I just watched the remains of John Robert Lewis carried to a horse-drawn caisson by a military honor guard, then over the bridge where he was beaten nearly to death, as he knelt to pray, by Alabama State Troopers 55 years ago. Along the route people sang spirituals and shouted “Thank you!” The bridge was strewn with rose petals to symbolize the blood shed there in the name of human rights.
At the end of the bridge, when the caisson passed the near the spot where John Lewis was so savagely brutalized, several Alabama State Troopers stood at attention and saluted. I have no idea if this was a simple coincidence, but I certainly hope not.
I purposely did not name the bridge, because it is is named after a man who was an enthusiastic supporter of slavery and later the grand dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. There is a movement to rename that bridge after John Lewis, and I pray that will come to pass.
As I watched that carriage, with the driver standing and holding his black top hat over his heart, there was one overwhelming idea that I felt myself and heard the commentators express in various ways. John Lewis adhered to the principles of nonviolent protest and put his body and even his life in harms way many times. He did this to move our country toward equality and true freedom for all of us, not just the ones who look a certain way. We as a country are fortunate that he survived those times to become an elder, who then led us so effectively for so many years.
Now John Lewis has made the transition from elder to ancestor, a role in which he will serve as a guiding light for generations to come. And I feel lucky to be alive while men like this walked among us.
Farewell, Congressman.
When we first moved to our lake here in Michigan, there was a yearly event called Winterfest. Aside from Christmas, this was hands-down the best part of that long, gray, slush-up-your-pant-leg, toe-numbing, car-door-rotting, sniffles-producing chunk of our year that Winterfest is named after.
This one’s not going to be funny.
Some of my friends spend their extra time and money abandoning their comfortable homes to spend weekends in small tents filled with mosquitos and sweaty children. They call this “camping.” The idea of leaving your 60” high-def television behind and
Cash. Remember the stuff?
Up to now I’ve been holding off on writing about the passing of Senator John McCain, largely because there is not much anyone can say about him that hasn’t already been eloquently said.
How often is it that one word can completely change the way you feel? Say it with me:
I finally got an iPhone. Mind you, I didn’t get the trendy new iPhone 5 – the only model I could afford without hitting the lottery was a creaky old iPhone 4s. This means I will have to make do with a severely antiquated phone that lost its status as most advanced technology in the world nearly three weeks ago.
When I was a kid I had a sort-of girlfriend called Catnip Catie. Her name came from the fact that she always kept her personal supply of Whacky Wonder Weed hidden in her cat’s toys. Mind you, this was back in the olden days, before you could get a Prescription for legal Whacky Wonder Weed to treat your case of Restless Leg Syndrome.