Am I Worth It?

"Dear Lord, lest I continue my complacent way, help me to remember that somewhere, somehow out there a man died for me today. As long as there be war, I then must ask and answer, 'Am I worth dying for?'" - A wartime prayer by Eleanor Roosevelt

When this Global War on Terrorism started the front page of every paper in America would have news of a soldier dying. Now, try and find it. Go ahead. Leaf through your paper and see if you can find their names. If it was someone that lived or graduated high school in your newspaper's readership area, then yes, you will find it on the front page. "Local Soldier Dies."
I live near a major Navy base that employs young men that do the most dangerous job in the Navy. The are Navy SEALS. Even among those of us that are also in the Navy - they stand out. They carry themselves differently, look differently and are respected differently. They are respected greatly. Because of this, the front page news is that someone that served on my base was killed. They are from this base which makes them from here. In the past month we lost three SEALS. Two of them were Chiefs. All under 30 years old. I might have known them. Seen them at the bowling alley with their family, the commissary (grocery store) or in line at the personnel department getting an ID card. It didn't hit really hard until last week.
Last Friday, a dreary drizzly day, I saw a sign that said "SEAL Memorial." I thought it was a memorial service at the Chapel. It was more than that - it was a funeral. I drove by the base Chapel on my way to work out at the gym and I saw something I will never forget. Even now I tear up at the thought.
There in front of the Chapel was a hearse and behind the hearse were eight Navy Chiefs lined up on either side of the gurney for the casket. They stood there in the steady rain, waiting. They were wearing their dress blues which looks like a black double breasted suit with a white shirt and black tie. They wore their white dress hats with black brims. In the rain. On the sleeves of their jackets were their rating badges (rank insignia patch) and they were gold. To wear gold means they have over 12 years of good conduct. On their sleeves were the gold hash marks indicating years of service. Most of them had over 4 hash marks (16 years of service). They stood in the rain doing what SEALS do. The job that no one else wants to do. The hard job.
Navy SEALS don't see the signs that say, "Bring Our Troops Home!" and think the signs refer to them. For the SEAL it's about the mission. Everyone in the Navy has a mission. But not like the SEALS. They train, eat, drink, live and die the mission. They are totally focused and doing a job. They volunteered to be SEALS and went through the hardest training the military has to offer. Most don't make through the training. Those that do - wanted it more.
Last week three Navy SEALS were remembered for their final mission. And there will be more.
We need to remember them and remain worthy.

When there's Nothing on...

The movie mommy's guide to surviving the TV writers' strike and the aftermath.

"250 channels and nothing on." Truer words have not been spoken until this writers' strike and it will be a month before anything new comes on now that it is over. In general it is hard to find something worthy of a few nightly hours of your life. I have several favorite shows I adore but otherwise the TV can be relagated to being the "idiot box."
Since the strike it has been tedious. Even my favorite shows are airing episodes I have already seen - several times. And movie rentals are also lacking - except for an incredible bright spot like Sunshine and the suprising Eastern Promises. Let's face it...something needs to be done.
By calendar and coincidence TV is not a total loss this month! Here's why...
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is showing it's month long salute to the Oscar's. Everyday it pays tribute to an Oscar category by showing movies that have been either nominated for or won that award. Gems like It Happened One Night, The Quiet Man, Roman Holiday, Hello Dolly!, On Golden Pond, Some Like It Hot, Stalag 17, The Dirty Dozen, Gone With the Wind and Poltergiest to name a few. It Happened One Night was especially enjoyable to watch. My husband had never seen it and I was afraid it would be too old and corny for him. But the physical comedy and constant witty banter is enough to make anyone have a belly laugh. It is an often immitated but never duplicated classic that has rarely been topped in the romantic comedy genre (as it is now known). Any one of the above named movies are enough to make you forget that there was anything else worth tuning into. Check TV Guide for more.
Believe it or not, HBO is actually showing some great stuff! HBO is usually worthless with the exception of the sports related news programming and live boxing. In the past month HBO has been showing A Good Year, ALL the Star Wars movies, The Devil Wears Prada, The Lake House, Hollywoodland, Superman Returns, American Beauty, King Kong (recent), The Sentinal, The Last Mimsy, V for Vendetta, Take The Lead and Dreamgirls to name a few. Some of those might also be to your taste. I can recommend all of them. And there are others that I am not into but you may not have seen.
Between TCM and HBO, I really haven't had to do much renting. Because there actually IS something on tonight!