Thank you Easter Bunny!

Today I woke up at 4AM. M is gone, and I never sleep all that well, when we are apart. So as I am there staring at the ceiling, I got to thinking how 50 years ago I probably would have been waking up my parents with,


“Mom! Dad! The Easter Bunny has been here!”


The days before, my mother had us dying and coloring eggs and in the night the Easter Bunny came, and took them out of the refrigerator and hid them all over the living room, and before leaving left us a basket of goodies. You worshiped your parents and they returned the favor until you hit puberty and then they just threw up their hands in disbelief. Kids were cute, and sweet then, and everything seemed safe and free.


I just returned from visiting them up in Oregon, they are older, and frailer, and just talking about who died, and planning it seems for their own demise. They are afraid of everything and bitter about politics and the way people generally are these days. They just watch Fox, and other really hateful news, rejecting PBS and NPR as socialist… they seem to be waiting to die.


It’s very sad as they are not hurting for anything. But their fears and bitterness seem to be hemming them in. They have great health plans, a very nice house, and live in a lovely small town, and I cannot for the life of me understand why they are so angry.


People in this country are moving into two camps… one right and one left (ish)… and because I am very lefty, and they well listen to Limbaugh and Fox News… and are republicans that hate Obama… it’s not fun to be there for either of us.


There is a huge rift between us, and it’s sad, as I feel that when I attempt to talk I get my hand bit… They cling to their values that dictate what they can do and think, and judge the whole world, which is wrong. And well, I cling to my values which to them dictates what I do and think, and how I judge the whole world.


I am glad that my son and I do not have this hateful cultural void between us - I rather like the way he cuts his hair, the music he shares, and the ideas he comes up with. We don't always agree, but its interesting to have people around me that challenge me, are different, who you can ask questions of and give you room to breath. I don't want sameness, and pleasantness 24/7... its not healthy or good.


I do love them, but its sad that we have nothing in common.


A couple of years ago I rode a bus from Pokahara to Kathmandu. I befriended an 84 year old gentleman from Spain. He was traveling alone and didn’t know a stick of English or Nepali… his wife had died the year before, and so he was out seeing the world. Amazing man, and I thought to myself… "self, that’s the way to go…" This sitting by a fire, complaining about a world in constant change doesn’t work for me.


He was not waiting for god, as he told me, he was embracing life. I remember he told me that if god wanted to take him, that he would have to go looking for him! I resolved then and there, that I want to end up like that…


I am sure the Easter Bunny accidentally woke me up, no doubt nudged me, and then realized, "hey this guy's too old for an Easter basket... oops, sorry!"


So thank you Easter Bunny! I appreciate the gift.

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