In Loving Memory of Nayya Eluh Bey              

~

I came across “No Country for Old Men” a couple years ago, on a typical couch-filled Friday night after work with the Missus.

There is a large following that holds this movie in high regard, and I figured it would remind me of the old Bonanza episodes Granddad use to watch.

But the film symbolized much more than that.

I loved the cat and mouse game between Llewelyn Moss, our hero of the film, and Anton Chigurh, the figure of death that stalks him throughout.

[Spoilers for those that want to stop here and go watch the film. . .93% on Rotten Tomatoes]

. . .

I waited in anticipation, for Moss to be the hero the story built him up to be. To vanquish Chigurh, run off with his wife and the money and live happily ever after.

But it doesn’t happen. We are robbed of our eventual showdown and Chigurh continues on as the figure of death.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about this movie in relation to our own lives.

My mother passed away 2 months ago. I watched her claw and fight so much throughout her existence, that I knew one day she would get her vindication. If not her, then me on her behalf, and for her to be alive to see it.

To relish in the joys life can provide as we get older, to obtain the dream in dwellings and finances that we always wanted, to be surrounded by growing children and grandchildren.

Enduring hardships, knowing one day, it would all be worth it. 

But, to quote Xxxtentacion, sometimes. . . “Vengeance never comes.”

The Beautiful Struggle. Ain’t that what they call it?

Losing a loved one can bring us down to earth, and it recalls our own mortality to the forefront.

It’s sort of fitting, the last blog I wrote for 2021 (the only blog for that matter) was about the words of dying men.

Lately I can’t help but think what each and every one of us go through on the daily, before our life clock strikes midnight.

The showdowns that we desired to encounter and defeat: wrestling with a sense of identity, of self-worth, creating generational wealth, constructing a legacy that extends beyond us.

What if we died before those final encounters happened?

As I plan for the goals for 2022, I can’t help but think about how many New Year’s goals my mother set.

Life’s stakes and the risks we take. The reaper’s scythe hovers around at every corner.

I may too, fail to have my showdown, to triumph over what I seek to conquer.

It would be sad, but what I have to remember is, it comes with the territory of living.

I’ll continue to chasing it, praying that timing and chance are on my side.

But I know it’s a possibility, that vengeance may not come on my behalf either.

Make the most of your time.

Weather Your Storm, Maintain Inner Reign -E.