Spirit of 76

Last birthday number 75, I lamented on how my birthdate, March 10, 1945, ushered me into the world as a hundred thousand Japanese were being incinerated under 1,510 tons of napalm bombs dropped by 282 B-29’s. Not a birthdate to be proud of…but glad to have it nonetheless.

But I spend just passing thoughts on the Tokyo fire-bombing this 76th birthday, March 10. My thoughts contemplate instead the most tumultuous year of all 76. The first pandemic in a century was declared at the start of year 76, just as 535,000 Americans began perishing. Over 22 million jobs were lost. Ten percent of Americans have struggled to obtain sufficient food.

We retreated in self-imposed isolation to avoid the invisible, silent killer. It was not just the pleasurable activities, it was the pleasurable human contact that was sorely missed.

But for my loved ones and me it worked…and I am grateful.

We’re just turning the corner as year 77 begins and it looks like a brighter year ahead.

But the other tumultuous event in not going away. We’re still ensnared with a defective human being and a defective political party seeking to overturn our 245 year old democracy. The man and the party inspired a ghastly, violent attack on our Capitol which nearly reversed the landslide defeat of the leader of the mob.

Foiled in that treacherous endeavor, they’ve vowed a return to power thru voter suppression enabled by over a hundred of essentially white supremacist voter suppression laws in 28 states, and counting.

One thing I've learned for sure in 76 years is human progress is neither a straight line upward nor even inevitable. But that simply keeps the fire blazing in my heart and soul to keep pushing that elusive wheel of progress ever upward and onward. For me, that’s the Spirit of 76.