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Tell me a story. Make it a story of great distances, and starlight. --Robert Penn Warren, Tell Me A Story
“You can still fight with fear in your heart.” A watery chuckle escapes me. “Sometimes it’s the greatest motivator. The fear of what you’ll lose can make you that much more determined to win. My life is at stake, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get out of this alive, but if I don’t, I have to think about the ones who mean the most to me.” I discipline my mouth into a firm line. “I’ll be prepared for the worst and fight for the best.”
“I love her,” I tell Grim softly, seriously. “I don’t own her. You don’t hold back someone like Lennix because the beauty is in how she flies. I want to see her soar. I just want to make sure she always lands safely. You know?”
She pulls my hand to her lips and kisses my fingers one by one, and with that simple act of affection, a rare, fathomless contentment saturates the air. A meridian of seconds where I’m completely satisfied, and at least for this handful of moments, there’s nowhere to be, nothing to gain, and this is enough. This, she is the first time I’ve tasted enough, and I savor it on my tongue, hoard it. Fold it into my hands to memorize the feel of complete satisfaction. An entire kingdom fits in this boat. My whole world rests against my heart.
Traditions are the memories of those before us, breathed to life when we carry them on.
“I will live this day in gratitude,” I whisper, the words mingling with the smoke I scoop over my face. “Grateful to be alive and breathing and able to give and receive love. I will face every obstacle with the boldness of those who follow me, and with the courage of those who came before.”
I have no idea what’s ahead, and I’m still healing from the past, but I have to believe that, like the Miwok, I’ll remain, planted, rooted and still standing.
If I’d lost them both, I’d be living in darkness. Lennix feels like my one tiny point of light, and still I can’t see.
“Robert Kennedy said, ‘There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed.’
“The past is behind us. The future is ours. Figure out how you can change the world right now, and don’t fear it. Do it.”
“When you know who you are; when your mission is clear and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive.” -- Chief Seattle, Suquamish
You run him as a rebel—not as the experienced one, but the smart one. The one who won’t rely on what he’s already learned because he understands that in such a quickly changing trajectory, in a month that might not work anymore. You want someone who learns at the speed of light. You tell America that in these perilous times, they don’t need the safe choice. They need someone who’s not afraid.”
revolution requires a certain degree of hubris. I have hubris to spare. Whether you know it or not, we need a revolution. We need to shake things up. The status quo is insufficient for what lies ahead. Let’s not fear the future. Let’s make it.”
“I think we should remember what patriotism actually is; that it’s rooted in love of country and seeing a vision for life, liberty and justice for all fully realized. Our forefathers wrote the truth, but in many cases, didn’t live it out. Patriotism is loving this country enough to examine its problematic history so we can fulfill our forefather’s words.”
“If they elect me, Americans can expect a man smart enough to ask for help when he doesn’t know, and bold enough to stand on his own when necessary. Someone who will fight for them in new, innovative ways, who will watch the bottom line ruthlessly, and take risks that will propel us all forward. A man who will honor the past when we got it right, and apologize for when we got it wrong, and who is determined the future will be better than we can imagine.”
“Love is such a dynamic force, isn’t it? It is the most inexplicable and yet the most beautiful force in life. O, how joyous it is to be in it.” —Love Letter from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Coretta Scott (July, 1952)
