choices

today i went shopping with my mom. i bought a new coat and a tank top thingy to go under my christmas sweater for mass on christmas eve. we had a good time. mom also bought really cute shoes.

i then went to work.

and sometime in there i realized that this is the type of story that some of these kids will never get to tell.

also, a woman who works with street children in brazil told a story about a young man who came to volunteer with her. he was from sweden, and when he returned to his advantaged life after spending a summer in the slums of brazil, he killed himself.

tonight, two of my kids are on the streets of davenport, getting drunk and high. it is rainy and cold. but it was also their choice. that is why i am typing to you right now, dear reader, instead of joining my swedish bosom buddy. their lives suck, but in the end, what they do is their choice. i just hope that the ones that i tell this to will one day believe me and do something about it.