I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony

I used to be so naive. Sometimes I wonder what happened to that girl and sometimes I am amazed that I don't own acres of Florida swamp land.

I remember in my late teens and early twenties I actually believed that one day our world would live in peace. I believed it with all my heart.

I wasn't all that well educated then and didn't get bogged down with politics. I was busy taking care of three little kids and just living day by day. By the mid sixties when we were finally committed to Vietnam I had no in-depth knowledge of why we were there. I think my thought then was we would just win the Vietnam war, convert all the communist and live happily ever after. Did I mention that I was naive? I'm glad reality didn't set in all at once. I don't think I could have taken it if someone had said to me "The world will never live in peace, it's impossible."

Part of my awakening came after I met and married my now husband. Being older and wiser by fifteen years, he brought to me a different perspective of many things. He came from a different generation, a different part of the country, had fought in Korea and had been just about everywhere I thought I always wanted to go. The first thing he taught me was to have an opinion of my own, even when later he didn't like it (just a little humor there).

Since we came from different generations and different backgrounds we disagreed on a lot of the things from politics, race and religion to the Beatles and Saturday Night Live. We had some humdingers, that's for sure, and I don't think he would admit that I ever won an argument, but I won, because with each heated discussion I learned a little more about how the world really is. Not always by taking his word for things but by paying attention and finally realizing that we all have a responsibility to take an interest in what really goes on around us.

I thank God that I have continued to grow and care about people and our world. I've been so blessed to be surrounded by friends and family that have encouraged me to broaden my knowledge and mentored me along the way. I've turned into a borderline political junkie. My book shelves are full of political books most of which are liberal based, because I remain a liberal even when the majority of my family and friends are far to the right. They love me anyway.

Of course I now know that if we had no wars, no disease, no caste system, the world would not hold us all. I am no longer naive, but that doesn't mean I have given up hope for what I wish the world could be.

I'd like to see the world for once
All standing hand in hand
And hear them echo through the hills, "Ah, peace throughout the land"
(I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, recorded by The New Seekers)

And that my friends, is why I used to sign my posts with . . .
May love and peace be with you.