Yes, I know, I've been quiet lately. How unlike me. But then, these are strange times.
The economy is free falling down a seemingly bottomless hole.
I have two people in my life--one a good friend, the other a relative--both facing serious battles with cancer. I am powerless to help either of them.
The presidential campaign is getting uglier by the minute. I just want it to be over already. I'm sick of all the heated discussion, pitting friends against friends. It's tiresome, and it certainly does nothing to lift up this country.
Today, I went to visit my mother. It's been nearly two years since my father died, and I still can't get used to going to their house and not seeing him there. His favorite rocking chair is falling apart, and it's time to get rid of it. Just one more link to him, destined to disappear. When my mother called me the other day, I noticed that the name on the Caller ID was hers, not his. The phone company made her change it.
She still has the motorized scooter he used to get around in his final years. It was more fun than a wheelchair and carried less of a stigma, so he loved it. She can't bear to part with that, either, but it's starting to get run down, sitting idle. So, she asked my daughters to take it for a spin on the patio, to rev up the battery and keep it going. I watched as they drove the scooter in wide circles, laughing and smiling, enjoying the game. Every lap they did was a fresh reminder that my father isn't here anymore.
But time marches on. As the two-year anniversary of his death approaches, I wonder how he would have reacted to the times we live in now. He was a deep thinker, my Dad, and I'm sure he would have had some first-rate ideas on how to solve this mess.
Instead, I'm left to my own devices in trying to figure it all out. It's been nearly two years, and I still can't get used to that.
Yes, it is hard to acknowledge that we are left to clean up some messes without the wisdom, advice and counsel of those who we feel could have. But, acknowledging all of the problems facing us, this god-forsaken election at this point and the economy... I'd like to point out a few things:
ReplyDelete*You have a wonderful family of your own - those that see you in such a loving manner and hold you in as high a regard as you hold your father... live for them.
*A change in the leadership is coming in 101 days now no matter what! The corner might not have been turned yet, but it's just up ahead.
*You're alive! That's the greatest thing of all!
*Fall is here and the trees never look so pretty!
*A bad economy can never take away from multi-colored trees and George Bush can never take away from the smell of distant leaves (emphasis on distant) burning.
*The Steelers are 4-1 going into their bye week!
*At the end of the day, at the very least, you can always truthfully and certainly say that you are indeed, a "Friend of The Chief!"
indeed, Chief, I have much to be thankful for, not the least of which is your friendship!
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