Always remember and never forget.

You could say it's because I now have kids of my own and you wouldn't be wrong.  But that doesn't diminish how life-altering it was when I held my baby in my arms and realized, finally, that this is where we all come from.  All of us.  We all begin our lives in this same way, as helpless, innocent babies, depending on our parents and the world to nurture us and keep us safe.  And in most cases we receive that love unconditionally and we flourish.  As a parent, the exceptions which range from tragic to hideous, are unthinkable, but they lurk in the back of my mind and force me to remind myself how lucky my daughters are and how lucky I am to have them.


The point of this is that in my every deliberation I try my damnedest to remember that every person I meet, from the girl at the checkout to the panhandler on the corner, started out the same way, as a red-faced, squealing babe whose Mama loved them and only wished them happiness and every opportunity she never had growing up.  Here in Victoria, we have many people living on our streets and they have travelled via many different paths.  There are so many stories.  I try to picture their baby photos and it makes me see them, really look at them and see them.  Can I change a life by saying "hello"? Likely not, but at least I acknowledge them and it's more than I see a lot of people doing these days.  I would hope that if my Babes were in their shoes that someone would show them a little kindness.  Always remember and never forget that we are all that baby.  We are.