Today I woke up to the news of the death of Senator (Sir) Edward Kennedy from brain cancer.  Though I knew he was ill I was saddened by the news. I don't know a lot about him as far as his individual accomplishments and I'm not at all obsessed over the Kennedy name. But what saddened me was the thought that there was a man who once lived on Earth, full of all the mortal flaws we each possess.  But what he was able to do during his life is come to a realization of what his purpose was. He was not to be another Kennedy president.  But he found his calling in the Senate and worked there for over 40 years. Ted Kennedy engineered hundreds of bills that have shaped our country. I'm inspired by his passion and dedication to the work and his remarkable impact to the face of politics.

Later in the day an old co-worker came by the office with her 2-month old bundle of joy in tow. Her name is Emily Belle. As I held the baby girl in my arms I noticed how peaceful she was. All is well in her world and contentment rules her days. Most of us started our lives this way and somewhere down the course of life we begin to experience adversity and pain. Some call it "life". That's just the deck you were dealt. That's how your cookie crumbled. And yes, many of the situations we are in are the result of choices we made. Some of us know better and some of us don't. We all operate based on what we know. And if you don't know any better, you won't do better. 

There's a level of peace that was all over baby Emily that I believe we should all have. Marriages shouldn't be cracking under the pressure of unpaid bills. People shouldn't be having anxiety attacks and be hospitalized because of lay-offs and not being able to keep the lights on. There shouldn't be stress and tears because your landlord won't fix the sewage that backs up into the kitchen sink. I mention these circumstances because I'm familiar with how they impact the people I know.

I want to do something radical. I want to reduce the severity of poverty in this country. I don't believe that a capitalist society can exist without the rich and poor. But I don't believe that the extreme degrees of wealth and poverty should be as they are. Don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with people making money and becoming wealthy. But there is something wrong with a society that has such extreme wealth, yet the poorest of us live in EXTREME levels of poverty. Certain things just should not be. Basics such as education, health care, and shelter should exist for all. Give us all the opportunity to excel. And that's what I want to do. I want to engineer a way to provide a path for the poor to exit poverty without the assistance of the government.  I define poverty as both mental and financial inability to change one's socio-economic position in a positive way. It will require large financial funding on my part...so I'm praying that I will be a multi-millionaire. Seriously. I don't know how or when it will happen. But anything is possible.