Your destination

Your destination...

The one you have been trying to reach for months.

It's just in your grasp

But as it gets steeper to the top

You just want to call it quits, right?

Well even though life throws curves in the road 

And bumps in the journey

It doesn't mean that you should give up

You obviously deserve the destination,

If you have fought for it

If you have risked everything for it...

Your family.

Your friends.

Your life.

For that one thing you want the most

Then you deserve to reach the top of that mountain, don't you?

The destination is only the beginning. 

Of an entirely new journey,

Like a new bottom of the mountain,

That is just going to end up being harder than the last

But that journey will end too. 

For your next entirely new journey, to...

Your new destination  

Gone

"It's not much of a story. My mother died when I was very young, so I barely remember her. My father, the Earl of Almesbury, died just last year, but I never really knew him. He was---well, not exactly a devoted father. I was brought up by my companion Mrs. Morley. I'm glad to say she's with me still. At one time the earldom included a large estate, but my father squandered it all away, leaving me an orphan without means. Fortunately for me, Uncle Robert, his younger brother, has agreed to take me in. So---as you said about yourself---here I am."(14)

It was not much of a story, I have to say. Not much happened after this day. Jane arrived at her uncle’s house, a few weeks later her "boyfriend" went to war, her aunt shot her uncle and her fiancé died along with Mrs. Morley. No one had much to say, and Jane herself...changed. I couldn't say it was for the better, but I couldn't say it was for the worst. She became her own person, she wasn't under the control of her uncle, aunt, or her caretaker. She was under the control for who she was and that was good enough for her. "You have to make mistakes, before you can learn from them." (32) she'd say. This was true, mistakes had to be made before you were able to learn from them. No one would ever understand what it meant to her or what it means to other people. But Jane herself knew that she was able to live her own life without being walked through it by anyone.

Jane is the  main character out of many, but she is not the only one in control of her own life. Her aunt, uncle, "fiancé", and her caretaker; want to run her life for her, because she is the daughter to the Earl. From the way Jane talks in the story, it's mostly about how much she loves it in the new world. She arrived full of hope and excitement about her new life in the troubled colonies. But then towards the end of the story her opinion seems to flip, she decides that she does not like it in the new world anymore. It is because she showed up and was thrown right into the middle of a heated war. Not only was it between her former country and her new home, it was a heated battle between members of her own family. She knows that it's not the same here. Her parents are gone. Her family is in disarray. Her friends, well she doesn't quite know who they are. Everything is different and she just wants everything to go back to "normal", well her kind of normal. Living with her dad and her caretaker, in England, not in this "new world" that everyone thought was going to be so great; that she thought was going to be so great.

Now that she is here in this "new world" everything is different and she's not quite sure which way to turn. Anyone who has or did read this book would see that Jane is very straight forward, she states her opinion and moves on from the conversation. But she never seems to be able to make a decision because when she has to everything in her life tends to go wrong. That's when Mrs. Morley steps in and helps her throughout the book, she’s Jane's voice of reason. But only having this story written in Jane's point of view doesn't help readers understand why Mrs. Morley is so protective over her.

If this book was from Mrs. Morley's point of view, the story would have been different, she never wanted to come to America; Mrs. Morley that is. As they could see North Carolina in the horizon from the boat; Jane asked Mrs. Morley what it would be like. Mrs. Morley responded quite bitterly. "A backwoods outpost. I dare say. Like all the American colonies."(4) She had no choice but to come to America, she promised Jane’s father. “If you didn’t want to come, why did you?”(4) Jane snapped. "I've been your companion since your dear mother died so long ago, and because I promised your poor father. What a wasted life he led! The Earl of Almesbury at thirty-three, and his fortune and estate lost to drink before he was forty! It was his dying wish I remain with you."(4)

So as you can see Mrs. Morley wasn't too thrilled about this new adventure, but if this story was from her point of view it would have all started back when she first meet Jane if not before and the story seems to me like nothing good has happened since they have met, but that is something no one will ever know. If this book was written from the point of view of Mrs. Morley (Jane's caretaker) the story would have turned out quite different.  

*     *     *     *     *

Jane Three Years Old

On that sunny Sunday afternoon at around three, Mrs. Morley was in her living room, talking to her niece; who was visiting for the weekend. All was peaceful until she heard a knock on the door.

A few weeks earlier she had went down to the post office on the far side of town to pick up her mail. While she was there she saw on the “job board” a sign that read Earl of Almesbury, hiring caretaker for three year old daughter, Jane. Immediately she was interested, she had been a caretaker for young kids now since her early thirties. Not knowing this could end up being her job for the rest of her life, she wrote her address and name on the board and carried on her way.

As she rose from her chair and headed towards the door, she thought it was one of her neighbors or maybe someone who had a question for her. Never thinking it could be about the Earl job. But as she opened the door to realize that standing right there in front of her was a tall man. He was requesting to see a Mrs. Morley. As she stood there in shock she didn’t know what to say. So all she said was…everything.

“I am Mrs. Morley. The widowed that is. My husband died just last year and now here I am. This is my niece Alexandra. Do you have any family? Who are you? Why are you here, asking for me?...” as she was talking rapidly, the man didn’t have a chance to speak. She was so nervous someone was there asking for her she forgot to stop to let him answer.

“Ma’am” the tall man said.

As Mrs. Morley stopped talking a mile a minute, it gave the man a chance to speak.

“Ma’am the Third Earl of Almesbury has sent me for you. We will sell your house, and you will move in with him and his daughter Jane. You signed the board down at the post office the other day and he thought you were the perfect mother figure for his young daughter. Her mother died just last week and he simply does not have enough time to watch a little girl grow up…” as he rambled on about Jane, Mrs. Morley was just waiting for him to stop.

She was so excited that when he finally said “…when you are ready, come along with me.” She closed the door and ran up the stairs with her niece Alexandra right on her heels.

Meeting the Third Earl and His Daughter

As Mrs. Morley ran out the door, she was nervous, not just nervous because she was going to meet the Earl, but nervous because this was going to be the rest of her life.

Jane will be great! She thought to herself.

I just hope she’s not to depressed. Well of course she will depressed. Silly me. I remember when my mother passed away even though it was just a few months ago it was still pretty rough. But we will have a great time! At least I hope…

As Mrs. Morley sat next to the man on the way to the Earl’s home on the other side of town she was thinking of all the things that could go wrong, and once she got there she was so nervous she was shaking. Jane was everything she’d expected, except she was a lot more energetic and very opinionated for a three year old.

The years went by and as Jane grew up, her and Mrs. Morley became quite close. Obviously without a  mother Mrs. Morley was the best she had. They were incredibly close. But Mrs. Morley also became quite good friends with the Earl. So the day he got sick, was a day she will never forget…

The Earl Dies, Going to America

He had one dying wish, that she wasn’t quite found of.

“Mrs. Morley, come in here please.” The Earl said from his dying state.

“Yes?” Mrs. Morley replied.

“I have one wish, if I was to die right now, which we can pray won’t happen. Take Jane to America. Meet my younger brother in Charlestown and keep her there. But don’t ever leave her side. She needs you.” He was being dead serious.

“Yes, sir.” Mrs. Morley said, exiting the room.

He can’t be serious! America! Everyone thinks it’s going to be such a great place. Even Jane herself. But our lives are here. He asked me to pick up everything once, he can’t expect me to do it again. My mother and I discussed America those many years ago. We both decided it was treason to step foot on that land. Why there? Couldn’t he have asked for us never to leave this house? I would have been more okay with that, not America!

“Jane come here please.” Mrs. Morley said from the bottom of the staircase.

As Jane rushed down the three flights of stairs. Mrs. Morley thought about how she was going to tell her that if her father dies that they were going to America.

I could tell her that it’s for the better, but is it? I could tell her it’s her father’s dying wish, but is that too harsh? I could tell her that’s where I want to go if her father happens to pass away, but that would be a lie, wouldn’t it?

As Jane hit the floor right in front of Mrs. Morley it startled her out of her deep thoughts.

“Yes, can I help you?” Jane said.

“Yes I have something very important to tell you, come with me into the living room please.” She said.

“What’s wrong?” Jane asked.

“Nothing.” Mrs. Morley responded.

But Jane could tell there was something wrong, and Mrs. Morley knew she had to tell her the truth.

“Jane, your dad’s dying wish is we go to America and keep you with your uncle, because if he happens to die, you will be an orphan and your uncle is your legal guardian.” Mrs. Morley told her the news and left the room giving her a moment alone.

One last scream from the bedroom upstairs made both Jane and Mrs. Morley jump. As they ran up the stairs they found Jane’s dad was now official gone, and they were really leaving.

“We’re leaving, aren’t we!” Jane screamed through her tears.

“Yes, yes we are.” Mrs. Morley gave Jane a moment alone with her dad and exited the room.

We are really leaving. What if I’m not ready yet? What if I don’t want to leave? I have to don’t I, I promised Jane’s father…

As Jane walked out of the bedroom and asked Mrs. Morley a question, she was so deep in thought she didn’t catch anything besides a couple words through Jane’s tears.

“…I’m excited… even though… gone” that was all she caught.

Jane was excited? She thought.

When she finally looked up Jane was gone. But they were leaving. She made a promise. Even though she wasn’t too thrilled of the promise she made, she had to keep it.

*     *     *     *     *

It's all in what you make of it.

It's all in what you make it.

In where it takes you.

It's all in what you want to make of it.

In which you make it.

Sometimes you can tell when things are bad,

But most of the time you can not.

Even though you thought you knew what was happening

Most of the time you are left in the dark.

From where you are right now,

To where you want to be.

Are very far,

long off places

that may or may not

be reached. 

Revolutionary War Essay

“It was a new world.” They said. “It’s a new start.” They claimed. “It’s a chance to do things on our own.” They said. It wasn’t. It was dark and cold and there was nothing. No homes, no schools, no businesses, no towns… nothing. It was a time where people turned against each other, and a time where people stood together. It was a time where sometimes you couldn’t tell left from right, and up from down. It was a time where you were either for “your” king or against him, and it was time to choose a side.  Patriots and Rebels were together, in one town, but stood at two completely opposite ends. Patriots were for the “king” and thought if you stood against him it was treason. Rebels were against the king and thought that his rules of taxation without representation where unfair, and that they came to America to start their new life, and that the king was taking that away from them. Jane was of royal descent, coming to America on a boat with her caretaker at her side. She was a loyal Patriot but sometimes standing for what you know and standing for what is right is a hard decision for a fourteen year old to make. Benjamin was a rebel, a widowed father of seven, and standing up for what he believes is right. This “new world” the people were speaking of, they were standing in it, but it wasn’t what they had all dreamed it would be. So why do two totally different people have so much in common? Is it because they are both standing for what is right? Is it because they both know that sometimes the right thing to do can hurt many people? Or is it because they both have lost a lot of things that someone should never have to lose. Her parents, his wife. Her finance, his sons. Her caretaker, his “help.”

Sometimes though standing alone is your best chance of surviving. Even though it may not be the thing you want to do, it’s the thing you have to do. Jane lost a lot before coming to America, for a new life with her aunt and uncle. Her dad had just died a couple of months before, and her mother died when she was a little kid. A new orphaned child, her caretaker Mrs. Morley was all she had left. She was going to the new world to live with her aunt and uncle; her dads brother. She was excited about the whole thing, not knowing about all the problems it could in tale.  Losing her parents was one of the hardest things she had to go through. On the other had Benjamin lost his wife a few months earlier as well. He was having a hard time raising his seven kids on his own. With no mother his youngest daughter wasn’t talking. His sons were trying to stay strong for their sisters. But with no mother in your life it is kind of hard to do so. Even though they both lost pretty significant people in their lives, you would think it could only get better from there. But for Jane and Benjamin that wasn’t the case, from here it was only going to get worse.

No one was expecting what was coming next, for both of them it wasn’t something they would want to face… ever. Have you ever thought what it would be like to lose your kids? What about your finance? They were supposed to grow up and live a happy life, you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with them. Now where do you turn? What do you do next? I wouldn’t know which way to turn. Well Jane lost her finance from internal bleeding that couldn’t be stopped. She was crying and didn’t know whether to run away or yell, or scream. She handled it a lot better than most people could. Benjamin on the other hand  lost two of his sons.  They wanted to go to war and fight and help take a stand for what they thought, was right. But Benjamin wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Gabriel the oldest son, signed up for the army without his father’s permission. While in the army his dad was at home with his six younger siblings. He got stabbed. His brother was shot, and his dad didn’t know what to do once they both died. Would you? Most people wouldn’t know what to do. Do you run, do you yell, do you scream. Neither of them knew what to do, it was too much of a shock to be able to do anything about it. They both handled it a lot better than I think anyone ever thought they were going to. But loosing something that big in your life wasn’t something they ever wanted to happen.

As things started to look a little bit better. Benjamin’s caretakers and the people who help around the house were taken away from him. Jane’s caretaker Mrs. Morley went to live with her aunt’s elderly mother. Benjamin went to war, for revenge. So his kids went to live with their aunt. They were scared, and didn’t want to go. But they had no choice. He was scared too. But he knew they were in good hands now. Jane on the other hand didn’t know what to think about Mrs. Morley leaving. She hadn’t left Jane’s side since her mother passed away. Jane knew that it was time to do things on her own, and also knew that her aunt’s mother could really use someone to talk to. But Jane wasn’t ready to let go yet. Loosing so much, without getting anything in return, she didn’t like. But knowing that they would both be better off apart than together she was able to let go. Jane and Benjamin both knew exactly what to do, but they were both not ready to admit it was over, as much as they knew they had to.

“It was a new world.” They claimed. But it really wasn’t. Jane and Benjamin knew that. But other people in that town did not. They had lost so much, to know that what was happening, was not fair. They took stands for what they knew was right, whether if it was for revenge, or because they wanted to make their own decision. Sometimes letting go of everything and taking a stand for what is right, can help you. But sometimes it will stab you in the back, literally. 

Why?

As you think of him, he is gone, not just gone as in for now, but as in forever. He will not return, he will not be here ever again. You blame yourself for everything that happened. You accuse others of doing wrong because your life is not what it could be. You are mean and hurtful and wrong in all ways because you want what other people have. In a way you are jealous but not completely, you are just trying to claim what you deserve. As you think about it all everything goes from sad to sadder...

He is gone forever, she won't ever go away. I want him back and I want her gone. He was everything to me... my best friend, my mentor, he was everything I ever wanted to be. But now I'm stuck with her until she finally chooses to leave. I pray for the day when she finally leaves and never returns. I feel like I have nothing, no one loves or cares for me the way they should. No one understands what is going on in my head. But if I tell them it is sure to turn into something more, and there is no way I could ever want that. I feel terrible that I am mean and harsh and rude to everyone but I feel like that's the way I have been treated so why does it only have to be me? Why can't others endure the same thing as me. Feeling alone is like being in space, no one to turn to, no one who cares. 

Everyone is afraid of you. You got what you wanted, right? Everyone knows who you are. That what you wanted, right? Everyone doesn't know about your life. That's what you needed, right? Everything that has happened in your life you have wanted. But the one thing you wanted so desperately to disappear lingers around you everyday, and it seems like "it" will never go away. It's part of you now like it always has been, but it's not what you want to be. People strive to be just like someone when they get older, and you strive to be anything but. You feel like no one will get 

it, and it's true. If they understood they would be able to tell your not okay, but they can't.

As you think about your life you wonder why?

Why does everything have to happen to me.

Well it doesn't all happen to you, as alone as you feel you will never be, but it feels like it. By telling people what is going on you fear they are going to say you just want sympathy, but you know deep down you just want them to understand, to be there when things get rough. You just want someone to be there, to care about you, because no one else does. 

But why? Why won't they get it, why don't they get it! I try to tell them and they just look at me like it's nothing and shrug it off...

Is that how you take harsh situations?

Is that how you help your friends?

Are you really my friends?

Why is it so hard for you to understand?

It doesn't happen to you, so why does it happen to me?

Why does it feel like none of you are ever there?

Why does it feel like your always gone? In the times I need you most...

You're not there. You're distant. You're gone. I have told you. But now you don't care.

Why? Why can't you just care? Why? 

Nick/Jane

Author's Note: This is my compare and contrast piece, on two different characters from two different books. Nick is the main character from Elephant Run by Roland Smith, and Jane is the main character from Just Jane by William Lavender. 

Nick

- Modern times 

- "Normal life"

- Lives in the jungle 

- Divorced parents 

Same

- Taken away from parents 

- Both kids during a war 

- Have to choose between different things that can affect their lives (agreeing with the king, or disagreeing/

Jane

- Revolutionary War times 

- Royalty 

- Lives in a "normal" town 

- Parents are both dead

Women

Author's Note: Again I don't write these very often because I feel they are not necessary, and that your piece should be able to tell its own story. But, anyway I wrote this essay in Social Studies back in January, and decided that I liked it and would post it on my blog, so I hope you enjoy!

The Revolutionary War was a time of great change in the world, people, and how things were done. One of the biggest impacts on the revolutionary war was women. They were the voices that everyone didn’t want to here but they knew what to say and when to say it. A lot of people didn’t think women where very good at anything, and didn’t know what they were talking about. Women were treated more like “things” than actually human beings. But why was that? They don’t deserve that. So why were women treated so differently than women now, they weren’t much different.

Women in the Revolutionary War were treated with respect but they didn’t have a voice in anything. This is because women were considered too simple to understand complex military strategy during the American Revolution, me spoke freely around them. Thus, the made great spies, providing food and peddling wares to enemy camps while listening for important information (Pavao and Pavao). Women knew what they were doing during the revolutionary war, and no one understood that they were smarter than they gave them credit for.

For recreational purposes in the Revolutionary War women didn’t get to do a lot of things for fun. They found fun in cleaning and doing housework because that was all they knew. Women in this time period work, and have great times with their lives, but some just stay at home with their kids. This is kind of like the people of this time period the men worked and the women didn’t. Women were too busy cleaning and being housewives to truly do anything for fun (Women in the Revolutionary War ). Women in these times do have the time to have a good time and do not spend the bulk of their time at home. But this was just the way that women and their families did things.

Even though they didn’t get out of the house much. Most women during the Revolutionary War period got married at a young age. People in this time period get married before they turn 35 (Trunk). While in the Revolutionary War it was anywhere between 10-18 (Lavender).  A lot of people would find this strange, because most of them wouldn’t even consider getting married that young. A lot of the reasons would be being that they still have to go to school, they’re not ready, and a lot of them have a life beyond a housewife they are looking forward to. Not saying being a housewife is a bad thing to be but a lot of women have dreams after high school and college they would like to achieve before marriage.

Even though women weren’t treated with a lot of respect, didn’t have the time to do many things for fun, and got married at a young age. They did have a lot of roles in the Revolutionary War. Women marry, raise a family, manage their households efficiently, and, above all else, obey their husbands (Zeinert). Sounds like an interesting life to live. Most people in this time don’t do anything to strict guidelines, they live their lives more free with less rules. But back in this time women were treated strictly because no one thought they were able to handle a lot of harsh situations. Most women in this period lived either just as long as people now or died early from disease.

They lives they lived were very different but also a little similar to the way American women live now. Even though it is hard to understand why we are so different it is easy to see the similarities also. It is hard to realize how much we do have because we just have it. Whereas when you think about the women of the revolutionary war they didn’t have what we had. So it makes you stop and think about how much you actually have, and how little they had, and makes you actually want to be thankful for everything you have in life that they helped you get.