Who Is Truly Free...

I went to work today. How about you? I work Monday through Friday. I come home turn on the TV then wait for tomorrow to go to work again. But wait. I do own the TV. In fact I own a home to put it in. I also own a couple of cars to take my wife and I to work and back again. I own a big steel box to put food in (need to do something while I'm watching the TV and waiting to go back to work). When nature calls I have my pick of two small rooms for instant relief. No need to find the nearest tree. When I can stand the idiocy of TV no more I have a large cool comfortable bed to lie on and a warm loving wife to lay next to. 'Tis truly the American dream.  Today at this job I saw a woman. Not just any woman but a woman you and I may feel sorry for. She was alone and drove an old Dodge van. Peeling faded paint, rusted bumpers and filled with every possession she owned.  She pulled into the parking lot at my work parked under a tree got out and immediately walked to the trash dumpster. Looking in she gave a smile and climbed right in.  She brought out empty soda cans and plastic bottles. When she saw I was watching her she simply said hello and went back to her work. She came across a couple of boxes of old letter heads from the business next door . She asked if they belong to anyone and I told her being in the trash meant no one wanted them. She told me they were worth a lot of money at the recycle center.  With efficiency  she removed everything she thought had value. Walking quickly to her van she pulled out an old hand cart and rolled it to the dumpster. She was no invalid, she was not weak. She knew what she was doing and she did it very well. After loading her van she brought down a tired looking bike that hung on the back of her van. Squeezing the tires to check the air she actually produced a small bicycle pump from her van and put a little air into each tire. She then jumped into the passenger seat of the van and began reading some type of book.  I don't know what she did next I had to get back to "work".  I thought about her for most of the day. How tragic. How sad. When it was time to leave for the day I looked towards the tree where she had been parked but she was long gone. Driving home to my TV, I wondered if I should really feel sorry for her. She was obviously doing what she wanted to. I was going home to wait for tomorrow. Thinking about her again I have to wonder, who is truly free. Who can go where they want when they want. Not I. I have to many people and companies waiting for money. I have a promise to fulfill. To be at a certain place for a certain amount of time everyday Monday thru Friday. Of course I have gotten used to not having to find a tree every time nature calls.

Even For One More Day

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again: We will all be dead a lot longer than alive so enjoy life while you can. This death thing is forever. Life is very temporary. I know of two deaths exactly one week apart from each other. The first was a young women who had played soccer with my daughter for many, many years. A bright cute girl with endless possibilities for the future. She must not have seen those possibilities and instead saw only darkness ahead of her.  On July 8th she walked onto a freeway overpass, climbed an eight foot fence and jumped onto the freeway below. What could be so terrible for a young girl that this seemed like the only answer? I know that life can be very very hard. But like I said we are here for such a short while.  It must be worth it to try and do what ever we can to fix our problems even if it's just to live a little longer. Such sadness for her family and friends.  Now they must figure out how to keep going.   The second death was a dear aunt of mine.  On July 15th she breathed her last. She had lived a long life true. She had children that loved her dearly. Strong healthy grandchildren too. She also had advanced diabetes. From what I hear at some point she needed amputating. Of course she didn't want this, who would. Many delays followed. By the time she had agreed to the necessary  treatment it was too late. Long life? Yes. But to have even one more day with your family. How much is that worth? I pray that when my time comes, and it will, that I will not go quietly into the night, but rather kicking and screaming and fighting to the end. This is my prayer for all of us. Even one more day can be so precious.

Is This Thing On?

Hello is this thing on? If you can read this I must be doing something right.  God knows I can't read it. Can't find my glasses right now. Yes I am a baby boomer. Yes I am forty-something.  And to any young ones reading this all I can say is that middle-age sucks.  Of course it's not all bad. If it were I'd be smoking car exhaust in my garage right now. I can stay up as late as I want (to bad I fall asleep in my chair by 9pm) I can eat whatever I want (a quarter-pounder hamburger adds at least five pounds to my waist). And I now qualify for "final arrangements" insurance. Did you know the average funeral today can cost over $6,000? So come with me now on this journey to points unknown. The road at times may be bumpy, it may have many curves. But I know too that at times it will be beautiful and always filled with some type of humor.