around. Why aren't the smoking pot in Prospect Park somewhere like a good teen would be doing?

So there they are. Two buckets. Hate and love. No matter what I will always take Ruby to the playground because she loves it so much. I just only hope that I don't tramatize her too much when I get in a screaming match with one somebody, someday. I try to focus on the things I love, so I don't get into with a Mom that is sitting there on her blackberry or socializing with other loser Moms while her 3 year old stomps on the fingers of a 15 month old. But I am just not that good of a person, I enjoy telling people they are idiots too much.