The Big "W"

One of the most often asked questions I get on this journey is, simply, "Why?" Why am I doing this...what is the end that I see...and some other variations of the same theme.

I have no single good answer, just as you probably don't have a single motivator in most of the major life directions you all travel. More like a succession of incidents, reminders, sudden thoughts, experiences and conversation, with your mind firmly in the universal subconscious where all thought and creativity resides, and, voila, an idea is born that you just cannot ignore or silence.

One of the many reasons I am on this "quest" is to recognize the value of each and every human being represented on each and every memorial, no matter how small. I'm not talking about just the veterans among the fallen who may or may not be named, but the families left behind, the communities who have lost a valuable part of their extended family, those courageous people who stood up and, through their pain, passion and creativity have worked through the puzzle of the how and where how much to erect even the smallest of remembrances.

After going through such small towns as Wiota, Wisconsin and Wheaton, IL this week and seen, for myself how easy it is to miss a small installation and how, after a time, they just seem to blend into the scenery like another rock, or bush or tree, how many local people even recognize them for what they are and what they represent.

Not all are easy to spot. There are some brass plaques firmly planted on freeway overpasses visible to those rushing from place to place during their workdays. There are plaques on the walls of libraries and city halls/courthouses that, over time, become part of the furniture. There are single stones that were once on well traveled paths that now have been overshadowed by ever expanding foliage, redevelopment of the area or just plain neglect. Every one of these, no matter how small, I consider to be on sacred ground and well worthy of a visit and a prayer


 If I can call attention to them even for a moment, I feel I have done a good thing. Blessings to you all.