You Don't Know Bird

My children had the opportunity to go away to camp for the weekend. They would spend three days and 2 nights with their peers, Camp Counselors and Healing Circle Leaders. I know some of you are asking what type of camp is it that takes place in the middle of the school year. I asked myself my same question, when my sister-in-law told me about. My sister-in-law told me a few months ago she wanted me to send the kids along with 3 of their cousins to this Camp named Comfort Zone Camp, a grief camp. My kids had never been to Camp before, let alone one that might be able to help them cope with a death so close, so I said okay. When I got the paperwork, I found out that it was so much more. Comfort Zone Camp is a bereavement camp offered at no cost to kids from the ages 7-17, who have experienced the death of a parent, bother, sister or primary caregiver. More importantly they would be with kids their own age that knew exactly what they were going through.

I went to drop my kids off with 2 of my sister-in-laws that were also dropping off their kids. I had two nephews and a niece that were attending. They all lost their Dad, one lost his Dad to a heart attack and the other two, whom are brother and sister, lost their Dad to a motorcycle accident. For those of you who aren’t familiar with my story, May 9, 2001, my daughter and I were involved in an ambush that claimed the life of my husband, a week before his only child was born. It was my daughters 4th birthday and what was a happy day turned out to be the worst day of all our lives, my son included. My son struggles with the loss the most because he did not get to meet his father and knows that he missing out on a very important piece in his life. It’s harder during the times he playing sports. His teammates come to practice with their Dads and while my son isn’t the only one fatherless, he still hasn’t really been able to deal with the fact that he is missing out. I was happy that he had the chance to participate in something like this and my daughter as well.

When we checked our kids in, they were greeted by a Big Buddy; this Big Buddy would remain with them throughout the entire weekend.  One thing that made me feel comfortable about the Big is that 2 weeks prior to the kids getting there, a CZC staff member called me and asked me several questions about what my kids liked and disliked so that they would be matched with best Big for them. All the kids took to their Bigs immediately. I met the Bigs and when I turned around my kids were gone, all I could hear was the echo of their laughter. The parents/guardians had a small orientation before we left the camp giving us a brief background on the founder Lynne and what our children would be doing.  They would rock climb, zip line, have a bon fire and made smores. They would also take part in a Healing Circle. The Healing Circle is run by  Mental Health professionals and the kids sit around a bon fire and share their loss with the rest of group. Sharing is absolutely voluntary.

Sunday couldn’t come around fast enough, I missed my kids and wanted to know how camp went. I took my Mom with me so that she could see the Memorial Service the kids were putting on as they left camp. Before the children were brought in, all of the Healing Circle Leaders told the parents what age group they had, what types of losses were suffered and how the group went, never disclosing specifics about any of the children. Out of the 57 children nearly all of them loss fathers, a brother a sister and a mom were also among the loved ones. The deaths were from homicide, suicide, car accidents and health problems. It was sad to see that these children had to carry a burden that big. The majority of the children shared and those that did not were a supportive friend to those who did. My children had huge smiles on their faces very excited to tell me how camp went. Their Bigs gave excellent reports on my children and my children did the same. My children were able to see that it was other children suffering from a void in their lives and that they were not alone. They both want to go back and are already asking if they can have the same Big the next time around. To see that they enjoyed it and are willing to go back makes me very happy and I’m glad that my sister-in-law gave me the information.

For more information on Comfort Zone Camp please go to http://www.comfortzonecamp.org/ <http://www.comfortzonecamp.org/> or you can follow them on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ComfortZoneCamp <http://www.Twitter.com/ComfortZoneCamp>

I was all too excited to hear that Charles Woodson of the Green Bay Packers won Defensive POY. I’m not a Packers fan but a Woodson fan. My love for Woodsons game goes back to the ’90s when he was a Wolverine. His game spoke for itself and everybody recognized it. He won Big 10 freshman of the year in 1995. In 1997 not only did the Wolverines go undefeated, Woodson won the Heisman AND a National Championship.

I loved Woodson even more in 1998 when he became an Oakland Raider, as soon as they pressed a #24 jersey, I got one. Woodson was drafted the first round, 4th overall. He was a beast on the field winning the Rookie Defensive Player of the Year and named to the Pro Bowl.  He led the DBs in tackles and was top 5 in the league in interceptions.  Woodson was one with the field, anybody that knew football, knew that.

In 2006, I felt my world shake. Woodson would no longer wear Silver and Black and no longer wear #24. He would wear green and wear #21, calling himself a…a… a Packer. I couldn’t believe it. My heart dropped. Even though he was no longer a Raider he was still my favorite player and I still rocks the #24 Woodson Raider jersey.

In his first year as a Packer, he led the NFL in interceptions with 8. Green Bay even used him as a Punt Returner. While at Green Bay he’s received NFC Defensive Player of Week in 2007 and Player of the Month in September of 2008 and 2009 and November(also won player of the week in Nov.) and December of 2009 as well. That makes him the 3rd player to receive this award 3 times in a single season.  

Woodson still works hard, he still gives 100% and can compete with WR that are 10 years younger than he is.  He has 28 interceptions as a Packer and had 17 as a Raider. Woodson has 8 touchdowns as a Packer and 6 with the Raiders and as much as I hate to admit it, his stats get better each year in Green Bay.  Charles Woodson holds the Packers record for defensive touchdowns at 8 and 7 of those pick  6 and one fumble return. Woodson has 74 tackles, 66 of them solo, 2 sacks, 4 forced fumbles; 9 interceptions and 3 TD returns.  He is more than worthy to receive the Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.

Now it’s some that say Revis of the Jets should win and I can’t seem to figure out why and no one has an answer for me. He locked down recievers.. Okay. Well Woodson let Fitzgerald get two Tds on him. One of which was offensive PI..and you shouldnt let the last game stick your head, were talking about a season. Next?! I looked at Revis’ stats and he has 54 tackles, 47 solo, 6 interceptions and 1 TD return. Rex Ryan says that 8 is the number, eight is the number because that’s how many TD passes they allowed and the people that voted for Revis “really knows the game”.  Ryan also went to say “This, in my opinion, was the best year a corner has ever had, the most impact a corner has ever had in the National Football League…” Revis did lead the league in passes defended with 31 compared to Woodsons 21, so I guess its a good thing it’s called Defensive Player of the Year and not Cornerback of the year huh Rex? Quarterbacks avoid Woodson like they do Revis so I’m still not sure why Revis is more worthy than Woodson and I’m glad I don’t have to be. Woodson is the Defensive Player of the Year for 2009. Have fun at the Pro Bowl Revis, 2010 is right around the corner. No Pun intended.

I read today that Wal-Mart and H&M discard all unworn clothing. We aren’t talking about defects, simply unworn. The two stores are in New York but who knows if it is going on in any other states, especially California. I hope not. In a time where families are struggling with less and less and things cost more and more, you’d think that these two major companies would donate to the less fortunate instead of throwing them in trash bags to be taken away by sanitation workers.

Let me not forget to mention, they tore the clothes up so that they couldn’t be worn. The clothes were sliced with a razor blade. Warm socks cut, fingers cut out of gloves as well as uniform shoes for girls. Mens jackets were sliced down the arm and the body. These items ranged from $60-$130.00!

The homeless and less fortunate miss out by them doing this, children in foster care, battered women and children shelters or any shelter for that matter can benefit from these unworn articles too.  They have programs that help people get jobs and I’m sure they can use them as well. What makes this so bad is that around the corner from H&M was a collection center for New York Cares (http://www.newyorkcares.org/about_us/our_story/) as they were having their Holiday Coat Drive… You mean to tell me you’re around the corner from a Non-Profit organization having a HOLIDAY COAT DRIVE in the middle of a New York winter and you slice perfectly good coats down the arm and back until the white cotton is coming out instead of giving to a person it could have helped. #Wheredotheydothatat? (Sorry, I thought I was on Twitter for a second)

I thought the Good Will and Salvation Army were bad for picking up donations and then selling them to the less fortunate but this takes the cake. Wal-Mart was not the biggest offender in this, finding 20+ bags of torn clothing behind H&M. Melissa Hill; a Wal-Mart spokesperson said they typically donate all of the unworn clothing to charity and would have to investigate why this happened. I don’t believe her, she needs more people. H&M is just a mess because it took them more than a week to respond to the accusations. Merely stating it will be looked into.

The woman that found these bags, Cynthia Magnus wrote a letter to Ingrid Schullstrom, H&M Executive, offering to help establish a relationship with H&M and a New York charity or agency so that the clothes aren’t wasted and according to her, she has not received a response. I think this is a disgusting act not to mention wasteful! I don’t shop at Wal-mart and you can bet I never will. H&M almost got some of my money last week; I’m glad I walked it and walked right back out.

I had the chance to see Homegrowne perform on New Years Day and they were amazing…as usual.  I had never been to a show like this before. It was an album listening party for an Artist that I had never heard of, by the name of PJ Morton. Sunset Brown of Homegrowne sang his songs and in addition to that, they got to do a few of their own. The whole set up was dope. Sunsets outfit was a 30s era inspiration, Mel was more Hip Hop with a grown man twist and the rest of the band wore suits. Each one complimenting the other. Sunset sang PJs songs like they were her own and for that he should be proud. She was great!

After a quick break, it was time for Homegrowne to bless their fans and well as the people who had never heard the awesome sound they produce and hit us with their own flavor. As I thought, they won the ears and souls of the people who hadn’t been fortunate to hear them. They did one of my favorite songs Celebrity and blew my mind with a new song titled Los Angeles. I loved that song, the whole place did. It gave everybody in the audience energy. You could tell in the way we all sang “Los Angeleeeees” that we were fed up with that JayZ anthem ,New York. It spoke about the Staple Center, Slauson and how we can go to the beach in the Winter. Los Angeles is going to be a Summer time banger!

It was hosted by PLEI. 734 E 3rd street, downtown, Los Angeles. If you’re aren’t familiar with the area, you just might pass the place up. The setting was nice and relaxing and the crowd was soothing. We all sat back and enjoyed the show. PJ Morton has some pretty cool songs and I’m actually looking forward to hearing his whole album.

Its over! Forget about! Its time to start fresh.  If you had any hang ups in 2009, whatever they were, leave them in 2009. This is a New Year, give yourself a new start. You can always change your outlook on life, the way you treat a person and even the way you eat or live at anytime of the year but for some reason, people always pick the start of a New Year. 

If that helps you, I’m all for it. I don’t have a New Year Resolution. I gave those up years ago. When I get my mind set on doing something I do it. If  I fall off, I start  over again. I don’t wait another 5, 6 or 7 months for January 1st to roll around.  When you want something, you’ve got to go get it. Opportunity might knock but it doesn’t search. Slothfulness will have you missing out on what could be…. possibilities are endless. You’ve just got to want it

Whatever you want. I hope that you are successful in obtaining it. Whatever obstacles are in your way, I pray are removed never to be put in your way again. I hope you’ve apologized to whomever if you needed to, got your gym membership or enrolled in school. I wish you luck in not drinking or eating red meat. Whatever your resolution is, put your mind to it and make it happen. Don’t slack off in May and say Next Year… while you’re waiting for 2011 to come around for you to get back on track, you might not even see tomorrow! The game waits for no one and it doesn’t get any simpler than that.