The Wall

Reflecting on our current “emergency” wall debate while reading some of my past published stuff, I was drawn to an earlier piece that shared an experience, the memory of two classmates whose roots were south of the border, and an emotional visit to another wall.

The Wall

I’d anticipated my trip to Washington DC for about a year. As my flight out of LAX grew closer, my excitement grew exponentially. Flying somewhere over Illinois, I was overcome with emotion (I was clueless about my feelings as they surfaced; it was far from the first time.)

And I’ve never been the biggest flag waver on the block, even though I’ve always been full of pride and love for our country.

Back in The Day, I was the right age to be sent to Vietnam, courtesy of Uncle Sam. But my educational path afforded me a luxury some of my high school buddies didn’t have; today, I had the chance to visit two them at the Vietnam Memorial.

On a gray drizzling afternoon, I found two familiar names out of the 55,000 or so on a long black marble wall just to the side of the Lincoln Memorial. And it’s almost impossible to imagine the power of emotion generated by that wall.

Just thinking about Victor and Xavier and the void left by their deaths brought up all kinds of guilt, anger, and sadness. Seeing their names on that wall and knowing they were all of 18 and 21 years old and that they were nice guys with dreams just like mine made acceptance difficult…and probably always will.

When I think of two friends and try to quantify the loss of a full life ahead of them, it makes it a lot easier for me to remain in at least thoughtful communication with all the people I already miss or would miss forever.

Last night, touring through Washington DC, images kept flashing in my mind. When I closed my eyes, I saw them again, coming from the past- family, friends, colleagues…and ghosts. And I wondered what the world would look like if leaders more often chose communication over conflict; listening over reacting. I also wondered what my life would be if I practiced what the night’s life lesson preached.

Crossing the Potomac yesterday afternoon, I saw President Kennedy and RFK at Arlington. And I wondered what the world would be like today if JFK and Senator Kennedy had been here sharing life with us just a little longer. I thought the same when I stood where Reverend King delivered “I have a dream.”

Visiting the FDR Memorial, I was in awe of the Greatest Generation- my parents’ generation.

As we rode the tour bus up Pennsylvania Avenue back to the hotel last night, I saw the beautiful glow of the Capitol Dome. And I pictured my mom, dad, my brother Jay and I together again in our little living room watching Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington;” and it felt like we were sharing the screen.

I think I’ll hang onto that last image just a little longer.