Thursday, April 10, 2008
If I Die Before You Wake
I really wish I could have figured out a way to just get the video to post to the page, but I couldn't. I'm not that computer savvy. So, I suppose this link the the video will have to do. I have to say, I am not a big supporter of the Bush administration, nor the war, but my heart does go out to the men and women of the armed forces and their families. I saw this and it made my heart ache, and it also made me feel just a little more at peace with the war. I may still not agree with it, but I do support our troops 100%.
I guess you will have to copy and then paste the link to your address bar. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it is worth the extra work.
www.flashdemo.net/gallery/wake/index.htm
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12 comments:
cecile, have you floated away yet! i have a boat you could borrow!!
I'm not supposed to be lurking online during "business hours" but had to comment on this post--needless to say, yup, shed a few tears...
It's so hard sometimes to remember there's a war going on right this instant, unless you have someone over there. Because Sgt Pepper was in the army, Hedgehog knows all about that "stuff" and we've tried to make her aware (although without the graphic details) about the fact that we're at war and American soldiers are fighting right now. It turns out she's pretty much the only one in her class who even knows anything at all about it. Do you guys think that's weird? Maybe it's just really really hard to talk to kids about certain things, and this is one of 'em, and so a lot of parents don't want to get into it. I could understand that.
Cecile, do your kids know about the war, or have you decided not to get into it? What about lil cheeses? I'm curious to know.
hope everyone's doing okay. Me, I got back into bed and slept till noon. Got up and went online. This day is SHOT.
i think weve talked about it with the little cheeses but it hasnt really had an impact on them yet. last night i had to explain to mini cheese what morgan freeman was talking about on the "march of the penguins" when he said "some times the older ones just fall asleep and turn to nothing". she knows what death is and what dying is all about so it was an easy talk, but still has an impact when things are cute and fuzzy. when the girls asked about my mom and i explained to them that she killed herself, it was a much longer conversation and for several weeks i could tell that the questions they asked gnawed on them.... now there is no uncomfortableness in their voices when we talk about those issues...
Well, we haven't discussed the war at length, but they are aware of it because we live very close to a military base (LRAFB) and many of the families in our town and especially our neighborhood are Military. Their friend next door just had his dad return from Iraq, so I think they understand somewhat about the war. It is really hard to know exactly how much a 6 yr old grasps. Sometimes, they grasp more than you realize. When my MIL passed away last summer they had a lot of questions. They knew that Daddy and I were hurting badly, and they kept asking if RORO was comeing back. We had to explain to her that she was in Heaven. I think the hardest thing that I have had to explain to them was the reason behind Easter. The problem I had is that like most of you already know, my faith is not at it's best of late, so it was very hard to explain something that I'm not so sure I believe. The more I tried to explain it, the more far fetched it sounded. And the more it made me think about how far from "grace" I had fallen. I suppose as long as we try to be a good and compasionate person and help others that maybe we won't burn in Hell for eternity. Instead we will just fumble around in the dark in this Hell on Earth. (Sorry, didn't mean to go so deep here). ANYWAY, raising children is hard work, Leah, sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong. We just have to learn from our mistakes and try to explain to our children that we are human and that we will make mistakes, and explain to them that the world in not all cotton candy and fairy dust. Once they get smacked around a few times by the world, they will learn eventually. Hope you all have a great evening. Oh and IV, yes we are still anchored here. I'm not in need of the boat just yet.
Wow, I just popped in for a minute between jobs today...very good dialogue...I will be back later to contribute.
That is all so interesting.
When my dad died, rather awfully, three years ago, my sister and I cared for him at his house till the end and my daughter was three-four and hanging around for parts of it. At least, she saw me and my sis just becoming more and more devastated. That was, alas, her real introduction to death and dying. I was so bereft that I had a hard time helping her with it.
But since then, I've tried so hard to give her a good balance of religion and philosophy. I myself have very hopeful ideas about heaven, and decided to teach her about it. I wish I'd grown up with the idea; it would have been very comforting, and kids need a little comfort when they're confronting the abyss. However, like you Cecile, the more I talked about heaven, the weirder I felt. Judaism has the idea of heaven, but it's not so central as it is in Christianity. But I like to think it's waiting out there...
Let me put it like this, although I believe in God, my hope is strong but my faith in things like heaven sometimes flags. But I wouldn't discuss that with Hedgehog till she's older.
The hard thing about Hedgehog is that she doesn't often come right out and ask questions; she's somewhat guarded like that. So I try to suss out what she's wondering about or upset about and take it from there. The one thing she sometimes asks questions about is September 11th--her dad worked on the scene immediately afterwards, and through the cleanup, and so she's always known about that too. And she did have some questions and fears, and we were all able to talk about it together.
IV, it's great that the girls aren't uncomfortable with you talking about things and asking things. You're obviously doing something very right. I always think that if you can just be accepting of whatever your kids ask, not act shocked or embarrassed yourself, or get mad, that's the way to go. I'm really going to try to take that approach as Hedgie gets into adolescence.
This IS deep. So what are we going to drink? We need a round.
I thought I would come back and see if anything else was on the menus of discussion. I think it is fantastic that we were able to joke about beaver and sausage yesterday, and today we are in a very deep and philosophical disscussion about war and religion and rearing children. I think that is was is so great about blogger and our little cult we have going on here. I just wanted to let all of you know that you guys are great, and I'm very happy that we found each other.
oh dear,
i "posted" a long comment and it's not here...did i put it somewhere else?
what happened?
i said much more first time round but this time i'll just say that i thimk you guys are all doing a great job of helping your kids to face this kind of stuff.....i dont believe in shielding them too much, i dont think it's ultimately helpful.
WELL DONE
I'll come back when my head isn't so foggy. I want to be thinking clearly when I discuss serious stuff. Wonderful post and coments. You're all such beautiful, thoughtful human beings.
Cece, we posted on I.V. at the exact same time today. It felt wierd ~ I knew something was happening, then looked and there you were too!
I.V. kicked my butt on his two posts below. I don't think it's fair to trick a sick person. Is it?
Love to all!
Moi
Living in a town where the National Gaurd come to train for war, it is normal to see convoys of troops coming in, helicopters overhead all the time. During peacetime they are called "Weekend Warriors", when we are at "War" they are out there protecting our freedom. Since my gkids have lived here they have learned more about what goes on because of meeting kids that one or both of their parents are in Iraq or have been. I don't think that they really grasp a lot of it.
I remember not understanding or really focusing on how horrible the Viet Nam war was till I was older. I wonder if this is how my gkids will be. I have changed my feelings on the war over the last 5 years. I will always support our troops 100 percent, but I really don't know where we are headed.
Just by reading everyones feelings and thoughts on raising children, I feel that each of you are doing a great job.
We do not get a book when the baby is born. Every day brings a new learning experience. Just keep on doing what you're doing, loving and teaching them what you know.
I love what you said Cece about our little cult we have here. I love how we can converse on anything from buttershots, crown royal whiskey, to beaver and sausage,and then to war and raising children.
I don't think I hit on all the topics, but it is after 1:00 a.m. and I have a very busy day ahead.
*slowly sips c.royal with i.v. chaser*, says to new bartender, "set my friends up with a round please", *turns and walks thru beads*...
Who the hell's the new bartender? Was I too sick to even notice we had one? *Goes through beads, finds a warm stool and slams fist down on bar in the Old Inner Voician style. I'll have a Natural Spring Water with a Lemon Perrier chaser, please. Demands to see the new bartender. Doesn't. Get's up and serves herself. Places tip in her poker jar.*
I'll be back to discuss serious matters when I'm feeling better.
Oh, Suze,
I love you, and am so glad you are feeling better!! I don't know the New Bartenders name, but he sure is easy on the eyes...sorry you missed him...maybe later tonight.
Maybe we all can go play in the Vegas room...
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