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2015 has not been the year I expected it to be, but then, no year ever is.   This year has included an amazing amount of travel compared to what I pictured, and most of the travel was related to family.

That could be a good thing, but this year the travel has been for four funerals and a very sick mother-in-law.  I have come to appreciate how much I love my home.

Followers of this blog will have noticed that it has been 10 days since I last posted.  I started a post one day from the hotel we were staying in, but couldn't gather my thoughts.

It feels like there is an energy in my house that I plug into to find my creativity.  Maybe it is having my dogs around, as they stay at Puppy Love when we travel.  Maybe it is having the time to think.  Maybe it is the comfort of familiar routines.  I'm not sure what it really is, but I have a hard time blogging or working on my novel on the road.

As with everything, this has made me think about the homeless.  I know that some people, who call themselves "Travelers", choose homelessness, and participate in a community of travelers for as long as their spirit calls them to travel.  I don't feel bad for the travelers, because I think they are happily pursuing a lifestyle they choose.

But there are plenty of homeless who are not "travelers" and who are not happy.  I especially think about the children.

If a 55 year old with a nice home and no financial worries loses her creativity when not at home, how can all the homeless children learn? How and Why have we allowed the number of homeless children in America to continue to grow?  When did caring about children having a roof over their head, food in their stomachs and clothes on their back turn into a political issue instead of a human compassion issue?

I'm tired of people being comfortable with children being homeless because somehow it angers them that the children's parents might be taking advantage of the system.  How can it be OK for children to pay for their parent's mistakes and bad behavior?

America is the wealthiest nation on earth, and yet we have one of the highest rates of childhood poverty in the industrialized world.  We don't have a national health care plan, so the children of the poor usually get substandard medical and dental care.

No one knows what they don't know, and often the poor do not have the necessary social skills in addition to not having the necessary educational and job skills to get employment to lift them out of poverty.

I think it is time to stop politicizing poverty, and stop demonizing the poor.  There will always be a percentage of people that take advantage of whatever and whoever they can.  Their children shouldn't be condemned to being homeless and hungry.

If we are ever going to break the cycle of poverty in this country and in the world, it will take all of us believing every child is worth a chance.

Without a home, and a bed, and food, the ability to learn the path out of poverty is greatly compromised.  Some will find it, many will not.

None of the answers are simple, and it will take a collective will to end this abandonment of 22% of the current generation of children (Source - US Census Bureau) to poverty.  Overall, 15.1% of people in the United States live in poverty, and 36% of these are children.

We are the wealthiest nation in the world.  This problem can be solved.  Yes, any solution can be corrupted by the few.  Shouldn't we instead care about the many?