The shows I go back to watch again are those with integrity. Characters who remain steadfast in the face of injustice draw me in. It feels like I am memorizing their resilience to store like cans in the pantry, ready 

to open on a stormy evening. 

Doctors who plunge into an emergency without any consideration for how tired, or overwhelmed they might be, give me pause. Public servants whose dedication to this democracy is resolute reminds me of what it looks like to honor the greater good. Midwives who ride their bicycles into the slums of London to catch babies are my heroes. 

There don't seem to be movies about chaplains, or sewing teachers. The kind of music I make does not show up on the big screen. 

But this week there was an episode about a marriage therapist. I am only an educator, not a counselor like she was, but I did take inspiration from how well she listened to the medical staff around her. In fact, when she expressed her sadness at missing her departed husband, and wondered if she could just fade from life and follow him, a nurse pointed out how she had ministered to the marriages of others. It was true. She was hard-wired to care. Maybe it mattered that she was still here. 

I confess that I sometimes worry about how it will play out with my exit from this planet, and whether it will precede or follow John's. Perhaps uncertainty is somehow part of that elusive gift called freedom.

In the meantime, I will continue to collect stories of those people who serve with integrity.