• Something
Big: Bird’s-eye View
Last summer my son was able to drone my mom’s 260-acre property
on Kauai. The first time I saw his drone shots of my mere five acres, I was
blown away. As humans, we intellectually realize that we do not see the world
as birds do, but I doubt we ever realized what they actually did see. Flying in
an airplane is not the same thing; only a drone shot can show us what we’ve all
been missing. My mother turned 90 years old this year, and I can honestly say
that giving her a drone video of the 260 acres that she has created over a span
of 30 years, is nothing short of a miracle.
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Broken: Divorce
You never think it’ll happen to your family. Actually, I didn’t
even realize it happened to hardly anyone. It was the ‘70s though: the decade
of a very high divorce rate. All things considered, it went well. My parents
both remarried, I was almost an adult anyway, and the good times continued;
just in a different way. But, let it be said that the effects of divorce never
end, moving from generation to generation. It’s not bad; it’s just annoying.
Image credit: https://flic.kr/p/9mREbe
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Artistic or Man-made: My Peanuts siblings
My dad hated the question, “Are you Snoopy’s father?” He knew
what they meant, but he always said, “No.” His poor fans looked perplexed. In
essence, he was Snoopy’s father, but he was also mine. The Peanuts
comic strip was “born” in 1950, and my siblings and I were all born between
1950 and 1958. Because I was the age of the characters, I have to say that they
did feel like siblings to me. I always felt kind of dumb thinking of
fictional characters as real human beings, but I did. They were very real to
me, and I liked having them around. It’s been over fifty years since I grew up
with my dad’s other “kids,” and my feelings are still the same: I like having
them around. They bring me security.
• Something
Mysterious: Miracle of Birth
It feels too cliche to discuss the “miracle of birth,” but I
must. You have to be there to fully comprehend and absorb the miracle of it.
Many mothers say that there is nothing like the miracle of their first-born,
but I beg to differ. I began to realize, as I made my way through all nine
births of our children, that the more I had, the more miraculous it seemed. It
was a mystery as to how these little souls could’ve been growing inside me for
nine months and then one day just come into this world as a complete being,
ready to start their own life.
Personally, I would say that the effects of divorce are incredibly devastating regardless of age, but only having second hand experience in that area through my grandparents, I'll concede to your greater experience. Even though, like President Nelson realized in his young age, that I myself could never be a mother, I do agree that you are only able to appreciate something once you have experienced it multiple times. Otherwise, you won't be able to quantify it by comparing similar events.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be so interesting to look at the dynamics between these hugely popular cartoon characters and wonder what your dad was thinking. Did one of the characters represent you? was your dad trying to say something? Can you here his voice through them? I think that is so cool to be able to preserve a person like that.
ReplyDeleteI never considered seeing things from a bird's eye view before! I always get blown away getting to look out of an airplane window, but seeing things from that perspective would be truly incredible. Also, I totally relate somewhat to the Peanuts kids being like your siblings, except not with the Peanuts. There are some fictional characters that I love and who almost feel real to me in a way. It's truly incredible and mind-boggling how some people are able create characters that have that kind of an impact on us.
ReplyDelete