A Heavy Dose of Reality...

Hi - this is Danielle. I am using Fisher as a vessel to get my one and only blog posting out there. Mostly because I don't have my own 'blog' through 97xonline.com - but also because I know you effers read everything that Fisher posts…and I figured I'd have a good shot of getting my thoughts out there if I used him as a platform. You're obviously reading this right now, so apparently it worked.

Now, for the serious shit…let's dive right in, shall we?

Let me start by saying this. I will not get into specifics - but my immediate family (mom, dad, sister) have hit a rough patch lately…but whose hasn't these days, right?

It seems like there is never enough money to pay bills, their home is in foreclosure. I am trying to help out the best that I can…but I am a 25-yr-old who is just starting life as a married woman. I am still learning my way as well.

I have shouldered a LOT of the issues that my parents and sister are currently dealing with. I sometimes feel that I work more than they do to fix their problems. But we are family, and that's what family is for.

Recently, I began to feel that my full-time job, full-time class load, and full-time family-fixing duties were all caving in on me. And then I got the reality-check of a lifetime.

Last Friday, I was in Target. Not a big trip - just picking up the basics - a birthday card, laundry detergent, earrings, you know the drill.

As I began walking down one of the main aisles, I noticed a guy walking with his mom to the front of the store. I began to study him closely. Not because he was wearing his sunglasses inside the store. I studied him because he looked vaguely familiar to me…and then it hit me.

I did not personally know this man, however, his brothers are good friends of mine from high school. Now that the connection was made, this would usually be the time that I would ask myself why he was wearing his glasses inside the store. But today, no such thought crossed my mind. I already knew the answer.

You see, this man had just arrived home from overseas, where, in September, a makeshift bomb exploded in his face. He is completely blind. His eyes, sewn shut.

I continued through the store. As I gathered my meaningless items, my eyes welled with tears. While everyone around me was probably thinking that I was some sort of emotional freak, my foolish 'worries' flashed before my eyes. How could I be stressed by work? By school? By issues that go beyond my reach with my family? What a selfish fool I had been.

I gathered my purchases and headed to the register. I ended up right behind him in line. I hesitated to ask how he was doing. He had never met me before. And I'm sure he didn't want me to feel sorry for him. But I did. And then he spoke.

As his mom gathered her purchases and put them in the cart, he felt his way to her arm and turned to the check-out clerk with happiness in his voice, telling her 'thank you' and 'have a great day.' I won't make assumptions on how he felt at the time, but it seemed to me as if he was glad to be running a basic errand with his mother. Sight or no sight. He was happy to be here.

This is some heavy stuff, right?

I checked-out and headed to my house, wiping the tears that were still streaming from my eyes before walking through the front door. I happened to know this young man's story, but I couldn't help but think about how many other people I pass on a day-to-day basis that have it so much worse than I do. The man who just found out he has cancer, the woman whose husband is currently fighting for our country, the child who isn't sure when they will see their daddy again.

I don't tout myself to be an intellectual person - heck, I'm pretty out of touch with reality - but I do see the value in learning life's lessons when they pop up around you.

Last month, while this soldier was fighting for my freedom - and losing his sight in the process - I was probably stressing about something so foolish, so fix-able. It makes me a little ashamed to think about it.

Like I said, I'm not the blogger-type, but I'd share this story a million times if it would give even one person the kind of reality-check that it gave me.

- Danielle