She doesn't want to miss rainbow

I took my mom to the doctor last week for a routine visit. She called me that morning and wanted to cancel the appointment because the weather forecast was calling for severe thunderstorms.
I’m glad I talked her out of canceling because it turned out to be a beautiful day. The threatened storms didn’t appear until the middle of the night, long after I had returned home.
Weather is something none of us can control. I tend to just deal with it unless it is raining in sheets or there is ice everywhere. Then I do prefer to stay inside. But the idea of amending my plans because of a forecast strikes me as foolish. To my mind, the weatherman is mistaken as often as not and I prefer to believe in good weather until proven wrong.
This difference in attitudes between my mother and me applies to more than the weather. I firmly believe that the world is a beautiful place, filled with people who are basically decent. She believes that the world is fraught with danger and people who are wanting to hurt her and each other.
We are both right.
The trees, grass, flowers and even weeds are beautiful in my eyes. I love how they change throughout the seasons. Even the detestable black squirrels that cause so much havoc in my lawn and garden are cute when they aren’t digging holes in the potted plants.
When I go shopping I see middle-aged women time their steps to match that of the parent riding in a scooter or wheelchair or walking unsteadily beside them. I watch men put their arms around their sons. I see people taking care of each other as best they can. I am eternally grateful for the home health care workers who provide services for my mom and for my brothers for all they do for her,
Mom watches the news and sees people being cruel and mean. She sees stories about someone shooting people in a movie theater or religious facility. She sees houses that were set on fire. She watches people being arrested because of drugs. The worst of humanity is at her fingertips. News media endlessly portrays the aberrations that are normal parts of life.
There is something about being human that draws us to the things that are odd or unusual. Blood, gore and vice only seek to amplify our interest. We devour stories about people who are different from the norm.
That is my whole point. The people who go to work every day, pay their bills on time and treat their families with love and respect don’t make the news. The guy who never fires a gun at a bunch of unarmed people doesn’t make the news. The woman who fixes supper every night even when she has had a rotten day at work doesn’t make the news. There isn’t enough air time to highlight all the good, decent people in the world.
Life is a mix of good and bad. Sometimes the sun shines and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes lightning destroys and sometimes we see the rainbow and smell the freshness of the air after a storm. We can’t control the weather or even predict it with any real accuracy. Sometimes bad people do bad things and they are awarded their moment of fame on the news.
But more often than not, the sun shines and good people are all around us. I refuse to hide from the rain because if I do I will miss the rainbow. What I do and do not believe doesn’t affect the weather or the nightly news. But it sure is more fun than living in fear of what may or may not happen.[[In-content Ad]]