It’s hard to believe we’ve been home for more than a month and I haven’t had anything to say. I’ll chalk it up to a bad case of writer’s block coupled with sheer exhaustion after three long months in Boston.
So I’ll quickly bring you up to speed. I’m feeling pretty good. 🙂 Tired but good. My wound is almost entirely healed and I’ve been doing physical therapy twice a week to help with the pain in my neck and arm. It’s been so great to sleep in our own bed, see family and friends, and reacquaint ourselves with the growing swarm of mosquitos who are breeding in the constant rainfall we’ve had in Austin over the past few weeks.
I wrote this post two nights ago…on our connecting flight from DFW to Austin, after a quick trip to Laguna to deal with a home repair. I had this experience and I needed to share. (a quick side note…our flight took ninety minutes instead of the typical thirty-five, and it was very turbulent flying over the tornado warnings underneath our wings. So I am blaming any melodrama on that moment in time!)
We got a complimentary upgrade to first on American that night (a nice surprise) and as they were closing the doors to the plane, they invited a soldier from the U.S. Army 1st Cavalry to move to a seat across the aisle from us. And I thought to myself, that was a nice gesture.
I couldn’t help but watch him, this young kid in his gear, the stress that he wore on his sleeve, and the way he yawned as were taking off. His eyes told the story, the story you couldn’t stomach if you actually heard it. I was fixated on how he was doing.
Much like my friends and family who were fixated on my cancer treatment and my recovery. I was constantly surrounded by that love and deep concern.
And then I remembered it was Memorial Day weekend. I thought about the NPR broadcast we heard in the car on the way to the airport. It seems all we hear about lately are the challenges we face as a country…as a world. With ISIS taking over countries and extreme militants pledging allegiance to a leadership that commits horrible crimes against humanity.
It took me back to a moment; or to many moments, actually. To the last six months spent fighting for my life. Doing everything in my power to cleanse my body of an evil militant that wanted to take me down.
And for what? I didn’t sign up for that. I never asked for cancer to invade my body.
Yet, these men and women who serve in our military sign up for a fight. They are knowingly signing up for a service that will most likely result in a moment–or a year, or a lifetime–spent fighting to protect the lives of people they will never meet. They know they are putting their lives at risk–and could very well die serving their country. And most of the people they protect they will never meet–except for a quick glance and a humble ‘thank you’ on an airplane. It seems so disconnected.
And back to Memorial Day…what has it become in this country? Another opportunity for Sears to have an appliance sale and every car dealer in town to get rid of the avocado green cars they thought would sell? It’s truly pathetic.
We need to remember that it’s a time to honor those who died serving our country. While protecting our rights as Americans. For free speech and religion and every other right. But we as Americans need to start protecting our own rights and quit relying on our military to do the heavy lifting. It’s time to be conservative and reduce our footprint on this earth. To use what we need. To get solar panels and donate the SUV to a charity and purchase an electric car. To turn off the water while brushing our teeth. To xeriscape our yards. To buy and eat only organic and non-GMO and show the food manufacturing companies that we want the real thing, not processed hot pockets. To downsize, not supersize.
To end our dependence on foreign oil. Scratch that. All oil.
And can we please find a way to do this that won’t result in earthquakes in Texas? A place that has never had freaking earthquakes?! (Yes, natural gas–the fracking industry–I’m talking about you….wolf in sheep’s clothing, with nothing more than a brilliant “clean air” marketing campaign)
It feels like the general population is on auto-pilot and has become so far removed from the big picture that is our existence on this beautiful planet earth.
When will we wake up as a country?
How can we say thank you to our servicemen and women? How can we do a better job of caring for our veterans and for the families who lose someone to the ultimate sacrifice?
How can each of us lessen our impact on the planet? And save a little piece of this precious green earth for our kids, and hopefully their kids too?
It’s a sketchy parallel I’m drawing between Memorial Day and the love of our planet and my personal fight against cancer. But it’s my blog and I can write whatever I want.
Thank you 1st Amendment.
And while I’m here, thank you Dad for serving our country, and to the brave man you were named after, my great uncle Kencil, a pilot who fought and died in WWII. And on that note, thank you mom, who cared for this newborn (me) when my father left home to defend our country. And to all of the others who protect our country whom I will never meet. Thank you for putting your life at risk.
Today, I’m happy to be alive and sad for those who have lost their lives fighting for this country. Let’s give thanks to these people by making an effort–any effort that resonates within us–to protect our planet. We can all do our part.
Happy Memorial Day.
I don’t know how to say it other than life is so fragile. And while I’m at it, life is also cruel and unfair.
sticking around for a while 