Human Spirit

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One of my favorite written scenes ever was in ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

Tom Joad has just been accused of murder and has to go on the run and leave his family. His father and mother are crushed as parents would be, and Tom’s father says:

“What do we do now?”

Tom’s mother says:

“We go on.”

That was a powerful thing for me to read as a young man, and it’s carried me through life as an adult.

“We go on.”

The other part of the story that also makes my heart flutter is before that when Tom tells his heartbroken Mom that he has to leave.

She asks:

“How do I know that you’re all right?”

He says: (paraphrasing)

“You’ll feel me in the wind. You’ll hear me in the laughter of the children. And anywhere where there is an injustice you’ll know that I’m there fighting for whatever is right. Wherever there’s a cop beating a guy. Wherever a newborn baby cries. You’ll see me.”

Now, why do I bring it all up?

The Bills are playing ball again today.

They have to go on.

And of course, they will dedicate their performance to their fallen teammate, who is on the road to recovery.

We moved forward after 9/11.

We regrouped (to some extent) after Covid and after January 06.

That’s all that can be done.

We go on.

And ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ was such a powerful story because Tom Joad was defiant in not giving in.

I may be wrong, but I don’t know how the Bills possibly lose today.

They might score 60.

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