I find myself satiated by the joy this little guy brings with his every hop and bounce into whatever and wherever. He is on the ready with an easy yes when it comes to any adventure under the sun or moon. I no longer think of what I gave up to move across the whole country to prance about with him; I count my lucky stars that we did.
One of my older brothers recently texted me, “We need Hercules today.” This is a guy who spends most days standing in front of the United Nations in New York City with a sign that reads, Peace. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or if everyone is in agreement, but Disney just launched a whole new cruise ship dedicated to heroes, featuring Hercules, and after a three day float around the Bahamas, I would add my resounding yes, a true hero is exactly what we all need. For as Zeus told us, “A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but the strength of his heart.” We lucky ones know someone who fits this definition; I am so grateful that for me it is my younger brother who not only voiced the Disney Hercules but let me tag along on his working holiday aboard the Disney Destiny.
If you are privileged enough not to know anyone whose SNAP benefits were cut or has been working for weeks unpaid or suffering any indignities caused by the Republican lead government shutdown, then I guess you should call yourself lucky. You clearly live in a different America than I do. Oddly enough, the Brothers Grimm fairytale, The Fisherman and his Wife was echoing around in my mind this week. According to Wikipedia, this tale of greed was collected by the brothers in 1812, and is considered an anti-fairytale due to its tragic ending. Like most Waldorf school moms, I read this story to my young children, but due to decades teaching Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse the haunting images of the angry sea in the fairytale have stayed with me as Woolf wove the two stories together. It is the Greed with a capital G of the White House that is stirring this cautionary fairytale back into my consciousness.
Nine Cent Girl 