Miracles Among Herd Animals (aka, Us.)

I went a little wild with the pictures. But I just wanted to illustrate my point of how amazing people are.

This is my grandpa, one of the studliest guys alive. He's just unavoidably awesome.

My mom and dad are superheroes, hands down.
My sister Lauren and I have the quirkiest relationship ever, but I'll be the first to say I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Lauren and Mike are just meant to be.
This is me and my big brother on Amy's wedding day. Honestly I am so blessed to have the family I do- Bubba looks out for me.

This is Mallie and me. We've been best friends since the summer before kindergarten.

This is my boyfriend Dan- he's definitely been through a lot, but he is such a good example and he's always there for you when you need him.

This is me, Brandon, and Jessica. Jessica is one of those people that you're proud to even know their name. I'll talk a little about her in a minute. For now, just admire the fact that she is the person that introduced me to the British comedy, "The IT Crowd".

This is Amy and Jon, my sister and brother-in-law, about a year ago. I look up to them so much.

This is Josh and Lydia, my two little siblings. They are great teachers in my life, and I love them to death! (ignore the white space please, this picture's from a film negative and I scanned it into the school computer, and sent it to my email, and then the PS on my home computer refuses to crop anything... sooo... yeah...)

So, for some reason today, for a few minutes, I felt rather existential. I think it may have been the fact that I was lying on the floor in the sun and almost asleep (it was too cold on the couch and too hot outside so I compromised and found a spot of sun on the carpet), but as I was observing the interactions between my family, I kind of wondered- what the heck?

Humans are weird. I mean, other creatures contain elements of human psychology- like chimps and crows make and use tools, and dogs understand point of view, and elephants and dolphins and great apes can recognize themselves in the mirror- but only snatches of it. There are even examples of animals showing compassion to other species- elephants in particular, they're known to help out a wildebeest or a giraffe that has become mired, and dolphins have a reputation for protecting humans from danger in the wild (not just the trained ones at SeaWorld)- but never on such a large scale. Squirrells don't pool some of their winter storage together so that a debilitated squirrell can make it through the winter along with them, do they? We are a purely unique species.

Do you know how intense that is? I learned a bit about biology when I worked at the zoo, and it was interesting to realize what a miracle life is, let alone human life. And for all the sadness and ugliness and filth that happens among us, so much primitive anger, there is so much more compassion and beauty. Like the girl that I graduated with that became an RN simultaneous with her highschool graduation, so that she could earn enough money to help take care of her dad who is sick with kidney failure, and then also know enough when she was home that a respite nurse didn't have to stay there all the time. And my friend's mom, who has fostered fourteen kids to date while their families were healing, even though when she first started fostering, was a single mom. A very close friend of mine lost her dad to cancer, which he contracted while working as a fire-fighter, and to the end, this man was one of the most giving, kind people I'd ever met. It's rubbed off on every member of their family, and I'm proud to say that I even know them. The even simpler acts of kindness seem to make an imperceptible but huge difference- just things like acknowledging someone you went to school with when paths cross in the grocery store, or taking the time to ACTUALLY LISTEN to the old lady at church that tells the same story every week. I guess all I'm trying to say in this post is that I'm glad we're human, because there is so much beauty in our species that goes unnoticed- and since I'm lucky enough to be a part of this whole thing, I get to witness those little miracles. Keep your eye out for the best in people- you might be surprised where (and how often) you find it.