"Justice, Thy Name Is Sydnee"

It was all about the jump rope, and the 8-year-old was on a rant.  I listened as she and her older sister came into the house, the little one expressing her position loudly and clearly.  "It's her jump rope, and she can do whatever she wants to with it.  If she doesn't want you to play with it she doesn't have to."  It didn't matter that she was dealing with an older, much larger girl.  It was all about what is right.  Sydnee did not like the way the neighbor girl was playing with her sister's birthday gift and was afraid she was going to break it.   The end.  Case closed. 

The word "justice" entered my mind, applicable to this little pit-bull of a girl.  Sydnee is the one I spoke of in an earlier blog, "On Hypocrisy."   She has always been a fire-ball, expressive, one who has command of language, and she uses those attributes well.  It is in her DNA to stand up for others, to verbally fight for that which is fair and just.  She does it at school, at home, at play.  She cannot help herself; she can do and be no other way.  When she takes a stand nothing dissuades her.

When they came in the house, dictionaries came out, and we looked up that word.  I had asked the girls if they knew what it meant.  They had an idea, but clarification was in order.  "Fair treatment" was the definition we found, and both understood the truth of it and how it played into their everyday lives. 

Mom came home from work, and we were talking about the equivalency of Sydnee and justice.  Her comment says it all:  "Yes.  You really do want Syd to have your back."  Sydnee is one whose smile starts in her eyes before it hits her mouth.  Her eyes twinkled, then she smiled.  "Mommy, I did justice today."   No, Sydnee, you personify justice.

Our court system is far removed from justice these days.  The use of plea bargaining negates it all.  The idea of justice may still be there, but it has become debased.  Fair and impartial treatment may be promised yet not delivered.

This much I know:  I would rather have Sydnee for me than against me.  She'll take on anyone regardless of size, age, or gender when she thinks she is right.  And when it comes to discerning what is just and what isn't, she usually is--right, that is.  I have no idea where this little one's life is going to end up, but I do know that wherever she goes, whatever she does, justice will prevail.  Justice, thy name is Sydnee.