yo lets have a shout out to foster care kids. here’s to all the kids who:
- get moved from home to home. - never had a connection with their family(/families). - doubt if their foster family love them. - have to explain why your last name is different than your family’s. - explain to countless people over and over in their lifetime about fostercare. - have to hear “oh, I’m so sorry” once you do explain your situation. (people who think it’s typically a bad thing to be removed from a home) - have abandonment issues. - feel as though they have to choose one family or the other. - get asked “sooo… why did you get removed?” / “did your parents not want you?” - never get a say in what happens to them/their future. You’re loved, you’re important, and you’re damn strong.
In case no one has told you this today:
-I love you
-You are worth it
-You are beautiful/handsome/cute
-You are an amazing person
-You deserve the world
-Your life is worth so much
-You are worth more than starving/binging/purging
-You are worth more than a piece of metal
-You are worth more than the names people call you
-You may hate your life right now but always remember you have at least one good moment a day
Eighty (source)
I work in an ER and we see suicides all the time. And we get at least 3 suicidal ideations a night. We all care about you. I promise, we do. A team of complete strangers who have worked 3+ 12 hour shifts this week who are being screamed at all day and night and probably haven’t had lunch and trust me, we still love you and care about you.
We had a 16 year old patient last night who we couldn’t save. We were in that room with this patient for over an hour, we did everything we could. And let me tell you, we all cried. The EMT’s, the nurses, the doctor. We all huddled together in the doctors dictation room and cried.
I went through the rest of my shift with smudged mascara and tracks on my cheeks.
I remember the names of all the patients that have taken their lives on my shifts.
I remember squeezing the hands, smoothing the hair, kissing the foreheads, and wiping away the blood and the vomit of every patient that has left me too soon.
I can still see every face that I have zipped into a body bag.
Trust me, someone cares about you. You have never met them yet. You don’t ever think about them. They are never remembered when you talk about heroes and role models.
But someone loves you.
You’ve come a lot farther than you often think. You’re doing so great! :))
I’ve learned that if someone threatens my peace of mind, self-respect, or self-worth… I must walk away. I owe it to myself… I owe it to my future.
Steve Maraboli (via tanya-nicole)
Wouldn’t it be neat to see a period of the universe’s history that we’ve never seen before? That’s exactly what the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to do…plus more!
Specifically, Webb will see the first objects that formed as the universe cooled down after the Big Bang. We don’t know exactly when the universe made the first stars and galaxies – or how for that matter. That is what we are building Webb to help answer.
1. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s largest and next premier space observatory. It will extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space telescope and observe the birthplaces of stars, galaxies, planets and life over billions of years.
2. It is named after James Webb, NASA’s second administrator and champion of our science.
3. At 3 stories high and the size of a tennis court, it will be 100 times more powerful than Hubble!
4. It is so big that it has to fold origami-style to fit in the rocket, which is only 5.4 meters wide…And then it will unfurl, segment by segment, once in space.
5. The telescope will observe infrared light with unprecedented sensitivity. It will see the first galaxies born after the Big Bang over 13.5 billion years ago.
6. Webb’s infrared cameras are so sensitive they must be shielded from light from the sun, Earth, and moon. The 5-layer sunshield is like having sunblock of SPF 1 million.
7. Webb will orbit the sun 1 million miles from Earth, where the telescope will operate at temperatures below -390 F (-235 C).
8. Webb’s mirrors are coated with a super thin layer of gold only about 1000 atoms thick to optimize their reflectivity in the infrared.
9. Webb will launch from French Guiana in 2018. It is launched near the equator because the faster spin of Earth there gives the rocket an extra push.
10. Webb is an international mission, with contributions from the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency. Once operational, scientists from all over the world will be able to use Webb to explore our solar system, planets outside our solar system, stars and galaxies.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
“Maybe I want to keep running away.” “Fine. Then run. Keep running. Run until you think you’ve escaped all this. But the moment you stop, the moment you settle, the moment you start to fall in love again, everything you’ve done and everyone you’ve hurt? It will all catch up to you. I can promise you that.
from an unfinished story #439 (via thoughts-into-ink)
I needed this so badly. I always wonder if it will end because I want it to get better. So desperately. But I’m going to hold on.
In case you thought only the CDC’s practices were questionable/criminal…
Earlier this May, the Associated Press reported that National Institutes of Health researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster children in the late 1980s and ‘90s. In many instances, the drugs were given without independent advocates who monitor the safety of these children. Ed Gordon explores the controversy with two AIDS experts: Dr. Jonathan Fishbein of the National Institutes of Health and Baylor College of Medicine’s Dr. Mark Kline.