I saw a lovely series on Netflix the other night that intrigued me. It was regarding space travel and the search for immortality. The ending was the capstone for me where a father and daughter traveled to a place in the desert where a UFO was to land. Their wife and mother had been killed in a plane crash shortly after her return to Earth but had provided her family with the GPS coordinates as to where and when the craft would land. Now there was a load of intrigue in the middle of the film including the nefarious plane crash but the ending was surprising. The much sought-after UFO was the satellite that we sent to space in the 70s with greetings from all over Earth and our best wishes to understand and unite with other intelligent life in space. The takeaway thought was how much we inhabitants of Earth have changed in 50 years and are no longer united in a common goal. The realization was that Aliens had sent our 70s greeting back to us…

So it goes as we fight with each other and seek new lows and new words to describe those with whom we disagree. We cut the taxes of the top 5% and failed to provide money for the hungry in our land. We say President Biden is too old for office and we forget that former President Trump is only less than four years younger. We catcall and harangue the President in the State of the Union Address and think that is top-notch politics. Many of our politicians are on a Lone Ranger Crusade and have no interest in legislating or working together. Compromise is a dirty word when in fact our government is set up on the bedrock reality of compromise.

Not so long ago we sat out on our porches in Eldorado. Neighbors would leisurely walk back and forth to each other’s porches, sit a spell, and discuss the day’s events and how their families were doing. Each person that we knew was important to us. When someone was ill we took a casserole and visited them daily to ensure they had what they needed.

We might curse a little among friends who were not offended by our colorful language but never in front of women or children and never in a public setting. When Sunday came we were the first ones through the door because we knew that we needed help beyond our own understanding.

Kennedy said, ‘We shall go to the moon and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard.’ He said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you…ask what you can do for your country.’

Once we understood that we are all in this together. Once we knew that we all belonged to the human family. Once when our neighbor suffered…we suffered.

‘Hi Rosie…are you ready to go shopping,’ Neva J asked? ‘I hear that they have some good sales at the Food Center today,’ she continued.

‘Nevie…you are so good to me…before you, no one cared if I lived or died,’ Rosie said with a tear in her eye. ‘After JFK assassination it seems all has gone arye,’ she said.

‘Kiddo…it is up to us to keep his vision alive,’ Neva J said with a wink and a hug. ‘If we do not do it…who will…’