It's All About Opportunity

Tonight I sat and watched my two sons playing with their trucks in the water.  I am so thankful that they are only three and six, and that we don't have easy access to the news.  I am thankful that for now I can shield them from the events that are flooding the news and my Facebook/Twitter feeds.

Two boys playing - not a care in the world.

But you see, then I think of this sweet kid in the picture below.  Isn't he just the cutest?!? He is my nephew, and sadly, he will most likely know a world that is different than my boys know. He has the most beautiful eyes, and the silliest laugh, and a skin tone that is different from my sons. But do you want to know what is awesome? Not once have my sons ever commented on that difference in skin color, not about my nephew or his dad. Why? Because love doesn't see color -- love flourishes with kindness. When they look at him, they see their cousin. They see a person.

My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

With the events unfolding in the news this week, the mother in me is fearful for my children, nieces, and nephews and the world they are growing up in - filled with hate, violence, and a desire to be understood and accepted. I don't know how to respond to posts on social media. I can't seem to find the right words to respond in a tweet. It all seems so surreal, and I know I am a bit naive because it is a world that I do not know, but it is a world that I work to change every year the only way I know how.

The teacher in me is ready to get back into the classroom in a few short weeks. As a teacher my heart breaks when events like this happen, when lives are taken, and when there is no end in sight. But that is when the job of a teacher becomes that much more important. I do not care if you are white, black, Hispanic, or Asian. I do not care if you are straight, lesbian, bisexual, gay, or transgender. I do not care if you are male or female. I do not care if your parents are rich or poor. All I care about is that you are alive, and that I have the opportunity to teach you. I have the opportunity to show you kindness and expect the same from you in return when it comes to your classmates and me. I have the opportunity to share literature with you that allows us to talk about the ugliness we see in the world and how it makes us feel and how we might change it. It's all about opportunity. That is what we must keep fighting for - OPPORTUNITY. Everyone deserves an opportunity, the same opportunity.