Trying Tuesday

You would think that since the weather is in perfect Missouri harmony (sunny 77 degrees today, chance of snow a little north of here this weekend) that I would not have anything to complain about today. However, I spent the day at a Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Conference. The keynote speaker was an economist, who advocated for children. Somehow that struck me as a rare and wonderful thing. His topic was "The Business Case for Preventing Child Abuse." And he really made a lot of sense. During his speech, he highlighted the growing gap between the "haves and have- nots in our country." He feels that the current budget battle represents a momentous crossroads in our history on the level of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Women's Suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement. How this budget battle ends, he feels, will lay the ground work for our country's future. If I can summarize him, it would be to ask, "How much do we value the child in our society?" Kind of got me riled up! Then I got home and heard that a woman in our town practiced a "suicide by train" last night. As the mother of a railroad employee, I feel for all involved, especially the engineer who was an unwilling participant in this situation. I know the woman had to be in a great deal of pain, but the image will most likely stay in the railroad employee's mind for the rest of their life. Tragic in all ways.