Tag Archives: Death

Enjoy the Time You Have With Each Other

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Last week at about this time I was leaving UCA All*Star Nationals. This trip to UCA was a little different because instead of being on the judges stand I was in warm ups looking for rules violations. Our goal was to catch violations in warm ups so we could inform the coaches and let them make changes before they got to the main floor. Let’s just say coaches had mixed reactions to us. A few said “Thank You” and a few did not. Some coaches asked me to repeat what I said so the kids could hear, I assume because they had told the squad the same thing several times and thought they may listen if it came from someone else.

Others looked at me like I had the sign of the anti-Christ engraved in my forehead. This made me think about the example some coaches set for their staff and teams. I know how important this is to people and that it is their means of paying the bills and putting food on the table, but there is no reason for some people to act the way they do at events. Coaches need to remember they have been given the privilege of doing something they love for a living and given the opportunity to be a great example for kids. I think some of them forget this at times, but hopefully they’ll return to their senses sooner rather than later. Overall it was surprisingly enjoyable and something I’m sure I’ll do again soon.

Shortly after returning I left again to visit Marcel and his wife and meet his adorable baby girl. His wife made some homemade chicken curry that was incredible. His little girl was a giggling ball of fun and huge Dora fan. Marcel and I got a chance to work on Aneris and talked about some ideas for the future.

After that I judged a competition. It was interesting and gave a few people a new perspective on the things that go on “behind the scenes” at an event. We had upset coaches and parents cussing at the event director by the time the first team walked off the floor. After what started out as a circus of a day we ended up with few complaints about scoring or placement, aka the things people go to competitions for.

During the competition I think I had some spicy crab dip. A few of you will understand the relevance of this statement.

After the competition we went to Brio, which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants (Thanks Will), for dinner and to wind down. Most people had early flights so we didn’t stay out too late or do anything silly.

When I got picked up from the airport Miggy told me we were heading to one of the girls house for a viewing because her mom died unexpectedly the night before. Now an 8th grade girl with a love of cheerleading and roller skating is without a mom. I don’t know a whole lot about trying to help a girl that lost her mom at a young age so I really don’t know where I’m going with this. I will leave you with advice from the husband that lost his wife:

Enjoy the time you have with each other because I would give anything to hold her one more time.

Leave Craigslist Alone

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A CNN.com article with the headline “Med student held without bail in possible Craigslist killing” was sent to me this morning. I get annoyed with headlines like this implying Craigslist or any of numerous other tools (Facebook, MySpace, AIM) are responsible for someone’s death. The victim in this case was killed by a sick person and that is where the blame should be placed. In addition to Craiglist I’m sure the killer used a computer, the internet, a car, public streets, and numerous other items, including a murder weapon, that aren’t highlighted in the headline.

If as much thought and time was put into finding and helping the sick individuals as is being put into pointing the blame finger at the wrong things, we might stop some people from getting hurt.

The Blame Game

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I just read my second article about a 19 year old Florida college student who killed himself while broadcasting live on the internet. Condolences and sympathies aside, my frustration with these articles and some of the comments posted along the articles is the attempt to blame the internet site for his death. The internet did not kill this person. The website did not kill this person. This person tragically felt the need to remove himself from this world and chose to share his final acts with the world via the internet. I remember when similar circumstances the blame was pointed towards the method chosen, whether it be a gun or drug overdose, which was just as incorrect. The problem lies within the person and we need to figure out how to correct that. Banning the internet, guns, or drugs will not stop people from committing such acts, just change the methods used. Figuring out why people are doing this to themselves and helping them work through it is the direction we need to head.