not so simple

 Sometimes I make easy things difficult

    I am hoping to visit Julia in late September, early October.  Taking our friend to the airport yesterday, I jokingly asked if they had their passport, knowing  a passport wasn't needed.

    Friend said they had to renew their passport because they got it in 2011.

    That got me thinking.  We got our first passports in 01, then 11, so we need new ones in 21.......this year.

    My passport expires in November.  A Facebook friend mentioned it took them several months to get a new passport.  

    Today I filled out the form and will mail mine as an expedited request, which is an extra $60.  My fear is this will all get screwed up and I will be unable to book airplane tickets or anything else I need to do.

    Of course, I had trouble printing the forms.  Then I noticed I put down my birthday as 1848, which would put me in the Guiness Book of World Records.  Then I had trouble printing the forms, again.  But eventually, I got the job done.

    Tomorrow the forms get mailed and hopefully I get my new passport quickly.

    Then I think of the people in Surfside, Florida.  There are many families who fled their condos with the clothes on their backs and they could not go back due to the condition of the building.  And the families who lost loved ones possibly to never have them recovered from the rubble.

    Think of the documents....passports, insurance policies, bank statements, driver's licenses; and the computers with papers, novels, stories, work projects.....all gone.

    All the family photos, heirlooms, jewelry, personal artifacts....all gone in a cloud of dust.

    It makes my passport problem seem trivial, indeed.

    Everyday I count my blessings.

Peace and Love