In December of 1986, I was captivated by an event that remains unique to this day. A man and a woman piloted a unique aircraft around the world, non-stop, ie. without refueling. From the time of their takeoff on December 14th, until their landing on December 23rd, I followed the travels of Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, as their aircraft, Voyager, circumnavigated the earth.
Pre-dating the Internet we know today, news updates were infrequent and sparse. Yet it was easy to sense the presence of two resolute pioneers as they flew through the days and nights in their tiny little pod above the earth.
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I was thinking of that this week, because of another unique event, albeit a very different one. The world is watching as brave divers work to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach, trapped in a cave in Thailand. There are some very good graphics displaying the route the divers and the boys have to take to reach safety, but none that I have found are free to use. A USA Today page has some good views, but others are easily found via search.
I thought of the flight of the Voyager because of how my thoughts localized and focused on Dick and Jeana during their trip, just as, now, my thoughts dwell in a dark, damp cave, with limited oxygen, and the well-wishes of hundreds of millions of people.
Today we rejoiced at word that four of the boys had been successfully rescued from the cave, despite the odds and the obstacles, and that preparations are underway to bring more of them out.
I can’t help but think that some of the emotion of the successful rescue comes from the plight of hundreds of children separated from their families - not by difficult cave terrain and flooding - but rather by the caprice of callous, bigoted, vicious human beings. They may not be oxygen-deprived, they may not be separated from their loved ones by flooded passages, but the seriousness of their situation is no less dire. Some will not survive the imposed stresses. Many if not most will suffer life-long trauma and scars from the experience.
I know that your thoughts, also, like mine, are with these young human beings tonight. The ones in the cave, and the ones so cruelly separated from their families. May every one of them be reunited with their families and loved ones as soon as possible. And may no other child ever have to have such an experience again.
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