Empty Nest

Today my son left for his new job and home in New Hamshire. I have started the empty nest part of my life and I am not sure how much I like it. He was always there. We did so much together while he was growing up. My husband was in the Navy so a lot of the "dad" things that needed to be done with my son were done by me. Before the other children came along, my son and I did everything, picnics in the back yard, a band out of my kitchen pots, pans and utensils, trips to the grandparents, arts and crafts, movies, tents in the living room. In cub scouts, his very first camping trip needed a parent to go. My husband was away, so I loaded up the family, a one year old, a 3 year old and a 6 year old and off we went to spend the weekend in a tent.

I am very proud of my son, I always have been. That is not to say we have not had our moments, but for the most part he is a very fine young man. He is a computer science major, with a minor in network forensics and history. He is starting, as he puts it, a dream job. I wish him the best and I hope I can survive.

On the bright side, I only have to go through this 2 more times!

Second thoughts

I have lived 50 years, giving me time to have second, third and many more thoughts. Today I was watching a Law and Order. I watch these pretty often but for some reason this one just set me to thinking about the criminal justice system. Up until recently I never had a reason to really care. It seemed to work. I worked for a police department and a municipal court when I was younger. Things seemed rather simple to me back then. A person broke the law, got arrested, went to trial, went to jail. Everything had an order. I bought the party line hook, line and sinker. Of course it was mostly adults getting arrested, most kids were dealt with on another level.

I got older and the way I saw things changed. As House says "Everyone lies." People, cops, lawyers, judges, no one is completely honest about everything. When my daughter was younger she was caught shoplifting in a local department store. The security guard searched her purse, and found a blunt and called the police. When the case came up for disposition, the report, written by arresting officer, said the police officer searched her purse. I got there before he did, so I am not really sure how he could have searched her purse. I was trying to help my daughter learn from this experience and all she sees is that the police officer lied. We pointed out the error, but of course it was the police officer was believed not the mother. I know this is just a small thing but as time went on I saw more and more of the teens I had come in contact with get pushed through the system. Some deserved it but some did not. I just got more and more disturbed at what I saw. I suppose the system got that way because "Everyone lies".

So do I believe in the criminal justice system now? No. Unfortunately, it is the only thing we have till it is changed.