No Excuses!!

The news this week has been beyond disturbing about an 8 yr old girl, here in Phoenix, who was reported to be sexually assualted by 4 teen and pre-teen boys. All involved are refugees from Liberia, a war torn country where women are considered chattel and boys are raised to fight, rape and pillage as part of their military training. This does NOT give them license to rape and assualt this young girl.

I am very tired of the excuses, "that's just the way they were raised", "that's just his personality", "he/she's artistic", "he/she's ??? (whatever ethnicity)". There is no excuse for bad behavior. Yes, perhaps there are circumstances where life experiences are taken into consideration, but those experiences do not give license to treat others badly or break laws. There must be accountability.

Many times use of alcohol or drugs are seen as an acceptable excuse for bad behavior. "He can't hold his liquor" does not mean he can beat his wife or children. "She's very temperamental" is not an excuse for being rude to your neighbor.

I am not talking about those individuals who have mental health issues. My concern is those who feel that their bad behavior is justified by their personality, character traits or life experiences.

We all have off days from time to time - I know I do - but consistently behaving badly, reeking havoc in the lives of those we come in contact with, and being viewed as a malcontent, is not and will never be acceptable in our society. NO EXCUSES!!

Old Friends, New Friends, Red Friends, Blue Friends

The past few weeks have brought bookings, travel and reconnecting with old friends. We now have 13 performances of "Domestic Violence, The Musical?" between Sept 16 through Nov 9, in locations from Wichita Falls, TX to Iwakuni, Japan. We are auditioning a Phoenix cast this week.

Equally exciting was my recent trip to Tyler, TX and Brownsville, TX. While in Tyler, some friends from about 25 years ago traveled to Tyler to renew and catch up. It was wonderful. My friends, Gayle, Diane, my Aunt Beulah, and Sharon traveled from Texarkana, Longview and Denton so that we could spend some time together. Gayle, Diane and Sharon and I were all three mothers to two girls. Carrie, Amy, Paige, Jennifer, Sonya and Shelly played with my Lori and Lisa. They were constant companions and playmates. While we reminised about our little girls, it was bittersweet, as I shared my feelings about Lisa's death.

I participated in two Defense Initiated Victim Outreach seminars, one in Tyler and one in Brownsville, with new friends - Pam, Marilyn, Stephanie, John and Dick. The DIVO program is in motion and in my opinion it won't slow down. It is truly a win-win for homicide survivor families and the court system as a whole. There were interesting discussions and limitless possibilities.

Fix the Hurt is anxious to work with all groups that support and enlist help for victims.

Bravery Project and Fix the Hurt are working together to bring an Evening of Arts to the East Valley, at Broadway Palm Dinner Theater on November 9. You will be hearing much more about this as time draws nigh.

Right now we are in the fundraising mode. It is a difficult time for all non-profits. But there are some generous individuals out there. John is writing grants, I am making phone calls and sending emails.

I will try to be more diligent in my blogging. Home for a while - no travel plans.