Monthly Archives: January 2013

A day for history

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“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,
‘What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is the second inauguration of President Obama.  I clearly remember being at work for the first one and streaming it on my computer.  Today I am home watching it with the kids.

It also happens to be the celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday.  He would be 84.  His dream of seeing equality is fulfilled in Obama.  Brendan goes to school in Newton, a city with an African American mayor, governor and president.  Aidan loves to recite Lincoln (and all president) facts.  The use of both Lincoln and King’s Bible is something Aidan keeps talking about as he processes the history he is witnessing.  This is the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.  It’s the 50th anniversary since the march on Washington.  It is a big year in the history of African Americans- in American history as a whole.

IMG_3021Aidan and his Abe Lincoln bobblehead.
Lots of presidential trivia today.

The kids only really know Obama as president, they were 1 and 3 when Obama was elected the first time.  I actually have pictures of Aidan voting for Obama both times..  The have been alive for marriage equality in Massachusetts.  They have heard how Massachusetts, and now the country, wants to take care of all people.  We see each day the investment in education we make as a country.  There are flaws, there are policies not everyone agrees with, but today is about history.  They may not get that now, but I hope they remember today when they get older.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” MLK

The world of sports

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Come on teammates, let’s go play
We got a team to beat
Our pumped up spirits help us win
We know how to compete
We all contribute to the team
Skill and inspiration
And even though we work real hard
For us it’s recreation!
(to the tune of Yankee Doodle)

IMG_3610

Aidan sang this song he learned at school this morning.  It was the  morning after a swim team meet- a true sign of sportsmanship and what is right about competitive sports.  No scores are kept and kids cheer until the last swimmer touches the wall.  More importantly parents cheer for the last kid too.

Such a juxtaposition with all the other sports stories in the news this week- Lance finally admitting to doping, the Notre Dame football player who may or may not be lying about a fake girlfriend, the NHL getting back to playing after the lockout and the Francona book excerpts that reveal the meltdown that ended his time in Boston.

If only all those athletes could remember what it was like to be 7 and have fun with your friends doing something you love on a Friday night.  Everyone cheering for everyone else.  I hope my kids never loose sight of that.

Laughter

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I was asked recently, around the time Chris and I celebrated our anniversary, “what makes for a successful marriage?”

In our case, the answer is easy- laughter.  A lot of it.  You can’t take yourself or everything going on around you too seriously.

An example?  Our luck with cars recently.  Just before leaving for India, Chris noticed his car was making a noise.  Which never happens at a good time, but just after a big trip and close to holiday is a horrible time.  He had it looked at and the good news was that it was not the expensive thing he thought it was.  It was worse.  Like get a new car worse.

So off he went to look at new cars one Saturday.  So I took Aidan to karate.  On the way home, while waiting for the light to change, a pick up truck came around the corner and a washing machine hit my car.  Yeah, that happened.  It fell off the truck and hit the corner of my car.

Chris went to pick up his new car and it was too late to park it on the street because of resident parking hours and not having time to get a pass.  So he put it in the garage.  Except that he wasn’t able to judge the mirrors and hit the passenger side.  It fell and smashed.  Ug.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

Boston Wedding Photographer