Someday I'm going to die
I struggled as to how to assign a category to this post. I placed it in "Living"! As I grow older, the idea of "living, and the quality of my life, and the time I am "blessed" to enjoy it, have become a frequent, if not daily concern.
Transit between bus stations, and the inevitable wait between connections, have become opportunities to update my blog journal. I hadn't traveled in a few days. I arrived about thirty minutes before the attendant who sells the tickets for the line that would take me home. I sat down and pulled out my journal. I knew exactly how I would be greeted by the attendant, and I knew that I would struggle with my response. What I didn't know then, and still don't as I compose this post, is why I struggle with a response to her greeting of:
"God bless you".
I know I still struggle with this issue because of an incident which happened yesterday. I was in our local Asian market. As I was leaving the woman who had served me sneezed. I still vividly remember the ice cream man whose truck served the projects of my youth telling me and my friends that our hearts stopped when we sneezed.That was why he always said "God bless you" when we sneezed. Maybe me memory has become confused over the years, but I distinctly remember that the ice cream man reserved his blessing for "when a child sneezed". My brain locked in confusion as I opened the door to leave the market. I said "Gesundheit".
Only now, thanks to Wikipedia do I now know "Gesundheit" is the German and Yiddish word for health. When a person sneezes, German, Yiddish, and American English speakers typically say Gesundheit! to wish them good health, serving much the same purpose as "bless you" in English. The expression arrived in America with early German immigrants, such as the Pennsylvania Dutch, and doubtless passed into local English usage in areas with substantial German-speaking populations. As a youth I always believed Gesundheit was a term used by a non religious person who still understood that someone's heart had just stopped, a pagan's blessing!
I recently wrote that romantic niceties have been dumbed-down to "I luv u" in a text message. I take little comfort in the realization that I was actually wishing the shop keeper "good health". She and I had conducted our commercial transaction in English. I should have had the moral courage to offer my blessing in the same.
I guess the good news is that I actually do struggle with such issues. I haven't totally given up. Someday I will die. I will continue to improve the quality of the time remaining to me. I will exercise, watch my diet and work on flexibility (John Glenn regretted that he hadn't worked harder on flexibility in the years before he was chosen to go into space as an "older" passenger). I will also continue my struggle to treat others as I would like to be treated myself. I do enjoy a "bless you" every so often. Even a Gesundheit can make my day. I have been fortunate to have had such role models as the ice cream man who not only sold us "Creamsicles" and "Push-Ups" but also introduced us to the complexities of human relations. If only our world leaders were so wise. They freely speak invoke the name of God, but have little concern for our well being.
You may enjoy reading: You wouldn't get any with just an "I luv u".
Also, may I recommend for your enjoyment: If cats looked like frogs we'd realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are.
The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in the comic book Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first of a three-issue arc fans and historians call "The Galactus Trilogy".
Originally a young astronomer of the planet Zenn-La, in order to save his home-world from destruction by a fearsome cosmic entity known as Galactus, Norrin Radd made a bargain with the being, pledging himself to serve as his herald. Imbued in return with a tiny portion of Galactus' Power Cosmic, Radd acquired great powers and a silvery appearance. Galactus also created for Radd a surfboard-like craft — modeled after a childhood fantasy of his — on which he would travel at speeds beyond that of light. Known from then on as the Silver Surfer, Radd began to roam the cosmos searching for new planets for Galactus to consume. When his travels finally took him to Earth, the Surfer came face-to-face with the Fantastic Four, a team of powerful superheroes that helped him to rediscover his nobility of spirit. Betraying Galactus, the Surfer saved Earth but was punished in return with everlasting exile there.
Stan Lee enjoyed the character and decided to feature him in his own individual title in 1968. John Buscema was penciller for the first 17 issues of the series, with Kirby returning for the eighteenth and final issue. The first seven issues, which included anthological "Tales of the Watcher" backup stories, were 72-page (with advertising), 25-cent "giants", as opposed to typical 36-page, 12-cent comics of the time. Thematically, the stories dealt with the Surfer's exile on Earth and the inhumanity of man as observed by this noble yet fallen hero. The Silver Surfer comic book series became known as one of Lee's most thoughtful and introspective works. Englehart writes that Buscema and Lee were "pouring their souls into the series".
Waldo County, situated in mid-coast Maine along scenic Penobscot Bay, has genuine New England character evidenced by working port towns and quaint rural villages. Visitors are awed by the area's unspoiled beauty. From striking coastal views to sweeping mountain vistas, dramatic natural settings abound. In addition great care has been taken to preserve and refurbish numerous historic landmarks, homes and buildings. Consequently, the Maine of yesteryear is still found here.
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