Coffee With Maddie




In college, when I was in the cafeteria drinking coffee and visiting with my friends, my husband-to-be was in the library reading newspapers. Back in those days we couldn’t jump on the Internet or turn on CNN to see what was happening in the world. If we could position the antenna on the TV “just so,” we could maybe get the news to come in (or All My Children in my case). Newspapers were the avenues to find out about local and world events. To this day, my husband reads the newspaper every day to stay caught up with current events. It just wasn’t a priority for me.

A few years after we’d been married, and my husband had given up trying to get me interested in politics and world events, we made a deal with each other. If anything happened that he thought I absolutely needed to know about, he would give me a call. After twenty years of marriage, he called me for the first time. He called me at my new job on the morning of September 11, 2001. Even though I paid attention to all the news and events surrounding that tragic day, for some reason I didn’t make being informed a habit. I didn’t have a lot of interest in world events until the past few months. What sparked my interest? I have no idea. I’m just thankful the spark got lit!

A number of weeks ago my husband and I went out for brunch together and I asked him, “Honey, do you think I could ever get caught up from all the years I’ve missed - all the years I didn’t pay attention to what was going on?” He said, “Sure, what do you want to know?” For two hours I fired questions at him. He didn’t roll his eyes at me or say “that’s a dumb question” to anything I asked. He knew I was genuinely interested and he was more than happy to share his thoughts with me. He encouraged me to keep asking questions and to start paying closer attention to the news.

This is a whole new ballgame for me. I’ve started reading the newspaper and looking at news sites online, I listen to talk radio and watch the news on television. I’ve learned more in the past 6 weeks than in the past 6 years! If you’re thinking, “That’s pathetic,” I agree! But . . . I’m not gonna beat myself up for it. I’m too interested in getting caught up to waste my time with that type of behavior.

The news of the past couple weeks has been a bit unsettling though. Should I buy duct tape and plastic sheeting or not? One day we’re told that’s a good idea. The next day the fire chief of a nearby major city is on the news saying, “That’s not a good idea.” In one breath the major players are telling us not to panic, but then tell us that if we want to know what to put in an emergency supply kit we can go to www.ready.gov. When Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced the Ready Campaign, he said this: “The threat of terrorism forces us to make a choice: We can be afraid or we can be ready.” As for me right now, I think I’ll be both!

Will I work on being ready? Yes. Will I continue to stay informed even when it frustrates and frightens me at times? Absolutely. The motto I seemingly lived by for so many years, “Ignorance is Bliss,” needs to be gone from my life. Pulitzer Prize winner Will Durant said, “Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m just thankful for the many resources available to help me learn what I want to know!

Until next week . . . God bless you and yours! -Maddie

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Coffee With Maddie: Archive;
Blessings
Magazine Junkie!
Maddie Goes to College
Changes
Let the season begin!
Getting Older!
I'm Getting Fat!
I Love a good book!
Family Games
Manners!
Someone to Love
A Special Anniversary
New Year Goals
My Spinal Tap!
The Book Store
I Salute Our Men in Uniform
Valentine's Day
My Birthday Choices

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About the Author;
Maddie is a dear friend from the Midwest who will touch your heart with her gentle stories of home of family. You can just picture yourself at the kitchen table any early morning with Maddie, a fresh cup of coffee, maybe the smell of bacon in the air, and a log on the fire to take out the chill.

Talk to Maddie at ...
Maddie@boomerjournals.com