1
" REMEMBER YOUR GREATNESS
Before you were born,
And were still too tiny for
The human eye to see,
You won the race for life
From among 250 million competitors.
And yet,
How fast you have forgotten
Your strength,
When your very existence
Is proof of your greatness.
You were born a winner,
A warrior,
One who defied the odds
By surviving the most gruesome
Battle of them all.
And now that you are a giant,
Why do you even doubt victory
Against smaller numbers,
And wider margins?
The only walls that exist,
Are those you have placed in your mind.
And whatever obstacles you conceive,
Exist only because you have forgotten
What you have already
Achieved.
Poetry by Suzy Kassem "
― , Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
7
" Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out oftheir way to march ahead of Harry down the corridors, shouting, " Make way forthe Heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through ......Percy was deeply disapproving of this behavior." It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly." Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. " Harry's in a hurry." " Yeah, he's off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fangedservant," said George, chortling.Ginny didn't find it amusing either." Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Harry loudly who he wasplanning to attack next, or when George pretended to ward Harry off with a largeclove of garlic when they met. "
8
" Even viewed conservatively, trees are worth far more than they cost to
plant and maintain. The U.S. Forest Service's Center for Urban Forest
Research found a ten-degree difference between the cool of a shaded
park in Tucson and the open Sonoran desert. A tree planted in the
right place, the center estimates, reduces the demand for air
conditioning and can save 100 kilowatt hours in annual electrical use,
about 2 to 8 percent of total use. Strategically planted trees can
also shelter homes from wind, and in cold weather they can reduce
heating fuel costs by 10 to 12 percent. A million strategically
planted trees, the center figures, can save $10 million in energy
costs. And trees increase property values, as much as 1 percent for
each mature tree. These savings are offset somewhat by the cost of
planting and maintaining trees, but on balance, if we had to pay for
the services that trees provide, we couldn't afford them. Because
trees offer their services in silence, and for free, we take them for
granted. "
― Jim Robbins , The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet
9
" Valerie, I love you so much. I wanted you to have a normal
childhood—so I lived a double life. Hiding in plain
sight. Living modestly.” He began to pace the room, the
words tumbling out of him. “I tried to keep it up, but I’ve
been so disrespected. Even by my own wife. I couldn’t do it
anymore. I’ve settled for far less than I deserved, and I just
couldn’t do it anymore. I decided it was time to leave for
the city....For richer hunting grounds.” Cesaire was snarling
now, a scary, powerful force. Valerie felt herself being
drawn to it....
She took a deep, steadying breath. It was not just fear
that she felt. What she felt was so much more complex
than that, something she couldn’t understand. “Then why
didn’t you just go?”
“Because I loved you girls, and I wanted you to come
with me. To share the wealth.”
“But you had to wait until the blood moon. "
― Sarah Blakley-Cartwright ,
