Enough with the personal financial troubles of the last couple posts. We have certainly been a bit distracted by the responsibilities of life, but we are still making Eastward progress. We have made it across the Heartland of America—affectionately called the “land we fly over” by some of the folks who live on the coasts.
While we have been in the Midwest we have not climbed mountains or tasted wine or walked the footsteps of movie stars. The scenery is subtle with rolling hills of endless cornfields. The people are hospitable and enjoy a sane pace of life. It was a good breather from our hectic travel schedule and life in the big city.
For me it is also a return to family—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, a nephew and my dad. In my intermittent visits during and since college, I have taken snapshots of life in the Midwest but have not lived there for nearly a decade. What strikes me while reflecting on the past 10 years is that despite the steadiness and routine of the Heartland, it is not exempt from the involuntary changes that come with the passing years of life. When my mom passed away two years ago this summer, it changed daily life for my dad and brother at home and has altered the dynamics of our family visits since then.
We will experience much of the inevitable change of life from afar while we are away in the Foreign Service. Potential change makes me appreciate the everyday life that we share with friends and relatives on our visits. While every day schedules may seem routine and unchanging, one day they will only be relived through fading memories. It is these everyday activities and moments of life that make the fabric we weave together to form our most lasting relationships. We have appreciated our time with all of you along the way and look forward to more memory making in the years to come.
More than one state across the nation is in fiscal trouble, but their seemingly semi-random revenue generating activities can be frustrating. To cut through the verbosity, I got a speeding ticket. I hope it helps reduce Illinois’ raging deficit.
I suppose it doesn’t come as a surprise that we would meet a friendly State-trooper at some point in our journey, and I guess I should be happy we made it over 8,000 miles without handing over my license and registration. And I certainly can’t argue that I was speeding, but isn’t it frustrating to see those lights in your rearview mirror?
If you were hoping for some existential reflections, you’ll have to wait for a later date. Today my contemplations are about my legal identification.
My identity was stolen last week—credit cards opened in my name and our checking account drained of funds.
Although I will hopefully not have any lasting financial impact, my first few days of identify-theft remind me of coping with other tragedies like death. When someone else has a death of a family member or friend, I can be empathetic, but I do not know exactly how he is feeling, nor can I truly share his perspective. I always felt bad for folks that had their Social Security Numbers stolen, but never shared in their anguish.
I never before contemplated these burning questions: Who is this imposter? Does he even look anything like me? Is he at least good-looking? Why did he choose me? How did he get my information? Will he be caught? How can I ever rest easy about my identity security again?
Identity Theft is a very strange crime of which to be a victim. I happened to find out immediately due to fraud detection at my bank and a credit card. But the other new credit card I detected on my own by accessing my credit report. I could not have discovered the crime until well after it was committed.
These acts of fraud are a byproduct of our modern world. While my friends and family recognize my physical appearance and voice and know my character through our interactions, the rest of the world recognizes my SSN, address and driver’s license and knows my character through a compilation of recorded historical behaviors. It would be quite a feat (Mission Impossible worthy) to be an impostor in my personal life, but much easier to use my basic information to get credit in my name.
I hope my impostor had a fun weekend and enjoys his freedom before our legal system brings him to justice.
Many of the first settlers in the American colonies were seeking freedom from religious persecution in Europe. In the same way, some of the settlers of the American West were seeking freedom from religious persecution in the Eastern United States. Our Constitution protects our legal right to practice any religion, but that has not necessarily changed the way people perceive and interact with those who have different beliefs.
Mormonism began in the Northeast but resistance to these different beliefs led Joseph Smith to take the followers of this new faith to Illinois and ultimately Brigham Young led the followers to Salt Lake City. In the same way that the Pilgrims found freedom an ocean away from Europe and in the less populated colonies, Mormonism was finally able to put down its roots across the continent from its birth and in the isolation of the Utah desert. Visiting Salt Lake City reminded us of the diverse applications of freedom in the United States; the Mormon family-oriented, conservative lifestyle is a stark contrast with our previous urban desert experience—the hedonism of Las Vegas.
We took the opportunity to learn about Mormonism from the experts. We visited Temple Square and attended a movie about Joseph Smith shown in the memorial building of his namesake. It was insightful to learn about his journey and the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
We also enjoyed the modern day benefits of Salt Lake City’s location—the ski slopes! A little bit of powder and warmth reminded us we were not in the Northeast. It is a mystery to me how it can be warm enough to eat lunch on the patio of the ski lodge and then ski down the mountain on fresh snow—must be a miracle.
