Thursday, October 20, 2011

I Write to Assert My Democratic Rights

Today is the National Day on Writing. In the past, I have celebrated this day with kids by writing 6 Word Memoirs. Today I didn't have anything special planned. Though I thought all day about why I write. I couldn't help but think about it; it's a hash tag (#whyIwrite) that has been popping up on twitter all day. (It should be trending, but it currently is not.)

Then I stopped at my mom's house to pick up The Pill. It's Thursday, so the tiny town newspaper was delivered today and I sat down to read it before I left for home. In it, I read an article that really had my hackles raised. I just had to write a letter to the editor regarding the article. This wasn't the first time I have written a letter to a newspaper, and that made me realize how very thankful I am that I CAN write to voice my opinion. And since the procedure for submitting letters to the editor of this paper are nowhere to be found, I am going to post my letter here. And so, because I have the right and responsibility to voice my opinions is #whyIwrite.

Editor,
Thank goodness we live in a democratic country. Thank goodness we have a say in who represents us in our government. Thank goodness that when we believe that our elected representatives are not listening to our voices, we have a procedure to follow to make our dissent known.

I am disgusted by some of the choices that my elected officials have made recently in the course of their work. I am fed up with the way certain groups of people have been targeted by the Governor and the Republican-led legislature. I have followed the channels allotted to me to voice my opinion: I have emailed and I have called the offices of Governor Snyder, Senator Emmons and Representative Outman on several different occasions. Only one time have I ever had my communication recognized. These people are supposed to be our voice in the government, but they don't seem to want to listen to everyone, rather only the people who are in agreement with them. 

Feeling as though I did not have representation, I took the next step to make my voice heard in the democratic process. I signed the petition to recall Governor Rick Snyder. I would sign a petition to recall Judy Emmons. I would sign a petition to recall Rick Outman. I completely disagree with Rick Outman as quoted in the October 19 edition of Lakeview Area News that “recall elections should be reserved for people who have committed a crime...” Recall elections should absolutely come about when enough citizens come together to call an elected official on the carpet. They need to be held accountable for being the voice of the people they represent.

As a citizen who has signed a recall petition, I also take issue with being characterized by Shirley Pool as being someone who does “not care about the financial ramifications to our county or state...” I am a tax paying citizen. If a recall election comes about, I share that cost. I am part of Ms. Pool's “we.” I would hazard a guess that most solicitors and most signers ARE taxpaying citizens and therefore also a part of Ms. Pool's "we." Ms. Pool may not agree that there should be a recall election, but she should be thankful that we live in a county, state, and nation that allows its citizens avenues to express displeasure when we feel our elected officials are not fulfilling their responsibilities. 
                                                  Sincerely,
                                                  L. Moore

I wish I could link to the original article for you, but it isn't online. You'll just have to find a copy of  Lakeview Area News for yourself.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

I'm Really Not Ready

Lately I've been feeling pretty overwhelmed, emotional, and maybe even a tad depressed. Here's why:


Ready for the dance...

It is G's freshman year. She's going to be 15 years old. And I just don't have an inkling of how that happened. It just seems like yesterday that she was dancing around the house in her sweet little girl dresses, singing Oops I Did It Again, and pestering me to change the focus of the video camera to her and not The Pill: "Tape me now mom, tape me...is it my turned to be taped?"

I almost cry when I see the competent athlete she is on the volleyball court. I almost cried yesterday as I watched her ride on the freshman float rather than enjoy the Homecoming parade by my side. I almost cried at how beautiful she was as she was getting ready for her first Homecoming dance. And I remember how I used to wait so anxiously for the firsts: when would she say her first word? take her first step? read her first word?

Now I want the firsts to stop. I would go back to those baby, toddler, and little girl days in a heartbeat. Not because I don't absolutely adore the young woman she's becoming, but just because I am not ready for her to become her yet.