full of life.
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| Tree of life growing out of a concrete wall...attaboy! I want to be more like that. |
Last week I had my birthday.
I turned 34.
Yowzers, thirty-FOUR? That’s almost 35, which is practically
40, which is half-way to 80, which is when most people die. I’m almost DEAD.
When I was teaching at Jesuit High School in
Portland, I had a student tell me I was almost extinct because I was 28…hahaha. So you see, if you’re over 18 you’re
practically dead.
I’d be lying if I told you that this ‘race-to-the-bottom’
train of thought didn’t go through my head.
But, you know, it’s not really helpful to dwell on that kind of stuff. You can’t live life without time passing, and
so be it…I welcome the opportunity.
On my birthday, a different perspective about turning 34 occurred
to me. The program I work with aims to
improve the health of children under 5 who die of chronic illnesses that shouldn’t
kill them, diseases like diarrhea, malnutrition, and pneumonia. But due to their poor nutrition, exposure to
the elements, lack of proper shelter and clothing, poor sanitation and water
quality and all the other challenges to life that are endemic to poverty, these
children never make it to their 5th birthday. They don’t make it. They die because they drank shitty water,
literally, and didn’t have enough strength to beat it.
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| little boy under 5 - full of life |
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| 5 year old boy radiating joy |
As I was walking home from work here in Cobán it struck me,
“I made it to 34 years!” I won’t lie to you, I choked up a little bit. I made it, and yet so many others don’t. So, I am grateful to be 34 and look forward
to being 35 – God-willing.
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| I made it to 34. |
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| Expo 86...Brigette L, Nici G, me, Cath, Bruce G - knee high to grasshoppers! |
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| Giddy up! Lez git us some sweets! Halloween circa late 1980s. |
