Life Goes On

 5/26/22:

Well, I have just been gutted this week! The shooting in Uvalde, Texas just knocked me for a loop and I’ve literally been immobile most of the week. I‘m 75. I don’t know why I care if American women who have children/daughters don’t care to keep abortion legal. I won’t need one, why do I care? I don’t have children, so why do I care if they make guns readily available to every person who wants to wreak havoc on anyone, especially the most vulnerable? If no one else here cares, why should I – but I DO! My heart breaks for those innocent children and their families. How do you ever recover from something like that? I am angry that there are people here who will do NOTHING and will PREVENT anything from being done! Guns are truly more important to them than people, and they are incapable of putting themselves in the shoes of someone else. It just goes from bad to worse, and the minority is holding everyone else hostage. I am sad for this country and so very disappointed. I never thought we would be in this palce and that so little would be done to salvage us. I really don’t want to be here anymore. It’s too painful. I wish that 5 years ago when Melodee and I went to Panama to check it out as a place to relocate that I had continued to pursue it. Making a move at 70 is easier than doing so at 75, and starting over at square one! Writing this has finally produced the good cry that I‘ve needed but it doesn’t solve any of the underlying issues. Every day is just more of the same, but I know my problems in no way compare to those of the families of Uvalde and all the other places where gun carnage has happened. God help us!

I must appear as dismal as I sound, but two very nice things did happen this week. My neighbors across the street were away for a week and I picked up their mail – how difficult can that be? In any case, they gave me a delicious infused mango balsamic vinegar and basil-infused oil. That was far in excess of the favor so I told them they have credits! Then, out of the blue, the guy who does my yard put mulch in my shrubbery beds. He was doing the same for the house next door and must have had left-over. I walked out to take Rosie for a walk and they were filled! So it hasn’t all been dismal and I do appreciate the kindness of others.

5/29/22:

I am unable to get Uvlade out of my mind and I mourn for the families and community. I don’t know how you recover from something like that. One mother was describing how happy her daughter was at end-of-year school festivities and rather than bringing her home (as she always did!), she left her at school with her friends. She wept and said, “and I can’t fix that!” She will live with that forever. And there are the four children whose mother was killed at the school and then whose father had a fatal heart attack – four children without a mother or father! It is just sad beyond belief and ½ of us are unwilling to do anything to correct it.

Yesterday I received an email from Donne, whom I hadn’t heard from in ages, but she included a letter she had written to her legislators regarding gun control and was encouraging many of her friends to do the same. I had already emailed Graham and Scott the day it happened, but I sat down and wrote my own letters/faxes – one for state legislators (Newton, Davis, & Gov. McMaster) and another for Federal legislators (Graham & Scott again, Mace) and those working with Sen. Murphy to develop gun legislation (Cornyn, Collins, Toomey, Tillis, as well as Manchin & Sinema). It’s amazing how difficult republicans make it to contact them. Cornyn and Collins do not provide a fax number and emailing is tricky if you’re not a constituent. It’s almost like they don’t want to know! To top it off, the first thing to pop up on Cronyn’s website was Robb Elementary School!! That takes nerve! Anyway, I feel better for doing something!

6/20/22:

As you can see, much time has passed and I’ve not been motivated to write. Life goes on and I’m fortunate to have friends with whom to socialize and commiserate. Our Friday group continues to get together after about a month of intervening circumstances. Tippy and I have gotten together for breakfast and an attempted walk on the beach that was shortened by the rain. Our alternate plan was a glass of wine on her porch! Chris and I attended a Roots and Blooms fair in downtown Bluffton to support an up-and-coming vegan chef from Savannah. It was a pleasant day weatherwise, and we scored some great seats under a tree to have our lunch. I’ve also been able to Zoom with Ann and Eileen, as well as fun catch-up calls with Cheryl and Jan. It’s always great to catch up with friends one way or the other.

Moms Demand Action on Gun Sense sponsored an event that I attended. It was at the same

location as the Pro-choice protest when Eileen was here. About 100 people participated and we got a better response than I expected. I have to admit that until recently I never felt threatened about doing things like this, but with the number of guns out there and the daily shootings, I definitely gave it a second thought – and the first thing I did after getting there was look around to see that there was someplace to dive if needed! My guess is that we would be surprised/shocked by the number of cars that passed by that had guns inside and all it takes is one kook! Luckily, it went off without a hitch.

As you would expect, I’ve also been glued to the January 6 Insurrection Hearings. They have been thorough and methodically presented. I’m not sure how anyone could cling to the thought that trump did not inspire and inflame the attack (though there are those who still support him!). If there is any justice in this country, he will have to answer for his actions. If not, we can kiss democracy goodbye because they will continue their crusade and it will happen again.

Binge-watching has become my weekend diversion and I recently watched Under the Banner of Heaven, which is based on a true story of a Mormon woman and child murdered in Utah. It was unsettling with (I thought) lots of parallels to our current interplay of religion and government. As I said, unsettling. Since that wasn’t depressing enough, I’m reading Being Mortal about how we care for/treat our elderly. I witnessed many of the systemic problems with my mother’s care and it’s encouraging to hear of the wonderful things some facilities have done to enrich the lives of the elderly. Since I am one (elderly), I hope the problem is solved by the time I move into a "the home", though not holding my breath!

I'll leave you on a happier note with a photo of Rosie at the dog park. We usually go earlier than most so there aren't a lot of doggies around. On this day, when these two came in, they came over to the bench I was sitting on and made themselves at home! They were really sweet and cute....and just settled in with me.  One lady asked if I was collecting dogs! 

💕