Remembering days gone by were trying and scary, too, but we persevere!

There is no denying that time on this earth can be scary.

When we are living in the moments, like now with the Ebola news, ISIS terror threats and more... it is really eye opening. We may start to think we are living in the most terrible of times.

Do we forget about bubonic plaque, the many wars and stories of prison camps, the unbelievable day of 9/11/2001? They are easily shuffled to the back shelf of our minds, since they are in the past.

The reason I am thinking a bit more somberly than usual in this blog is due to the fact that I just finished a very compelling book that I randomly pulled out of the stacks in my library, the Putnam Town Library a week or so ago.

The Train of Small Mercies, by David Rowell brings us back to another tumultuous time in our past.

Robert Kennedy has just been shot and killed. That tragedy followed on the footsteps of JFK's death as well as Dr. Martin Luther King's.

Imagine the uncertainly?

Here are a few passages from this book that really stood out to me. They represent the different world it was not even approximately 50 some years ago:

"This right here is Robert Kennedy's America, these are working folks. And he got shot because some people were afraid of what he might do. What he would do. Same with his brother, same as Reverend King. And seems like that's how it is now in this country - take down the man who wants to help the people who need it the most. Makes you wonder how we supposed to go forward. Someone answer me that. How we supposed to keep electing leaders to lead this country if they're just going to get killed every time?" 

and

"He wanted to stay as far away from Vietnam as possible, and he wanted to go his whole life and never again be called nigger, to never have any man - white or black - put his hands on him".

So, yes - I agree that we are living in scary times today, but I believe so long as there have been people, there have been scary times.

We each can make a difference. We must keep trying to be our best selves ever, no matter what. There is always a high road, and there is always a low road. You make the choice.

I am a Putnamaniac that knows we can make the right choices and persevere!

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