Monthly Archives: April 2015

This last weekend came and passed as so many do, quietly, unobtrusively, gliding away almost before I’d realized it had begun. I’m at that stage in life where one day blends beautifully into another, and you have to stare intently at each day to separate the brushstrokes that determine the conclusion of each day. (The Impressionists always were my favorite painters.) Continue reading →

Brave…the word conjures images of Delta Force, Combat Controllers, SEALs, firemen or any other person who spends their life putting it all on the line for someone else. I think of people who have seen (without the politician’s rose-colored glasses) then stood unwavering against the worst humanity has to offer and made it through to the other side, crawling if need be, but still in tact -for the most part – still recognizable, still fragile with humanity.

I look at my brother and my sister-in-law, both lifers in the Air Force. I look at my best friends from college, both lifers in the Navy. I see the spark of fervor in their eyes that hints at that deep-rooted patriotism and determination, a spark that no act of cowardice by an enemy combatant will ever extinguish. I know brave when I see it; I live my life surrounded by it.

But these are “big” braves. What about the humble, small acts of bravery intertwined with the American, everyday life? The child terrified of public speaking who makes her first class presentation, or the mother who gives birth to what will be a seriously ill micro-preemie knowing that her baby simply is not viable but chooses to carry that precious baby, hold her, love her, then let her go? Or the woman who lives with a terminal illness and still goes about her life with a smile? Or the husband who forgives adultery and betrayal? Continue reading →