Parenting, roots and wings

I was talking to a cousin my age, we're in our 50s, about the bittersweet situation of having a high school senior who will be gone next year. I'm proud of her and I think she is ready to move out and on. But boy, will I miss her.

He replies,"Roots and wings. You know, roots and wings. That's what us parents have to care about."  I had no idea what he was talking about so he told me that I should keep up on my poetry. Here it is, and I keep saying it to myself, "Roots and wings baby. That's what I care about."

I reproduce it here hopefully protected by fair use. It's quoted from this site.

Roots and Wings Poem

A Child's Bedtime Song

If I had two wishes, I know what they would be

I'd wish for Roots to cling to, and Wings to set me free;

Roots of inner values, like rings within a tree,

and Wings of independence to seek my destiny.

Roots to hold forever to keep me safe and strong,

To let me know you love me, when I've done something wrong;

To show me by example, and helps me learn to choose,

To take those actions every day to win instead of lose.

Just be there when I need you, to tell me it's all right,

To face my fear of falling when I test my wings in  flight;

Don't make my life too easy, it's better if I try,

And fail and get back up myself, so I can learn to fly.

If I had two wishes, and two were all I had,

And they could just be granted, by my Mom and Dad;

I wouldn't ask for money or any store-bought things.

The greatest gifts I'd ask for are simply Roots and Wings.

By Denis Waitley

2011 Reading List

Enders Game - Orson Scott Card
Enders Shadow
How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground- Kevin Poulson
Fall of Giants - Ken Follett
So Much Reform, So Little Change- Charles Payne
April 1865: The Month That Saved America Jay Winik
Magician's Wife:

2009-2010
(looking back from memory)

Randy Couture - Becoming the Natural
Million Dollar Baby, F X Toole
A Fighters Heart Sam Sheridan
Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing
What's My Name Fool
KIng of the World - David Remick
Playing for Pizza, JOhn Grisham

Terrible news on Mothers Day

I stop for coffee at Brew whenever I can. Most often, this is a Sunday morning while David is a shul.  I like the urban atmosphere, I life the coffee, I like the crowd and some of the staff. I heard terrible news this morning. A staff member that I've chatted with a few times over the last two years was cycling and was hit by a car. She's in the hospital. Yick.  The whole thing is too sad to contemplate on this Mother's Day. 

I contributed via Paypal to her fund. 
http://prollyisnotprobably.com/2010/05/relief_effort_for_crystal_ruiz.php
http://urbanvelo.org/crystal-ruiz-mills-relief-fund/

Crystal Ruiz Mills Relief Fund

From South Florida Fixed:
Crystal Ruiz-Mills, was struck by a motorist at this past weekends Broward County Critical Mass. She is in the hospital with broken vertebrates and has already had surgery to replace the shattered L1 bone in her back. She is suffering through a lot of pain and discomfort. On top of all that. Crystal has a family. Two sons and a really cool husband, Andy. I have set up a donation through the PayPal link below. We can help them through these tough times. Like most of us, Crystal is not covered under any insurance plan. So anything will help.
Crystal has most likely brewed your espresso shots, or poured your morning coffee once or twice if you live in the Fort Lauderdale area. She works at Brew Urban Cafe in Victoria Park. She and her family ride their bikes everywhere because they don’t have a car. She is local artist and photographer. She is an unselfish, caring woman with a giant heart. Anything helps. Thank you.
Visit www.southfloridafixed.com for more info.

Admiral Bob Baylis

Bob was a close friend of my Mom. He has passed last year. I heard at this funeral, they read this poem by John Masefield.

Sea Fever

I MUST go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky.
And all I ask is a tall ship and a start to steer her by.
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking.
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying.
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls crying.

I must do down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover.
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Cats Cradle

There are two sorts of people in this world: Those that appreciate the literary reference and not just the pun of two people with their soles touching and those that don't.

I loved reading Kurt Vonnegut when I was in high school. I read his final work, A Man Without a Country, when it came out and again, I totally connected to him. I'm sorry he didn't live to see the election of Barack Obama.

My daughter's reading list this year includes Slaughterhouse Five which bothers me in that I have long thought that Cats Cradle was far and away, Vonnegut's best. I'm reading it yet again. Here's a Bokonist ditty (by memory). For me, it encapsules the whole rationale behind this religion thing....

Tigers got to hunt,

Birds got to fly,

Man has to ask why why why.

Tigers got to sleep.

Birds got to land.

Man has to say that he understand.

The Babysitter

The Babysitter

Ms. McTwitter, the baby sitter.
I think she’s
a little bit crazy.
She thinks that the babysitter
is suppose to sit
on
the baby.

– Shell Silverstein

It doesn't get better or simpler than that.

The Soloist versus the Champ

By coincidence, I recently watched the DVD of Resurrecting the Champ by Rod Lurie followed by reading Steve Lopez's The Soloist. Both are stories of journalists who get involved with a startling talent who is homeless on skid row. In both cases, the journalists' and homeless men's stories intertwine. Both are apparently based on real stories.

I'm moved by both of them. Steve Lopez's book is frank in his treatment of how difficult and tenuous any progress by Nathaniel Ayers could be.

I also just watched Homeless to Harvard, the Liz Murray Story which is also apparently real. I'm involved with a local feeding program and I contribute to a homeless shelter in NC partially because of the incredible blog kept by the director.

I'm writing since I have a question of Steve Lopez. I'm looking for his guidance on where and how to pursue helping in this arena. The back of the book mentions three websites for more information. Nathaniel's sisters group for the artistically gifted mentally ill and www.lampcommunityhealth.org and www.nami.org.

And, although strictly speaking, it's not really my business, is there a financial arrangement with proceeds going to directly help Nathaniel and/or the Lamp? It's an indiscrete question and I'm particularly aware of it since at one point in the book, Steve Lopze is very upset by being publicly badgered by someone who accuses him of exploiting Nathaniel Ayers' for his own enrichment.

The Soloist movie website promotes three ways to get involved in areas raised in the book: Your Los Angeles story, the role of music in your life (VH1), and TakePart in helping homelessness.

Who chose these? The movie studio or Steve Lopez?

Heh, I found Steve Lopez online, I wonder if he tracks trackbacks?