Hate and hope

I was with my daughter strolling through the Texas Book Festival when I heard about the shooting in Pittsburg. Heart-broken. I just had a glimpse of hope, that there might be a place for me – like Ng and other published writers of late, to add to the American experience. ( I was also observing that White American population started to dwindle, hence newly arrived immigrants both contribute to the coffer and the richness of this  ideal called America.)

Maybe this showdown will force a dialogue, a debate and a decision (personal and collective) to root out violence as an easy solution to a complex evolution. An evolution from Hamilton to Trump, Ben Franklin to Ben Bernanke: America, land of the free, but not idle. We invent things, fix things and sell things. We publish newspapers, sell newspapers and send them over the wire “Mr Watson, come here! I need you” said Alexander Graham Bell.

America just wants to make a buck. A penny saved is a penny earned.

Everyone is a customer, a friend and a neighbor. We all came from somewhere else. Know any Native American? See. We need translators and transistors.

We are not going to crawl back into the cave, or back to any original country.

We are here to pursue happiness and help others do the same.

Dreams do come true (ask the South Carolinian who bought Mega Million last week).

Dreams do come true for Obama ( for Sugar Land, it was bitter not sweet given its sad history, but together we shall overcome). American problems have mostly been good problems. If you looked at them from other lens. Other continents and countries all have their dark days. We were once nomads in search of meals and meaning. Yes, we will be placed to rest. All things shall pass. But before then, let’s see if we can move civilization forward, and not back.

I missed that Thanksgiving meal in Pittsburg. Carol Jean Hawk invited us ( Penn State roommates) to her home. Her dad was an engineer and I still remembered his well wishing words to me, to us. “Through it all” we are going to learn to rely on one another. To get through this weekend, this year, this life. In pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.

It’s not the place. It’s the people who make or break things. Let’s embrace the goodness in man (and woman). We are here to build, to thrive and maybe to soar if we are not in each other’s way.

Sure, White’s population is dwindling. But in its place, new hope and new colors are giving birth, enriching the American experience with new texture and tone.

It’s been well-worth the journey and all those dreaming. Hell Yes, I will go, again and again. To Penn State, to Pittsburg and beyond.  Fall foliage are beautiful and reminders of life’s changing  hues and tapestry. Today, 11 leaves fell in Pittsburg, and it saddened my heart.