Exactly one month after the tragic mass murder in Parkland, Florida, I fell and broke my wrist.  After an ER visit and subsequent surgery, I spent the next several days enduring varying levels of pain, opioid-induced mental fog and the frustration of learning to do everything with my left hand and needing help to shower, get dressed and cut my food.  I was cranky and exhausted.  Then I went back to work, discovered that it took me twice as long to do EVERYTHING – including use the Ladies Room – and I got even more cranky and exhausted.

All of which is a long way of saying that I didn’t make it to the March For  Our Lives yesterday. 

I wanted to participate and felt that I should.  But, I was tired and depressed from my first week back to work and I could tell that what I needed was to take some time to renew my spirit.  So, Al and I went out to lunch, saw the Spring Flower Show at the Phipps Conservatory, came home and had a simple dinner and went to bed early.

I felt refreshed, as expected, but a little guilty about missing the March – until I saw the posts on Facebook and the pictures in the newspapers.  Thousands of marchers in big cities all over the country.  Small groups of marchers in small towns.  Marchers in cities all over the globe, including my beloved Paris (second best city in the world, right after Pittsburgh).

My comrades had me covered.

I’ve been saying ever since I started this blog series that nobody has to do everything.  Nobody CAN do everything.  You  can’t attend every march, call your congress member about every vote that comes up, take around a petition for every issue.  You can’t feed the hungry AND adopt an immigrant family AND volunteer at the animal shelter.   You have to pick your battles or you’ll burn out. 

It occurs to me that this is analogous to the kind of country we’re fighting for:  a beloved community where we lift each other up, where we each do our part, where we know we can count on each other.

To those of you who marched yesterday:  thanks for covering me.  I’ve got you covered on gerrymandering and voter registration.  Together, we are mighty.