We never know what tomorrow may hold. You can make all the plans in the world, but that doesn't mean you will be around to fulfill them. Depending on who you ask, they may say, "only God knows". Some people live for tomorrow, and some live for today. There are even some that live in the past. In the past 24 hours there have been deaths, births, accidents, winners, and losers all over this planet. What did you see today? What did you do? This is what I learned and experienced.
At 7:03pm yesterday I sat down to write the last installment of The Protectors. It's a story that was seven days in the making. By the time I started writing this one I knew exactly what it was going to look like and the feel that I wanted. Truth be told the 6 previous installments were pulled out of thing air. Over the past seven stories I learned how to write proactively. I also learned how to edit my work. Patience is a virtue when writing fiction. I would write, hit spell check then post. When I would read it again, I'd find a bunch of grammatical errors. At about the 4th day I started reading the storys 3 or 4 times before posting. I found errors and made changes every time until I was content with the finished product.
At 9:00pm I laid down to bed. When I woke up ate 4:00am today I was exhausted. After I took a shower and got dressed I checked my Facebook as usual. At about 4:45am I learned that Osama Bin Laden was dead from some of my friend's status updates. At the moment I didn't feel anything. I was neither happy or sad. I was incredulous. Then I became cautious when thinking of possible terrorist attacks in retaliation. When I went downstairs to leave at 5:00am, my mother was up and watching the news. She was excited about the news. I told her how I felt and what I feared might happen as a result.
When I arrived at work in Baltimore at 6:00 am I knew it would be a long morning. I had to put away an order, make another order, and prepare the department for business by 8am. I've been doing this for 7 years. I have my good days and my bad days. Today I was like a machine. I visualized everything I needed to do and could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I did everything I set out to accomplish in 7 hours. At 1:00pm I had a burger from Five Guys, then returned to work for a meeting. While I was at work I asked a coworker if they heard the news. He was so excited, and says that Obama will definitely be reelected as a result of this. I really don't think that Obama's presidency should be judged by one accomplishment in 4 years. True he inherited a lot of problems. Unfortunately he has not been able to completely resolve many of them. My father did tell me that all the world stock markets value skyrocketed after the news broke. Something else I heard today was that he was buried at sea. I found that sort of grotesque. I understand that he was a horrible person and wanted us all dead, but he was still human and someones loved one. According to my father, this method is part of Muslim tradition.
At 2:00pm I attended a management meeting. I had the best falafel chips and red pepper hummus. Considering I hadn't attended one in a while I sort of enjoyed it. We were actually praised for a change. Normally it is a battering party. Today the kudos outweighed the brow beating. I even enjoyed listening to one of the boss' stories. Usually his stories are dry and pompous. Today he seemed genuine and heartfelt. The drive home at 4:00pm was a breeze. There seemed to be no traffic in the city or on the highway. It was all good until I passed Rt 198. My comfortable 60mph pace turned into a 10mph crawl. I tried to look ahead to see what was happening. I saw nothing. I was fantasizing about reaching the next exit at 197 and take the scenic route. Finally halfway to the next exit I could see police lights and realized that everyone was passing in the right lane. As I passed I noticed it was a 3 car accident. I think someone may have been badly injured. I noticed one guy freaking out on the grass. Another one looked pale and his shirt was covered in dirt. As I passed I look at the dirty shirt man directly in the eyes and he looked shook. After that I sped up and started moving again and then I saw an ambulance traveling on the other side sirens blaring. A bit after that I saw a firetruck in the same fashion.
I pulled in my driveway at about 5:00pm. As I walked in the house my mother gave me some terrible news. She told me her father, my grandfather of 102 years, had passed away at 10am in his home in Nicaragua. I didn't know how to take it. My mother didn't seem distressed. She had a complicated relationship with him. She loved him because he was her father, but hated him for the way he treated my grandmother. She was also at odds with him because of their differing religious beliefs. I don't even think she cried. I've lived in the states for the past 30 years. In that time I may have seen him maybe 4 times. I loved him, but really didn't have a relationship with him. When I was born he was already 71. He was always a little old man to me. It was amazing that he lived that long. Coincidentally my father's father also lived over a hundred years.
Overall to quote Ice Cube, "today was a good day". I texted my homeboy Mario, that just moved to Arizona. He's been one of my greatest supporters since I began writing. He told me that, and I quote, I am "the best author I know personally". I'm not quite sure how many authors he knows personally. It is however an honor coming from him. Now I must refill my Pepsi and Patron Cafe. I thank you all for your time. Good evening.
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