Reality check!

I had an interesting experience this last Wednesday. I am completing an internship at a speech and language clinic, and for part of the therapy for the kids we go on outings every couple of weeks. On Wednesday, we went to Tracy Aviary to see all the birds. I was actually really excited to go, because I had never been there. To be honest, it definitely didn't live up to my expectations. But it was still fun to go with a bunch of 5 and 6 year old kids because they loved it! It was funny because there was a salamander in a sewage grate in the parking lot, and all the boys in the group thought that was way cooler than anything in the Aviary!

Well, after we saw our fair share of birds and a good picnic, we were driving home through the inner city are of SLC. I have only been in this area of the valley just a handful of times, and it's crazy to know that life for some people there is so completely different there than mine is. We were stopped at an intersection, and I looked over to one of the houses at this intersection. The house was pretty run down and in bad shape, with the front yard covered in weeds and surrounded by a chain link fence that was falling apart. Well I have seen many houses in bad condition, but the more disturbing part of this image was that there were 3 little kids standing in the yard with their little hands gripping onto the chain link fence like they were in some sort of prison. They were all probably under the age of 5, were all wearing only diapers or underwear, their skin and hair was so dirty, and they all had a certain sad look in their eyes. Little kids should not have this look in their eyes! Back in the house we could see at least 2 more little kids in the same situation. As a girl was hanging on the bar that ran across the top of the fence, it ripped off the fence and smashed her fingers and she just stood there crying. The mom was on the other side of this big intersection chatting away with some other adults, paying no attention to the kids. They were completely unsupervised, and it really broke my heart! I feel like I have lived a pretty sheltered life, and I have not seen a whole lot of situations like this. But I just wanted to take those kids and clean them up and let them know that life does not have to be so sad and so hard. It honestly was like a scene from a movie, only it was just 30 minutes from my home! Anyway, this was supposed to be more uplifting than depressing! I guess this was just a reality check for me and it just hit me after seeing this that I am so grateful for the life that I have. I know I complain about silly things that really don't matter, and I should have a more grateful view on life. I have a wonderful family that loves me and that will always be there for me, really great friends, I have a nice house to live in, a good job, and I am part of the small percentage of people around the world receiving a college education. I honestly do have a lot to be thankful in my life and I shouldn't take it for granted like I do!