16 & 0

Sacrifice

I sometimes wonder if it will be Aleksa's lot in life to sacrifice his own future even as he makes it possible for many other children like him to find homes? He has touched my heart so deeply, and so many other hearts, too. but still, no one claims him as their own. But they are donating money, they are signing on to adopt the children.

Andrea tells me the little boys are not as easily placed. Little boy, I would scoop you into my arms in a heartbeat if only I could. I will never stop wanting you to come home, wherever that may be.

Ciarra's best friend is hearing impaired...

and yet...she is the one who hears Ciarra best out of all of her friends.




maybe you really hear with your heart, not your ears?

a little child...

can you believe?

the family I was working on for Christmas..the folkks who had had terrible bad luck, broken femurs, wrecked cars, etc...the dad was stopped, getting ready to turn into his driveway last night, had the 11 yr old with him. Some jackass decided to pass him on the left, took out the entire front of their last remaining vehicle! dad ended up in an ambulance, little boy all bruised up. WTH? Time for a break for these people, God. Now they are carless, although they had insurance. The accident ripped the front wheel right off the axkle. Totalled. GEEZ!

Finally...an answer

With the greatest respect, Merry Christmas and RIP American soldier

in our own little world....

An article in our local paper says it all:

John Holyoke

Orrington deer hunt rifle raffle successful
By BDN Staff
Thursday, December 13, 2007 - Bangor Daily News


In the weeks before deer hunters headed into the woods this fall, Bob Bastey — owner of Bob’s Kozy Korner in Orrington — came up with an idea to spice up the season.

This wasn’t going to be your typical "big buck" contest, either. This one was just for the kids.

Bastey said he had noticed an alarming trend and wanted to address it.

"I’ve seen such a decline in hunting in this area in the last few years," Bastey said. "I thought it would be good if we promoted participation by young hunters and got them active, back out with their parents."

So Bastey ran out and bought a .308 Savage rifle with a scope, hung it on the wall of his store, and put up some posters.

Any junior hunter who tagged a deer at the Kozy Korner would have a chance at winning the rifle. And even those who didn’t would receive a free contest hat.

On Tuesday, Bastey proudly handed over the rifle to 13-year-old Nick Ireland of Orrington, who tagged a 110-pound deer Nov. 22.

"You should have seen him," Bastey said. "His father said, ‘It looks like someone won that rifle.’ Nick said, ‘Oh, really? I wonder who that was,’" Bastey said.

That’s when the store-owner walked up behind Ireland, tapped him on the shoulder and told him the good news.

"I said, ‘That would be you, young man,’" Bastey said.

In all, 19 young hunters entered the contest. Bastey said he got a lot of positive feedback from Orrington schools, who said the contest hats became a conversation-starter for many when hunters began proudly wearing them to school.

"When they went to school, they had the hat on. It was like, ‘Oh. Did you get a deer? How big was he?’" Bastey said.

Bastey said he thinks getting young hunters involved in the sport can reverse a trend, and a new generation can start educating increasingly reluctant landowners to allow access to prime deer-hunting areas.

"I think if we can get the youth back involved in it and show landowners that they are respectful, they aren’t going to destroy things, that’s a positive thing," Bastey said. "That was the whole process behind it."

The largest deer entered in the contest was a monstrous 245-pounder tagged by Christian LaCouture of Orrington.

Bastey initially bought the rifle himself, but received an unsolicited donation of $200 from members of the Bucksmills Rod & Gun Club in Bucksport to help defray the cost of the gun.

Bastey said the contest was a huge success, and he looked forward to holding a similar promotion next year.

"We’ll do it again next year," Bastey said. "It’s really a lot of fun. It’s great. I saw more kids during hunting season this year than I did in previous years."

The young men in this story arent strangers, dangerous thugs with weapons. They are our friends. David's, who has been a friend for years and years, his son won the rifle. His boy Nick will be raised to understand the power of that weapon, and the heritage of hunting. Sadly, his Uncle Dennis died a few years ago and wasnt here to see this. Dennis' daughter was the little one who designed our Buddy Walk shirts this year, a Kindergartner. The kid who tagged the big buck? His name is Christian, and you can probably see his picture in the photos from Jesse's paintball birthday. Great kid, helluva shot. I wonder what causes the big divide, where some kids have guns and use them for bad, and some have guns and use them to help feed their families? What change occurs in the handing over of that gun to a boy? Where are the fathers and the uncles to teach these young men how to BE men? It is a shame that in many parts of the United States, people would read this story and imagine young men with guns in an entirely different light. THESE young men are being taught the right way. Wether or not you believe in hunting, trust that they are being handed down values and morals that instill in them an awareness of life and a respect for their own power to take it.

My son proudly wears his BKK hat to school, and talks about his deer, and the guns he has, and his dad and he hunting together, and that moose trip up to Mooselookmeguntic Lake, and he even...gasp...DRAWS pictures with guns in them. Sometimes it seems we are in a whole other world, when I hear about kindergartners getting suspended for drawing guns. We are at war, and kids have to deal with that. And they cant talk about, write about, or acknowledge guns? Im awfully glad we live here, where wearing your BKK hat makes you the big kid on campus. I wonder how long it will take for people from away to take that from us?

busy time of year

time is getting away from me a bit. I need to get out and get some shopping done for my crew. Right now I am wrapped up in our local Christmas is for Kids program. Its a great program, I got involved when Kristin was in first grade! (She is in college now) The 1st grade teacher works on little fundraisers throughout the year with her class, then they count their money and they ALL go shopping at walmart. Imagine 20 first graders hopping off a bus in their Santa hats, grabbing carst, and storming the aisles, Christmas lists in hand...for OTHER kids. It is an awesome thing to see. usually, the news comes and some lucky kid gets to be interviewed, its a lot of fun.
This year, we have more families. It is cold here, lots of snow, and oil prices skyrocketing. LOTS of needs.
I mentioned the other day about the little girls that just wanted to be warm? Sometimes you just gotta go on faith. That afternoon, I met with other folks who are helping with this program, and started to hammer out details. We discovered that one of the kids was using bread bags on her feet...in 2007!! (I used breadbags, and man, we were POOR. I hate that this is still happening today with so much waste around us.) Anyway, little one with breadbags and sneakers, something had to be done. One of our folks was just so upset at this, she was in tears telling us about it. I had taken $200 dollars out of our Buddy Walk proceeds (first time we have EVER had a profit!) and intended to buy for several of our kids. I handed that woman 60 bucks, and told her to find boots for the three sisters. Anyone with kids knows 60 bucks might not go far, but it was all we had. Well....funny how things work out.
I left that meeting with $140 dollars remaining, and 3 children to buy for. I had some idea what I was after: PS 2 games, some Diego stuff, and some leapster cartridges. I stopped at a local Olympia Sports store, they were going out of business, they had winter coats, and I wanted to see how cheap they were. NICE coats, but even on clearance they were 69 bucks a piece. Columbia jackets, warm, perfect, soft pinks and pruples. But...210 plus tax I didnt have. I left there feeling kinda down, asked the store manager, who knows me because we shop there a LOT for my son Jesse, if he would keep an eye out for a dropmin price and call me. He said yes. I was walking into walmart wondering how I could squeak out 3 winter coats for the girls, on top of the toys. I bought the toys, then went to look at coats. They were decent enough, but this is MAINE, it gets cold here. The coats werent well made, somewhat light and flimsy. I imagined them standing at the bus stop in the biting wind, and just knew it wouldnt work. I paid for the toys with the $140 dollars. I had exactly 5 dollars and six cents left.

Then I ran into a friend. His name is Ned, and he owns the equipment rental place that we get all our Buddy Walk stuff from. NICE guy. we stood talking Patriots for a bit, sharing pleasantries. he asked me what I was doing out. I told him about the girls. And without a word, he handed me a one hundred dollar bill.
I dont know about you all, (all? I slay me) but I kinda believe in angels, and maybe even in "Santa". I think, at the very least, this time of year makes us better people, kinder people. I swear I saw an angel standing there that night. With a hug and a "Go, Patriots!" he was gone. And my mind was off, thinking COATS! Imagine that, though? he just trusted my word that this was a good cause, and handed me 100 of his very hard earned dollars? That is faith. And that is love.
I hurried back to Olympia Sports and asked exactly HOW well they could do for me if I bought three girls coats. The Manager smiled at me and went off to grab the coats, not cheapy little gonna-fall-apart-fast coats, either. He grabbed Columbia brand coats. Three of them. 2 that would fit the twins, and one for their big sister. I stood waiting while he thought. Remember, this guy had NO idea I had that hundred dollars, nor the money remaining from the toys. He looked up at me and said "For you, $105.60" One hundred dollars? Check. (Thanks Ned) Five dollars and 60 cents? Check...oops...I had five dollars and SIX cents left....I had to run to my car and scavenge 54 cents. But I did. And I came home with three coats. Two hundred ten dollars plus tax worth of coats.

I believe...

PS I was given another family last night. Sometimes it seems unreal, the things you hear when you do this kinda thing. This story fits that bill.

~Dad hurt his back so bad he got laid off.
That was Monday of last week.
~On Tuesday, dad rolled his car in a vicious snowstorm. Totalled.
~On Wed, his 8 yr old son clibed to the top of the icy bleachers and thought he would jump off. Instead, he fell and broke his femur (oww) Surgery followed.

These folks have 5 little boys, including a severely developmentally disabled young man. They didnt ask for help, but someone thought they might need it. I stopped by their house this morning to say "hey, we know how hard this has been, what can we do to help?" I got mom to agree to let us do something for the kids. I heard later that their pastor called them to ask how they were, were told that someone had stopped by, and they were very thankful, and in tears relating the story. Thats an awesome feeling. Imagine the worries they have this time of year? Imagine that it is FIRST GRADERS who will make this happen? First graders, 6-7 yr olds. AWESOME. The lessons they have learned!! Every now and then, someone tells me thank you. Im just the messenger. Thank the KIDS!!

we finally brought home our new puppy

she is, for the moment, nameless. (Or better said, she has MULTIPLE names, poor dog!) She goes from Maggie (Daddy) to Bella (me) to LoLa (Kristin) Bruschi (Jesse and Ciarra) we will have to settle on a name soon. Ciarra adores her, but then we all do. She is an 8 week old Boxer/Lab mix. Much smaller than we expected her to be, she is the runt of the litter. Snuggly and sweet, she has only ha 2 accidents since coming home last Friday. Without further adieu...

BellaMaggieLolaBruschi