Neither of the people I am writing about today have O.I. And I am not about to turn this blog into a political rant. But I believe it would be a mistake for me to leave unmentioned the lives of two individuals, Troy Davis  and Jamey Rodemeyer.

In each of my blog entries I share an instance when a barrier is broken hence the tagline: Breaking Barriers One Post at a Time. I am lucky to be able to share my adventures of breaking barriers with my readers; whether it is by seeking my own independence or disproving assumptions others have of me -- I know that this opportunity is a privilege. Unfortunately not everyone is afforded this privilege and even more so not nearly enough people have a supportive community that stands by them. Regardless of the size of the obstacle or whether it's in the classroom or the Supreme Court, my hope is for every human being to experience personal victory and triumph over what seemed an insurmountable challenge. Sadly for Troy and Jamey that experience won't be one that they will ever know; however, as the loss of their lives weighs on our society and as we consider the implications of their deaths, I hope that our future decisions do not insult their struggles by ignoring the failures that resulted in their deaths. Let's move forward with new standards and expectations for our society that reflect the mistakes we have made; let's not be embarrassed by our failures or leave them as yesterday's headlines, this I know is the surest way that we can work together to ensure that barriers will continue to be broken.