Unbroken

It's one of those times where you're trying to reach into your enormous diaper bag with a one year old on your hip, but you can't quite get to the bottom - WHERE THE FREAK ARE MY KEYS. Good thing you only have one shopping bag and you're totally a bad-a who doesn't need to take the cart to her car. The one year old does the bronco, so then you're holding onto her for dear life as she bounces toward the oncoming traffic. It is in that moment of WHERE THE FREAK ARE MY KEYS that you wonder how stupid you can be for not finding them before you walked out of the store or not putting them in the front pocket like you always do, it's in that moment where you want to scream because it's always 98 degrees outside, most likely 120 inside your car. Perhaps it'll even start raining.

Of course my life is awesome in that moment. I have a car that I can drive. I have a daughter. I own so much crap my bag is heavy and instead of wishing for things, I can actually purchase them, well, some of them. And technically, all the frustration in that moment was self-induced. Don't go shopping, or at least not to stores that don't let you bring the cart out. But seriously, if you scream, I'd totally just nod my head and be like, I feel you sister. I feel you.

I just finished Unbroken by Hillenbrand

I borrowed this biography from the library although it's one I'd justify owning as well. It was great. Eye opening. If you want to appreciate your life and believe God's hand is outstretched even if He allows agency to continue in the hellish places on earth, read it. One third of the story explains his childhood through his enlistment, most of which involves running. He was an Olympic runner. But then he became a bombardier at the start of WWII.  As a POW for 3.5 years (I think it was that long), his story is astonishing. When it was all said and done, he was asked to sum up his experience. He stated if he had to do it all over again, he would kill himself. His story was so insane that no one could make that up.  Although books like this make me fear human nature, it ends on a positive note and I feel a little wiser for knowing this man, even if it was from a book. I have a new appreciation for service men, especially those living each day like it could be their last. I'm definitely not brave enough. I would have given up too soon.

I feel for the many wives and mothers who lost young men in those years, the youth zapped out of that era. But at the same time, they were spared the torture that lasted well beyond battle. I can't believe how many lives were spared as just another number. To someone they were not just another number, but to many it was just an expectation. What's 1 in 100,000? And now, decades later, we completely forget their sacrifice. I hate what evils one man can bring down upon nations. Tyrants that have lived and do live create such violence and hatred. I know only one King who can truly reign peace for all nations and people, so I don't expect to see that fulfillment until His return, but it's mind boggling the evil that can and does exist.

But in its completion, it was never about unfairness. It was about forgiveness, resilience and a new birth. All nations suffer greatly from war. Innocent lives are always taken. Both sides had to find reconciliation. If Zamperini could forgive the evil the guards inflicted on his body and soul, than I cannot stand to suffer in an ill fitted temper regarding inconvenience. For me there is so much hope in the world due to my ancestors. Even in the darkest times, we can find the light.

*Update - I just found out that he passed away yesterday at 97 years old, the same day I finished reading about his life. The Times mentioned he had a couple autobiographies previous to this biography that I would be curious about; however, I'm not sure I could read his story again.  I would only like to understand more about his personal will to live and forgive.*

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I also read the book The Glass Castle, and although I enjoyed the read, another truly remarkable memoir, I wouldn't buy it. I was happy to read how although an awful upbringing, created by selfish and unstable parents, the children still raised themselves wiser beyond their years. They overcame the limitations set by the parents who didn't believe in limitations. Although you feel sorry for the children, I felt empowered by them and the strength they gained from their circumstances. Again, eye opening to what goes on behind closed, and sometimes even open, doors. However, she too remained Unbroken.