No Comparisons

 

After quitting my job at an organic supermarket late last year, I took two excursions to New England. One was within two weeks of my last day at the market, which was not planned. The next excursion had been planned seven months prior. Now that we no longer have pets and our children are in and out between college and whatnot, I wanted to treat myself to a lallygagging restful stay at a couple hotels in New England and just sleep, run, walk, hike, read, write and eat. Besides having started a new business in 2022 which wouldn’t account for much immediate income; I went back to work for other people in late 2024 and added a second part-time job in early 2025. This was to aid in the funds of taking time to help our oldest over two years move into two new housing and apartment units, as well as her graduating across the country in 2025. By my driving 3,000 miles one way I could bring supplies to her and save us both money.

What ended up occurring on the second excursion up north was I decided at the last minute to add another four days onto that second New England excursion to a place my husband and I always enjoyed and eventually shared with our children as they were growing up. This was because I’d completed many house projects since his death which occupied me with a good amount of planning and physical labor. I’d saved thousands of dollars doing many home improvements myself as long as they didn’t require electrical work or replacing plumbing. I closed one business of nearly thirty years and began the one I’d dreamt of since around age twelve, more than 50 years ago. As well, I’d put in volunteer work in 2023 and 2024. One was full time for the government/the people in 2023 and the other somewhat in a similar vein of thinking—yet was quite part-time work, a good amount of remote time and using some of my own funds. I actually had a desire to go back into the military part-time; however, I knew I might be absent from some of our children’s events. And because of the death of my husband, I didn’t want to do that to them. I was told by a couple people with military background that even though I was past the age of 55 cut-off, that I’d most likely pass the PFT (physical fitness tests). Too, I had three meritorious promotions over 40 years ago and had an honorable discharge, and that they’d gladly take me on reserve. Suffice it to say, I decided to regard our children’s feelings and did other volunteer work. I can also say, I have yet to shake this fatigue I’d had for years now. And I have quite a few reasons for such weariness at times. Yet, I know to keep exercising and studies keeping for my therapy license in our state. Too, I knew there was a bit more I wanted to discover before I’d completely call it a life.

Before I knew it, 2026 had arrived and I’d finished taking hours upon hours of courses for my license that would satisfy another two-year term with it. I’d finished nearly a year early in fulfilling it. So, by mid-January 2026 I began my incessant reading of books, all kinds of reading material. Reading was something I’d struggled with throughout my life, yet everyone else in both my childhood and adulthood families read with ease and mostly enjoyably so. Conversely, reading had always been a struggle. My husband had never truly understood it till two years before he’d passed. He told me, that he’d asked someone at work another teacher who taught English at his place of work why I had such problems reading. She gave him one of the correct answers. At the time he had been the only family member to understand this aspect of me.  I had always vowed to gain a great reading skill set but didn’t know if it was to ever occur. When it had in January 2026, it seemed sudden. I’d started with Avi Loeb’s “Extraterrestrial” I was moved by his article written by him on Medium, an online magazine/blog of sorts that I’d read and written on over the past few years.

At first, I bought two of his books online with two other books that caught my curiosity. The other two books I purchased “Assata” and “Jerks at Work”. Buying “Assata” was encouraged by an article written on Medium by Dr. Allison Wiltz.  Also, I remembered the woman and the cases brought against her in the 1970s. And buying “Jerks at Work” was through an article written by Tessa West also on Medium. I didn’t question my four book buying purchases that day. Which for me was quite odd. I’d done this before and it’d taken me months to read just one book, whether it was on neurology or microbiome or podiatry or a biography it didn’t matter. And it was torturous keeping my attention to reading more than three pages at a time. Especially, with having to reread those same pages a couple more times. My brain always felt scrambled when I’d read. Frustrating to say the least. As a child and young adult most times, I’d just give up. Like I’d expressed at the dinner table nearly a decade ago, “Reading is like stabbing me in the head with a knife over and over again. It’s painful. You three are lucky, you don’t have that problem. I’m grateful.” At the time, I’d felt so ashamed by such an honest admission, yet it was the truth. And sometimes you just have to announce it, to get it off your chest.

Soon the four books arrived, by January 16^th I began to read with ease in one sitting or standing up with a cup of black coffee 30-60 pages a day after morning chores. I realized that I was now suddenly equipped to read three of the four books’ pages in one day in one hour. Soon, I was reading upwards of 100 pages per day from those books, as well I ordered another one “Verbal Judo” by George Thompson, PhD. As I’d finished Avi Loeb’s “Extraterrestrial”, I began his “Interstellar”. I could not put “Assata” down to the point I’d read 50 pages in one sitting. I knew I had my own writing and editing to do as I was working on writing/editing a few books, two fiction series and two non-fictions. Hours of snow shoveling, household chores and maintaining my daily running throughout the winter were imperative. I’d also promised myself a minimum of an hour of exercise everyday outdoors, even in our 20-inch snowstorm with two days of shoveling at a few hours a piece after a training run in the snow. My three-to-fifteen-mile run would be my warmup before I shoveled for two or four hours, I’d walk later to gain more fresh air, cold or not.

So, here I was now going to the bookstore and looking for Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. While there I picked up Maxine Hong Kingston’s “The Woman Warrior”, and Daniel Keyes “Flowers for Algernon”.  I’d finished the first four books in four weeks or less. Four weeks later I was reading “Knife” by Salman Rushdie, “Born Survivors” by Wendy Holden, “Quantum Physics”, and “Nixonland” by Rich Perlstein. I read in the morning, trained, did chores and wrote and edited in the afternoons into evenings to the point the idea of eating kind of got in the way. By evening I was hooked on watching “Homicide”, “Nova”, “Nature” and various documentaries on U.S. history.

After finishing nine books in two months, I continued Rich Perlstein’s “Nixonland” which is about 800 pages, slow going; however, I was reading Maya Angelou’s “The Heart of a Woman”, David Simon’s, “Homicide” which influenced the making of the television series “Homicide”. After I polished off binge-watching “Homicide” I switched to more documentaries. Those led me to read Thomas Paines’ “Common Sense” and “The American Crisis”. I then purchased Tom Ridge’s “The Test of our Times” and then one night about two weeks ago my phone rang, I paused Angelina Jolie’s directed movie about the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge. It was Mark Jacobs, who’d just come out with his 2^nd Edition of “The Principles of Unarmed Combat”. He called to tell me I was in the Acknowledgements. I was flattered. I had trained with Mark in two different fight gyms and worked self-defense, knife, and grappling skills in my basement late at night with Mark while my husband and our children slept two floors above us. Mark is a detailed writer who’d written for Blackbelt Magazine, and who’s had more years of training in boxing and MMA than I ever have had, he knew his stuff. We chatted for nearly an hour. He was quite frustrated with finally getting the book put up on Kindle. I told him, “…next time call me, it is frustrating if you’d not worked with putting a book online before.” I’d help Mark just for the sake of helping him. I feel the world needs to see his writing.

In all of this, though I long for the respite of New England constantly I search for how did we, meaning the people of the United States of America end up in all this hatred, this mess? Having quite an unqualified leader as our 47^th POTUS, who’s criminal, and to say the least vile in nature. It was as though a large portion of Americans had no clue how the hec this country was created. In 2016 and especially in 2024 elections most eligible voters threw the baby out with the bathwater in voting for #47 or they’re not voting at all. The ire this draws from me could be quite tangible and probably has been to people I may have shared this with.

Over the last few nights, I’d focused on watching documentaries on our first POTUS, George Washington. I can say after first grade I didn’t think all that much of him. I wondered exactly why he was considered with such high regard. In first grade I had to write a book report on Washington. I remember that one night, a Sunday night my mother realizing I hadn’t moved on the project that was due the next day in class. She coached me but wouldn’t do the work required of me for the book report. I stayed up late that night and finished the book report.

I look back at that evening now; I remember my mother’s panic and then mine. I don’t think I ever forgot about school projects or homework ever again. Yet, my wonder back then was—why was our first POTUS so important? Weren’t other people just as formidable? Weren’t other people just as self-sacrificing as Washington? Weren’t other people just as important? Let me give you a quick self-realization. No. Not then and not now for the United States of America to have remained a country striving for democracy and equality and to not be ruled by a monarchy, an oligarchy, neither a dictator. Washington had enemies as he was being thrown into being our first president.  He hand-picked most of his cabinet. The founding fathers were scrambling to go beyond “The Declaration of Independence” to make laws, to create the Constitution, they had to grapple with allowing Washington to have much say and at times he was depending too much on Alexander Hamilton’s assertions and desires.

Last night after finishing watching “Washington” on Netflix, I came to the realization by this morning upon waking that Washington aside from his flaws in his inability to conquer slavery; however, I understood his strong headedness, his wanting to work the land, and his intolerance for the undisciplined. Then I looked to his service to this country. Was Washington driven for his sole ownership? Was Washington driven by pure greed? Was Washington wanting to be a ruler and have more comforts? I’ll answer that upon more knowledge now. No. Washington did much out of a feeling of obligation to a people. To a people he felt had reasonable desires for freedom of speech, and of religion. That’s the short list.

George Washington grew up at first knowing death, stubbornness and betrayal. Smart enough, once betrayed he made the most logical and conventional move—first save himself, second to save a new country to last beyond his years. Any logical human being knows, nowadays, when you’re on a plane that could be losing oxygen in its cabin, you put your oxygen mask on first then help those around you who cannot put their own oxygen masks on.

In Washington’s decision to change and turn to help create a country by serving its people rather than a monarchy; he then gave approximately 30 years of the remaining life he’d had to the cause to the development of a free society, as he was nearly murdered in battle countless times. Washington, even as a general was physically in harm’s way, and was mostly strategic and undeterred, even as assailants neared him.

When Washington was elected POTUS he doesn’t want it yet accepts it. He didn’t desire a 2^nd term, yet it was bestowed by the people on him in the following election four years later. Once he makes it clear that two terms were enough for a POTUS, he retires with his wife Martha back to his plantation at his Mount Vernon home in Virginia. His retirement is cut short by an illness in December 1999 and he passes at age 67, just two and half years after retirement.

And so today, we as a country nearing 250 years now have a POTUS in contrast. He is no comparison to almost any of our past presidents. Conversely, he is the opposite of our first President George Washington. #47 is the most perverse. Our current president has brought a perverse presence to our Capitol, our White House, to the Oval Office, to our country and our people. The bootlickers to our 47^th POTUS are staunch in creating more oppression for the people, more wealth for themselves, and wanting to be treated as royalty.

Let me remind the reader that practically no one in the country has ever given so much in becoming POTUS as Washington had. There are people who’ve given it all for this country, who are currently rolling in their graves for the trembling our earth feels of the perverseness of our current POTUS, his cabinet, and sycophants. He may march on my cold dead body, but I assure you either way there will be a comeuppance to those investing in crushing the will of the people.---Jody-Lynn Reicher