I write about the Masses, The Struggle....because I am part of that...all of it. I have been living as a refugee in my own country...Our Country for almost the entire Bush Administration.I have lived it , walked it, cried it....fought it. I have moved more than 5 times in 5 years while trying to be a Mom ( all over the country)....I was a witness on a large Criminal Case against a Chemical Company, a Big Company with Friends in high places. I investigated the Evil Company because they made my neighbors and family sick. And I confronted the Company and the Government with their Own Documents. I did it because I am a Nurse, and people were sick and dying. But in the midst of ALL that Bush became President and then the US Attorneys who had ALL of our Data were fired by Bush's Men. And long story short It set my son and I on a Path..Adrift...of Wandering this Country, because we had to.We Lost Everything, Our Home, Our Neighbors and our feeling that we belonged, we mattered. We became Invisible in a way.But in another way it brought us Something else. Something as tangible as the sun shining through the darkest rain.
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So my son and I wandered up down the West Coast at first, and we lived in a dilapitated old Victorian Rooming House.I worked there,and took care of the Old Building so that we would have a roof over our head. I also ended up taking care of some of the tenants.We lived 2 blocks from the sea, we would sleep listening to seals barking on the beach. and watch deer wander over from the park to eat our bushes. It was Beautiful, it was where we needed to be. Then we wandered East.
Due to some different Circumstances we stopped in Cleveland. And we fell in love with Cleveland, we lived in an Old Loft Building Downtown, the Heart of the City. And then my landlord a lovely woman got foreclosed, so the middle of winter I hit the streets searching for a New Home. And I found us an old Side by Side, run down in need of work, I made a deal with the landlord. And In Mid winter , 10 below, I moved us, and our critters.And Once again we huddled in a New Place.
And again I painted and plastered and glued and promised my son that this would be a good home, for a long time. And I fixed up a porch and made a garden, because we needed that. And along the way we met people and heard their stories, and learned of their plight and our problems did not seem so overwhelming. Everyone has a story....if you just take time to look in their eyes and Listen from Homeless Vets to Elderly sick Neighbors to Lost Jobs. We have heard it all. Even Katrina tales of loss and survival. And we learned that we are part of a much bigger ripped Shredded fabric, that there is no shame in that, maybe even pride and wisdom. And all along the way, we helped neighbors move, job hunt, fix and repair when there was barely anything to share. We learned that Humanity is more than measured or valued, it is gifted at the rarest of moments. The sharing of food after a storm, or sharing of books and music when there are no outings or vacations.We learned that Nothing is taken for granted.
And so I know that Home is where our Heart is, it is what my son and I share together, it is made of moments and battered homes that have been glued and painted, and shared with others. And we both know that there will be another one on the Horizon in the Monthes to come, as our landlord has money troubles again. And so we sit and plan our next adventure. And we value that Home is so much more than a House.
All spring and summer I have watched people leave my little urban hood, packing up and leaving, and I have said goodbye as I walk the dog. I used to make brownies to welcome people, now I make them when they leave. I miss the sounds of children playing and laughing. And I walk Lilly on empty sidestreets, and this summer we even started walking the Rich Streets 5 blocks over and stunningly, they are not immune from this Exodus either, there were more empty houses there. The windows stare back in a disquieting way, lonely for life. It is the Quiet of Something Larger, and Something Looming.
What is happening in this Country is not in anyone's imagination, and is not psychological. And that a Senator running for President would perpetuate such a lie is Criminal, and disrepects that all of these people have lose not just their Houses, they have lost more than that. They have lost their HOMES,and a sense of Community and that they matter. 4000 people lose homes a day right now. The actual Homeless Estimates are 1.7 million to 3.2 Million, and the truth may be worse, since it is hard to track Homelessnes with any accuracy. Homeless Vets are atleast 700,000 nationwide.And Mr.McCain this week showed at a forum on Faith that he lacks compassion and a complete understanding of any of this , or What Poverty means and is in this Country. He has more Homes than most of us will have in a Lifetime, he is indeed arrogantly Rich, so much so that he is ignorant of the Human Condition. He is oblivious that a Home is so much more than a House.
I write about the Huddled Masses as we struggle together, and take care of each other, and fight such Ignorance. And that all of us may be taken care of with Healthcare, and have Homes and Jobs, and good education available to our children....None of that is asking too much. None of us is Invisible, and we are all Part of the Story, the Fabric of This Country.And Someone needs to remind DC of that. And that Someone is Us.E.Pluribus Unum.
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As each family has moved I have made brownies and taken them boxes and helped, and given hugs...and said "Hold On just Hold on...." And I hear this song..."Hoid On, Hold On" by Neko Case. She is from the Northwest, she knows what Wandering is all about...."the most tender place in my heart is for strangers" she sings.....
And yes, I have been praying for Change, For Something Better because we have too many lives at stake at this point....
So I am posting the other song "American Prayer" that was made for the Obama Campaign. The song has a messege, and not just about Obama....It is all about the Struggle....and The Yearning....And where we all Stand right now.
" What you see depends on Where you stand" American Prayer song.....