Until the End of The Line! (Captain America’s Motto)

Until the End of The Line – The bond of family that no force can break…. (Captain America’s Motto)!

“Then finish it…cause I’m with you til’ the end of the line.” –Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America, in the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).

You will find the scene depicted here with the memorable quote. It would benefit you to watch this and truly understand the significance of my written words here.
I have learned the value of family relationships with a blunt reminder when two close loved ones died this past year….two grandparents fighting an incurable cancer. My father recently turned sixty years old with two grandchildren and Lord-willing, three more to eventually come. My grandfather (my father’s Dad) turned eighty-six. As I grow older, a natural hardship with life tends to be the loss of those precious to us, and more continue to pass with each new year forward.
My grandfather is James Louie Cartee Senior. My father is James Louie Cartee Junior. And my name is James Louie Cartee, the Third. I have never figured out where Louie came from; however I am grateful to still have these two men in my life….continually present to help me in any hardship that comes my way.

Many families break up. Many families fall apart. Again thankful, my mother and father never separated for any reason. That same observation is true with my sister who has now been married for slightly over ten years. While strong marriages last over time with a promised commitment to the mind, body, and soul, many fall apart for often various complicated reasons. Humans, by nature, are sometimes very selfish and even flakier when it comes to true commitment. Humans want the easy path, and therefore some people easily quit—no matter what the difficulty, always running away from their problems.
My father and grandfather never gave up on me, even when I failed to believe in myself. The same evident truth can be said of their commitment to marriage with one person.
I took the reality for granted that I could lean into others, family and friends. I never needed to ask the question if they would be there. I just always knew the answer. “I’m with you til’ the end of the line.”

No matter what happens….no matter what conflict occurs….and no matter when I fall to my face, both men serve to stand at the front lines with me, side by side, hands held in unity.
While you really need to watch the two movies or read the comic books to understand my references in the video above, the scene illustrated represents the bond of family and solid friendships in my own personal circles. Captain America, known by his common name as Steve Rogers, refuses to fight once best friend, James Buchanan Barnes. Several years before in the 1940s (now modern day 2014), Barnes was experimented upon with a risky surgery to replace an amputated limb with a metal cast, super-strength arm. He was then tortured and brainwashed for several months to turn evil. He almost died due to previous war injuries. Fictionally he was cryonic-frozen, where his cells slowed to endure a lifespan much longer than any normal human being. Therefore he would resurface and fight Captain America seventy years later, from the historical time period of when their real friendship started.

Before I venture too far off the scene’s plot, The Winter Soldier was Rogers’ nemesis in this movie sequel. At the end of the movie, Rogers refuses to fight, even though he would probably have killed Barnes as a result of his combat skills. In previous battle sequences with the movie, as also hinted by the comic books, Captain America possessed a distinct fighting advantage over “Bucky” Barnes, the Winter Soldier. Rogers believes in the deeper good that still exists in Bucky Barnes. Some characters viewed Barnes as a lost cause who would never again return as his original self, the comrade who once fought by Rogers’ side and not against him.
In his refusal to fight back, Captain America falls to the water as the helicarrier plunges to its destruction. Unconscious, a metal arm reaches to rescue Rogers before drowning. The plot infers that The Winter Soldier can still do good and act honorably, no matter the evil committed or the brainwashing with memories erased.

That is also the bond of a grandfather, father, and son, all whom share the same bloodline and the same name that understands commitment with renewed faith. I never ask for help because of the men I know both these individuals to be. I know that each of us would and will always say, “I’m with you til’ the end of the line.”