Trade Offs

The trade offs can be rewarding, yet gut wrenching. Many of us left family behind in India to pursue the American dream.  During times of distress, the heart yearns for family back home and the familiar. 

I am blessed that my family in India is well.  Others in my inner circle are not so lucky.  They see the suffering of Moms and Dads, brothers and sisters. The images of loved ones struggling to find hospital beds, and breathing machines breaks my heart.  The suffering of those we love strike at our very core. 

The ability to breathe has always been a basic human right — until now.  The wealthy can’t buy care, the poor have no hope.  It did not have to be this way. The images of bodies burning en masse  are inhumane, and filled with sorrow.  These are sons and daughters, moms and dads dying without the dignity of their final rites of passage.  They died due to a systemic failure of the political leadership to provide basic health care.  

It all seems to be like a bad nightmare, but there is no waking up from this stark reality.  Broken hearts rarely ever heal.  We learn to cope with loss and pray that the lucky ones survive this calamity.