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Tag: end of the world

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If You Could Take One Thing With You…

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So, as you’re well aware, especially if you live somewhere that the six o’clock doomsday hour has already passed, God saw fit to spare us miserable mortals for the time being, allowing us yet another day to mess things up.  Well, damn.  I had an awesome outfit chosen for the looting party I’ve been invited to on Facebook for the day after, when those of us not among the chosen were going to get us a five finger discount on some HD TV.

But, let’s just say today HAD been the day.  And on your way up to Heaven, God said, “Choose one thing from your life on earth – not something living, because frankly, I don’t do diapers, I don’t walk dogs, and I don’t want to have to set yet another place at the dinner table – and bring it with you.  It’ll be nice to have that memory of home, and it will reduce the chances you’ll moan and complain about your accommodations or the food if you have something to keep you company.”

What are you bringing?

I’ve thought long and hard about all of my worldly possessions.  I have photographs that I cherish, jewelry that I love, books that I would never want to be without.  It’s been really tough to decide on just one thing, but after much thought, I’ve chosen my item.

I’m taking my pink Walt Disney World Moms Panel jacket.

I know – I hate pink, for the most part, so why would I want to spend eternity with only a pink jacket?

Here’s the rationale:

Disney World is where I have some of the most wonderful memories of my family.  Brighid as chef of the day at the Crystal Palace when she was four; Eilis learning to walk at EPCOT when she was a year old; Granuaile at 8 months old looking directly into the eyes of the Santa at Downtown Disney; and my honeymoon with the one and only true love of my life.  The jacket will remind me of the holidays we spent at Disney World, the occasions we celebrated, the meals we all ate together, laughing and joking – not worrying about cheerleading practice or dance classes or a scout meeting.

The jacket will also remind me that I was a competent and qualified enough writer that I was able to write answers that helped at least a few people plan a vacation that would give them some of the same wonderful feelings I get when I think of my cherished family Disney memories.  I can say that being on the Moms Panel was a true highlight of my 46 years on earth (okay, the end of the world is surely coming now – I’ve put my age out there in print!).

And the jacket is a symbol of the friendships I’ve made.  The weekend that I got that jacket, I met the 15 people who will be friends for life.  They are the people with whom I bonded more quickly than I have ever bonded with anyone else (except Jim).  When I look at the jacket, I will think of when we met; our weekend in Chicago; my visit with Joanne in NYC; Margaret’s birthday weekend at WDW.  And I will cherish every Facebook conversation, text message, and Tweet that we’ve shared.  Not to mention the bonus friends I’ve made as a result of being on the Moms Panel – Moms Panel Erin, Jud, Anthony, the other Moms Panel members, and those Skurvy Monkeys.

So, while I rarely ever wear the jacket; pink is not my color; and I would hope that I could find the darn thing in an instant if God said I could take it with me, the one thing I would want to depart from this mortal soil with is my jacket.  And all the memories that come with it.

 

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It’s the End of the World….Or Is It?

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Thank you, Steve MacCall-Carter, for giving me something to think about this week besides my upcoming classes on Anatomy and Physiology, which I am surely going to struggle with.

Steve brought up the pending end of the world, making me think I should stop paying my bills, pack my bags for the best cruise I can book at the last minute, and forget the worries of A&P I and II – I won’t need to know where your thigh bone is connected to if the world truly does end.

So, there are a couple of theories floating around.  According to one source, we’re all going to be judged on May 21st, 2011 (what does one wear to a judgement, anyway?  Do you think Beatrice and Eugenie are lending out those fascinating fascinators they wore to the royal wedding?); and then five months later, God is going to destroy the planet Earth.

Another theory is giving us until December, 2012 to get our act together, get our affairs in order (although, with no one left behind to tend to those affairs, who the hell cares what you’re leaving me in your will?), and start living life as though you deserve to be one of the chosen few allowed through the pearly gates.

Keep in mind that I’m Catholic, and as such, there are no requirements to actually read the Bible in my religion – only that I sit quietly each Sunday and holy day and have the bits deemed important read to me.  So if I’m off on my basis in religious fact, well, sue me.

But doesn’t it say right there in the Bible

But as for that day and hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father alone.

Hmmm.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but it would seem that none of the Doomsday prophets are claiming to be God – which means that the chances of them having some sort of inside knowledge of the coming of the end of the earth would be somewhere between slim and none.

Here’s the deal, my friends.  Live life every day as if it were your last day.  That doesn’t mean spend the mortgage money on that new Jaguar convertible so you can tool around town with your broke ass self until the repo man comes and collects on the unpaid car loan.  That sets up the scenario where Mr. Wells Fargo will knock on your door and politely tell you that the house you love is his, and he wants it back.

What it means is be freakin’ nice to each other.  Whether you believe in God or not, learn to be tolerant, patient, and accepting of each other.  Know that just because I go to Church on THAT corner, it doesn’t make me any less your human sibling because you go to Church on the OTHER corner.  It doesn’t matter what happy bits the person I climb into bed with has – what matters is that when I get out of bed in the morning, I don’t walk all over someone who is down on their luck, begging for some spare change; and I don’t ridicule someone for their disability; and I don’t disassociate from someone I like because they don’t have the same religious beliefs that I do.  And yes, I did call them happy bits.

Just learn to get along.  It’s true – everything you DO need to know about life, you probably did learn in kindergarten.  Remember this one – When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.  It’s that stick together part that we all seem to have forgotten.

Maybe the Apocalypse predictors should take a lesson from kindergarten.  Now, more than ever, we need to learn to stick together.  All of us.  If it is the end of the world, we’ll be way less frightened if we’re holding hands and facing it together.  And if it’s not, we’ll all be a whole lot happier.