Thursday, October 20, 2011

A Child Called It

   
  On one of my book hunts at a local used book store I bought a book titled: 'A Child Called It'. Two years later, after throwing it aside numerous times due to the gruesomeness of the subject: child abuse, I finally read the book.  A couple of friends who know the two subjects that interest me most (Children and True Crimes) mentioned that I should read the book, and I decided I was going to just dive in and give it a chance. 
   Six hours later  I've finished the book and can't get my mind off of it. I wonder what ever happened to the mother of David Pelzer, the abused victim who tells of the abuse he endured during his life with this heartless- ugly- evil woman. This woman starved her child for days at a time. She and her husband enjoyed dinner joined by his four other siblings, while he's forced to sit outside the door and listen, clean up dinner and sleep in the garage with an empty stomach. David was considered  “The Boy”, and never a member of the family; ignored by his siblings and though his father felt bad, he chose to tolerate the abuse. I could not put this book down, I felt compelled to find out every dirty detail of this boys journey. Being a victim of child abuse myself, one thing that stuck out to me was how he felt the need to protect his mother. I know the feeling all too well. I never wanted to be taken from my abusive mother in fear of being alone, that someone would hurt her, and most importantly I wanted the love a mother is supposed to bestow on her offspring, a love that should come natural. I thank god I had my siblings who would have never let the stuff that occurred to David, occur to me. That's one of the biggest differences, I had someone on my side, this guy, he had ABSOLUTELY noone. He was helpless, he had to beg, borrow and steal to eat. He was put through several near death experiences and he had not a soul; 4 siblings, but again, it was him against the world. A world he wanted to change.
    I have ordered his next book in the Trilogy, and I cannot WAIT to find out what happened next. I do know that this man served in our U.S. Military for 10 plus years and is now a motivational speaker!! He took his life experiences and soared! This was an incredible book, cleverly written. Kudos to David Pelzer for sharing his story, AND overcoming his past!!  


  If you're interested in learning more about the author, David Pelzer go to David Pelzer's official site.
                         
  Last but CERTAINLY not least. Report these monsters out there who are abusing OUR future. Abuse is a scary thing to endure, especially from someone you love and trust. You always see the best in the person even in the midst of all the abuse. Help them find hope. HERE is more information...or HERE is a non profit agency   which raises awareness and helps educate their local community, I happen to know the founder who is very passionate about the cause!!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Washington, D.C.

Our Nations Capital is one of the most historic looking, patriotic cities I’ve ever visited!! We spent 4 days there and were out and about exploring the entire time, waking up and getting out at 10 am and not getting back to our suite until 11-12ish that night! We were worn out by the end of our trip, but pleasantly worn out if that makes sense! Here’s our Vacation in pictures…ENJOY!!

   First Stop: The White House! We’d heard it was tiny compared to pictures and to television, but we thought it met our expectations and then some!!


The front of the White House..beautifully landscaped!

Our favorite view of the White House: the back..we got to see the garden which was huge!!


The Washington Monument, it was close due to the recent earthquake..still quite a site to see!

The Jefferson Memorial!

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, opened August 22nd 2011. This is one of my favorite men ever, I love all that he stood for!

A VERY crowded Lincoln Memorial!

Good thing the wading pool was closed due to construction, Nate had EVERY intention of replaying the scene from Forest Gump!!

A small fraction of the FDR memorial...this being my favorite! I Hate War too!

Before this trip, we'd never seen protesters, this is one of the many protests we saw. We signed this canvas with peace and love!

Of course we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum!! 

The Air and Space Museum was cleared as we neared the end...due to protests ending with pepper spray. It made the news.

The National Zoo was amazing!


We of course explored more, but I do not want to post the 800 photos we took!! We enjoyed late night walks downtown, drinks at a few trendy bars, explored The Crime and Punishment Museum (it was okay, nothing too impressive); we even squeezed in 2 hours at the Holocaust Museum, which was very saddening. We enjoyed great food at A Taste of DC, which was a pleasant surprise that ended with an awesome concert put on by Big and Rich...best of all it was free!! A few friends along with the Food Channel recommended 'Ben's Chili Bowl' and they were closed due to plumbing issues, but were at the taste of DC. We got the famous chili half smoke...we LOVED it! It's called a half smoke because it's half beef half pork smoked sausage!! We will definitely go back for more exploring in the future! 




PS. Here is our White House Security HARD at work. Hmmm...