Hudson Valley Astrologer

“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.”

~ Mitch Albom

I grew up in up state New York during the tail end of the twentieth century. My mom who is 93 came over today to watch the Mets game, but she is an avid golf fan so we tuned into the PGA Championship and capped off the day watching Journalism win the Preakness. She raised me and 8 siblings on her own, because her husband (my father) was an alcoholic. He wasn’t abusive toward her as much as he was neglectful and wayward. Still, I’d say she sacrificed a lot! She had to manage a household and 9 children on a secretary’s salary. So “my sacrifices” simply don’t measure up to what she endured.

We were a family of modest means in an upper middle class neighborhood. But looking back at our life and lifestyle we still lived a good life compared to those who were truly needy.

Mom grew up on an island in North Jersey in a house that Tom Cruise eventually purchased. We got permission to visit almost thirty years ago. It’s an amazing old Tutor style home with lakefront views across from the “north shore.” The family has pictures of her water skiing and tons of photographs from the golf club. Her family was living the highlife, but then she got married and went from the lake house and speed boats to “hamburger helper” and “powdered milk.”

The disadvantages we grew up with, however, pales compared to others less fortunate. Sometimes those ‘others’ were just across town, often the news would pipe in examples of ‘others” suffering tremendous hardship from all around the world.

Out of curiosity I spanned the decades from the 1980s to the present just to gain a little perspective. Weirdly the search criteria for “crises” returns a list of one financial calamity after another. Humanitarian crises are barely mentioned if you aren’t explicit:

• Black Monday (1987) capped a global malaise earlier in the decade, brought on by oil price shocks and inflation from the 70’s. Unemployment was high.
• The early 90s experienced a severe recession which led to the ‘97 Asian Financial Crisis quickly followed by the Russian Financial Crisis.
• The early 2000s are memorable for the DotCom Bubble, followed by the U.S. Housing Bubble and the Global Financial Crises.
• In 2010, Europe’s addiction to debt revealed national vulnerabilities especially in Portugal Ireland Greece and Spain, making the politically incorrect acronym — PIGS
• The Pandemic closes out the study of the decades leading up to the 2020s.

All of these examples focus on money or the financial system with the exception being Covid-19. But there were also human tragedies in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, the HIV/AIDS CRISES, Central America and the Iran-Iraq War in the 80s; The Rwanda Genocide, the Balkan Wars, Somalia, and AIDS Crises in Africa in the 90s; The Indian Ocean Tsunami, Darfur and Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq again, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria epidemics in the 2000s; the Haiti Earthquake, bookended by civil war in Syria and famine in Somalia, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, plus conflict and famine in Yemen.

During this decade, having only reached the half way point, we already have suffered the worst global health crises since the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918-1929, where over 500,000 people died in the U.S., this time around many millions died during the COVID-19 Epidemic from all around the world. The Covid Crises coincided with War in Ukraine ongoing crises in Sudan, Syria, Gaza, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

If these financial and humanitarian disasters were not enough we can add Climate-Change to the list which has been a significant driver of floods, droughts, and food insecurity. Violent conflict, weather extremes, and economic shocks are now the main drivers of humanitarian need, forced displacement, and acute food insecurity-affecting hundreds of millions worldwide. If we broaden our perspective we see that the greatest suffering often comes from conflict, disease, and disasters, not just financial turmoil. But in some ways many conflicts are rooted in the economic conflicts of nations, masked by racism and xenophobia.

Have I sacrificed? Not enough! Not enough to make a difference in the lives of those who truly suffer. My mom sacrificed and did all she could to provide for her kids. Today was a remarkable day. If you have an opportunity to hang with someone in their nineties don’t pass it up. Who knows how many more opportunities you will get?

HVA

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