Today, somewhere

Today, somewhere, a child is going to bed hungry. His parents are trying their hardest to make ends meet at dead end jobs and are barely scraping by. There is little food in the house and what they have, they have to make stretch. He won't complain. He knows that this is the way life is.

Today, somewhere, a woman has been beaten again by her husband. She has no where to go, and children to protect from his violent hand. She tried to leave before, but he always finds her, and the next time she may end up in the morgue. Who will take care of her children? She hates her life, but thinks, from her own experience growing up, that this is the way it is.

Today, somewhere, a parent mourns her child. She knew she was on drugs and tried to intervene, to no avail. The drugs were more powerful than her daughter and the lure was just too great. For her child, this was the way life was. And for the mother, this is the way life will now be, with an empty hole which was once filled with a freckle faced little girl.

Today, somewhere, a man is depressed, wondering what his wife will say when she finds out he has lost his job of 20 years. He is adrift in the world of unemployment, his wife and children dependent on his income. How will the bills be paid? Who is he without his career? How long will it take to find another job? And how will he face them, a failure. For him, this is his new life, its just how it is.

Today, somewhere, a woman lies on the couch, mired in depression, wondering how she can go on. The devils are riding her back and a sweet release lies in the bottles of pills beside her. Only she knows what it will do to her family. So she pulls the blanket up and rolls over, trying to keep the demons at bay, wishing death would just come, putting on a brave face when the family gets home. She is on meds, they are not working. For her, right now, this is the life she leads.

Today, somewhere, a man sits in prison. He knows he is guilty. It was the first time he had driven drunk and the people in the other car were his unwilling victims. His wife and children miss him. He feels grief and guilt and loathes himself for what he has done. And he relives the moment day after day. If only he had not...if only...but this is his reality now.

Today, right here, there but for the grace of God...I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful that God put me on this planet in the time He did,to the parents He did, in the location he did. Fortunate to be an American, fortunate to have been raised by Christian parents who instilled strong values in me (although my failures are legion), fortunate to have married a kind and loving man, fortunate to have made it through unemployment without hunger or no means to pay the bills, and fortunate to have two wonderful well behaved daughters who have given me little trouble over the years. I am thankful for medication to control depression...I am thankful that alcohol is not a problem for me.

Today, right now, I am sitting on the couch in a warm house, with my sleeping dog by my side, my husband across the room and my daughters safely in their rooms. Thinking of the "what could have been"s, I am reminded that I serve a loving and forgiving God who has protected me so many times when all I could see was what I wish was. I am learning to appreciate what is, and to be content in it. Today, somewhere, it could be me. I am glad it isn't.