The Thought Train

I read some worrying headlines today and while believe half of what I read and even less of what I see on the internet, I know this to be true - I just don't know the extent:

I see this and I think to myself, 'I hope Kelly and Ryan are ok and stay well...'. Then I think - no, I hope ALL the LR-5ers are ok (there's 50 of them)... Then I think, no, that's wrong, I hope all the PCVs are ok... And yes, I move on - why just the PCVs? Why not all the people in these affected areas?

So you can see how this goes on - from thinking about my

daughter and her husband to hoping everyone is ok - not

just the people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, but

the entire world - everyone needs to be ok...

I think we need to do something for them, but what? I'm not

religious. I could say we should pray for them and when I say

that, I'm really meaning that I want everyone to apply what-

ever works for them - prayer, good vibes, happy thoughts, 

crystals, germ voodoo... I was brought up UU (Unitarian

Universalist) and within the church, we were not taught 

about a deity, but rather how as human beings, we must help

and protect each other. We must be there to help when 

others are struggling and give of ourselves - to simply be

good people. I don't think you need religion for that. 

So you can see how my thoughts run - from simply thinking about my daughter and within the blink of an eye, I'm concerned about the whole world and what I can do to help... I think in my case, and many of us here as parents of the LR-5ers, it's helping one person at a time - and even, perhaps, each other. I think of how many very young PCVs there are and how I would have felt if my daughter had left for the Peace Corps when she was 18 or 19 - and I think I would have been quite terrified... A young girl, all alone (which they're not), far, far away from home.... Then I think - well, maybe that's part of what I'm doing here - maybe I need to support the other parents. My daughter has the support of her husband in Liberia (and 'tother way around...) and I find that comforting. I know my daughter will easily fall into a leadership role with her fellow LR-5ers if that's what they want - or need, that is her area of expertise. I find that comforting as well. There is comfort in this world, you just have to reign your thoughts back in sometimes.