When a soldier came back home

I came across this article when I was surfing through AOL in the morning. It certainly made my day. Then-Lieutenant Andrew Schmidt of the West Virginia Air National Guard returns home after serving 5-months in Afghanistan. He is greeted ecstatically by his dog. To see this video you can follow the link given below:
http://www.pawnation.com/2009/11/17/happiest-dog-ever-welcomes-home-soldier-dad/?icid=main|main|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pawnation.com%2F2009%2F11%2F17%2Fhappiest-dog-ever-welcomes-home-soldier-dad%2F


My dad is in Army. We rarely get to spend time with him. He comes home for like two months. At times I wonder what goes on in his mind when he comes back to "visit" us. Is he happy? Does he feel comfortable? Does it feel awkward not to be around his men? How does he feel when he sees us going through our mundane routine? Compared to the war, the tension and aggression he has witnessed. My dad is a very calm person. Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. He is a man who is an ace at introspection.

I could never fill those mighty shoes. But if I were at his place, I would see how pitiful our existence is at times. I don't think I would be bothered about how I am going to fair at my work tomorrow? I would try to resolve my broken relationship with my best friend. I would try not to get depressed over issues that I have no control over. Don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow has worries of it's own.

My dad doesn't tell us, all that he has seen in the army. Whether he has seen soldiers go down. But I know, he has seen it all. The grief, death and not knowing what the future holds. We do go and visit him at his camp, whenever it's safe. It is so beautiful to see the way there tents are placed together. The way they are decorated to make it feel like home. The way men get together. It is like a celebration, celebration of the time that is at hand.

I just pray that whenever he comes back home, he is overjoyed to see how much I miss him. How much I regret the time he has missed when I was growing up. How much I wanted him to be there whenever I felt my mother didn't understand me. When I wanted to ask him about a guy I liked.

But most of all, I hope he knows that I am proud of him. For who he chose to be. A soldier serving the nation. My father serving the nation at the cost of his life.

Broken Wings Can Fly High

Abraham Lincoln stood in the middle of the crowd chatting with a friend. Just then a man passed by and remarked: "That Lincoln; what an ugly face he has." Lincoln, on the other hand, didn't lose his temper. He replied to his companion,” I suppose God loves ugly people. That's why he made so many of them."

Calling people names, backstabbing, being mean and rude; it can go a long way in a person's life. Everybody has a different definition of beauty. Hollywood endorses beauty that is not only unsafe but also traumatic. Due to which women all over the world are highly insecure about their looks. Bullying, on the other hand, is experienced by many of us at the hands of our friends or peers at schools. Even at our workplace and our day today life.

When I was in my middle school, I was one of the most popular girls. I had amazing friends that I took for granted. In fact, I was a total brat and I turned into this attention-seeking-self centered person. My dad is in the Army, so we move around a lot. So I had to shift schools. My first year of High School was not only excruciating but also an eye-opener. I was dropped at school in my dad's army car and none of my other classmate's parents were in the army. I not only stood out but was also thought of as a snooty person. I missed my old friends, terribly. That's when I understood the true meaning of friendship and personal dignity. Even though it was a sad episode in my life, it didn't break my spirit. It made me into a much stronger person. Now I think before speaking.

Another person who turned the bad into good in his life is Taylor Lautner. He plays Jacob in the Twilight movie series. He was bullied in his school. Read for yourself.http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/11/25/twilight-new-moon-star-ta...

A careless word is like an arrow shot, you can never take it back. It is so important to tame your language. Because you never know who might hurt you even unintentionally. I have experienced this while interacting with people of different cultures. It can break someone’s heart, spirit, friendship and can even start war. How do you think a monster like Adolph Hitler was created? Don't you think these wars have their roots in matter as trivial as words uttered callously?

But then no one can be perfect either. The thing is how you learn to rise from the ashes when people around you are trying to clip your wings.

The Ruins of the World

Today was a girl’s day out. It is like a weekly ritual among my friends. We go out for movie or lunch or just some window shopping. The main motive is to spend some quality time together. I had college today, so we attended two classes and bunked the rest and went for a Bollywood movie called “Dostana”. The story throws light into the life of two guys who pretend to be gay so that they can live in the apartment of this beautiful girl. And the reason for their action being the fact that the girl is conservative and doesn’t want to share her apartment with guys. But as they are gays, she has nothing to worry about. It’s a mundane movie but manages to be funny at certain points. After the movie we went to KFC, as all of us are chicken-tarian (as we tend to call ourselves). Then we gawked at some BMW’s in a showroom. In short, it was a day full of fun and not a pinch of worry.

When I came back home, I was just making my tornado-hit bed and introspecting… just going over my day and thinking over all I did today. One incident that pulled my heartstrings … While we were entering the movie theatre, a female with her kid approached us. She was dressed in clothes close to rags and her kid had the hungry-stressed-forever, kind of expression. And she was begging for money. Now my friend quickly gave her some pennies so that we wouldn’t be late for the movie.

You know how I would have reacted? I wouldn’t have met her eyes. I would have felt repulsive towards her and would try to get away from her. I wonder why I feel this way for that lady, who is a normal human being with a life like my own? Just because I dress pretty and posses resources that satisfy my needs and desires gives me no right to look down upon her. And you know what came as an answer?

I don’t want to be her. It’s like being near her gives me the feeling as to what would happen if I end up like her. What would happen if I have a kid from some guy who walks out on me and leaves me and my kid alone in this world with no one to turn to? Turning my face from her… as if she’s some creature that is to be pitied and not loved or respected. So the moral of the story is she would be left even more alone and she would give up hope and would god-knows even try committing suicide.

With the recession going on, job security is so minimal. You never know when you are chucked out of your job. Citibank fired 54,000 people world wide. Even though the number is not that huge compared to our trillion populations but if you zero it down to the lives that it is affecting. I admit it’s very scary. 54,000 people with families, with dreams and their specific lifestyles. There life is all suddenly in chaos.

In a discussion with financial analysts the Queen of Britain questioned them, “How could you miss such a phenomenon (recession) when it was in its initial stages?” If I were to answer her, I would say, we are so confined in our own heavenly cocoons that we ignore the person who is suffering. We try not to help as long as it doesn’t affect us personally. In Aristotle famous quote, “Man is a social animal. A man who lives alone is either God or a beast.” And it, to be honest, points to my beastly attitude towards the woman whom I refused to help.

I can never thank God for what he’s done for me and given me. But how many times have I helped someone else without any ulterior motive? Sadly, I can’t remember even one occasion.

I have come across so many people who do not posses adequate resources for a sustainable development. What scares me the most, their eyes. If you look at them, they are as transparent as to what they have gone through in their lives. The scared feeling if they will have enough food for the day. Stressed, whether they will be able to feed their improvised families. Given up on hope and love. Given up on the people that surround them. People who don’t look at them and just glance over them as if they don’t exist. Given up on people who think watching movies is more important than saving a soul.