Herban Sprawl

The Speech is over, but the conventioneers are still cheering. Big Kitty and I listened to the man whose presidency was stolen by the Reagan court and we felt pangs. But the Democrats have now nominated yet another extremely intelligent man. That he is biracial only adds frosting to the mocha cake on this historic evening.

He said what he needed to say to heal the party and he said what he needed to say to the naysayers who think his is a campaign based on lofty ideals and dreams, not down to earth nuts and bolts. He let John McCain know this will be a fight to the finish.

But as Al Gore admonished the crowd, he knows something about close elections - registering new voters is the absolute key. Making sure they know their correct polling place, making sure they register in enough time and making sure every T is crossed and every I is dotted is crucial. In those states where the Republicans have cheated the voters out of casting their ballots, there will need to be vigilance. We live in the south and the south doesn’t always play by the rules when it comes to voting.

The speech was exciting. It rallied the troops and buried the hatchets. Obama gave the Democrats in the Mile High City the kind of talkin’ to that comes from the heart, feeds the soul, but satisfied the intellect. It was impassioned and it was pointed. It was impressive.
To paraphrase Bette Davis’ line, fasten your seatbelts; this is going to be an extremely interesting ride. Can Americans show the world they are beyond the stigma of racism? I hope so. I certainly hope Dr. King’s dream will come true this November. Would it be against the rules to take the oath of office at the Lincoln Memorial?

Ya gotta love the media. If it wasn’t for them, we’d never know there was still some lingering bad blood between Bill Clinton and the guy who demolished his wife’s bid for the White House. Well, du-uh. I’d be mad, too. But there comes a point when you want to reach into the television and slap somebody.

Once again, it was James Carville who pointed out that the Clintons are die-hard Democrats and their main objective is always the cause. For those with short memories, Bill Clinton was the supreme master of cutting his losses and moving on to the next cause. He didn’t disappoint tonight.

When he came out onto the stage, the conventioneers went wild. They wouldn’t stop and he got embarrassed. He loved it, but he was very aware of the need to not upstage the candidate. That is statesmanship and that is what made him such a great president. He followed that with a very unifying speech and I knew in my heart of hearts, if he could run again, he would. The man didn’t want to retire from his job as president and truthfully, given the mess of the last eight years, I wish he hadn’t had to.

That they played the theme of the first Clinton campaign, Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, really brought me back to the convention when President Bill was nominated. It was electrifying then, and it was emotional now.

Spielberg’s film was stellar and that it was narrated by Tom Hanks lent that Hollywood star power – the kind of star power of Gregory Peck had, not the flash of a Tom Cruise. And then came Joe Biden’s speech. Clinton had Al Gore, another wonk. Obama, a wonk, has a real guy who knows what it’s like to be a single parent and who provides the perfect counterpoint. One a guy with two cute little girls and the other with a whole passle of kids and grandkids who adore him – Talk to me again about family values. Obama’s white uncle was there to support his nephew. Biden’s kids mean the world to him and he’s a straight shooter having been raised by straight shooters. You have to love a guy who admits his mama made him go back outside and bloody a nose so he could hold up his head in the neighborhood.

If I had one criticism it was of Michelle Obama’s grim look during the Greatest President’s speech. If there was any doubt that man wouldn’t get up there and deliver, then there are some awfully dumb people. Bill Clinton loves to campaign and he can’t wait to get out there and do it again. But, as he put it, his candidate wasn’t the chosen one so he just has to get over it and get onto Obama’s bandwagon, because he is a Democrat and this is who the party selected. End of story. If he wants to hitch up his wagon and start campaigning, he’s not likely to say or do anything that Miss Manners wouldn’t like.

Michelle Obama needs to get a grip. Her husband needs Bill Clinton to rally the laggards and raise money. It wouldn’t have killed her to paste on a smile. It’s the legacy of prosperity under Clinton that exists in people’s memories and they want it back. Barack Obama represents all the best of Clinton. I bet if you asked him, Obama was himself, inspired by Bill Clinton when he ran for president. We all were and that’s why he’s such an effective statesman for this party.

Joe Biden went on the offensive with regard to McCain. I was relieved because I was beginning to think nobody besides John Kerry was going to play hardball. When Kerry got up there he admonished the Democrats to ignore the politics of Karl Rove and stay the course.

I am very put off by the negative ads that were running on CNN. That Hillary Democrat is probably an actress hired to be an ex-Democrat. You know here it is:  You are either a Cub fan or you aren’t. There aren’t any degrees of latitude allowed. You are either a Democrat or you aren’t. You don’t cease being a Democrat just because your candidate didn’t get nominated and conceded. Hillary said it best when she asked her delegates, you didn’t just do it for me, did you?

So, if people are stupid enough to fall for that ad, then they are also the same stupid people who keep voting for a party that has marginalized them beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. And that’s not a dream I care to keep having. Can anyone find a way to send Karl Rove to Iraq in a flimsy HumVee?

Bill Clinton delivered as only he could. He was humble, but he was direct about his accomplishments. He made the points he needed to make and he’s ready to move on. He demonstrated to the Obama camp that he is far and away a bigger person than they gave him credit for being. Bill Clinton is the quintessential mensch. His peccadilloes will make for great reading someday, but for now they have no place in this story because this week belongs to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I know this because Bill Clinton said so.

The evening in the Mile High City was incredible - Mark Warner did a good job and he will be a great senator for Virginia. Gov. Brian Schweitzer was stellar and I liked Sen. Casey. But when Hillary came to the podium, she delivered. She told her supporters it wasn’t about her, it was about the issues. She’s right.

She was gracious and she was generous. She was everything we need in a president, but as she pointed out, it’s now all about putting a Democrat in the White House.

Hillary Clinton is all about stepping to the plate and doing the work necessary to make this a better country in which to live. Our people shouldn’t be worrying about how they will pay for the next doctor visit and our returning veterans deserve a hand in returning to civilian life. Her constituents are firm in saying she works hard for them, but has anyone ever seen her as a slacker for anything?

At this point, I am so sick of John McCain beating us over the head with the fact that he was a POW in Vietnam that I want to shriek at him, “Get over yourself! What about the veterans who live under the highway overpasses?! What have you ever done for them?” He was a lackluster student in the academy and he hasn’t really distinguished himself in the Senate. He married a lot of money and he’s out of step because he’s too busy being another Bush. For all his ballyhooing about being independent of the Bush White House, his votes tell a completely different story.

Yeah, Hillary’s got money now, but by golly it’s because she earned it. What did McCain ever do for his? He has no concept of what the rest of the country is going through.

So, should Obama have chosen her as his running mate? No. She will run for the top spot again, and with a black man having forged the way for changing the way Americans view their Presidents, she’ll have a good chance to go all the way to the top. Perhaps by then the Clinton haters will have mellowed!

Which brings me to that other icon of American politics: Bill Clinton. My friends, he was the first president that I truly believed in. Al Gore should have been the second one.

When I was in the Supreme Court earlier in the month with the G.R.O.W. girls, I touched the foot of John Marshall for luck and I prayed that there would be a Democrat in the White House so that the next justice who retires or passes on will be replaced by someone who cannot be bought off or who will not compromise justice for the American people. I do not want any other presidential candidate to fear the outcome of a tight race.

I believe Hillary Clinton would have made a great president, but I also think she had some changing to do. I think eight more years as Senator will teach her a few lessons about flexibility. I don’t want to hear how she’s a crook. We have only to think of the current vice president to refute that argument!

So yeah, I’d have voted for the girl from Park Ridge, Illinois and not just because I like her china! (Spode Stafford Flowers, for the record!) But as of now, it’s not about her, as she so cogently pointed out. It’s about Barack Obama and it’s about the Democrats coming together and making it happen - for the good of the country.

We were a bit on the out-of-touch side last night, having missed the convention broadcasts. I really had some issues with tuning in to my once favorite network because Katie Couric just doesn’t do it for me. I always find myself longing for Dan Rather’s word play. I just don’t see Katie Couric as having substance, like her late sister who tag teamed with my state senator so they could study all the bills before them.

That said, I did pick up the news on my computer, and was very moved by Senator Kennedy going to Denver and doing what only he could do. He’s getting to be frail, but he still has that star quality that brings Democrats from the entire spectrum around him. The people who have never liked him are chafing at all the attention he’s getting but let’s be honest, how many of us have NOT benefited by his work? Uh-huh. So those of you who would start sending me your hate Kennedy jokes, fuggedaboudit.

I was also delighted with the CNN interview with Caroline Kennedy. When asked about the process of vetting vice presidential candidates and specifically about Hillary Clinton, she was forthright in saying she absolutely would not discuss it because it was confidential! No political sidestepping, no innuendo – just flat out honesty in putting that reporter in her place. Caroline is the unsung Kennedy hero at this stage. I look for her to realize she can make a difference and I hope she will continue to carry on the legacy. That is not to say I want her to run for office – that’s her call, but I would rather see her lending her considerable clout to the issues that need attention.

So does America believe that Barack Obama is a regular guy? Not yet. But that could change.

Will the Hillary supporters come around? They must if they truly do not want another Republican mucking up the country. I love her, too, people, but it’s time to put the primary behind us and realize this guy has the same charisma Hillary’s spouse has. Charisma is probably the only thing Hillary lacks! But she isn’t going to be on that ballot in November so it’s time to get with the program and focus on what Democrats need to do. No fair taking our toys and running to John McCain.

The words of the late, great Ann Richards come to mind when I think of John McCain. “He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

I have another reason for supporting the dark horse candidate, no pun intended. I want those little punks in the ‘hood to see what can happen if you take care of business at school. I want them to see the beautiful wife and smart children conversing with each other in language other than profanity. I want them to see that America can elect a black man, so this business of using race as an excuse, rather than a reason, is coming to an end. It doesn’t mean the fight for racial justice is over, but it sure means segments of our society need to face facts and learn to play nice. It means they can and should get into this game because it’s the only one worth playing.

It is early morning, that time of day when all is quiet and the street hasn’t acquired the hum of traffic. Instead of a spiral bound notebook and a tiny book light, I write on a notebook with a lighted screen. How things have changed! I never would have imagined it.

Meanwhile the drought in our corner of the country continues and I feel guilty about running the sprinkler, but today it must be done. I was looking out at the mess in the back yesterday and a groundhog was waddling through my herb garden. I banged on the window and he scuttled on up the hill. He’s younger than the old one who got to be the size of a small bear! He’s eaten my marigolds, designed to be hateful enough to discourage critters from attacking my parsley. The parley is stubble, so I’m still buying parsley at the store. Tsk.

Everywhere I look, I have overgrown shrubbery and every time I think my knees will be okay to clamber around with the loppers and shears, I lose my nerve. When you know a condition is going to get worse because it’s just going to, you can either give up and stay in, or you can get some courage and carry on. It’s the latter I’m having trouble with. Time to just suck it up and take care of business.

That seems to be the overriding theme for everyone in my circle. From a friend who has divorced but still needs to settle the division of property and finances, to another one who needs to figure out how to arrange for long term care of a loved one. From a relative who wants a divorce to get done and over with, to yet another who needs to move out of a derelict apartment complex. Whatever the issue, it’s a matter of sucking it up and getting things done, or coming to an agreement, and none can get off the dime.

Is it the fear of moving forward or is it the fear of uncovering some truth that is even more painful? Could it be simple procrastination, which is never really simple after all? We are all caught in our own fears, whether it involves physical discomfort, or even worse, emotional pain, and it is ever so hard to overcome.

The dogwood already has some red leaves, and some of the hostas are looking decidedly peaked. The hoses will hum with activity today because I’m not willing to bet the leftovers of a hurricane will bring us the gift of rain. That’s what will help me tuck my fear of doing something stupid on the hill into an envelope. The plants need me and one should never turn one’s back on the helpless. Life is like that. It’s a drought or it’s a deluge and there is always someone or something that needs protection from it, no matter the personal cost. Eventually we take care of business, pain and all.

There are a lot of reasons to be superstitious right now. As a long-suffering Cub fan, I’m on tenterhooks. I want desperately to write about how I eagerly turn to the sports section in the morning paper, but I’m afraid to jinx them! I haven’t even watched a ballgame except at my nephew’s, for the same reason. During the weekend of the 9th, I listened to John McCutcheon, one of my favorite musicians, talk and sing about baseball (he’s still, in his heart of hearts, a Milwaukee Braves fan -). I even listened to his baseball album - told him how it gave me hope for the Cubs. But I have this fear that the walls will come crashing down.

Back in the year of the Miracle Mets, my friend, Lil Linda, had her heart broken. It was the year of the yellow bleacher bum helmets and her team left her standing at the altar. She, like me, is afraid to breathe. No matter what, though, she wouldn’t switch her loyalties.

When the National League took its annual beating by the American League in the popularity contest known as the All-Star game, they gave the Cubs a disadvantage in the event of the culmination of The Hundred Years War. And, indeed, a dispirited team had a post All-Star slump that had me thinking it was all over even before Labor Day. It was depressing.

This morning, however, they have the same record as the Los Angeles Angels - the Cubs having gained, and the Angels having lost percentages. Dare I hope? Dare I ask my nephew to start investigating play-off tickets? Dare I plan to raid my savings to finance that? Better not. Might jinx them. If I don’t get my hopes up, I can’t be disappointed, right?

Hey, hey. It’s the Cubs and God loves Wrigley Field, just as it is. Sunshine, hot dogs and cold ones are the sacraments in a place that honors the divinity in the cynics known as Diehard Cub Fans.

Here in the Star City we have a stellar SPCA shelter. It’s in a new building, complete with a special cat room, where the cats get to go to hang out in chairs, or on kitty condos. It even has catnip mousies. The thing is, it’s a no-kill shelter, and in these times of economic uncertainty, people are unloading pets. It’s a sad state of affairs, but all of us can understand. Even the Meals-on-Wheels pet food supply is dwindling.

In the past couple of days, I have gotten three urgent emails begging for foster home care. The first was for a litter of newborn kittens who needed to be bottle fed every 2 and a half hours. The next was for three puppies and a female who needed temporary care until cage space opened up. All were a mix of black lab and other breeds. One was just as cute as the next, and the female looked like she’d be a great dog. Finally, they needed space for three litters of bright-eyed, perky kittens. 3 kittens per batch need foster care until September 11^th.

This puts me in a bad spot. I’ve dutifully forwarded the emails along to other critter lovers, but like us, they have pets of their own who would not welcome intruders. It’s ironic. When Barney Jr., Charlie and Simon came to us, it was over my objections to Mrs. Kittycat that we were about to get the floors refinished and that I didn’t want kittens ruined by the noise of the machinery. I figured it would make them neurotic. She insisted, and so much so that I packed them into a carrier every morning, and they went to her house and stayed in her spare room for day care! They got to have a sleepover the night the fumes from the finish drove us all out! Mrs. Kittycat’s cats, Barney (Sr.) and Millie, were curious, but there were no behavioral issues over the kittens being in their home.

By contrast, there was a kitten on the doorstep of the neighborhood nut case and she hauled it to the neighborhood pet lover. The pet lover was finally an empty nester and she wanted to keep it that way. We took her in and put her, food, water and a little litter pan into our downstairs bathroom. You would have thought we were harboring Public Enemy #1 for all the carrying on that our cats enacted. That poor kitten must have been scared to death! I kept reminding the three tyrants that they had been born in foster care and it was their turn to provide hospitality on a temporary basis, but they were having none of it. Even Charlie, the normally affable fella, was nasty.

Luckily the next day I found a cat rescuer who agreed to take her, and then the school nurse got interested in the story and liked the description of the little girl. They connected at the local cat vet’s and Mocha is a very spoiled and happy kitty. It was a good ending, but that night she was with us, I thought ours were going to figure out how to open a securely closed door and do her in!

I cannot speak for the other localities and their animal pounds, but ours does a good job. We also have a group that does a big spay/neuter day when they try to take care of feral cats. This is important work. Animals contribute greatly to the quality of life for many people. As Earl in the comic strip Pickles has discovered, petting his dog Roscoe lowers his blood pressure. A dog lover friend would highly disagree, but a purring cat in my lap is like magic. In spite of being unwilling hosts, ours are very affectionate and love to be close to us. It’s the animals that wander through our yard that provoke their bad manners!)

So an SOS for foster care is an important way to give back. Having provided a home for a friend’s pregnant cat, I can attest to the fun it brings. But for now, I’m looking to the rest of youse to fill in where our three won’t let us. My contribution will continue to be catnip mice for Marie Reid’s cat room.

Lured by two yummy samples, I picked up a copy of Cooking Light. While at SUUSI, I was thumbing through it, looking for the two recipes so that I could plan for making them, when I was struck by something really frightening.

I began ripping out the ads for prescription medicines. Not including the one sided ads or the half page ads that had recipes on their pages, there were something like ten or twelve pharmaceutical ads. Each was as chock full of dire warnings as the next.

I faithfully read a column in our paper that is written by a doctor in Patrick County, VA. He has much to say about our broken health care system, as does our former doctor. From my point of view, it’s so broken it’s an embarrassment. Part of the reason is the pharmaceutical industry, and the amount of advertising to non-medical personnel pretty much verifies the fact that they lack any amount of common decency and will dupe the public whenever they deem it necessary in order to insure their profit margin, which is considerable.

This also served as a reminder to me as to why I never buy that magazine. I had a bunch of freebies several years ago, and I tossed them because I got tired of wading through the prescription ads. I also realized that they really weren’t the healthy magazine they made themselves out to be. People who cook from scratch have a sixth sense about what constitutes a truly good recipe, and those of us who don’t use packaged foods are pickier than most. Nothing impressed me much, except the amount of prescription ads and faulty information regarding good health.

So the lesson I learned is that Americans are dumb. They will read those ads and rush to their doctors to request medications they may or may not need. And American doctors are dumb enough to prescribe these chemicals without enough long-term information to guide their decisions. I’ve also learned that if you wait long enough, you will find a study that shows just how dangerous some of these medications really are. Look at how many of them have been approved by a very flawed FDA, and look at how many of them have been taken off the shelves.

Don’t tell me the problem is trial lawyers getting extremely high compensation for their clients – if they weren’t able to convince juries that Big Pharma is the culprit, those damages would never have been awarded. Juries, like the rest of us, are tired of being duped by corporate America. Witness the cigarette situation. To add insult to injury, under the clever guidance of the Bush administration, the penalties corporations such as the Big Pharma leaders are made to pay have been capped. Heaven forbid the shareholders get a smaller piece of the pie because the company they invested in turned out to be greedy crooks. The chemicals touted for a high cholesterol reading are probably more dangerous than the condition itself! I may have driven poor Mr. Frauens crazy with my inability to do chemical equations, but I did learn a little something about chemistry!

That said, I am still going to make the cherry coffeecake, but not with fat free sour cream because that substance is utterly awful and not necessarily healthy. Certain fats are essential for a decent product so why bother if it won’t be yummy?

This knee business is inconvenient. I knew I had something brewing about seven years ago when using the stairs at school began to be a dicey proposition, but it took an afternoon of gardening on our steep backyard hill for the acute effect to cause a lot of trouble. I had to jump through the hoops of paying money to the primary care physician’s office, having X-rays and then fiddling around for two weeks to see if it went away or got better. It didn’t.

A visit to the orthopedic doctor revealed nothing new except that this is a common problem for women in their fifties. It’s nothing more exciting than osteo-arthritis, the thing I’ve heard The Uncles and Big Kitty’s family grumbling about for years.

As long as I’m navigating on fairly level terrain, this is no biggie. It’s the stairs and the hill that cause all the consternation. Nothing new in any of this, is there? Common complaints lead to visits to the physical therapist to strengthen the leg muscles that protect the knee.

My last bout with physical therapy was with a darling named Suzie who mother-henned my progress and made sure my shoulder went back to normal. She fussed over my technique and she measured my range of motion and she made sure that whatever I did, it didn’t cause pain, but rather challenged me enough to keep the process going forward. She was really, really good.

Unfortunately her business closed when the owners were unable to negotiate a lease agreement, and now I’m going to what can best be described as an assembly line office. The therapists have new appointments arriving every ten minutes, and while they work with the patient the first few times, they are in and out a lot. By the third visit, the patient is moved from activity to activity by an assistant, who may or may not spot the patient.

I am skeptical of this arrangement, to say the very least. I need Suzie. Suzie stood right there and corrected improper technique so that I was always moving forward. Suzie did not leave me alone on a machine. When the stationery bicycle caused me extreme pain, the therapist ignored me. When “the rack” caused me extreme pain, the therapist ignored me. The assistant was slightly better about the rack, but I had already been in agony on the bike, so what difference did it make? She did correct me a little on one of the exercises, but I noticed she didn’t catch me doing it differently from the directions on my home exercises – Suzie would have stopped me and explained what I was doing wrong and started me over. I should note, I did it wrong deliberately to see if she even noticed. That’s when I realized I missed an attentive therapist.

My network is telling me to call them on this when I go today. I am a little squeamish about telling professionals how to do their jobs. I have had so much pride in my professional work that whenever it was suggested I do something better, I got really upset. It was like saying I wasn’t giving something my best effort and that never went over well with me. If I apply my own sense of pride to this situation, I know that I am likely to cause the same feelings and those are ones that can manifest in extreme defensiveness. That never solves anything and generally will create a barrier that is difficult to overcome. I’ll have to get wily…

We are back and my feet are still talking to me! The girls had a great time in our nation’s capital, as did I. We saw a lot of sights and we took in some interesting experiences. All in all, it was highly educational and quite a lot of fun.

We toured the Holocaust Museum, receiving the requisite passport as we entered. Because we were on a schedule, we hit the highlights, which included two movies and the emotionally moving exhibits that prompt the most discussion among visitors to the museum. Some people experience a feeling of grief at the piles of shoes. For me it was the passage with the portraits of people – pictures of them in happy times, showing off their best clothes and smiling with nary a care in the world. Little did they know what misery would befall them.

Next was the Washington Monument, where we took the elevator to the top and enjoyed the view from all sides. We ate at a hole in the wall restaurant in Chinatown that had really great food. (Yep, I got tofu homestyle!) And that was Day 1. The next day we toddled off to the Supreme Court where we had a Curator’s tour, arranged by the office of Justice Thomas. Much of that building is getting updated, having never been remodeled since it was built in the 1930s. I guess the justices want to be able to plug in a laptop when they hear cases! Our guide did a great job! After a quick tour and lunch in the Museum of the Native Americans, we went to Rep. Goodlatte’s office where we were to take a tour of the Capitol. A snafu occurred and we were sent to Rep. Boucher’s office and the lovely Jennifer, who shepherded us through the building where all those representative and senators argue, wheedle, wheel and deal. What an amazing building – and to think how many historic people have worked there!

Special thanks to Jennifer of Rep. Boucher’s staff for taking care of us – good luck with law school!

That evening, we dolled up and marched down the street to Noodles and Company, having killed that day’s meal budget in the museum’s restaurant!

On Day 3, we began by visiting Arlington National Cemetery, where we had to take a very long detour to visit the graves of President Kennedy, his wife and two of his children. The girls had the opportunity to see (and hear) a military funeral from above, thanks to the detour to avoid saidsame funeral. We made it to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just in time to catch a great deal of the changing of the guard.

Now is a good time to note that throughout our trip, the girls behaved like perfect ladies. At Arlington, they were properly quiet and respectful, and at each tour, they were attentive and polite. It was really hot, muggy and miserable, but they were fabulous!

From Arlington, we Metro’d back into the city where we landed at Union Station. Giving in to a Big Mac attack, we ate at Mickey D’s and then went back outside where we caught the Duck Tour. The Duck is really a renovated WWII amphibious vehicle, and our particular DUK was Lame Duck. (A name that pleased me to no end! How many more days until the end of the current administration?) Anyway, our guide was Captain Rob and he was very knowledgeable and great fun. We ground through the city, seeing the sights, and then we waddled into the Potomac and pottered along until we got to the end of the runway at Reagan National. For dinner, we had an extra special treat in store – Moroccan food at Casablanca in Old Town Alexandria. The girls even got to learn belly dancing! They were troupers, trying the dishes and they actually liked the food! Needless to say, without a pound of sugar to add to the tea, they didn’t much care for it, but they were absolutely taken by the manner in which it was poured and served!

In the morning we got to the National Archives in record time and that was our final stop – They were amazed by the documents that created our country, as was I. I never noticed that they spelled Pennsylvania with only two Ns. I had a good time examining the calligraphy, which was actually just good penmanship for that time. My favorite signature was, without a doubt, that of my birthdate partner, Benjamin Franklin – I traced it with my finger and got the chills. Maybe his spirit was speaking to me?

Why do this? Why haul three inner city minority girls off on an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C.? Consider the lessons they learned. It wasn’t just the monuments or the history. There was the time on the Metro when they watched and listened to another girl and her mother behaving loudly and inappropriately. (They shook their heads.) It was seeing men and women of all colors walking around in nice clothes, looking intent on getting to work. It was being treated so nicely by the people who conducted the tours. It was the enthusiasm generated by the people who worked at all these national sites. It was the humbling and emotional experiences such as the Holocaust Museum and Arlington. These girls took this in and you could see the wheels turning.

Sure they had fun in the hot tub and the pool at the hotel. Sure they loved the unusual food we exposed them to. Sure they loved their teacher for organizing this “hot mess” for them. And sure they loved hauling old Auntie along for the fun of it. But most of all they saw a side of life that could be theirs, as long as they keep on taking school seriously, treating themselves with respect and insisting that others do likewise. They wanted to do everything because they fear they will never get to do this again. Let us hope their fears will never come true.