Jordan Almonds are traditionally given to guests at Italian weddings to symbolize that life is both sweet (candy coating) and bitter (almonds). My two posts today illustrate the point.

I didn’t intend to write a second post today. I fully intended to read the paper while eating my breakfast, put in a load of laundry, then go to the YMCA. However, I read a very emotionally jarring story that led me to write again.

It appears that a 3-year-old boy was found in a Naperville field on Saturday. He was put into a laundry bag and tossed into the field like a bag of garbage. They are having a hard time identifying him, since he’s not one of the 12 Illinois boys reported missing. They’re conducting a nationwide search.

Dominating the front page of the Metro Section, and listed above this story in the online edition, is a story about Brookfield Zoo calling in a specialist to fit their woodchuck with braces.

Now, I am an animal lover. I took my kitty to the vet yesterday because she had the sniffles. I’m not opposed to the loving care of animals.

But when many people can’t afford standard medical care, it disturbs me that a common varmint found in the woods gets a specialist called in for his teeth.

It disturbs me MORE that a sweet little boy, with a life full of potential, was thrown away like he had no value at all.