Pubdate: Sun, 21 Feb 2010
Source: Belleville News-Democrat (IL)
Copyright: 2010 Belleville News-Democrat
Contact:  http://www.bnd.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1185
Author: Charles S. Kennedy

GIVE MEANING TO LIFE

Life. It's just a small, four-letter word but it has so many different
definitions.

I say that life is the most precious quality or thing that a person
possesses. If a person doesn't value or respect his own life, he won't
respect the lives of others. We see this every day. Lives are taken
for a senseless "diss," a pair of sneakers, a can of beer, and other
baseless reasons. I also believe drugs and alcohol play an important
part in these crimes.

Bars that stay open until 4 or 5 a.m. need to be closed at midnight.
Drug enforcement needs to be stepped up. Once convicted, drug dealers
need to be placed in confinement and not released in 60 days as was
recently done by the state. Lord help Illinois, which has a governor
who doesn't know about such extremely important things such as
prisoners' early release.

The older I get, the harder I try to hang onto life. It seems that
time is going at warp speed and goes faster as you get older. I drag
my feet and grab onto the moment, but the time just seems to fly by.

My parting shot (a play on words) is: Fill your life with productive
things such as family, work and hobbies. Live a clean, drug- and
alcohol-free life, and respect the lives of others.

Charles S. Kennedy

Troy
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MAP posted-by: dan