March 26, 2015
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The Road to 65, Mile 117: Group Therapy
March 25, 2015, Chino Valley- Last night, a family of three lost their trailer home, in an unincorporated town, about eight miles north of here. The oldest child attends the school, where I am working for three days this week. He, his mother and toddler sister lost everything they owned, except the clothes that were on their backs, at the time of the blaze. They lost their pets. That home was in an area which lies outside any fire district, meaning that residents have to pay for fire fighting service. The family had not paid for the service, so the home was a lost cause. Of course, mobile homes are not likely to last long, in a fire, anyway. A crew would have to arrive within three minutes of a blaze starting, in order for it to have any chance of success in extinguishing the blaze.
I watched again this evening, as reports of deadly tornadoes came out of Oklahoma: Oklahoma City and Moore, again, and Tulsa, its suburbs of Sand Springs and Okmulgee, also in the wind’s cross-hairs. This is March, so God, alone, knows how this tornado season, April to June, will play out in full. Everything seems on hyperdrive, weatherwise, this year, though, so perhaps the season will spend itself early, as well.
A pilot on a crowded commercial flight in western Europe was locked out of his own cockpit, and the plane crashed, killing all on board. The cause is left to the realm of speculation- always a sauce for further mayhem and disaster.
Terror, both natural and man-made, abounds, at any given time. Heartbreak, both local and international, is rife, most days. The only solution, as I see it, is unity of response and of relief. Some of us can offer money. Others, like me, can offer only time and energy. My point is solely that each of us can contribute to a group effort, at some level. Only by working together, consistently, can we foster healing. This has not come easily to me, over time, having been a loner until the age of 30, and more or less a steadfast, but somewhat quiet, spouse, until age 60. Penny got me out of my shell, and circumstances since she left this life have kept me out of it.
My only question: Where on the involvement spectrum are you?
Comments (3)
The airplane was a mystery to me from the start when I heard it took 8 or so minutes and no communication. I don't think we can ever rule out terror but jumping to conclusions isn't good either. We stayed in Chino valley. It's a beautiful place and the Days Inn is really nice. I agree with getting involved in the ways you can. We can only do so much but what we can do, we should. In thinking of others we forget ourselves and it makes us happier people. We just drove though OK twice. Makes it closer to home for us. Blessings on your day and the ways you find to help others.
I do what I can. I help out with the St. Vincent De Paul Society, I give to the United Way, I support my church in their outreach and assistance efforts, I donate food. I was pushing for another "orphan" Easter but my husband thinks that since his parents won't be back for the holiday we should instead host his family...
Charity does begin at home. Easter is a lovely Holy Day and family gathering time. Oklahoma is a more fascinating state than it is often credited with being.
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