Somewhere Out There

I never write a post like this.

So I figure I should.

As I was sitting there at McMenamins this evening I was thinking about the time I was in McMenamins in Portland, staring across the restaurant at 4 guys that looked like they were in their late 50s/early 60s and having the time of their lives.

Laughing and reminiscing about times long gone. Smiles on their faces as the pitchers were being passed around.

And I couldn't help but think...

Somewhere out there there is someone:

-Who is secretly (or openly) depressed about the NFL season coming to an end. The only thing he has to look forward to in fall of this year when the sport he cares about most starts up again.

-That's thinking about you. Or praying for you.

-Who will go to sleep content after having a pretty solid birthday dinner.

-Who won't be able to sleep because they're worried about what tomorrow holds.

-Who will receive a call in the middle of the night to receive terrible, life changing news.

-Who is worried about their job and being employed.

-Who is tucking in their child who means the world to them. Grabbing their teddy bear and placing them next to their child and pushing the covers under their feet and torso to wrap them up like a nice burrito. Protected and warm.

-Who is starving. Trying their hardest not to eat anything else while they struggle with their diet.

-Who is having a hard time telling the truth to someone. Who is having a hard time facing the truth themselves.

-Who's writing a blog post as the same time as me.

-Who thinks that it's going to be another ridiculous night filled with paid programming.

-Who can't put the book down. Or who skips ahead to see how many pages they have left until they finish this chapter.

-That's wishing that tomorrow was Friday, or even the weekend instead of just Wednesday.

-Still regretting what they did this weekend.

-Who saw fireworks during their first kiss with the person they've had a crush on for months.

-Who can't decide whether or not they should take a shower tonight.

-That's grateful for surviving.

-That is sighing; wondering if their shift will ever end.

-That is wondering how they ever got themselves in this position.

-Who starts their vacation in the Bahamas tomorrow.

-Who should not have gone for dessert with dinner tonight.

-Who is missing somebody right now.

-Who is using existential questions to make themselves feel small.

-Who is over thinking things.

-Who is wondering if a chair will be sturdy enough to stand on to change a light bulb. Or if they should get a ladder just to be safe.

-Who can't find something and is searching frantically for it.

-Who has been looking forward to this night for months. And what ended up happening exceeded all expectations.

-Who was completely surprised by a proposal.

-Who wishes they weren't so cheap and would pay the money to keep the heat on.

-Who is checking their phone, waiting for an important phone call.

-That will spend the night under the bridge again.

-That is getting ready for another day on the job.

-Who is wondering how they're going to deal with this diagnosis.

-That laughed so hard that they lost their breath and actually had tears streaming out of their eyes.

-Who hopes they made the right decision.

So there's billions of us out there. And I'm sure I only touched on a minuscule amount of what people were dealing with today. Sometimes it's just crazy to me to think about all the lives out there that don't stop because I am not a part of them (or ever were or ever will be). But we all continue to live our lives because we don't necessarily know any better.

Somewhere out there - like Fievel from An American Tail.