Canthook

"After her father’s death, Sotomayor turned to books for solace, and it was her new found love of Nancy Drew that inspired a love of reading and learning, a path that ultimately led her to the law." - White House Press Release, "Background on Judge Sonia Sotomayor"

Door After Door, Closing

When we're young, they tell us we can be anything. It's the biggest lie we're ever told.

Life consists of a series of doors, a series of opportunities. Some of the doors, they're locked from the get-go. Michael Jordan was one of the greatest basketball players ever, but he wanted to play baseball, instead. That door was never open in the first place; his body just wasn't as suited for baseball as it was for basketball.

Other doors, we walk through, and the door slams behind us, and they won't reopen. Dick and Jane marry, and that means Ted and Sally are doors never to be taken.

Juvenile Diabetes

Most diabetics have Type 2 diabetes mellitus, in which the body cannot properly use the insulin it produces. Sonia Sotomayor grew up with Type 1 diabetes mellitus, in which the body doesn't produce the insulin it produces.

They used to call it "Juvenile Diabetes". They also used to call it terminal. When little Sonia was diagnosed, kids with juvenile diabetes averaged 17 years from diagnosis to death. It's hard to be Nancy Drew, girl detective, when you've got to carry around a fragile syringe, and a glass vial of insulin. It's hard to be anything.

It doesn't take much to set you apart from other kids, and that can be a disaster. Put a chicken in a flock that has something different about it, and the other chickens will attack it. Soon that chicken will be dead. People do the same thing. It's more likely to happen as a kid, but it happens to adults as well.

Senate Confirmation

At her confirmation hearings, Judge Sotomayer will be asked to explain statements she's made, statements that sound strangely similar to statements made by such former nominees as Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. Her answers won't matter much; she's a shoo-in.

What I'd rather they ask her is this: It must be a disappointment, wanting to grow up to be Nancy Drew, and having to settle for being Justice of the Supreme Court. How do you live with being such a failure?

Because there are a lot of us who have had to settle, and if she has a good answer for that question, the rest of us would like to know what it is. I wanted to be one of the Hardy Boys, but I didn't even manage to be Chet, their fat pal. (Both "Carolyn Keene" and "Franklin Dixon" were pen names controlled by Edward Stratemeyer, who created both series, as well as the "Bobbsey Twins", "Tom Swift" and "Rover Boys" series, among others.)

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Clarence Thomas - Edward Stratemeyer - having to settle - Juvenile Diabetes - Nancy Drew - Samuel Alito - Sonia Sotomayor