Pay up!

My son Kevin turned eight on July 6. He got about $60 in birthday money, which he's been spending in bits and pieces. About a week ago, he asked me if he could buy some Chaotic cards. I don't get the whole cards thing- YuGiOh, Pokemon, Chaotic- any of it- but both of my boys love them. I told him he could buy the cards and pay me back with some of his birthday money when we got home.

He was SO excited. He bought the cards, took them home, and started organizing them in order of "power". I then reminded him he needed to pay me for the cards.

He balked.
He whined.
He huffed.

I could NOT understand his reaction! I mean... he knew he had to pay me back for them! Finally, he sighed and gave me a "FINE!", then handed over four of the the cards.

I looked at them, and at him, and said "What is this for?"

He said, "You said I owed you four cards, so THERE. I gave you four cards!"

Trying not to smile or giggle, I said, "Um. Honey. I said that you had to pay me for THE cards.. not FOUR cards. You owe me $15.00."

Relieved to have his FOUR cards back, he gladly paid me $15.00 FOR cards.

heh.

Stupid Human Tricks

Dillweed IRS worker sneaks peeks at celebrity tax returns. Dillweed is now facing up to a year in jail and $250,000 in fines. Gee. Wonder if it was worth it... NOT.

Here's another Cincinnati resident to be proud of: Former morgue attendant charged for having sex with a corpse. There are just SO many wrong things about this story. First of all, HE SEXUALLY ABUSED A CORPSE! Second, the corpse was that of a woman who was brutally beaten and had her neck slashed. And finally, the man who was eventually convicted of her murder was also charged with raping her- a charge he vehemently denied. Turns out- he was telling the truth: the semen found on her body belonged to the morgue worker. Can you say "EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW"??????

Just before the school year ended, a teen boy was killed when a dump truck crossed the center line and hit the bus he was riding. This past week, a grand jury decided NOT TO CHARGE THE DRIVER WITH HIS DEATH. No negligent homicide, no vehicular homicide, no crossing the double line. NOTHING. OMG. I cannot believe this. I'm not saying I think the dump truck driver hit the bus on purpose, but JESUS H. CHRIST- he crossed the center line, hit a bus, and killed a boy! How can that NOT be ILLEGAL????

Why I Blog

There are times when I've thought about deleting my blog. I hardly write on it anymore, and when I do, no one really notices. Why would you? I post so infrequently that checking in just isn't on the top of your "to do" list. But then sometimes something happens that makes me remember why I started blogging, and why I will never delete this blog. One of those "somethings" happened today.

SSG H wrote a comment on my "That's my boy" post from just over a year ago. He wrote:
SFC Bishop was my squad leader in Aco 1-33, he is a great man, a great leader, and a true warrior. he will never be forgotten.

SFC Bishop has been dead now for a year and a half. He died a hero's death on January 1, 2006. His baby is now 2 years old. Matthew never got to know the warmth and comfort of being held in your father's arms. But men like SSG H knew the comfort of having a "great man, a great leader, and a true warrior" protect and lead them in battle. Men like SSG H are why Matthew will know his father's story, even though he never actually knew his father.

Something similar happened a few months ago. Emma Haumesser wrote a comment on my September 12, 2006 post entitled "Healing the Haumesser and Wolford families". Emma had an asthma attack one night, and on the way back home from the hospital, their car was struck by a drunk, underage driver. Emma's mom, Katie, was killed in the crash, and Emma was seriously wounded. The drunk driver, Jacob Wolford, was barely injured. Katie was a teacher at my son's school at the time of the crash.

I wrote a series of posts about the accident and received some vey heart-felt emails from Katie's sister and Jacob's father, but nothing has affected me as much as when Emma herself wrote a comment on the post over 2 years after I originally published it. She wrote:
Hi guys and i whant to expecially thank Phil Smith?? Because he is so right!!! My mom is not coming back to me in 7 years and Kylie because she is my best friend and she has helped me so much, And you people that dont think I am me well, here is some stuff that only i would know my middle name is Kathryn and Amy had twins the daughter is Ellie and my mom loved to go out with her friends to Ryno's!!! its true but she was always the DESIGNATED DRIVER!! Jacob! well bye bye- Emma H

And this is what Phil had written, two years earlier:
Say what you want. Feel as much sympathy for Jacob as you want that "boo hoo" he is going to spend 7 years in jail. Big deal. That was MILD. I am, and have been completely disappointed with this whole case.
Katie is gone now. She doesn't come home to Emma in 7 years. I have my own thoughts on due justice but hey, of course that's not my job.

Emma, I remember when your mom brought you in to our English class. Mrs. Rudd's. You were tiny and adorable..just days old. She was one of the most selfless and caring people I have ever met. A true angel. She will never be forgotten sweetie.

Emma's outpouring of appreciation for Phil's comment, and the mere fact that she found my post and commented, brought me to tears. During the sentencing of Jacob Wolford, Emma stood up in front of the judge and said that she "forgives him, but she does not forgive what he did for killing her mother." Emma is a remarkable little girl, and no honey, your Mommy will not be forgotten.

I could go on and on, remembering stories and comments that have meant so much to me, and how exciting it is to realize that people have read my posts. For some bloggers, it's about the attention and the fame of being recognized as a "famous blogger", but that's not the case for the many thousands out there who never become famous. The reality is... I blog not for myself, but for others. I blog to remember, and create memories, not only for myself, but for all who stumble across what I've written.

Men like SSG H and little girls like Emma deserve to have their loved ones remembered. I am proud to have provided them a place to remember, and write, about a friend, a mother, a father, a teacher, and a leader.