They say that the eyes are the window to the soul. I’ve always known what that meant in theory, but never had I thought about it in respect to someone whose eyes I was looking into. Last night I saw someone’s soul. It was shattered.

In the one moment that our eyes caught and held, I saw such a heartbroken emptiness. It was a look of wonderment, confusion and a loss so profound, that while standing still, I felt like something inside of me, something invisible, was being leeched from my body. My feelings, emotions, something spiritual maybe, I don’t know what it was. I’m not really sure if was being pulled from me like a magnetic force or if it was something I was extending. I do know it was something beyond my control, something that wasn’t mental.

Was it my sympathy I felt leaving me.. being offered where it belonged, my heart breaking for a broken heart, or was it a bit of my soul going to help mend the shattered one, the one that I can’t begin to fathom the depths of despair it must feel? I think it was all of that and not nearly enough.

I was looking into the eyes of a friend, a mother whose 13 year old son was in a car day before yesterday with two other teens. He was killed instantly when the driver of the car lost control and struck a tree.

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My younger brother is a Gunnery Sergeant in the USMC. He is stationed in Cherry Point, NC, where he lives with his wife and two young children. He has already served two tours of duty in Iraq and one during Desert Storm. We just received word yesterday that he may once again be deployed to Iraq.

It made me think of an email I received the other day from an acquaintance. It had a link to a video on YouTube that just really hit home with me. Many of you may have seen this already, however, to me it’s the kind of thing could and should be viewed over and over again.

Regardless of where you stand.. everyone NEEDS to remember…

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I don’t know how many of your remember that I live in Alabama. I know I’ve mentioned it a couple of times, but figure the majority of you probably didn’t care enough to use up storage space and assign brain cells to house that little tidbit of knowledge about me. Then there are those of you that have known me for years, and know that I’m from Alabama as readily as you know my name.

Regardless of what group above you fall into, I assume that the majority of you keep up with the news and might have possibly heard or read something that I would really rather you hear straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak. So here goes…

Several news agencies reported this rather embarrassing story…

Alabama Woman On Horseback Charged With DUI

AP - A woman used a horse to ram a police car during a midnight ride through town and was charged with driving under the influence, police said. DUI charges can apply even if the vehicle has four legs instead of wheels, Chief Brad Gregg said Tuesday.

Police in the northeast Alabama town received a call around midnight Saturday about someone riding a horse on a street, Gregg said.

“Cars were passing by having to avoid it, and almost hitting the horse,” he said.

“She wouldn’t stop,” he said. “She kept riding the horse and going on.”

The report then went on to include more details about what all transpired after the police car ramming incident.. such as the officers finding some crystal meth, a small amount of marijuana, pills and a small pipe.

DUI charges were filed for riding the horse under the influence of a controlled substance, as well as charges for drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest, assault, attempting to elude police and cruelty to animals. They set bond at $4,000, which was paid.. but there were some unrelated charges in another county that needed to be addressed so a little jail transferring took place.

Anyway, like I said above, I felt this was something that you all deserved to hear about straight from the horse’s mouth so there would be no speculation, curiosity, wondering, etc. and you would all know the truth…

That woman was not me.

The full news story can be found here.

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My childrens school phone trees were activated yesterday, announcing early dismissal at 12:00 due to severe storm and tornado warnings that were issued throughout the state. A few years ago we had an F5 tornado blast its way through our community as well as neighboring cities, destroying one high school, several homes and businesses and claiming more than 30 lives. Since that time, all warnings receive immediate action.

While the area I live in luckily escaped any damage from the storms yesterday, other parts of Alabama were not so lucky.

As school buses were lined up in front of an Enterprise, Alabama high school for an early 1:00 dismissal due to weather, a tornado ripped through the school leaving, at last count, 8 teenagers dead and many more injured.

One hall at Enterprise High School collapsed during the storm, trapping a number of students in the rubble near the school’s band room. Hillcrest Elementary School also suffered severe damage from the tornado’s howling winds.

 
Pandemonium reigned at the school in the minutes after the storm struck, as students were told to go next door to Hillcrest Baptist Church for a safety center. High schoolers, in tears and in shock, wandered amid the pieces of the shattered school and damaged vehicles littering the area, uncertain about what had just occurred. Dozens of parents seeking their children converged on the school. Emergency personnel rushed to the scene to determine which students were the most seriously injured and to transport them to area hospitals and provide treatment to those with less-serious injuries.

Other students busied themselves carrying the injured to emergency personnel for treatment and consoling students who were crying and screaming as they looked for friends who were not there.

Relieved parents wrapped their arms around their children when they found them, while parents who could not find their children stood by in shock and disbelief.

Rescue workers continued to work for hours in the tragic atmosphere to rescue the students who were trapped in the rubble.

In downtown Enterprise, a quarter mile-wide swath of the tornado destroyed houses and residences, and winds toppled century-old trees into streets. Besides the high school and Hillcrest Elementary, the storm also damaged Dauphin Street Junior High School, the Enterprise YMCA and other daycares and schools. (Source: EpriseNow.com)

I can only imagine the horror that engulfed these poor students and faculty members as the tornado struck, and that of the parents, some of whom searched in vain for their children.

So far there have been 18 deaths reported citywide. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those who lost loved ones and whose homes and businesses sustained damage.

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“Britney Spears left a live-in rehabilitation facility early Wednesday, less than a day after checking in, according to several reports. It was the second time in a week that Spears entered a rehab facility and checked out before her first day was finished.”

You know… recently I had a family member become ill. The doctors and hospital had no problem what-so-ever, taking the reins and every (so it seemed at the time) choice out of our hands and the “ill” persons’ hands. I’m not saying this issue was exactly as Britney’s. However, SomeBody should be able to stand up and save this girl. In the very least, try.

Because she is rich and famous does Not mean she should be left alone.

Were she a ‘normal’ person, she’d be in a hospital room, tied to a bed, so she couldn’t walk away from the addiction that will kill her - for her own good.

Don’t get me wrong. I am Not a Britney fan and I’m not an advocate. But this is a young woman, A baby.
She is clearly in trouble. Not a ‘power person’ who should be the butt of jokes. This is not funny.

What next… we all gossip, joke and morn about the girl who’s life was cut way to short? Spend years rehashing what she could have, should have been?

Pardon my rant.
A month ago, I’d have been talking shit about this little (nasty word).
But, there comes a point when one realizes… this isn’t spoiled rich kid anymore. it’s a person in trouble.

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