Things you should know...

I asked two of my BLING girls to write a list for our blog entitled: "Things You Should Know About Our Neighborhood". There were no positive things.

Their list:
1. There are gangs
2. People shoot each other
3. Prostitutes on the corner
4. Selling Drugs

Yes, these are realities of our neighborhood. But, when we began talking more, they also realized that in addition to these "notable negatives", there were also positives that people should know about our neighborhood.

1. Families who help each other when things are bad (deaths) and things are good (quinceneras, graduations)
2. Barbeques in the summer
3. Friends
4. Derrick Rose (who isn't from this neighborhood, but most girls in this neighborhood cheer for him :)
5. Hot Chips and Ice Cream Trucks

We talked about specific times when hard times were met with by love of the people that lived around them or kids they went to school with or from the center. This was the final consensus: There is a lot of bad and a lot of hate, but there is also a lot of good and a lot of love in response to the bad and hate. For middle-schoolers, I thought their observations were quite astute. I hope it blesses you all as much as it blessed me.