post three

This week i read a blog by Joe Brooks. This blog is titled "Monday morning blues." Joe woke up at his normal time and began a normal day of writing in London. The trip is about a four hour round trip train ride. This is a normal day for Joe, combining his music with business, which are two of his favorite things. He decided to play his guitar before he left just to practice new ideas for some of his songs. His throat was hurting and he decided to stop before he made it worse, but then as he was putting his guitar down, a string snapped. He had no replacement for it. By then he could just tell it was "one of those days." Then he left to catch the train just like every other day, but this would turn out to be no ordinary day. As Joe was getting on the train he just had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen. Something just felt strange, and not right. As they got to the second stop he was reading e-mails and trying to get some work done, when all of the sudden a lady screamed and then started shaking and crying. Joe looked up and saw bloody flesh and the debris of an elderly man. The man had calmly walked in front of the train in order to end his life. Joe couldn't move when he saw what had happened. He froze and couldn't speak. Millions of questions flooded his brain about why he would do this. The emergency services came and they found out the man was 75 years old and the train had been traveling at 90mph. This really made him realize how life can be so easily taken for granted and how he will try his best to live life to the fullest. I agree with him, because many people take life for granted, and don't realize that it could be ended at any time. This was written by Joe Brooks. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=10656908&blogID=323632739

post two

This week for outside reading, I read an article called "Fugitive Mom: 14 years on the run are over for Minnesota woman." This article is about a mom who took her kids and left the country for 14 years, and just recently returned. The woman, Holly Collins, will not go to jail for this crime. Holly and her husband got a divorce in 1990 and her husband, Mark Collins, received full custody. He had claimed that Holly suffered mental problems and she was only allowed to visit under supervision. Holly had claimed that her ex- husband had abused the children, and that's why they fled. In 1994 the two children met their mother at a local video store. The three left together and never came back. Holly said that her children were in danger and she would do whatever she needed to do in order to protect them. The next day charges were pressed against Holly for violating custody rights. Although Mark denies ever abusing his children, they say they are so grateful that their mother got them out of there in time. One key quote is: "Everyone has to figure out what's best for their kids, but if a mother believes your kids are in danger, you do anything to protect them. You have to figure out what that is, and for me it was running with them, it's the best thing I ever did," Collins said after her guilty plea. Holly says this when she's explaining why she left with the children. I think this is true because the most important thing is for them to be safe. Overall it's a good thing Holly left with her children because she was able to keep her children safe from their father, and she doesn't have to face any jail time. This article is from http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=525262&catid=2. And i couldn't find the name of the author.

post one

This week outside of class i read an online article called "Adopting from Russia: One Family's Story." This article was about 3 pages. It was about a family that went to Russia to adopt one child and ended up getting two. The two parents were not able to have children on their own so they decided to adopt. Soon after sending an application they got a call saying there was a 4 year old girl available for them. After finding out about the girl they learned she had a brother. The two parents decided they wanted to adopt him too. After the girl, Nastia, began to learn English she would tell stories about her life before. She would talk about her brother and began to pray for him. The two parents decided they would definitely adopt him too. They called the adoption agency and a picture was sent to them. The boy was named Vanya and he was 10 years old. He looked like a troubled boy with a shaved head and emotionless face. The family did not change their mind about adopting him though. The mom went to Russia to meet the boy that would soon become her son. He was standing with a group of boys and they were on their way to smoke a cigarette. When Vanya saw his future mom he ran and jumped in the van. He was happy and smiling the whole time. The picture seemed to prove a false image. They went to see his old house and it was exactly as Nastia described it. The kids grandma was their and she asked to hug her grandson one more time. So they brought him over and after a sad goodbye left for the airport. Vanya and Nastia's reunion was one of the happiest moments for them all. Everything went well and they never saw the troubled boy they thought they would. The kids are now 14 and 19 and the family is happy and everything is going well for them.