What breaks us?
It depends on who you ask… if you ask the migrants crossing the border they might say nothing. If you ask a Holocaust victim they might say hitler tried, but failed. If you ask a black person they will say hatred and justice. If you ask a divorced dad from the Western Suburbs, my own mistakes.
I never hiked across a jungle carrying everything I owned for a chance at a better life. I never watched my Rabbi get shot in the head and dragged across a concentration camp. I’ve never had to worry about the color of my skin keeping me from walking into a diner.
I’m laying on a couch under an afghan my Gramma made for me. I’m watching a squirrel jump from branch to branch on a tree near my balcony. I hear a mourning dove coo and a Lion roar.
No border police, no gestapo, no gang bangers threatening my morning coffee.
Hemingway was wrong… the world has never broken me. The closest I come to a broken world is through the network news and I’ve learned to turn the television during the news.
The painful events that have occurred in the first two thirds of my life pale in comparison with those desperate immigrants, those tortured Holocaust survivors, those beaten Civil Rights activists.
I think I’m going to have a hectic summer that involves big changes and loads of stress. I won’t be tramping across Columbia. I won’t be forced to wear a Star of David patch on my sleeve. I won’t have the klan putting a noose around my neck.
I’ve been fortunate to realize the things that have happened in my life had a purpose. I recently heard someone say that events don’t happen to us, they happen for us.
What a great way of digesting the negative issues in our lives.….
Titus is roaring again and I need more coffee. The Shepkids are unexpectedly in Riverside so I have to open my diner.
The events that I would like to happen today involve a cigar, rugby, a growler of BuckleDown, an Alpine Sub and a peaceful day.
The events that will probably occur is an argument with a Hensdale Jayhawk and two sad faces.
I’ll take that over a jungle, a concentration camp and a noose.
As a reminder to all Chalkheads… please enjoy the smells of spring today. Please enjoy your pain in the ass family. Please enjoy the only 20th of May, 2023 that you’ll ever have!
