Life Without Borders  

September 18, 2007

Waiting on a Tuesday

Here is some menusha running through my mind at 5:35PM as I wait for time to pass before I can head off to a late home visit across the city.

1) The Loonie hit .98 cents to the US Dollar today indicating a few things. 1) The shitty state of the US economy, 2) the housing slump is worse them people feared and 3) that all the money we have sitting in our US account at Scotiabank will soon be equal to the Canadian dollar…so much for the illusion that Canada has a horrible economy and is a socialist state (that’s for the Canada-haters out there.)  They expect parity by the end of the year; I think the first thing they should do is let us pay the US Price on books.

2) The NDP won the riding in Outremont in Montréal; now I am by far the least versed in Québec politics, but I’m pretty sure that Stéphane Dion is spinning the results out of his ass.  He states that the reason the Liberals were shut out of all three by-elections was because it was the public reacting to the government’s increasing commitment to staying in Afghanistan and that they want the Liberals to get “tough.”  The reality is Mr. Dion is that you lack as a leader and even I cannot see you as Prime Minister of this country.  While I love the NDP, they will never form a government in Ottawa, so my hopes rest in the Liberals to stay the course and wave the flag of the centre-ever-so-slightly-left and I don’t see that happening with you Mr. Dion.  Mr. Kennedy? Mr. Rae? Mr. Ignatieff? Get your shit together before October’s Throne Speech.

3) I’m thinking of going on an all out cooking spree this weekend for Mabon!  It is one of my favourite holidays of the year (who am I kidding I love them all, but Mabon has a special place in my heart) and with the weather changing I’m feeling the need to get crafty in the kitchen.

Ugh, it’s only 5:47PM? Sigh.

September 17, 2007

YOINK!

So it was P-A-I-N-F-U-L-L-Y slow at work today (go figure, no babies to save today...) that I focused on some personal stuff, like getting our new address to the voter registration people in Colorado so  we can vote in the upcoming primaries, closing up with Hydro and ADT, and finally tackling my Perkins Loan deferment.

For those of you that don't know, A Perkins Loan is a Federally Subsidized educational loan, and this specific loan was negotiated by NASW and the Federal Government.  So that when us poor, underpaid, and highly in debt social workers go out into the land to fix people's relationships, get them off crack and rescue their babies we can defer and cancel up to $6000/yr in loans.  For every year that you work for a agency that serves low-income clients (i.e. thankless, not paid very well, work) you can have 15% of your loan canceled and in the meantime you don't have to pay the minimum due.

So since I graduated in 2004 from my alma mater I have taken advantage of this and got 15% off in 2004-2005 and 15% in 2005-2006, leaving me currently with $2000 in loans.  I called DU today to figure out what I would need to provide to them as I am still working with low-income families (but paid much better) and this year (2006-2007) the agreement would have canceled 30% of the loan.  However, when I explained my current situation to the bursar she put me on-hold for a few minutes and then came back and told me in no uncertain terms:

"You're no longer eligible for the Perkins Loan Program anymore due to your employment ad residence outside of the United States; it has to be a US agency you work for, so the balance will be due December 1st."

YOINK!

Now before all of you Canada-haters jump on me, hear me out. 

It sucked and I whined for a bit, but in the grand scheme of things she (and the program) are right, if you are not working or living in the United States you shouldn't be able to take advantage of the specials.  It sucks, but it's fair and at least I got $1000 shaved off of this loan, but damn it hurts now.

September 16, 2007

Vote Ontario!

For all of you living in Ontario, there is a huge decision on the ballot on Election Day, October 10, 2007. For the first time in 60-years Ontarians will have to vote on a referendum and this one deals with changing the way we vote from the current system that has been in place since 1792 to Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMP for short), the option chosen by the Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform. There is a video below that explains how and why they chose MMP; it's a bit long but I encourage you to watch it and make your own decision.

Whatever your decision, please remember to vote, and remember that there are those of us (me included) who live in and love Ontario, but don't have the privilege to vote...yet.

September 13, 2007

Two by two

I forgot to post this yesterday, and by no means was it intentional, but our good friends Tom & Emilio over at Canadian Hope and Esperanza Canadiense finally received a confirmation from the Canadian Consulate in NYC that their immigration application has finally been accepted. All they are waiting for now is that golden ticket to officially arrive in the mail, but for all intents and purposes they are where we were back here at this post.

It's fascinating really to see how things are going for people and how they develop on this side of the fence; now I know how L-Girl and Redsock felt when they watched Mason and I do the same thing last year. Now all that's left is for The WBC Boys and The Vancouver Boys to make it across the finish line; you're almost there guys!!!

It's sad but gratifying to see our little group of refugees finally make it into Canada altogether.

September 11, 2007

The American Consciousness

I didn't know what to expect today, as an American, an Ex-Patriate, a citizen of the world; however, it never ceases to amazes me how in the culture of bigger, better, faster, more September 11th is slowly receding from the American Consciousness only six years young. I did my morning check of the news sites and as I made my way over to the American sites (CNN, MSNBC) I expected to see red, white and blue plastered everywhere, or at least pictures of the iconic towers or the Pentagon, but there was nothing. The top stories on the sites were regulated to the Iraq War and 9-11 got a brief mention in the sidebar. Is this really what it has come to? This soon? Over 3000 people lost their lives on that day and all we can muster is a sidebar, and reading some names at a construction site? How very, very sad.

No postings today, just a re-post of one I did last year. May they all rest in peace...

I never knew Kevin, but Mason had met him a few times at family functions. The only things I have ever heard about him have been extremely positive and heroic – he was a good man, husband and father.

I need to thank Charleen & Tim Dowdell, Mason’s sister and brother-in-law, Kevin’s brother and sister-in-law for helping me with Kevin’s memorial here at Life Without Borders. In addition, to their stories they lent me a book that Kevin’s family put together after 9-11 and was published by The American Tribute Center. It details his life and times and has excerpts written by his family & friends. Most of what I will be posting is from this book: “Respect Gets You Respect.”

Kevin was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY the fourth of seven children, he would always point out to his siblings that he was the “middle child.” As a child Kevin was always inquisitive, independent and wanted to explore the world around him. There are many stories of Kevin’s childhood where he struck out on his own to make his mark – from building his own secret fort in the backyard, to his summer adventures at the Longshore Beach Club in Breezy Point, Long Island.

Kevin went to St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School, and eventually St. Albert’s Seminary in upstate New York for the priesthood, but after a year he returned to Nazereth High School in Brooklyn when he realized that was not the path he wanted to take in life. Eventually the family grew up and apart – his parents moved to Colorado with Kevin and some of his other siblings, but soon after getting there Kevin realized he wasn’t at home here. So for his 18th Birthday he got a one-way ticket back home to New York and his older sister Gloria.

Kevin got a job as a sandhog and found an apartment with his brother Brian (who sadly died a year later.) He eventually met and fell in love with his wife, RoseEllen, at St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn. I had the pleasure of meeting RoseEllen at our nieces wedding last month and she really is a beautiful and delightful woman. They got engaged on October 2, 1979, an excerpt from the book:

“I had said, ‘Let’s get engaged for Christmas or Valentine’s Day,” says RoseEllen, “but he said, ‘I don’t want to do that. I want it to be a regular day, like a Tuesday. It shouldn’t be a holiday.’ And sure enough, it was a Tuesday.”

Kevin and RoseEllen had two boys – Patrick & James. Having never met them I only hear of the stories from my nieces and nephew about their cousins – it sounds like they are strong and independent young men, like their father. Patrick currently works for the New York Fire Department (NYFD) and James plans to join after college. Patrick recounts his father’s favorite quote in the book: “Respect gets you respect”

“My father always said, ‘Just do the right thing. Do what you know is right and everything will always work out,” he says. Patrick says he now values that. He also learned a work ethic from his father. “He worked like a madman all the time,“ says Patrick. “So I guess I learned that not everything comes easy, and you have to work hard no matter what you do. He didn’t mind working every day.”

Kevin joined the New York Police Department (NYPD) in 1980, and in 1981 was appointed to the FDNY. His brother-in-law Terry (Gloria’s husband) was a firefighter and Kevin had always looked up to him. He was first assigned to Engine 290 in Brooklyn where he stayed until 1984 and then transferred to Squad 1. In 1988 he joined rescue 2, was promoted to Lieutenant in 1995 covering different firehouses in lower Manhattan. In 1997 he was transferred to Special Operations Command (SOC) and in September 2000 he finally received his dream assignment of being in Rescue 4 – in Queens, near the Midtown Tunnel.

Kevin loved going to work and had numerous stories to share – good and bad. While in Rescue 2, Kevin was with FEMA and was called to assist with the recovery after the Oklahoma City Bombing. Kevin received medals for his heroic efforts in New York City.

On September 11, 2001 it began as an ordinary day – Kevin was working a 24-hour shift, Monday night to Tuesday night. RoseEllen was teaching third grade at PS312 in Brooklyn and was told by a paraprofessional that a plane had hit the World Trade Center (WTC). She couldn’t get away from the classroom until well-after the planes had hit the Pentagon, the second tower and the crash in Pennsylvania. She didn’t honestly think Kevin would be in danger since the towers were in Manhattan and his station was in Queens.

Patrick was away at college, and James was in school, only blocks away from the WTC – his school was on lock down and only a parent could sign him out. Being isolated with the bridges to Manhattan closed RoseEllen tried to see if Kevin could go and called the firehouse. She asked the person who answered the phone if Kevin was there and he said “No.” She then asked him if he was at the WTC and he said “Yes.” She told him that if he heard from Kevin, to have him call her. By now the towers had both collapsed – from the book:

“I wasn’t hearing from Kevin, and he called me all the time,” she says. “He called me every time he was at anything big. He would tell me, ‘Before you see it on the news, I’m okay.”

This time it wasn’t okay.

At 12:30am SOC called to let the family know that Kevin was missing. By the next morning it was evident that Kevin was not coming home. Days and weeks flew by. Eventually recovery turned to mourning and planning a memorial service. Most of the other members of Kevin’s company were found in late October and early November. Kevin and the probie who was with him were never found. A memorial service was finally held for Kevin on April 19, 2002 – a chance to remember and celebrate the life of a man who helped so many and loved to do his job and do it well.

To date Lt. Kevin Christopher Dowdell has never been found, but his spirit lives on in the hearts and minds of his friends, family, wife and children. He was the epitome of heroism on that fateful day. Please take a moment to pay respect to him and honor him, as hopefully I have done in this blog

Blessed Be, Kevin.