Moutains Beyond Mountains

I first apologize for my misspellings and grammatical errors, as I am struggling to acclimatize myself to the French keyboard. We arrived in Pont St-Esprit, France last evening and were welcomed with the finest of cusine and company. Thomas and I are staying in a gorgeous home and are receiving the warmest of hospitality from the family of a former Grinnell High School exchange student – Adelaide Subtil. After cold, wet, and windy weather (coupled with hostile living) for the past fortnight, we are very much at peace now.

More importantly, now that I have gotten this swim out of my system, I hope to refocus the energy that I spent in the water towards more important/relevant endeavours such as health care access. It was truly heart-warming to hear that the most recent fundraising total for the clinic is $15,370! This outpouring of support hopefully emphasizes my belief that the FMC’s services are not only needed and appreciated – but that health care reform is necessary.

Coincidently, what I have taken away from the past ten months has nothing to do with swimming. Rather, my exposure to humanity at its finest has given me much hope. I have been approached by many individuals whom have shared their stories about how the clinic helped them through rough times. I have been blessed with the warm support by my family and friends. I have been welcomed by Iowa City community organizations that have listened to my message. I have been awestruck by the generosity of anonymous donors, well wishes, and random acts of kindness. Thus, I now have solid proof that people are innately empathetic and, by numbers, have the power (if will is also present) to improve society.

Health care reform in some form or another is inevitable; however, the current proposals vary widely. Please consider further helping to increase access by being an educated voter, volunteering, prayers, thoughts, words, and other deeds.

Although mountains inevitably lay beyond mountains, it does not mean that we should not climb.