I Have a Dream

It's a small dream I guess, but a dream none the less.

I went and visited the USS Midway Museum last weekend with my husband as a sort of anniversary trip. I ditched the headphones and let him narrate, as he spent a substantial amount of the best years of his life going around in a big square in the Gulf on the USS Essex, which is somewhat similar to the Midway. And yes, I still have a hard time imagining what the musty, cramped, humid enlisted quarters would smell like packed with seventy exhausted young men.

As part of the exhibits being displayed in the hold (bay? big empty spot for planes below the deck? ah, it's a hanger deck) they had a bunch of pictures and documents from the Midway's stay in Japan. The Midway helped solve two problems, the first being Japan's venerability to other powers, and second our lack of strategic presence in the area. The pictures were what amazed me. Japanese officials chatting cordially with Navy Officers, the Emperor being welcomed aboard with honors. This, not fifty-ish years after the Japanese were our bitter and zealous enemies.

Think about it: 1940's: kamikaze pilots and Iwo Jima. 2000: State dinners, anime fans, and trendy sushi joints everywhere.

Here's my dream: in 2050 I want to be excited for my granddaughter, who's just been accepted to an overseas graduate program at one of Iraq's excellent universities. I want to contemplate taking a vacation on my 44th wedding anniversary to beautiful Tehran.

I believe in these people. I think it can happen. I think that plenty of them want it to happen too. I won't give up on this future.