I concur with your dream, Dr. King.

I have a terrible memory. Short term and long term. I can barely remember what I did yesterday, let alone, what happened years ago. However, once in middle school something came out of my mouth that I never expected...and will never forget. A kid kept grabbing my shoulders or my bookbag or something like that - all in good fun- and I turned around and screamed at him the worst sentence I believe I've ever uttered - to this day. I'm not repeating it, and I'm not proud of it. Ashamed of it actually.

I'm not a racist. I'm pretty much non-judgemental of race, religion, culture....whatever. I truly believe as I grew older I became even more accepting of people that were different to me. I realized along the way that we weren't that different after all. We're all people. End of story.

But it's not the end of the story.....

It is 2011. Many years past the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ending segregation. Of course there isn't any segregation of races at any public place. Our president is black. But there is still racism. There are still people that think there shouldn't be inter-racial dating...or marriage. There is still the KKK. We as a country have taken great strides to make sure everyone is treated equally, but there are still those among us that believe we are not equal, or should stay with our own "kind".

In 2002, just after I had Cain, one of my customers at work saw a picture of Cain on my desk. He was an old man, probably in his 80's. He said he had something for my son and would bring it in the next month. When he came in the next month he handed me a tape of MLK's I Have a Dream speech. He said he was there when MLK made that speech and that it changed his life. He told me that he hoped I would play it for my son. That gift meant so much to me. It was very nice of the man, and I still have the tape and will give it to Cain when he gets older. Every time I hear that speech, I get teary eyed. Its not just about race, its about equality. I too dream that one day my kids will never know the feeling of being judged for what they look like or what religion they are.

Every time I hear about racist remarks that are made it brings me back to that comment I made in middle school. Of course I didn't mean it, I said it just to get under their skin. To piss them off like they were pissing me off. I truly hope sometimes that person doesn't remember what I said, or just wrote me off as being a jerk. I should have never said it and I certainly am sorry that I did. But it also makes me realize that while I could have been so thoughtless with my words, I still grew up to be one of the most accepting people I know. It gives me the hope that other young people will one day see that while we're all different, we are still all the same, and no matter how mad you may be, taking a dig at someones difference from yourself is NEVER acceptable.