Sometimes I forget how freaking lucky I am. Some people may say blessed, but you know me, I'm going to ascribe it to a random series of coincidence, chemistry, and out and out luck.
I am lucky. While I wasn't born into the hated 1%, I WAS born into the upper portion of the 99%. My parents were of a different generation. When the American Dream, as it were, was slightly less than just a dream. I was healthy growing up. And what wasn't "perfect health" was repaired, treated, or fixed by incredibly competent physicians.
I'm smart. Not Steve Jobs smart, but smart. I went to good, quality, public schools. Schools that were clean and safe, and staffed by competent, intelligent teachers. They led me to an incredibly good university.
I succeeded. I maybe could have succeeded even more. But I had a lot of fun as well. I gained life experience, I saw a little bit of the world. I fell in love with some one who was smart, hard working, and respectful. Some one who laughed with me, and with whom I shared common values and ambitions.
I traveled. All over the western world. There's so much more to see, but reality and kids eventually caught up with us. But I saw enough to know that I want to see more.
My kids are healthy. They aren't perfect, but whatever isn't 'perfect' is treated, repaired, or fixed by the best physicians I can find. They're lucky, too. They're smart. They're succeeding.
Unfortunately, they're inheriting a worse world than I. I worry about that a lot. A huge amount of our society is teetering on a brink right now. Individuals, values, a sense of community are at stake. I worry that my kids' good luck, coincidence, and chemistry may not be enough for them. That one foot will slip, and the entire body of their world will fall. Are they equipped enough to withstand that? Am I equipped to let that happen to my babies? Sometimes I think maybe instead of piano lessons, they should be going to survivalist camp. Will it be possible for them, and the rest of their generation to fix everything? Not to be just what I experienced, but to be different? Better? IS BETTER even possible?
Or is today just one of those days, where I should turn on TV, open a bottle of wine, and just assume it's going to be ok?
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