flood

There is a small town outside of my hometown that was built near a river. A big river for a small town. And this town built a levee which breaks all too easily. The last time this happened I was 15 and I went to go help evacuate a friend of mine's aunt. She lived across the street from the levee that broke. I can remember national guard helicopters swirling overhead and men in camoflauge directing traffic. We were the last people down there before everything went to hell. I will never forget watching that first bit of water trickle around the back of the house as we packed up her things, like snakes crawling under leaves, slithering around. Slowly it grew. First it was around our shoes, then above our ankles then at our thighs. At this point we cranked up our battery truck and got out of there. I always thought floods were explosions of water bursting at the seams and destroying everything in its path. But when I experienced that, I saw it was more of this steam-train-nothing-is-going-to-stop-me-kind-of-thing.

Slow and steady wins the race. Slow and steady makes the flood. And when you experience that, it is unstoppable. Forces of nature are something to fear and to be in awe at. One of the things I love about this world we live in is how we can see that and parallel it to our own lives. Being consistent, being steady, being constant, never giving up, never quitting, always striving, never ceasing and before you know it, the world is a flood. All it takes is water trickling around like headless snakes under leaves, and before you know it, you have something that nothing can seemingly stop. Just like the path that is our tomorrow, our steps not yet taken, but taken somehow. Just like the ones we are to be with. It is like the future holds all these uncertainties we hate to admit, or are scared to think about, or worry too much on, but in reality it is really all going to be okay. There is this movie "Conspiracy Theory" *Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson* where Gibson's character tells Roberts' character that being in love is like jumping out of an airplane. And all you can say is "Geronimo". I love that. We just have to let go. Because our future is a force of nature.

It is coming whether we like it or not.

It is unstoppable.

And it is okay.