No one likes to be forgotten, no one

 

 Do not forget veterans of Any war.

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I was letting my mind wander, as writers often do, and my brain stopped on the fact no one likes to be forgotten.  Be it a group of veterans who fought valiantly, a relative, who ,for some unknown reason, likes to be ungrateful or by those we used to call 'friends.'  Being brushed aside and forgotten hurts us all. Ask anyone, some may not admit it because they are too proud, but deep inside, it hurts us all when it happens.

Vietnam veterans have felt this acutely, especially these days when they need medical care from the VA.  They may call and be told: "You don't qualify for dental care unless you are a recent Iraq War veteran."  When they go to the VA for anything else, they are sent a bill.  OK  Maybe it's not a huge bill, but any bill for service.  Seriously?  They fought just as hard, did what they were told, just like today's vets do and in fact, many Vietnam vets were forced by our government to fight in Vietnam.  Today it is strictly volunteer.  The military owes them nothing for forced servitude?  Oh, I think they do.

In this 21st century, we seem to live in a day and age with the motto: "Let's forget anyone we simply choose to forget."  No matter who or where they are.  

For example, I watched a local news broadcast concerning a high school girl's research to fight world hunger.  I had to laugh (not funny laughing, but disgusted laughing) when our governments will have us believe that agriculture is why we have world hunger.  This girl receives an honor award while our government cuts off food for poor children.  Another: "Seriously?"   Hunger is not caused by lack of food in the world.  Just walk past some restaurant's dumpster and see how much food is wasted daily by those greedy mofo's.  There is enough food on this planet, at this very minute, to feed every man, woman and child who is alive today.  What causes world hunger?  The fact that people cannot get the very food they need and deserve.

America feeds prisoners but cuts off hungry kids.  Why?  Well prisons for profit need prisoners as slave labor.  So until big companies can figure out how to bring back child labor, legally, kids will go hungry.  

One last speculation about also being forgotten by so-called 'friends.'  When we fail to do as some friends might like us to do, namely what they want us to do, those kind of friends just pretend you don't exist.  Shame on them all, those who simply forget, conveniently, for whatever reason.  May I never, ever act like them. 

   

  

Thoughts on friends and such

Often we see on the Internet terms like my bff, my soul mate and many others like those.  What do they mean?  Do they in fact mean anything other than the ramblings of the person writing them?  

Over the years I've been a fan of Sex and the City.  I'm not even sure just why but perhaps it all has to do with the friendship of four young women.  Women who stay friends through thick and thin, good times and bad times.  Maybe that kind of friendship, depicted in the series, exists or maybe it's a figment of Candace Bushnell's imagination, the creator of Sex and the City.  Maybe it depicts the kind of friendships we'd all like to have.

Perhaps the popularity of that particular genre draws women fans because of not just the friendship, but the different views of each friend as they try to sort out relationships with men.  

Samantha: fiercely independent, not wanting to ever rely on anyone but herself when it comes to work and relationships.  She flits from one man to another, never really getting locked into a permanent thing with any one guy.

Miranda: Also fiercely independent, at first glance, but changes as she matures.  She's a lawyer, trying to always analyze and even puts down, anything she does not totally understand or is not able to control.  When we first meet her, she thinks every man has an ulterior motive and so she does not ever really trust men.  In one episode, Carrie introduces her to a shy nerdy type of guy.  Miranda thinks his shyness is simply an act, mocking her.

Charlotte:  She tells us she has been looking for Mr. Right since she was in high school.  Most of the time she looks too hard and therefore does not find him while looking so hard.  She thinks women must 'play the game' in order to snag a man.  Eventually she finds a guy she falls in love with, but this guy does not fit her 'type' (the image) that she has created on paper and in her head, so she cannot believe why she even falls for him at all.

Carrie:  Then we have Carrie.  She has her ups and down and some will say she just concedes to men, at least where Mr. Big is concerned.  Many women hate the way she seems to roll over, at times, allowing guys to get away with too much.  Why do some women hate this virtue of Carrie's?  Well isn't that just the way a lot of women relate to men?  In some stages of our lives, many of us have acted just like Carrie sometimes does.  I know I did when younger.  It isn't until we reach past our forties and the hormones have all settled, that we see men in a different light, we see relationships in a different light.  Less hormones, I've discovered, make us more objective.  Before that time, we have acted the fool where men are concerned.  Damned those raging hormones!  I've observed friends and family, acting just like that, yet completely denying it when they have.  Haven't we all been guilty of tolerating way too much from the opposite sex when we were younger and inexperienced? 

I like the series and I like the friendships of those women.  I will write more in the next blog about what I have observed about women and friendships.  Even about women and daughters they may have and how I think those relationships can be great or bitter sweet. 

My recent book: Child of the Earth, tells a tale of how love can find us when we least expect it.  How when we do find it, well, it just may not be the wonderful answer we had been looking for, as it can be bitter sweet sometimes. Finding Mr. Right can sometimes be a two edged sword.

Sometimes love can hurt but it can be all worth the pain.

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Looking for heroes

Bonding is always a good thing.

I found this picture in my files and every time I look at it, I can't help but smile.  Snowflake, an abandoned kitten we found in our backyard almost a year ago.  We even wrote a children's book about him.  Sometimes I think: maybe he found us, but however it came about, here he is. 

My husband often told me how 'he's just not a cat person' and I believed him, that is until he went out in the dark night and rescued a kitten I heard crying for help.  Ever since he brought Snowflake in, they have been very close.  

I see them and often think about how we sometimes whine about things we don't have.  I often feel like that too, dwelling on what I think I need, then I look at this picture and understand.  I see a little kitten, lost, abandoned, alone, tired and hungry and realize what we need or want is often quite simple.  Once in a while all we need is someone to rescue us.  A hero?  Perhaps, but heroes come in all shapes and sizes.  The hero we need is a loved one, a close relative, or close friend, some one to listen to us, to our fears and help us put our whines into perspective.  

Growing up, we had Superman, The Lone Ranger and the like.  Those heroes don't exist, but they filled our heads, as kids, with the notion that heroes are good.  While watching The Hunger Games, I could see this same idea in action in our 21st Century notions too.  Heroes have not gone out of style.  When Katniss understands how fearful her sister is when chosen to play the Hunger Games, she steps forward to take her place.  She is a hero.  Then it is stated by the announcer that 'never before in the Hunger Game's history, has anyone ever volunteered' this is The Hero's Journey that author Joseph Campbell talks about.  You then come to realize that all good stories, all good journeys, real or fictional, have a hero.

Steve is the hero to Snowflake.  Snowflake's needs are small.  He needs food, shelter, and above all, someone when he wants comfort.  Don't we all just really need those same things?  So when you have a good friend, treat them well, treat loved ones well, for they, in various times of our lives, can be our heroes.  Hopefully we can all pay it forward and be a hero to someone else when they need us too.

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