We behold them, now, at the dawning of their lives.
And they are , indeed, a wondrous sight. All dolled up in comic and surreal and sometimes grotesque outfits of sequins and latex and glitter and satin glory. We hold our breath, and take their little hands in ours and shoo them through the door on a Halloween evening, for their annual trek in pursuit of the candy bars and other gooey, tasty treats which will last them one whole week.
And in that one whole week, Their dreams of their future roles in life will change as fast as they shed their zany costumes.
Zack, the kid in the Star Trek U.S.S.ENTERPRISE uniform is going to be an astronaut, but next week, he'll settle for a fireman. Makika, the cat with the yellow face paint and whiskers has decided it's law school for her, but then on Saturday, she will announce that, instead, she's going to become a hairdresser...for movie stars.
Mary, the shy one, dressed up as a ballerina, is going to to be a doctor. Period. Tyler is absolutely going to be a U.S. Marine, just like his late daddy, but that will change to a fighter pilot by Monday. Letisha, clad from head to toe in a sparkly leotard, wants the world to know that she will be the perfect circus performer in Cirque du Soleil. But a couple of days later, she decides it's safer to be a bus driver.
Christopher, the serious one, who started reading at three, and at seven is a whiz at math, knows for sure, he will design rocket trains. They don't have those yet, but Chris believes he knows how to put that together. Or, maybe, next week, he'll decide to put his talents to designing the next great solar powered sports car.
Michael wants to be the President of the United States. Failing that, he'd like to be a talk show host. His sister, Leah, has designs on politics, too. She wants to be the governor of Florida. Or a dolphin trainer.
The dreams these children have of their futures are as diverse as their ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds.
But the one thing they do have in common now, is a shattered life.
Shattered by events beyond their control, and for now, for most of them, beyond their understanding or comprehension.
Life changed for them recently. Something went terribly wrong and they went from living a secure and abundant life to, maybe sleeping in mommy's car, or in a dingy motel room for weeks on end, or, in some cases out there on the streets in homeless nation.
They're living in a shelter now. With other children and mommies and some daddies. And life is chaotic and noisy and filled with strangers and rules and other kids just like them. Just like them because kids don't see the differences in their social and cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
That will come later, when the age of innocence has passed. For now, their resilience and curiosity and love of all things unique and seemingly bizarre will help them to transcend their circumstances, and bear the realities and hardships of an environment charged with tension and doubt and so many fears.
Those realities and hardships which, for now, they are sometimes shielded from by the swift flicking of a tear wiped away by anxious parents, or loving shelter caregivers who tend to broken hearts and shattered lives with open hands and great, loving gestures of hope.
These children walk a thin and shaky line between the whimsy of the great Dr. Seuss's "Oh, The Places You Will Go", and the darkness of "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch."
And in their eyes, in those bright and curious and shining and hungry puppy eyes, you see the veil to their future, woven with the threads of mercy.
These children, these maybe future astronauts, and firemen, and rocket scientists and U.S. Marines and fighter pilots, and bus drivers and lawyers and doctors and hairdressers and circus acrobats and governors and dolphin trainers, and Presidents of the United States of America, are stuck now in survival mode here in homeless nation.
Some of them will make it through the survival mode and the chaos which now defines their lives, and not be the worse off for it. For those who make it through, there will once again be a secure and loving home, and the opportunity and means to prepare them for the roles they once dreamed of when they dreamed of how their lives would be.
But, some of them won't make it through this part of their life journey unscathed. The hurt that some of these children endure by having their life shattered by events out of their control will prove to be unshakeable, and their futures will be marred by so many of the awful events spawned by the damage done to a young, and innocent and tender ego.
And that is an outrage. And we should all be very angry about that. And do something.
And what we should do, is to love these children - our children -love them enough to make the strongest possible effort as families and as a society, to see that this ugly and searing blight of homelessness has - by the time our children are old enough to really begin their journey to be a fireman, a bus driver, an astronaut, a lawyer, a doctor, a rocket scientist, a U.S. Marine or a future President of the United States - been cleared away by the people of this great nation.
This great nation, which may well put people on Mars in our lifetime, needs a gut check on this present, shameful domestic situation which will, if nothing else, deprive us all of the intellects, the skills, the drive and the boundless energy of these children.
And our government needs to go to war for these children. And that war should be right up there with the War on Drugs, The War on Terrorism, and all of those other wars "over there."
We can do no less for our next generation. Our legacy.
In the meantime, hug them a lot, tend to their scrapes and boo boos, tell them bedtime stories, kiss away their tears, and listen to them when they talk about those dreams they have about their future. And, maybe, sing to them.
And I'd like to offer up part of a great Beach Boys song that I wish I could sing to every one of these kids I have met here, in homeless nation. Kind of a lullaby straight from the heart.
The song is "Disney Girl" and part of it goes like this
Clearin' skies and dryin' eyes now I see your smile
Darkness goes and softness shows
a changing style
Just in time, words that rhyme, well
bless your soul
Now I'll fill your hands with
kisses and a tootsie roll.
Having done volunteer work for decades, dealing with families needing housing, food, employment, medical help and encouragement, it is impossible not to notice that all such families have suffered from external forces...childhood poverty/abuse, poor parental models, peer negative influences, toxic neighborhoods, etc.....and inevitably some personal responsibility for "bad choices," self-indulgence, sometimes laziness and other character flaws that compound the external problems and prevent them from overcoming adversity. But even when dealing with a mother/father who clearly caused a lot of her/his own problems through lack of effort, promiscuity, booze/drugs, dropping out of school, crime.....the decision to help or not turns on the gut question of "what about the kids?" Can we ignore the needs of the kids because of the sins of the parents? We know the deck is stacked against them as a circumstance of birth, but we have seen kids grow up in horrendous circumstances yet prevail and succeed. So the bottom line is to take a chance on the kids, trusting in God to help some actually become astronauts, doctors & presidents....or at least much better lives than their parents and too many peers.
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