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Oct. 2nd, 2003 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terrypurple73Sometimes it’s hard to remember that not everything can be fixed by creating a just and peaceful world. Friends will break up, grandparents will die, and other things will happen that have nothing to do with whether or not I am a social worker or whether or not we close the School of the Americas. That all gets hard to remember, sometimes.
Mana’s grandpa died this week, and that’s rough. She and I finally got a hold of each other last night for the first time in days, and I was so glad. Even if we had to talk a lot of logistics stuff, it was so good to actually talk with her. I’m ducking out of practicum early to go to a social work thing tomorrow, but I’m ducking out of that early to get on a plane to Peoria, so I can be there for Mac’s funeral. It was such a blessing that all my stuff this weekend got cancelled or postponed, so I didn’t really have to work around anything- I just listed myself on the flights, and I’m going. I talked to Mana on Sunday, though, and I started bawling after I hung up. She’d said it would only be a matter of days from then, and…. When your best friend’s family has taken you in as practically one of their own (especially easy when your best friend is an only child), and you’ve known her family for over nine years, a hard time in their family is hard on you too. And I’ve known Mac as long as I’ve known Mana. And what’s just as hard too is the fact that Mac and my grandpa started going downhill in so many similar ways at the same time. Mana and I’ve had each other along this whole thing, both of us going through similar grandparent issues. And then things changed so quickly for Mac, and…. Like I said, my work for justice and peace is not going to change these facts, not going to change the fact that people get sick and families end up mourning. I don’t know what else to say about this other than the fact that I am crying as I type this. And geez, it’s Mana’s family, not mine.
On good notes, though, I’ve spent some time with Colin lately, and that’s been really good. We talked on the phone the other night for maybe twenty minutes, which isn’t really that long, but it was for us. He’d called about some Amnesty stuff, and we ended up just talking about after graduation plans and life and whatnot. So we decided to meet early before yesterday’s meeting, so we went to dinner together- sat at McFoster’s for well over an hour. It’s nice to spend that quality time with someone, especially since I see him so often for classes and Amnesty stuff, but we don’t always get say what’s really on our minds, deeper than class/meeting events. I remember how awesome he is, and how much I respect him and enjoy his company. I can really say that he is a friend who I’ve watched change over the years. I think that when you can say that about someone, you have to know the person at least pretty decently well.
Colin was also a nice reminder of how good one-on-one time with people really is. I haven’t had much of that at all this year, which has been all right, but just very different. Almost all of my free time is spent at Community. And don’t get me wrong, because I love it, but it’s not often/always one-on-one conversations. Even when it is, there’s always the knowledge that someone else will be home very soon, or your time is rushed for some other reason. So I don’t really spend a lot of time with either Mana or Vicky this year so far. And I’m still super close to both of them, but it’s in a different way. It isn’t the see-them-three-times-a-week-and-talk-on-the-phone-at-least-one-more-time kind of friendship this year, with either of them. I see Mana at APO on Sundays, and Vicky at Amnesty on Wednesdays, and talk to them each maybe one other time during the week. It’s hard to cram a friendship into limited amounts of time when you are used to seeing that friend on a nearly daily basis.
On the activism front, things have been really inspiring lately. I feel like I am being recognized for the work I do, which feels uplifting in a way I hadn’t expected, and at the same time, I feel like I am learning about all these new issues.
I went to a teach-in one night last week about AIDS advocacy, and it was awesome. It simply was awesome. It was put together so well, but it didn’t feel formal. This group (people from all over the region were there) seems to epitomize grassroots organizing, and they’re so positive about it. Instead of targeting one candidate in particular and saying, “His AIDS policy is BAD,” they ask candidates- publicly- as often as they can about the candidates’ stances on AIDS funding. The idea is that if AIDS is mentioned enough, it will become a central issues of the 2004 election. If everyone talks about it, candidates will start to mention it before being asked about it. So we learned about the AIDS epidemic, and we practiced asking candidates questions, and we talked about what the causes of the lack of treatment are. I left feeling like I had come away with tangible knowledge, that I had learned things I could put my finger on. Even just this little bit of knowledge makes me want to stay informed. I now know- at least vaguely- what people mean when they talk about the patents on prescription drugs. I have to say that I like that feeling.
This past weekend, the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride came through Omaha. There was a rally Saturday night, and an ecumenical service Sunday morning. Saturday night, we hosted two of the women over at the SoP Big House, and they were amazing. Stories to tell and inspiration to be had. I know we host a lot of fun people around here, we’ve had quite a few over the time I’ve been here, but this was just good. Then we heard a great speaker Sunday morning who compared the immigrants on the ride to a twenty-dollar bill. He said that even if you get stomped on, squished, and crumpled, you still have the same value, no matter what. He was pretty powerful.
SOA planning is going well, and it looks like we’re going to have a whole lot of people. This makes me excited and nervous, but not overwhelmingly enough of either to need to write extensively about right now.
And Maria Teresa gave my name to one of those head honchos at this University, and now I get to eat dinner with the board of directors on Monday. That could be interesting. At least William will be there too, and maybe Kat.
Insert concluding sentence here.
Mana’s grandpa died this week, and that’s rough. She and I finally got a hold of each other last night for the first time in days, and I was so glad. Even if we had to talk a lot of logistics stuff, it was so good to actually talk with her. I’m ducking out of practicum early to go to a social work thing tomorrow, but I’m ducking out of that early to get on a plane to Peoria, so I can be there for Mac’s funeral. It was such a blessing that all my stuff this weekend got cancelled or postponed, so I didn’t really have to work around anything- I just listed myself on the flights, and I’m going. I talked to Mana on Sunday, though, and I started bawling after I hung up. She’d said it would only be a matter of days from then, and…. When your best friend’s family has taken you in as practically one of their own (especially easy when your best friend is an only child), and you’ve known her family for over nine years, a hard time in their family is hard on you too. And I’ve known Mac as long as I’ve known Mana. And what’s just as hard too is the fact that Mac and my grandpa started going downhill in so many similar ways at the same time. Mana and I’ve had each other along this whole thing, both of us going through similar grandparent issues. And then things changed so quickly for Mac, and…. Like I said, my work for justice and peace is not going to change these facts, not going to change the fact that people get sick and families end up mourning. I don’t know what else to say about this other than the fact that I am crying as I type this. And geez, it’s Mana’s family, not mine.
On good notes, though, I’ve spent some time with Colin lately, and that’s been really good. We talked on the phone the other night for maybe twenty minutes, which isn’t really that long, but it was for us. He’d called about some Amnesty stuff, and we ended up just talking about after graduation plans and life and whatnot. So we decided to meet early before yesterday’s meeting, so we went to dinner together- sat at McFoster’s for well over an hour. It’s nice to spend that quality time with someone, especially since I see him so often for classes and Amnesty stuff, but we don’t always get say what’s really on our minds, deeper than class/meeting events. I remember how awesome he is, and how much I respect him and enjoy his company. I can really say that he is a friend who I’ve watched change over the years. I think that when you can say that about someone, you have to know the person at least pretty decently well.
Colin was also a nice reminder of how good one-on-one time with people really is. I haven’t had much of that at all this year, which has been all right, but just very different. Almost all of my free time is spent at Community. And don’t get me wrong, because I love it, but it’s not often/always one-on-one conversations. Even when it is, there’s always the knowledge that someone else will be home very soon, or your time is rushed for some other reason. So I don’t really spend a lot of time with either Mana or Vicky this year so far. And I’m still super close to both of them, but it’s in a different way. It isn’t the see-them-three-times-a-week-and-talk-on-the-phone-at-least-one-more-time kind of friendship this year, with either of them. I see Mana at APO on Sundays, and Vicky at Amnesty on Wednesdays, and talk to them each maybe one other time during the week. It’s hard to cram a friendship into limited amounts of time when you are used to seeing that friend on a nearly daily basis.
On the activism front, things have been really inspiring lately. I feel like I am being recognized for the work I do, which feels uplifting in a way I hadn’t expected, and at the same time, I feel like I am learning about all these new issues.
I went to a teach-in one night last week about AIDS advocacy, and it was awesome. It simply was awesome. It was put together so well, but it didn’t feel formal. This group (people from all over the region were there) seems to epitomize grassroots organizing, and they’re so positive about it. Instead of targeting one candidate in particular and saying, “His AIDS policy is BAD,” they ask candidates- publicly- as often as they can about the candidates’ stances on AIDS funding. The idea is that if AIDS is mentioned enough, it will become a central issues of the 2004 election. If everyone talks about it, candidates will start to mention it before being asked about it. So we learned about the AIDS epidemic, and we practiced asking candidates questions, and we talked about what the causes of the lack of treatment are. I left feeling like I had come away with tangible knowledge, that I had learned things I could put my finger on. Even just this little bit of knowledge makes me want to stay informed. I now know- at least vaguely- what people mean when they talk about the patents on prescription drugs. I have to say that I like that feeling.
This past weekend, the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride came through Omaha. There was a rally Saturday night, and an ecumenical service Sunday morning. Saturday night, we hosted two of the women over at the SoP Big House, and they were amazing. Stories to tell and inspiration to be had. I know we host a lot of fun people around here, we’ve had quite a few over the time I’ve been here, but this was just good. Then we heard a great speaker Sunday morning who compared the immigrants on the ride to a twenty-dollar bill. He said that even if you get stomped on, squished, and crumpled, you still have the same value, no matter what. He was pretty powerful.
SOA planning is going well, and it looks like we’re going to have a whole lot of people. This makes me excited and nervous, but not overwhelmingly enough of either to need to write extensively about right now.
And Maria Teresa gave my name to one of those head honchos at this University, and now I get to eat dinner with the board of directors on Monday. That could be interesting. At least William will be there too, and maybe Kat.
Insert concluding sentence here.
