Sometimes I wish I could take my son and put him in a bubble.
With so much going on in our world and with so many naive and blind to all that’s happening, I want nothing more than to protect him from people. People that aim to cause him harm. People that will cause him harm because they fail to believe that there are people that want nothing more than to cause people that look like him harm. Protect him from those who believe that my son is just as safe as any and everyone else because he is human, when in fact that is the farthest thing from the truth. Protect him from those who say or believe that he can exercise the same given rights as any and everyone else when the truth is no matter what, he will always have something to prove, therefore will always have to work a little extra harder than those that do not look like him. I want nothing more than to rest easy when my son is out driving his vehicle. We have talked about driving the speed limit because we also have to have a different conversation about what to do if he ever gets pulled over or stopped by the police. This is not the life for anyone to live. What’s worse is the conversations with those who live in the same world as we do, yet see a different world than we do. Thus you are the people I want to protect my son from. Why? Because I do not know what’s worse, the ones who perform the injustice or the ones who turn a blind eye from it. It fathoms me how millions of people can watch a life taken over and over again yet cheer, shout, or just show no mercy what so ever. It grieves my heart and soul how millions can watch people perish before their very eyes and be unmoved…unbothered and be so uncaring. While we all are entitled to our opinions, that does not mean that one can not have an opinion and still show mercy, empathy, or sympathy for a life lost or for a grieving family. What happened to understanding and compassion? It seems that these days certain lives are expendable and some more than others.
I look at the recent events that have hit our nation. Before this pandemic hit us, most didn’t care. This pandemic hit other nations before us yet we paid no attention to it. We did not think it could or would touch us. Somehow in this country, we have come to believe that we are invincible, well at least until something else comes along to knock us off our high horse. We paused for a “moment” when the towers fell, then carried on. This wasn’t the first crisis that hit our nation, but yet it hit us all very hard and for years. By the time the Trump/Hillary elections rolled around, you would have never thought this country once banned together in solidarity. Anything positive that happened in the past vanished like it never happened and honestly, this was the peak of that storm that had been brewing. Fast forward now…another crisis. People are dying and what are we doing? While people are grieving, some are struggling to care for the sick and dying, others are working to show compassion to support those on the front lines, we have those who are fighting, arguing and complaining about whether this is a conspiracy or not. Yes, you are the people I want to protect my son from. The miserable, angry, bitter hateful people of the world. While we have people dying from this disease, we have families that are unable to honor the loss of their loved ones. We have others who have also lost lives for other reasons and they too are unable to have funerals as they desire. There are those who are caring for the sick who have not spent time with their loved ones as they are making the ultimate sacrifice. All while this is happening we still have black and brown men, women, boys, and girls being gunned down in the streets, in their homes, being harassed by their neighbors and strangers. We have people arguing justification saying, “well they kill their own.” I cannot people!! One thing is for certain and two things for sure…I am sick and tired of wanting to have to protect my child from “my neighbors.”
During 9/11 I was serving in the Air Force in Dover DE. I remember that day like it was yesterday. Outside of watching the plane fly into the tower, one thing I remember most about that day is trying to comfort my airmen who had family in NYC and they couldn’t get ahold of them. I also remember when we were asked to step up and serve in a greater capacity. To care for those who perished in the Pentagon. When you’ve understood the impact of tragedy you stop putting yourself first and start thinking about how you can make a difference. There is no room for causing havoc. There is only room to step in and help restore peace and tranquility. You begin to realize that the capacity level of trauma around you is maxed out thus the only thing there is room for is compassion, mercy, grace, positivity, therefore you give it. You work to restore BALANCE and work even harder to maintain it. We have enough problems in our world and in our nation. Every day it seems like something else is happening. While many of us go out into the world working to bring some form of peace, harmony, and justice in the land in which we live to make it a better place, we could use a lot more people to help balance this thing out. Because right now, as much as I try to make a difference, I still wish I could put my son in a bubble.
