Boutros Boutros-Ghali

So that's who I woke up thinking about this morning. And here's the thing: I didn't know anything about him! But I remember Dead Rita being very interested in him. She was a voracious reader and very interested in world affairs, although she had no one to discuss them with. At the time she lived with us, I was working full time and on call at night for clients….my conversations with her were not of an intellectual bent. Shame on me. She cared about the world and wanted to discuss it….her best buddy had other things on the mind. Though I must admit, her constant questioning and desire to look at ALL sides of the issue was not of interest to me. Eh. I think of my beliefs and attitudes 15 years later and I am….what? Disappointed, saddened, by my lack of interest at the time.

So when Boutros-Ghali popped into my head this morning I thought it was time to read up on this man Dead Rita had placed in the gray matter years ago. And the timing is perfect. He served in the UN as Secretary-General from 1 Jan 92 – 1 January 97. Dead Rita and Mr. Papa lived in our home from 16 April 93 – 3 Oct 98….

What amazes me is that reading about Bourtos-Ghali in Wikipedia, a fine source of mis- and information, mentions RWANDA and how he was criticized for the UN's Failure to act during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. So much of my life now is devoted to Rwanda and its people. http://itafari.org/ The work of Itafari began and is because of this genocide – which I MISSED in 1994. And now is the mourning period in the country for the 100 days when the world turned its back. What an amazing coincidence. Of course I don't believe in coincidences….no odds that I can calculate could make this thought statistically possible.

And here's Bourtos-Ghali in my brain. Dead Rita didn't miss the genocide, I'm sure. But we never talked about it.

It's like almost getting hit by a bus, or a rock just missing your head, or not winning the lottery by 5 numbers (I see that a lot more in my life than buses and rocks)…..so close! I think about all the things I did get from loving her, and who knows what I missed.

I'm encouraged in my kooky optimistic way. Plumbing the depths of my own brain, consciously or not, seems to bring up some interesting things! Bourtos Bourtos-Ghali…..who knew.