Damn.... I don't know where to begin. I think I felt just about every emotion reading this post. The poem was so beautifully written and I can tell it is not something that was thrown together in haste.
When I first started reading the article itself I found it humorous how the Founding Fathers spent so much time drinking prior to writing the Constitution. I am going back to school right now and I have found that I perform better on tests when I have had a few drinks. My school papers are a lot more interesting as well. I managed to write my final Ethics and Values paper and get my point across in 1.5 pages when the minimum was 5 and I still ended up getting an A-.
Once I got to the end of the article about you reading Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address, the tone shifted from comical to very heavy hearted for me. I was in the military for 10 years and spent the majority of it deployed away from my family in combat zones. I know the feelings that he felt as he wrote those words. My life has been impacted forever because of my experiences and I truly hope that my children never have to experience any of it.
Thank you for your service and for the amazing post.
@derangedvisions,
This is the kind of post Cryptogee is looking for ... and me too. Beautifully written, perfectly edited and expressing an insight and sincerity that's hard to miss.
There's something about having been in the military, that cannot be explained to those who have not.
My 16-year-old daughter and I spent 5 minutes riffing about your comment. She's been inspired by your technique! "Harvard, here I come! ... Burp!"
I read your post about your layover in Istanbul. You're right about the kids. It's too bad you didn't have longer to explore. Istanbul, if you're into history, has got to be one of the most fascinating cities on Earth. I'll go back and read through the rest of your posts a bit later ( I'm ... a bit busy at the moment!)
Thank you for your service and for the amazing comment.
Let's keep in touch.
I am glad you appreciated my comment. Tell your daughter that she is too young to start employing my techniques. I am actually prepping myself right now for some school work by having a rum and coke while I type this, lol. I have to summarize a script for a documentary and there is no way I would be able to make it through 46 pages without some liquid motivation.
Thank you for taking the time to read through some of my other posts, I really appreciate that. That short time I spent in Istanbul was amazing. The first night we were there was awesome. The hotel the airline put us up in was having a wedding party out in the courtyard and it was filled with a few hundred people, a live band, people dancing, smoking hookah and just having a great time. We were able to just be thrown into the culture headfirst and it was such an amazing experience. Then the next morning, I saw those children and saw a different part of Istanbul that has stuck with me, that I have dubbed, The Forgotten Children.
After the time I spent in Africa I came home a changed person. Before I left, I was somewhat of a "damaged" person, with a mind tormented from my experiences from war and my time as a law enforcement officer (another time and another post), but when I came home, I had a new purpose and a renewed outlook on life. I had realized that even though I had grown up traveling the world, my wife and kids had never experienced life outside of America, which I felt was a disservice to them, because there is so much more to this world. We are now planning on moving to Thailand when I graduate and helping "The Forgotten Children" of the world. I want to show my kids and my wife the beauty that this world has to offer.
I am hoping that this comment makes some sense to you and anyone else who is taking the time to read it. By now I am starting to feel a little tipsy so the words start to flow freely, which can either be a good or a bad thing depending on how you view it. This may have been how I was able to write my 5 page paper in a page and a half, or this could just be rambling nonsense, but in my mind, it made sense, I'm not sure if my hands cooperated with typing out what my mind was saying though.
@derangedvisions,
I hear you brother.
Africa puts things in perspective, doesn't it? Strangely, despite all the hardship and trauma, I still find it to be the most spiritual place on Earth. I used to say (before having a child), that if I had a terminal illness, I would return to Africa to die. Out on the Savannah. The circle of life. There is something about the rawness of the continent that is ... more honest.
A little piece of advice from one soldier to another, and, I suspect, one poet to another: Don't try to save the whole world, it will crush you. Do your part and have faith that others will do theirs.
Thank you for your advice. Have a great night brother. I never did make it to my script, I drunk blogged a post about my photography and PTSD instead and then had an awesome conversation with some other people on here. This Steemit community is great and I am glad to be a part of it and have met a lot of great people. I'll talk to you later.