Best of Times, Worst of Times
By bert on February 14, 2009 at 5:00 PM in Current Affairs
You know, sometimes we political junkie types get so wrapped up in politics and current events we forget there is other news and other things taking place in the world.
The great English writer Charles Dickens opens his magnificent novel A Tale of Two Cities, a love story set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, with the following sentence:
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…….”
So it is now.
We often forget that even in the worst of times during war, famine, recession, depression, meltdowns, etc., that the human spirit is strong and flourishes, survives, and often reaches new heights of kindness, love, and selflessness.
We need to remember that previous generations have faced crisis and have survived. I believe we have to keep that kind of spirit alive in our own minds, hearts, and lives if we are to survive whatever this latest crisis will bring.
So with that in mind, I share two recent news stories with you that I hope lift your spirits and help you remember that human beings can be incredibly loving, thoughtful, kind, and generous even though times are bad.
Story One: Koala Bear Saved In Australian Fire
We all love koala bears. They are so cute and cuddly. However, koalas have very sharp claws they use to climb into the trees. A human could not normally approach them or even touch them in their natural habitat because they are wild. But this koala, like a lot of humans dealing with the massive Australian fires, evidently had just had too much trauma. She needed comfort.
The Volunteer firefighter saw her and said she just sat there as if to say “I’m beat!” He gave her water……….. She drank three bottles!! During the encounter the koala bear reached out her paw to the firefighter first and kept it there as she drank water from a plastic bottle.
He had to leave her, because the firefighters were called out to defend another property, but she was picked up a few minutes later by Wildlife rescue workers.
She is doing very well, all bandaged for her burns and on pain killers, and she has caught the eye of a male koala at the same place where she is recuperating.
Story Two: 40 Years Worth of Thanks
From the Boston Globe: “The firefighter crawled on his stomach through the pitch-black apartment, the smoke so thick he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. Somewhere inside was a baby and he had to find her.
“A window broke, light filled the room, and he saw her lying in her crib, dressed only in a diaper, unconscious. Soot covered her tiny nose. She wasn’t breathing and had no pulse.
“He grabbed her and breathed life into her as he ran from the apartment.
“A newspaper photograph captured their image – a white firefighter from South Boston with his lips pressed to the mouth of a black baby from the Roxbury public housing development – at a time when riots sparked by racial tensions were burning down American cities.”
He saved her life. But the firefighter never saw the child again. That is untill now, 40 years later in a reunion that will surely touch your heart.
You can read the entire story here with video of their reunion.
As I said, it is the best of times; it is the worst of times. We will survive.
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