It's About Still Living...

This cartoon immediately struck a chord with me.  For many people, news of diagnosis with cancer is received like a death sentence.

For us, as you loyal readers know, it wasn't.  We fought, and we lived.  We didn't reach two years; for us, it was 408 days.  But what a great time it was in those 408 days.

Are all days wonderful and rainbows and unicorns and sunshine?  Of course not; still, it's a better alternative than none at all.

So, here's to all of you with biopsy-versaries, and "two years" and 408 days!

Thanksgiving

Being in the military and being a military family means that holidays are always approached somewhat differently. 

This Thanksgiving, I'm blessed to be home with family. However, I also have friends all over the world: Afghanistan, Kuwait, Deutschland, Italia, España, and every timezone of the United States of America.As I type this, that means Thanksgiving is almost over for some, and not even begun for others. And some friends are surrounded by family and friends, others are in harm's way... yet universally, we're thankful.It's been a year with ups and downs - friends and family lost, new friends and family joining us, career changes, elections (whether good or bad depends on the point of view), yet... there is still much we can be happy about, even if we have to look harder.

I am thankful for much, but most for family and all of you friends.

Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are!

Respect for the Office

I'm a realist. And an idealist. A strange combination, but it's true.
I have long been frustrated... and bothered... by the depths to which our civil and political discourse has dropped in this country. I'm not sure where to point to as a beginning - in truth, we've always been a bit nasty politically (don't believe me? Go read some of the scurrilous comments about Presidential candidates in th

e 1800's!).
Yet, it seemed we once had respect - respect for other views, respect for other people.
I saw it a lot with President Bush (by the Left) and for the past four years, by the Right against President Obama. And with the campaign, well... all hell has broken loose.
We don't discuss anymore... we yell at each other and name call. "Mitler", "0bama", "Zero", etc... etc..
As a huge fan of The West Wing, I often think of it as giving examples. And the scene in the attached (admittedly extremely low-quality) video has always stood out to me about 'Respect for the Office'.
For me, and increasingly I feel, me alone... part of the beauty and in some sense, the obligation of this country, of this experiment, is the idea of hating to the core what someone says, but fighting to the death for their right to say it.
I don't have to like what you say, what you believe, or how you act - but, my calling you names and belittling you... it demeans me far more than how much I think it'll ever demean you.
So, here's hoping to what I yearn for as a result of an election, any election, hopefully soon: While we're pushing for our candidates and our beliefs, let's remember that we're all still Americans... while that still means something.