I've been a witness to...

I was just talking to a friend at work about how Christmas and the holidays in general make you think about the past and the future. The good, bad and the ugly. So it got me thinking about things I've witnessed throughout my life and well..I think it's been more than the average person, but I could be wrong..anyway..here are some of them:
1) when I was 17 I watched a woman give up her newborn for adoption. I was the one to bring the baby into her hospital room for her to memorize her face. It was her second child that she was giving up..yes..she gave up her first child for adoption to a lovely couple. It was a little boy and now she was giving up her little girl. Her boyfriend wouldn't let her keep them even though she wanted to. She was very lucky that the couple who had her little boy agreed to take her little girl..even though they really didn't want a second child. I watched as the tears ran down her face..and well I didn't know what to say. I asked her if she wanted to hold the baby one last time and she said no because it would only make it worse. I stood there with her..bearing witness to her last moments with her child.

2) when I was about 20 I went to N. Ireland to work in a children's summer camp for Catholic and Protestant children (ages 5-8). It was to assist children that were affected by "The Troubles." It was to help them recognize that while every child is unique and different they still have the same needs and wants. The idea of the camp was to have catholic children play with protestant children to see that there are really no major differences and to grow up not hating. While I was there I witnessed many army tanks with guns pointing at everyone including myself. It was basically to keep order through fear. Everyone feared that one person would cause trouble leading to a massive amount of shooting from these tanks. Every single day for about a month and a half I lived in fear of what could potentially happen. Anyone who understands "The Troubles" knows about Bloody Sunday, but what they might not understand is that every single day has the potential to be bloody.