Skip to main content

Perspective

This column was published after the devastating 2004 tsunami that struck Indonesia. After the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan I revisited it. My heart is aching for all those who are suffering, for those who have been lost and for those left behind.


More laundry? Man, I spend my entire life doing laundry and dishes for this family. Grrrr…I have so much to do.

“…The Red Cross estimates that although the number of dead is now over eighty thousand, the number will be well over a hundred thousand as more victims are found washed up on the shores or under the rubble…”

I hate this bed of ours. I wake up every morning with a backache. I just hate it.

“…Thousands have lost every material possession they owned when the tsunami struck and are sleeping in the streets or in shelters…”

Man, someone dinged my car in the parking lot? I can’t believe people don’t care about things like that, they just open their doors and WHAM! Uncaring jerks.

“…My neighbors lost their entire house when the wave hit, but my house is still there. They came over to help us go through the rubble and to keep it from being looted…”

The birthday party for ten six year olds was brutal! You should have seen those kids! Ice cream and cake everywhere!

“…It is estimated that the majority of the dead are children, who were most vulnerable to this disaster as they could not run as fast as the adults or were ripped from their parent’s arms as the wall of water struck..”

Clean your room! What is with teenage boys that they can’t pick up their clothes and their rooms just stink to high heaven. Open a window for crying out loud.

“…the stench from the decaying bodies is overwhelming. Everywhere you look, there are bodies lining the roads and in makeshift morgues..”

Did you see that jerk cut me off? Geez, learn to drive you moron! I hate driving in all this traffic with idiots that don’t know how to use a turn signal.

“…cars and buses were picked up by the force of the water and you can see some cars in trees, others are buried in mud. The roads are completely impassable…”

Mom, I hate meatloaf! I’m not eating this!

“..Relief agencies are pleading for donations of money so that food and water can be brought into the hardest hit areas..”

Why do we have to go over to your brother’s house for dinner? You know I hate family gatherings.

“…Generations of families are gone in this terrible natural disaster. Some people have lost their entire family and they alone are left.”

Dang this cold. I feel like crap. My nose won’t stop running.

“…Dengue fever, dysentery and cholera will more than likely kill thousands of people who have survived the tsunami, and most of them will be children and the elderly..”

I hate my job.

“Thousands upon thousands have lost their livelihoods as hotels, restaurants and other businesses were completely demolished..”

It takes forever for this water to get hot in the kitchen; I hate waiting for it to come out.

“There is no drinkable water anywhere in the region. It’s all been contaminated by debris and sewage.”


I complained I had no shoes till I saw a man that had no feet. - Author Unknown

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wheeeeeeee!

Today I was awakened to the not-so-delightful sounds of enormous dump trucks, (you know the ones that are a dump truck and they haul a trailer behind?) dumping truck load after truck load of dirt behind my house. Then the most incredibly noisey and squeaky (do they not grease the tracks on those things??) grader began shoving the dirt and rocks around. I had to fight the urge to throw a can of WD40 over the fence to the driver. It wasn't even eight in the morning. It wasn't even 7:30 yet. So I reluctantly arose from my bed and cleaned up the kitchen. After it was spotless, I went back upstairs to my freeze-zone (the only room in the house with AC) to do some online banking and make calls to check on medical bills, etc. As I was finishing up, in walks my husband! At first I had a moment of Oh-no-he's-lost-his-job terror. Then it passed after he smiled. Seems they ran out of work for the day. Odd, but then that's Boeing. So hubby was roped into going school cloth

Peace Begins with You

In my readings this week, I came across a video of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. He gave a talk entitled, "Peace Within." Who doesn't want peace? Who doesn't crave peace within their soul? In their lives? In their hearts and in their homes? How often do we have complete peace? I'd say my answer would have to be that there isn't enough peace in my life, heart or home. It's not like I live in a warzone--I do not. I'm blessed to live in a nation where I have freedoms granted to me by the founding fathers and I do not risk being struck down by bombs or shot by snipers when I venture forth from my home. My neighborhood is relatively safe, so much so that I take solo walks. The peace I speak of is something different. It's the peace that can be with me no matter my circumstances. I crave that peace. Elder Wirthlin says that peace begins in the hearts of righteous individuals. How does it begin? With a relationship with our creator. In ferven

She's Something...

Most of you know that I've got four children. My eldest is seventeen. Oh heavens...how did that happen? Wasn't I just seventeen the other day? I'm sure I was.... Well, she's amazing. I know the majority of mothers have very high compliments to pay their children--and rightly so. However, my baby girl is astounding by anyone's standards. She is going to high school and college at the same time. In high school she's taking mostly AP (Advanced Placement) classes, which also count for college credits. She gets up at five a.m. every morning, goes to Seminary, then goes to school, she works four hours daily as an office manager at Winderemere Real Estate. She speaks Spanish, plays piano, guitar and flute. She goes to the gym daily and it shows. This was her yesterday. This is a picture I just took of her, after getting her braces put on. Now, having said that she is gifted and talented, I should ammend this post to tell you the following. She just got home