saying goodbye

So I don' t think I can write much tonight. I've had a kind of hard week because things at work have been stressful. There are just those weeks in any job where everyone seems to be stressing out at the same time. I think this week it just happened because we all get a super long weekend because of the 4th of July being on a Monday.

After work today I came home briefly before going out with Sheil friends and in particular my dear friend, Segundo, aka Matt.

He is leaving tomorrow for San Diego where he will be serving our country in the Navy aboard the USS Shiloh. I've known for a year and a half that I was going to have to say goodbye to him when he graduated but when I met him, I didn't know what a good friend he would be. Matt is the kind of guy who has the "worst" jokes which get the most laughs. And groans. I am proud to know him and just pray that God will keep him safe over the next two years of his service.

When I was in highschool, I didn't even imagine I would become friends with people who would serve in the military. I was very close minded about the military and thought it would never be something I would personnally be close to, other than being a citizen of the USA. Which of course is a great lie but that was basically how my anger at Bush and the Iraq war were translated. But now I have quite a few friends serving in several branches of the military - the Army and Navy, a high school friend in the Marines, and another friend from home who will probably join the Air Force ROTC. I no longer think of people serving our nation as strangers to my way of life. They are my peers who may have different opinions and political views than me but they have the same kind of passion which leads me to proclaim my anti-war sentiments and my anger at President Bush. College is a time to change and one of the best educations I am recieving comes from my friends. They are opening my mind every day.

I cried all the way home from Sheil tonight after saying goodbye to Segundo because the few months between now and when he comes to visit in the fall will be full of worry and prayer because our country is at war. I want my favorite propulsion officer to come home safely so I can hear his wonderful jokes and get those fantastic hugs when I'm feeling low. Good luck, Matt!

While we're on the subject of the military, I thought I would update you on my reading list. I finished Agaememnon tonight and am well on my way to working through the rest of the Orestia cycle. I finished reading it when I came home tonight after saying farewell to Segundo so war and such was on my mind. I love Aeschylus and I think Sophocles and Euripedes are going to have to work hard to top his plays. His plays are about personal levels of suffering but more importantly, they are about nation and worldwide suffering and pain. A theme throughout Agaememnon is the precipitation of violence and the unending cycle of war perpetuated by previous actions. Clytemnestra kills Agaememnon who killed Iphgenia in order to make war with the Trojans and kill all of them. Aegisthus helps kill Agaememnon because he is the son of Aesthes (sp?) who killed all of his brother's children (accept Aegisthus) and fed him to him (Thiestes) on a dinner platter and then banished him. In the next parts of the cycle, Orestia will kill Clytemnestra because she killed Agaememnon. If you were able to muddle through that all those greek names, you will have noticed that there is a cause for the brutal violence traced back through generations. Although it appears to just be individuals killing individuals, they represent their nations and subjects. The Chorus constantly reminds us that the acts of these leaders effect everyone down to the poorest slave. It is war and it will continue until one of the players decides to stop the chain, stop the cycle.

I'm not going to draw comparisons because I think the people who read this are smart and can see where I might be going. This is why I fight for peace and nonviolence. We have to start by stopping somewhere.