Some people...

Some people really piss me off. I know a lot of people don't like Sarah Palin. I even respect your right to dislike and like whoever the hell you want. But DO NOT try to get to that person by saying shit about their baby who has Down syndrome. What did that baby ever do to anyone. It's freakin disabled. I have a really soft spot in my tough act for children. Especially children with disabilities. Haven't they been victimized enough just by being born with something that will make their lives so hard. They will get made fun of in school. They will struggle just to accomplish every day things that normal people can do in seconds. I respect that Sarah is finally putting her kids first. Say all the mean and vulgar things you like about Sarah. She chose her position. And yes, she also chose to put her children in the spot light by running as Vice President. But her kids are innocents. They don't deserve to be put down and harassed just because of who their mother is. I don't think I've ever seen such despicable treatment of children by the media in my life. So what if Bristol got knocked up. How many teens out there get pregnant all the time. At least she took responsibility for her action and didn't go out and have an abortion. I think that's an easy way out. If you're mature enough to have sex, then you're sure as hell mature enough to deal with the consequences. How hard is it to walk yourself to the local Wal Mart or drug store and buy condoms? If it's so embarrassing that you can't handle it, then you're not mature enough to be having sex in the first place. And the pill. It's not hard at all to get these days. Your parents don't even have to know about it. And parents, why the hell aren't you telling your kids about contraception? I know adults want to preach abstinence but it just doesn't cut it. Keep on top of them. Your kids are going to have sex whether you talk to them about it or not. If it was my kid, I would much rather get them a prescription for birth control or a box of condoms then to see them end up pregnant and having a baby before they are old enough to take care of that baby. And don't even get me started on these women who have little girls who end up hooking up with child predators. Then they wonder why their kid disappears. Your dumb boyfriend had sex with your little tiny girl and didn't want you to find out about it. Not only do they allow these men to get close to their children, they cover up for them. "It couldn't have been ****. He was set up." If he's convicted, that means there was enough evidence to put the bastard in jail. And our Justice system? Sucks monkey balls. How can a guy who rapes kids be able to get out in 6 years with good behavior. Of course he's gonna behave in prison. He's in his own little part of the prison and there aren't any kids for him to victimize. Let them out in general population and let the guy who's already serving a life sentence give the sicko the sentence he really deserved. As you can see, I get really passionate about kids. I hate any form of abuse. And I believe even saying bad things about a poor helpless little baby is abuse. Not only that, it's just wrong. Can these people honestly look at themselves in the mirror each day after they've said awful things about a baby with down syndrome? It all makes me physically ill.

Proposition 8 and Mormons...

I've been seething about this since November 4th. The great state of California passed Proposition 8 which changes the amendment to prohibit marriage between anyone but a man and a woman. This amendment didn't affect me. In fact, I couldn't have cared less if it had passed or not. What I'm sick of hearing is blaming the whole thing on the LDS church. CALIFORNIA passed the proposition, not the MORMONS!! In fact, the percentage of Mormons to all other religions in California is small. So again, it was the voters in California who passed it. The church simply took a stand on the issue. Telling Mormons they can't support a proposition that goes with their beliefs is like telling Oprah she can't support Barack Obama.

All the talk against the church wouldn't bug me so much if the gay alliance groups hadn't started smearing the missionaries. One of my best friends just got home from his mission. His mother died while he was gone. He came home for 10 days to say goodbye to her. He gave up the last month of her life to go back out and finish. To make a video showing two missionaries going into the home of a lesbian couple and tearing up their marriage certificate and trashing their house (which represented them taking away gay rights) took away from what these young men and women are doing. They sacrifice a good chunk of their lives to go teach something they strongly believe in. To say they only go out there to take away people's rights angered me in a way nothing ever has.

I'm one of the first to criticize some of the church's teachings. I've lived on both sides. I went from being a young women's leader to inactive. I went from wholeheartedly believing the stuff I taught the girls to questioning everything. I've had some very hard knocks in my life. One day I had this chubby, independent niece and the next I had a disabled one. And still, I went to church. Niki would go to Primary and Taci would come with me to young women's. Most of the time I would sit there and hold my practically newborn 1 year old niece. When she would become so frustrated because she couldn't get her body to move like it used to, she would scream. When I couldn't stand to hold her any longer because the pain became unbearable, Chris would take her. She would hold her, rock her, and whisper into her ear until she calmed down.

4 months after Taci's ordeal, I moved 45 minutes away from Chris. 5 months after that, my best friend calls and tells me that his mom's breast cancer is back after 10 years of remission. My best friend's mom was Chris. The one person who made me realize that it wasn't about my pain but about helping Taci deal with everything.

At this point, I was taking care of my two nieces but not of myself. I ended up in the hospital. I realized I was no good to anyone if I didn't learn how to take care of myself. Less than a week after that, Grandma and Grandpa moved me to New Mexico. I finally dealt with my childhood. I learned how to be healthy, emotionally.

One day almost exactly a year after hearing of Chris' cancer, I got another call. She's dying. I booked a flight as soon as I could. I had to say goodbye to probably the best person I had ever known. My best friend was there. I could tell that it was tearing him apart. I could see how much he hurt. And I ached for him. His mother, the most important person in his life was dying. And he only had a couple days to say goodbye. But I could also see the determination in his eyes. I could tell he would go back out there and keep sharing the gospel. He truly believed everything he was out there teaching. So after spending 10 days with his family, he went back. He missed his mom's final moments. He missed the funeral. He wasn't there to help comfort his dad and his sisters. He went through the grieving process out in the mission field. He sacrificed so much so he could teach people the beliefs that got him through the death of his mother.

When my Grandpa, the only father I had ever really had, died almost exactly a year from the day my best friend's mom died, he got me through. While still on his mission. He came home to a different life than he had left. Does this sound like a person trying to take away your rights? Someone who would go into your home and wreck everything?

They took it too far with this issue. Maybe the Mormon church shouldn't have taken a stand to support Proposition 8. That was church leaders who made that decision. I'm sick of people making assumptions. Of acting ignorant. There are churches who speak out on this issue every day. If you're gonna go after one, go after all of them. Stop blaming the Mormon church for something the voters in California did. The Mormon church isn't horrible. Maybe naive and idealistic. But they're not the only ones.. Give it a rest and move on. Take steps to get it over ruled or whatever you call it. Stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. Don't moan and groan. Take action. That's what democracy is about!!