Today, in my lifetime, an African-American president of the United States is visiting Cuba. This is the same lifetime that lived through the missile crisis and witnessed, via media mere decades old, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Last week, the US president and his wife hosted our prime minister, who is the son of the prime minister who brought into being two official languages for Canada, English and French. That enactment opened us to an era of tolerance and diversity for which Canadians are known and admired around the planet. Reputation isn’t everything, but the first thought we think about any one thing is first for a reason.
World events do not define me. Happiness does. So does freedom, which includes the power to look beyond my first reaction if that reaction displeases me. The further this life unfolds, the more I choose to focus on changes for the good. The more I focus on changes for the good, the more goodness I see. We are surrounded by it.
Happy Spring, everyone!
Oceantics 
As an American of Cuban and African American ancestry (among others), it’s a historic day indeed, and it’s wonderful to feel a little bit better about being American despite the mishigas going on around us. I’m always grateful Canada is our friend, one who exerts a positive influence by example. Happy Spring.
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Mandy, it is so cool that you have Afro-Cuban blood in your veins. Yes, the craziness could get to us all if we let it, but as an American, you have a lot to be proud of. Your country’s going to come through this, blazing and proud. I’m happy to be your friend and neighbor. Happy Spring to you, too! 🙂
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The minister this morning (our new minister, in fact) calls this tumultuous and concerning time a breaking down so we can break open and then break through. 🙂
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I believe that, too. I also remember with great affection your former Finnish minister and his warm wisdom. Life IS good…and way strange.
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And, thankfully, Jon is still with us. He now has assistance with a second minister who has been accepted with great affection. We love her already! Life *is* good and strange and unpredictable.
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