R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Wednesday, Sept. 21st, 2011: The days are getting crazier the closer we get to the big transition in my agency on Oct. 1st. People are getting their vacation time in before they leave, people are just not showing up, they are leaving the agency early, etc. This means we have been short-staffed since Wednesday of last week. After teaching my computer class, I ran over to one of our residences to give a speech on Advocacy. After giving the speech, I ran back to Emmaus for our final staff meeting before the big transition. As I walked into the building, Aretha Franklin's "Respect" was blaring our of our dining area. When I went to investigate, I came upon three seniors (two women, one man) dancing and getting down with their bad selves. They were cleaning up after lunch and are a part of our kitchen crew. The women were dropping it lower than I could and I am 1/3 of their age and the man said, "oh, Miss Katie's here...hey all, we need to show Miss Katie the senior dance!" He proceeded to move his one leg back and forth, as if grinding a cigarette into the ground. It was hilarious and we all had a good time laughing and enjoying the few moments of down time we got. Today I am grateful for Aretha Franklin for reminding me to stop and smell the roses and sometimes, dance among them.

Thursday, Sept. 22nd, 2011: So my past posts have been about Troy Davis and this will be my final one about him, I promise. Last night, he was set to be executed at 7pm when the the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in at 6:45pm to delay the execution and review the evidence (the fourth time some higher power has intervened and pro-longed Davis' execution). I can't imagine what was going through Davis' mind or the minds of his family...so cruel to bring him that close time and time again, only to delay it time and time again. After four hours of reviewing the evidence, the supreme court chose to not halt the execution and at 11:08pm yesterday night, Troy Davis was put to death for a crime he possibly didn't commit. It's hard to find gratitude in that, it's hard to find the silver lining to such a dark and sad cloud. I want to honor the life of Troy Davis but also honor the commitment I made to myself to find the good in each day, but today my heart is heavy and my soul is sad. The only gratitude I can find is this: I am grateful for Troy Davis. It is sad, and unfortunate that it takes the execution of a possibly innocent man for people to pay attention to the flaws in our justice system and the injustice that is the death penalty but I am grateful for his life as someone who spoke out and shed light on the death penalty. I pray for a greater respect for life.