Heroes and anti-heroes

I am afraid I have been gone too long! I must apologize for my absence. It has been a while and I have been busy. (That's always my excuse, isn't it.) Busy doing the things about which I blog but just not having the time to blog them!

I went to the best party ever last Saturday with my book club friends. It was at a cool apartment and we had Mexican food and a pinata! I got the prize! My favorite part, though, was that there were enough people that you didn't have to sit around and talk to the same ones all night, but not too many that it was overwhelming or claustrophobic. Just right. I liked it a lot. I want more parties to be like that.

Then on Monday night, instead of book club we went to an anti-hate concert for free at the Kennedy Center (which is amazing and HUGE by the way). They recognized 4 heroes at the concert, all of whom were actually there in the audience. Great experience. One was the guy who helped the "woman in the mask" during the London Underground bombings. Another was the Iraqi who helped rescue Jessica Lynch from the POW camp where she was held--he risked his life like 3 times crossing enemy lines and fighting off rebels (I feel like that's not a PC term but I can't think of a better one...go English major skills--out the window!). The last was the lawyer who reopened a case against a preacher who helped orchestrate the murders of three civil rights activists in the 60s.

The most incredible hero story, though, was about the man who survived for two years in a concentration camp and came to the U.S. and signed up to be a soldier to repay the Americans who saved him. He went to the Korean War and ended up a POW and imprisoned again, but this time for 2 and 1/2 years and all the while he escapes every night to break into a Korean storehouse to steal food for his fellow inmates. I mean, who does that?! Only the bravest. It is both heartening and discouraging to hear a story like this. Heartening because it is nice to know people like this exist, but discouraging because I don't think enough of them do. I mean, what would I do if I were in that kind of situation? I'm pretty sure I'd curl up and cry.

Although, it does feel like a war-zone around here sometimes. I had a rough day today and did a lot of thinking. One of the major things I realized is that I don't like having to go around trying to please people all the time (at work, at the house) when I don't feel appreciated or respected. I would do almost anything to keep my friends and family happy, but I've gotta draw the line somewhere. I'm not really going to go into details because you never really know who will read this...but I will write up a form letter and whoever wants it can ask. Haha :-).

Speaking of family, though, I'm going to be at home for Thanksgiving in less than a week!!! I can't wait! I'm so excited to see the family and some friends and hopefully some remnants of the fall leaves. And to smell the crispy warm wood fire in the stove and the deliciousness of turkey and dressing in the oven. I. Love. It.