The Power of Remembering

Copyright © 2019

By Ralph F. Couey

As the years pile up, our bodies begin to break down.  This is the inevitability of aging, the one thing we all laugh about to each other, but perhaps cry over to ourselves. Gradually, we are forced into giving up activities in surrender to our fading capabilities.  But for me, I can live with the physical degradation, to a point.  I had to give up softball because I just got too slow.  I had to give up my motorcycle because my reflexes were no longer quick enough to keep me safe. I had to give up running because my joints could no longer take the pounding.

But I have taken up other activities.  I'm still writing.  I'd taken up hiking several years ago, and as soon as I am completely over my surgery and pneumonia, I'll happily return to the trails.  I play ground golf, a local Hawai'i hybrid of golf, croquet, and frisbee.  While it's not the same as tearing around the bases with my hair on fire, it's way better than flopping on the couch in front of the TV.  I've gone back to work in a really interesting job in state government serving the public once again.  And I'm caring for my memory-impaired mother-in-law, which keeps me from drowning in my own occasional pocket of self-misery.

One of the saddest things is what happens between the ears.  The brain gets old and memories, once sharp and complete begin to take on a kind of hazy indistinct miasma from which accuracy gets harder to glean.  Of all the bad parts of aging, for me, this is the worse.

Mars...and Beyond

© NASA/JPL

Copyright © 2019

by Ralph F. Couey

"We want to know;

We want to know who we are 

and what we are capable of.

I want to know."

--Jeno Marz

Fifty years ago this week, an ugly, spindly craft landed on the moon, after just a bit of a detour.  Although practiced literally hundreds of times into an area memorized from images, it was discovered that no plan survives contact with reality.  Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin cooly and calmly glided the fragile craft past a boulder field to a much more inviting place.  With 22 seconds of descent fuel remaining, the craft settled onto an alien surface for the first time in human history.  A short time later, Armstrong descended the ladder, and after a short pause on the foot pad, made humanity's first footprint on the moon.  

Six more missions would be launched towards earth's satellite, five actually making the landing.  At the time, it seemed logical that we would take the next step and head for Mars.  But we knew so little about space and we naively assumed that going to the red planet was little different than the moon, just a longer trip.  Decades later, we know differently.  

Once outside the protective canopy of Earth's magnetic field, the craft and its occupants would be at the mercy of the radiation from our nearby sun, and those a lot further away.  Those rays if not blocked somehow would kill the crew, especially if the sun began erupting flares.  Also, they would be at the mercy of debris in space, ranging from continent-sized rocks down to things the size of a grain of sand which despite the size, could punch a crew-killing hole in the side of the craft.  Just getting there would be a dangerous challenge.  

Giving Our Best to America

Copyright © 2019

by Ralph F. Couey

It was a hot, muggy day in 1776. A group of 56 delegates had been meeting in Philadelphia for some time to debate whether 13 British colonies dared to tell their King that they were declaring themselves a separate nation.

This was no small decision.  Britain was a global power at the time, possessing the most powerful army and navy on the planet.  Those 56 committed patriots knew that once the text of this declaration crossed the Atlantic Ocean, retribution would be swift, sure, and merciless.  They also knew that as signatories to this revolutionary document that their lives would be held in forfeit by the King.  Despite this very real danger, they boldly closed the document with the strident words, "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."  To the dream of Independence, they gave their best to America.

The war that followed was bloody, difficult, and expensive.  George Washington's army was at times shoe-less, starving, freezing, and defeated.  But somehow, despite those hardships, they persevered.  And with the help of the French, victory was achieved.  America had been declared a nation, and fulfilled itself on the battlefield.,  They gave their best to America.

The real work now began.  Through the process of vigorous and rancorous debate, the people's representatives undertook deciding what kind of country it would become.  Finally in 1789, the United States had it's constitution.  It has been endlessly pointed out that the men who did this were slave owners.  But the right to own slaves was not enshrined in those articles.  Nor would it be.  Ever.  They knew that this government, this experiment in representative federalism must be allowed to mature, to grow beyond itself to embrace new, even radical ideas.  This visionary wisdom, that American government would never be fully complete, has shaped us as a people.  In the face of bitter resistance, they gave their best to America.

The Bright Lights That Are Grandchildren

Copyright © 2019

by Ralph F. Couey

Late on a Wednesday night, I pulled alongside the curb at Honolulu International Airport, just outside baggage claim 29.  The door opened, and like foam coming out of a shaken can of soda, three gleeful, lovely, and precious grandchildren flooded into the vehicle.  They all had stories to tell and the vehicle, just moments before completely silent, became filled with those happy voices. 

Oh, yeah...their mom came along as well.

A human's later years can be times of trial and regret.  But grandchildren rekindle the joy of life, and light the days with a gentle, warm light.  Being a grandparent is different.  We're not involved in the day-to-day challenges of rearing them, especially if they live far away, as all of ours do.  But being around them, we remember the very important role we do have.  We love them without limits, to be sure.  But we are also that ready ear to listen to them.  We remember how important a pair of arms are to the proper hug, and how important the words, "We're so proud of you" can light up their faces.  

It was bad timing for me, in a way.  Three weeks ago, I caught a cold which became the flu (first time in 17 years), and morphed into pneumonia.  For the first few days, I wore a surgical mask around them to they wouldn't catch the persistent and stubborn bug with which I was struggling.  They will be here for about a month and we had a long list of things we wanted to do with them.  I hated being sick, more than I ever have, not just because of the bug but also the accompanying waves of exhaustion that kept me horizontal for most of the time.  

But that illness is receding, I'm regaining my strength and energy, and am excited to make up for lost time.