I Have A Dream

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. When I thought about it - I realized that I have never actually read or heard this famous speech in its entirety. 50 years after he delivered this speech, Dr. King's words, faith and hope brought me to tears. Please read...

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men -- yes, black men as well as white men -- would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end but a beginning. Those who hoped that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. 

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends -- so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

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.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi -- from every mountainside.

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring -- when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children -- black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics -- will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Parenthood is…

Tonight was the premiere of Parenthood on NBC. I had seen several of the commercials for this new show – and I had planned on watching it. This morning, I came down with what I suspect to be a mild case of the flu. Swine or otherwise, I felt absolutely miserable and spent most of my day on the couch.

Fortunately, at the start of the show, my Motrin kicked in and I was up and ready to watch.

The show took me through a wide range of emotions – I laughed, I cried…I felt despair and anguish. I couldn’t help but imagine my future with Rosie & RJ and wonder what bumps we would face. I have these two little children who are as close to perfect as you can get – but someday these angels will be teenagers. Where will that take us? Will my future Olympic hockey player decide to play soccer instead? Or dance? What if RJ decides that basketball is his thing? Will we become basketball fans?

So these questions ran through my flu-fogged brain as I watched Parenthood. And then I started to think about my day – I woke up feeling fairly miserable and got worse as the day went on. RJ cooperated with me beautifully and took two naps, during which time I napped as well. Rosie, who had no interest in napping, sat in bed with me during my first nap and watched Sesame Street while holding my hand. During my second nap – on the couch – she sat on the arm of the couch and stroked my hair while she watched Shrek. Any time I moved I would hear her say “it’s OK, Mommy – go back to sleep.” She did her best to keep me sleeping until RJ woke up – and which point she nudged me awake and said “Mommy, I’m sorry to wake you, but I think I hear RJ and he is calling for you.”

As I sat huddled on the couch underneath several blankets and a heating pad, I couldn’t help but marvel at the wonderful children before me. I watched them play together, care for each other and care for me. Rosie would get up and get RJ more water – RJ would come over every few minutes to give me one of his wet and sloppy kisses. Rosie would sporadically shout “hey Mom – I love you!” Both kids came over just to give me hugs many times.

So – what is parenthood? Parenthood is worrying over your son’s bowed legs and inward-turned toes. Parenthood is explaining to your three-year-old daughter that it is not OK to hit, ever, even if someone hit her first. Parenthood is crying to yourself over the seemingly harsh punishment you just dealt out because you couldn’t let your kid see you sweat and you knew it was for the best. Parenthood is losing sleep and laughing so hard you nearly pee yourself. Parenthood is being proud of the smile lines on your face. Parenthood is completely giving of yourself for someone else without even realizing it.

Most importantly – parenthood is the most wild and most amazing ride you could ever have the pleasure of being on. To my wonderful Rosie girl and my sweet RJ – I didn’t know how much I was missing until you both came into my life. There is nothing more wonderful than being your mom and there is no place I would rather be than with you.

Look Who’s Talking Now!

I have said for months now that I didn’t think my little man was going to speak until at least his third birthday. Although he is an excellent communicator, his only consistent word thus far has been “Mama.” He uses “Mama” for everything – to call me, to call his sister, to call various family members and friends, to ask for milk, to direct us where to take him, to ask to be picked up…it has been a multi-purpose word. This week, however, things started to change.

I noticed over last weekend that he had begun to consistently put sounds together. On Sunday, he told me he wanted to go “nigh-nigh” while pointing upstairs. So I took him upstairs for a nap…and he was happy. On Wednesday, he called Miss Carrie “Mom.” She said “I’m not your Mom. I’m Miss Carrie. Can you say Carrie?” He said “Caca.” (He apparently thinks she is the shit!) Instead of signing “please” like I have been trying to teach him, he’s been saying “puh” when I tell him to say please. But the best verbal request happened earlier today.

When Rosie woke up from her nap she requested cuddle time with a movie. So I dropped what I was doing and we put on Shrek and snuggled under a blanket. About 30 minutes into the movie, we hear RJ. I bring him downstairs and he is excited to see his sister – but he also clapped his hands that Shrek was on TV. We watched for a few more minutes before leaving the house to get Miss Kimmie.

Upon our arrival at home, I plopped RJ down on the ottoman in front of the TV. He looked at me, made the sign for “more,” pointed at the TV and very clearly sad “Shre!” So I said to him, “you want to watch Shrek?” And he very loudly shouted “Shre!” again. So, we watched Shrek.
Later on, upon coming home from a Target run, he met me at the door and was very excited. He took me up the hand and led me over to the refrigerator. He lifted his arms for me to pick him up – so I did – and he pointed at his birth announcement on the fridge and said “be be.” My goodness – that certainly is a baby! Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I made him say it another 25 times to both me and his Dad. Verdict – he not only knows what a baby is…but he knows how to say it!

The Naked Butt Problem

You really never know what is going to pop out of Rosie’s mouth. She sometimes busts out with words that are bigger than she is…or memories that are half of her little life ago…and sometimes she just makes you laugh so hard, you cry. Tonight was one of those nights.

She refused to take a nap for me this afternoon and then fell asleep in the car ride to Target. After a smooth transfer to her stroller, she slept through the entire visit until after my groceries had been paid for and bagged. After putting her back into her car seat, she started to complain that the seat was “bothering” her – but couldn’t tell me what was actually wrong. Since I was driving, I told her it would have to wait until we got home.

Miss Dani pulled in the driveway right behind us, so the uncomfortable car seat was long forgotten and both kids stayed in their seats until we arrived at the gym to drop them off for date night. Upon pulling into the parking lot, Rosie shouts “uh-oh! Mom! We have a BUTT PROBLEM!” A butt problem? So I ask her – a butt problem? “Yup. We have a BUTT PROBLEM. A NAKED BUTT PROBLEM.”

Now I’m looking around the parking lot and I’m thinking that stranger things have happened in Baltimore County than a naked butt strolling around the parking lot when it’s 35 degrees outside. So I ask – “Where do you see a naked butt, Rosie?” “We have a NAKED BUTT PROBLEM Mom!! A NAKED BUTT PROBLEM!” Dani and I are now chuckling to ourselves over the hyper-active imagination of this little 3-year-old. I park and we start to unload the kids.
That is when we realized that we had a legitimate NAKED BUTT PROBLEM. Somehow, Rosie’s tights and underwear had slid down right of her tiny little rear-end and her sweater dress and gotten tucked under her coat. There was my little girl – mooning the entire parking lot and Bel Air Road.

I am happy to report that Miss Dani fixed the NAKED BUTT PROBLEM by pulling up her underwear and tights and pulling down her sweater. Rosie had no additional butt complaints.

Car Seat Success?!

This was the soundtrack playing in my car this morning on the way to the gym:
“Mommy, I’m holding my RJ’s hand!”
“Mommy, I’m not holding RJ’s hand anymore.”
“Mommy, I’m holding my RJ’s hand!”
“Mommy, I’m not holding RJ’s hand anymore.”

And she repeated these two phrases over and over and over again all the way to Brick Bodies. I knew that she would be excited to be sitting next to her brother, and I was hopeful that the new seating arrangements would work out well for everyone. Fortunately, the excitement wore off by the car ride home from the gym and my two very tired babies were relaxed and ready to nap.

All was quiet for my ride home. Both kids fell asleep. It wasn’t until I was in the driveway that I turned around to look at the kids – and what I saw brought tears to my eyes. They were both asleep – and had fallen asleep holding hands.

So yes, the new location of Rosie’s car seat is a definite success…the image isn’t the best, since I took it from the front seat of my car – but you can see Rosie’s little hand holding RJ’s little hand. (You can also see the oh-so-fabulous Cowmooflage car seat pattern…)

This is My RJ

Our family of three had a very smooth transition into a family of four. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank God for our good fortune. I am beyond grateful that Rosie, who was more than a month shy of her second birthday when we brought RJ home from the hospital, truly enjoys being a big sister. Her natural assumption of the role has been a marvel to me for over eight months now. I have the true pleasure of being able to enjoy her interactions with RJ.

She has always been a helper to me. She is quick to try and comfort RJ whenever he is upset, share toys and teach him the ways of her world. Last week I overheard her trying to teach him colors. If he is fussing in his crib, she will run in there, talk to him and hold his hand until we pick him up. At some point “Baby RJ” became “my RJ” – and I think it is the most adorable thing in the world.

We visited the mall today and then did dinner by the fountain at the Avenue in White Marsh. In our travels we met many strangers who stopped to talk to Rosie. She was looking particularly cute and girly today – curly ribbons that coordinated with her outfit accented her pigtails – so she attracted a fair amount of stranger attention. Most comments were “what a pretty little girl” or “I love your pigtails.” The first two or three times it happened, Rosie just said “Thank you.” After that her response became “thank you – this is my RJ.” After a lengthy conversation with a woman in Hallmark I realized that she was deliberately bringing attention to her brother any time she had attention for herself.

I thought about it on the ride home from the mall – Rosie is just very concerned that RJ be included in everything. Whenever an activity is presented to her she responds with “and RJ too?”

Rich tells everyone that having two kids is WAY more than twice the work. Well, it is. I sleep much less…I worry much more. I have less time to do things like clean my bathrooms and write thank you cards. However, our days are filled with WAY more than twice the joy as well. There will be a time for clean houses and thank you cards and sleep…right now Rich and I have front row seats for the most amazing, touching and heartwarming show – the Rosie & RJ show. And we wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Installing the Car Seats…

When we first installed the infant carrier in the car back in October we put Rosie behind the driver’s seat and RJ behind the passenger seat. We deliberately kept them separate in fear that an over-zealous toddler might reach out and touch her brother a little too hard. Rosie has never been particularly aware of her own strength, but is getting better and understand the cause and effect relationship of her actions. So, when she asked me if she could sit next to RJ in the car, I thought it might be worth a try.

I installed her car seat in the middle and RJ’s on the passenger side. She rode in her new seat tonight – but only time will tell if this arrangement will last or if we will need to separate them again!