As Time Goes By

By TAD BARTIMUS

When we take our national pulse and find it beating ever faster with fear and dread, it's tempting to think Osama bin Laden has won. The Bush Administration appears determined to declare war on Iraq. The stock market continues its downward spiral. Military reservists are shipping out to the Middle East. Our spouse is losing his job and our kids can't get one. Our savings and retirement nest egg have imploded. Eleven security officers check our hair dryer at the airport. Parents are afraid to take their kids to Disneyland. We turn on the television and radio in the morning with the same caution we'd use to handle a live grenade because North Korea's bellicose blustering and Iraq's stonewalling dominate the airways.

Surrounded by such ambient gloom, it's easy to forget that babies are being born, birthdays celebrated and weddings planned. Such small pleasures and distractions are not reported on Fox, commented upon at CNN or analyzed by PBS. But the blessings and trials of daily life are what will carry us through the hard days we know are ahead. To lift our depression about the drastic, fundamental changes in the American way of life, we need to put down the remote, stand up from our recliners and get on with our lives.

That is what Jo and Al have decided to do. Jo is a 70-year-old widow who lost her husband 30 years ago. She raised six children, dotes on 13 grandchildren, runs her own clothing business and was sure she'd spend the rest of her life alone. Al is 80, a widower who lost his wife last year and never dreamed he'd find another mate to love.

On March 16, Jo and Al will be married during the Sunday morning service at their church. They have invited all their children, grandchildren and friends to witness the joining of their lives at this precarious time.

Why, given their ages and Jo's history of mini-strokes, and with the world on the brink of a war with unknown consequences, did the couple decide to take such a leap of faith into the unknown?

"We grow up being told that life is brief," Jo said. "When you get to be our age, you realize just how short it is. We've both known what it is to be happy, and what it is to be sad; happy is better. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, it is. We decided to take action to make ourselves happy."

Jo has found the key to get out of that very dark, scary place into which Al Qaeda has plunged us all. Polls show that four-fifths of Americans believe going to war with Iraq will provoke another terrorist attack on our country. With so many Islamic radicals determined to destroy "the infidels," such future attacks seem inevitable.

That's why we shouldn't ridicule Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge when he urges us to continue with our routines. He's right; he just didn't go far enough with his advice. Jo and Al do: "Seize every opportunity you can to embrace joy," they say. "You'd be crazy not to."

© 2003 The Women Syndicate

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