Auberge de Nicolas Flamel - Restaurant Paris 11 - RestoVisio.com

Sullivan

My family and I recently had our dog, Sully, put down. He was an old yellow lab, and the sweetest dog you could ever know. He just got old and thin and really didn't want to keep going. I decided to go to the vet when they gave him the shot, and I don't know if I can give you a good reason why. I like to think it was something like I needed to see the true blessing of life and the reality of death. I think that may have been part of it, but another part was just curiosity. I didn't completely know how this worked, and I guess I wanted to see death before I got there. Sully was old and sometimes he looked really sad just sitting there with his droopy eyes. Sometimes, when I was alone with him and he was sleeping, I would glance down and wait until I saw his chest rise with a breath. It sort of made me laugh when he finally breathed and I thought, "How could I be so silly? Of course he's fine!" But that one time, after they gave him that shot, I sat there and looked at his chest. He looked like he was just sleeping as usual, but he didn't move, he didn't breathe, he didn't wake up and pant back at me like, "I'm old and tired, but I'm holdin' on. Don't worry about me." I wanted the reasurrance of that little breath, the hope that, yeah he's old, but age doesn't matter with him. But it never came...

today

didn't want to wake up, woke up, got ready for track, went to track, found out there was no track, went back home, sat, got ready for orthodontist appointment, did dishes, went to orthodontist appointment early, finished early, sat looking at magazine and watching how to make a backyard look bigger than it really is, pretended not to notice the 'what is she still doing here?' looks, waited for Mom, jumped when she walked in, sprinted out of the orthodontist office, got in the car, put the right color of rubber bands in my mouth, stopped at home, picked up sister, got back in car to go shopping at 'The Clothesline', didn't want to go shopping at 'The Clothesline', tried on clothes at 'The Clothesline', found out I actually liked 'The Clothesline', hurried to pick up little sister from school, went to McDonald's for ice cream cones, attempted to eat the ice cream cone with rubberbands still in my mouth, got mad at the rubberbands, ripped the rubberbands out, ate the cone in peace, went inside, did more dishes, sat, tried to hold spastic dog, gave up, put dog down, found dog pee, put dog's nose in pee, cleaned up pee, made sister take dog out, ate real food, tried on 'The Clothesline' clothes for Dad, read some of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', and wrote this

We The People

I have been learning more and more about government, politics, and their history over the past two years, but only in the past couple of months have I felt depressed thinking about it. I never feel like there is anything positive in the government anymore. And the whole approach to politics is a debate. It feels like a hopeless war against Obama, bills, and taxes. Now I realize that politics goes deeper than I thought. If we want to think of this as a war, we have a harder war to fight amongst ourselves than the war we are really involved in. What happened to America? Really? That small, but deadly little fireball of passion. That little group of colonies that looked softer on the outside than we really were. That group of people that only had each other. Who only had the will and determination of their leaders. And the grace and will of God. Where did we go? Too much government involvement not only takes over the economy and our choices, it takes over us. America is no longer defined by its people, it is defined by its government. We have few leaders that really strive for improving the lives of the citizens they serve anymore. Instead they strive for power in the government of the most powerful country in the world. Where did the dignity in government go? When did the word politician go bad? Maybe it was when the people couldn't trust their leaders to do the best for them anymore but had to watch for government scandals and thieves. I don't know. I just wish it was back. I wish WE THE PEOPLE were back.