BAWLLLLL #Repost @humansofny ・・・
“My first thought was ‘Oh no.’ I wasn’t ready for a kid. Her mother and I were fuck-ups and addicts. I’d just finished seven years in jail for robbery. But everything changed on Valentines Day, 1992. That’s when I found out the baby was going to be a girl. Right away I started buying all this girly stuff. I was excited. I became more civil. I was going to raise my daughter to be kind and respectful to everyone. So I became that person. And she became that person too. Every day I picked her up from school after work. We went to theaters, and museums, and Disney World three different times. Every year on my birthday we dressed up and got tea at the Four Seasons. She ended up being the valedictorian of her class. She went to Duke on a full scholarship. Now she’s in law school at NYU. I look at her and I think that she must have done all this by herself. Because I’m kinda ‘street.’ I grew up in the projects. And she’s gone so much farther than I ever could. So I always thought I had nothing to do with it. But I have friends who tell me that I made a big difference. And I did always teach her to work hard and do her best. And she told me recently, that when she had to write an essay for her SAT, she called it: ‘My Father, My Hero.’”

Stunningly, congress has only made things worse since #newtown. #Repost @petesouza ・・・
Being briefed about the shootings in Newtown. “And each time I learn the news I react not as a President, but as anybody else would — as a parent. And that was especially true today. I know there’s not a parent in America who doesn’t feel the same overwhelming grief that I do.
The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers — men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
So our hearts are broken today — for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.
As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago — these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.” Shame on Congress for not passing any sensible gun control legislation.

Her teacher says she’ll be an architect one day. True story. #merrychristmas #gingerbreadhouse #dangerdonotenter