#sol23 March 6 Replaceable and Irreplaceable

 "We are all replaceable," Trish at Jumping off Wings wrote on the Opening Day of this March Writing Challenge. The idea has been reverberating through my mind, stirring up old memories.

"I'm telling you this is what we are going to do and if you don't like it," an administrator said again and again, "we can easily find a replacement coming down Route 9." 

"New technology will...eventually...replace it," proposed Steve Jobs , "but it's like people who had black-and-white TVs when color came out. They eventually decided whether or not the new technology was worth the investment."

I must, hesitantly, accept this to be true, in our professional and earnings lives.  It does seem that everyone, from Presidents to Principals and CEOs can be replaced with an underling or outsider at the press of a button. Even those who go in early and work late and miss their kids bedtimes and basketball games can find their jobs eliminated at the drop of a hat.  Those who put their lives at risk, those who do the essential but dirty jobs, and even those who make lots and lots of money can find themselves "cut" based on legislative, logistical or personnel decisions.  

Yet, there is one aspect of our lives where this does not seem to be true: our family life. There is no one waiting on the highway to replace our parents, spouses, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews....There is no way families can replace any one of us in their lives. Whether the loss is by death, drift, difficulties, or disagreements, the hole left in our families is deep and painful.  

I guess this suggests something about where we should put our limited energy?