On Friday, July 27th, 2018, I entered into my sixth decade on this great planet. I have spent the weekend in deep thought about my life as it is. I have a beautiful life. I have been blessed with great parents, (R.I.P.), great brothers (Mark, R.I.P.) and sisters. I have a wife who gave me two great kids. My wife has connected me with another whole family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more sisters. I believe I have really accomplished everything I set out to do. My life is blessed.
This weekend I celebrate my sixty years on this planet. Friday spent in pensive thought and restfullness. Saturday, a farmer's market and off to a winery for wine and music.
And today, Sunday, my wife and I took a trip to the Maryhill Art Museum out in the gorge. It was something I have wanted to do. What a great little trip. It is about 45 minutes east of us in Hood River, Oregon. It was a nice drive although all the hills are now covered with a dry, tan grass. It is a nice museum. I was pleased that the Rodin exhibit was still there. I have been a huge fan of Rodin's sculptures. The ruggedness of their form still manages to capture all the emotion meant to evoke. We were lucky to see it.
After a tour of the museum we drove about 4 miles east to the Stonehenge Memorial. Sam Hill, the benefactor for the Maryhill museum also contracted for a replica of the Druids Stonehenge site up here in the Columbia Gorge. The replica was built as a memorial to the 11 Klickitac county young men who lost their lives in The Great War (AKA the war to end all wars, World War I). The memorial contains plaques honoring those 11 young men -- not a one older than 30, most in their early 20s.
This memorial was built in the 1920s or 30s. It was not until later that the WWII memorial was added, as well as the American wars since, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
The Stonehenge memorial touched me this weekend as I turned 60. The young men memorialized here were barely in their 20s. I have lived triple their life span. I wonder if I have accomplished enough to justify their sacrifice. Should we not all live our lives to the betterment of society? Should we not live our lives to make these men proud and to honor their sacrifice. We should be taught this early on in our educations. I wonder, if knowing this now, that we must live such as to honor those who have given their lives for our continued freedom and liberty, I wonder. Can I still make the necessary changes to my life, so to make those who have given me this life, proud?
I wake up every day and try.
