SEVENTY 70 !!!!!!!!!

        70. Seventy. Whew!! From the standpoint of memory, this seemed almost unimaginable. It was the allotted biblical three score and ten. In my mind, as a little girl, I could not even fathom it. How could someone be seventy? Why that was even older than my grandparents and they were old - or so I thought.
     And yet, thanks to G-d and my parents and friends and medical advancements here I am. And I wonder if the so called other advancements of society are truly that or have we gone the other way, lost something from our essential selves as people, as individuals, as a nation.
     I rode on trolleys and considered it a big treat for no one ran around then on an everyday basis. Too expensive. Too time consuming. One organized. The trolleys were a great treat and to go on a subway? Wow!!! Today people fly all over, casually, and some have even reserved seats on flights to Mars and the moon. Not me on that!
     We used to think with our heads, talk to each other, actually talk face to face rather than keep our heads in a bent position and text, even when sitting next to the person! What is the matter with that picture? I think we have lost part of our humanity in this. We do not talk anymore and as such, as a consequence we forget to look at faces, hear intonations, inflections and truly understand others.
     I remember the Weekly Reader in second grade which spoke of the room size IBM computer and the glories for the future. Now we walk around with teeny little chips in our watches, our phones and ask yourself if this is a real improvement. It seems as if every advancement comes with serious side effects, do they not? Now we can be hacked at a moment's notice, be it our computers, our businesses and governments and even our cars. Not such a great advancement was it?
     And governments. Once upon a time we trusted our government to look out for us, for its citizens. We looked to it for progress and yes, we had a long way to go, but ask yourself if we have gotten better at this or not. Once we instituted governmental programs, a safety net for the needy, the ill, the elderly and yes, it was expensive, but yes, it was necessary and part of being human and advancing ourselves from the caves! We knew who our enemies were, and the USSR was right there, was it not? And we knew how to behave with our enemies and we also had an unwritten contract that neither of the big dudes was going to start that nuclear destruction. Today? Today nutty countries, or rather nutty leaders have the power and yes, even the will, to push that button - and  that includes our own President, our own as a nation, but not mine personally. As said in the movies - "I disavow any knowledge of him!" I only. If only.
     Today we have a partisan country, a tribal country, right along the lines of Afghanistan. We block each other out. We have lost our humanity. We rip apart families, threaten little kids, use them as hostages and that practice is growing even as we stuff more and more into cramped spaces. What the hell is the matter with us? All those years ago I never ever thought of the government that way. Never. Yes, we had the rich, the super wealthy, but they mostly followed the line that to whom much is given, much is demanded. They flocked into governmental service. They took up philanthropy. People looked at each other as people. Today? Answer that yourself.
     We have a President who is crazy. Openly so. He supports our enemy or enemies and screws with our allies. He acts out in the most infantile manner, is barely literate, and behaves as a child with adult powers that are overwhelming. He encourages the loss of help for our citizens, wishing to condemn so many to food insecurity, to no medical care - I guess just die, so less expenses for all. We are closer to the cusp of war than ever in a long time and the clock is close to one minute before midnight.
     We deport pizza delivery guys and doesn't that make us feel safe!!!! No longer do we welcome refugees, new immigrants, fresh ideas, new brains and thinking, new additions to our culture. We have lost the sense of America. We do so much wrong, so much undoing of the progress we have made. What the hell are we doing?
      So here at seventy I take stock and realize that there are two sides to a life- the public and the private. The public one, the one affected by the government is not in such good shape, very unhappy or rather frightened at the future and what it means not so much for me, but for my kids and grandchildren - and yours too. Privately, I love my life. Family, friends, a great husband, a good life and I wonder how long till the public truly impinges on the private and what I will do then. But in the meanwhile I celebrate the landmark of seventy and rejoice and am thankful for what I do have. Amen.