Friday Perspective

During our flight home this week, the pilot came on speaker and told us that we were flying over Iowa City – we could see the devastation that the floods had wrought out of the airplane windows and I was so struck with sadness over the immense amount of loss I was witnessing. Having watched a grueling amount of CNN while in Italy, I was well aware of what was going on down below, but from our aerial perch, it was shocking what a wide swath of land was covered with water – a view that a TV camera couldn’t possibly provide.

I had one of those moments where I realized that, though I was congested from my ghastly cold, was sitting next to two bratty kids and was on an airplane in which the toilets had stopped flushing two hours into the flight, I really had nothing to complain about. I was coming home to a dry house, my earthly stuff intact, my family well. Those below me were suffering the consequences of Mother Nature’s fury - a hell they hadn't asked for - and were now faced with rebuilding homes and lives…I just can’t imagine.

It put me in a reflective mood. We are all so fortunate given that our troubles, though important and sometimes dire, can at least be assessed and conquered in relative comfort. That most of us have sufficient food on the table and a roof over our heads and don’t need to worry about our basic needs. So here’s to being thankful for the small things and grateful for our challenges, as they are usually surmountable and make us better people.

I’ll crawl off of my soap-box now. Have a marvelous weekend, and happy first day of summer!