Went out for lunch and the area is covered in police cars. I see them gathered around one person who has “Bomb Squad” written on the back of his jacket. Briefly I consider, is it my turn to die today? (God forbid) Then I proceed forward, march on, just be normal.
In the park there is a guy trying to look homeless, but he is obviously not homeless, and I wonder at the fact that I may have just seen my first spy going “undercover.”
Forward, forward, forward. I get my usual falafel wrap, and sit down to eat in silence, scanning the news headlines on my phone.
There is a story about the DC police telling kids they should “stay home” if they don’t want to get trafficked.
I stare at that headline in disbelief, and share it without any comment. What can one possibly say?
And on.
I go to Starbucks and sit down to write, to contemplate, to stare at the people coming through this great city. All of them different, all the time.
I think to myself about what the Rebbe (z”l) told me, so many years ago. You have to live your life in great joy, not in misery.
He was right: It’s going to end anyway. Like that line this week in “The Walking Dead” — “you think you have forever to life your life, and then you don’t.”
May God bless us with the wisdom to stop tearing each other apart, and start solving problems that really matter.
2017 Diary - Dannielle Blumenthal 
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