Keep Moving

The flight attendant with perfect eyes and long curled hair was on her way back to Boise from a layover in New York. Although she wasn’t working, she had greeted me warmly in a soft, smooth voice, as I took the seat next to her on the aircraft. I was on my way back to Colorado from Buffalo myself and we both were headed to Denver.

After spending ten days traveling from Milwaukee to Kentucky (for the bourbon tours) to Dayton to Cincinnati to Niagara to Erie I was ready to be back home. But, that didn’t mean that the journey was over. There was still time for one last awe-striking moment. And, it wasn’t mine. It was hers. As we took off (finally emancipated from the dreaded Chicago airport) she gazed out the window in admiration, stammering to herself (and to me), “Planes are miracles.”

It is a statement that has been echoed for a century. But, coming from her, after all of her trips—for her to be able to see flight anew—that was something. Maybe, just maybe, it was enough to remind me that no matter how mundane or dull or futile my own world becomes, it’s worth seeing it anew—as a miracle—time and again every single day. | July 2nd, 2021 | GJ

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On the plane here, I had finished Joe Biden’s roughly one-year-long autobiography called "Promise Me, Dad.” It is the story of why he had finally chosen to opt out of the 2016 presidential election. Through heart-felt and meaningful words on the death of his beloved son, Beau, it became obvious that his family would always come first.

Frankly, I have no way of knowing if Joe, in fact, had penned these words himself or if he had hired a ghost-writer. But, part of me wanted to believe that he had taken the time to sit down and reflect over every single word of his grief-filled journey alone.

The reason I had picked up his book in the first place was because he had just won the 2020 election and I wanted to know who he actually was—Why was this his time? What had kept him moving? Why did he actually give a damn? I felt as if I didn’t know him. But, I wanted to.

What I hadn’t realized before starting his book (around Thanksgiving, 2020) was that with all of the despair and politics and crisis of the year (COVID), I had given into alcoholism, isolation, and darkness (just as so many others had), causing my own personal light to flicker dimly on and off… so I needed his story of hope.

I hadn’t voted for Uncle Joe. But, the persistence of an Irish Catholic family was good medicine. “Being with them [through Joe's memoir] was like flying in the eye of a storm.” “Family was an essential escape.” Biden’s own words encouraged me to “Have a purpose.”

While Vice President, he reflected, “In spite of all that, in spite of position and standing, I was incapable of doing the thing I most wanted to do… slow down that Master Clock.” We met each other in weakness.

Yet, as I reflect on those words alone here in the beautiful December weather of Key West, sipping on “Crazy Lady”—a beer made with island’s own honey--I realize that I have found my own personal way of doing just that… stopping that clock.

Joe had mentioned that he had wrote in his journal almost every single day. He (as well as his son, Beau) never gave up… they kept going (in memory and in legacy) even after his son’s final breaths. Joe had never lost hope or home base. Whether or not I agree with him politically… That inspires me. That gives me hope.

Today at Papa’s Pilar Rum Distillery, where I tasted the best rum I have had in my entire life, two signs struck me: “Biographies don’t write themselves.” And, “Live a life that outlives you.”

I have done so much in my life already… with little to no record of it: Hiking valleys, seeing ghost towns, caring for the dying, loving the world, and those around me. Here it seems fitting (in the land of Hemmingway) to begin to start jotting it down.

So, as the sun sets over the Southernmost tip of America and I am full of a day well done, I write to you. The wind breezes through the palms, a fountain trickles nearby, my heart is content. And, I pray my life and these words will inspire you to love where you are and find joy in serving those around you. | December 29th, 2020 | KW