At 8:30 AM this morning, after my ritual watching of
“CBS Sunday Morning,” I started out for my morning walk. It was cloudy and somewhat cooler than
yesterday. Not too long into my walk I
began to experience some tightness in my chest and the telltale sponginess in
my arms. I began to think I should make
an appointment with my doctor just to be sure all is well with my heart and
circulatory system.
I crossed the street and as I continued my walk I
noticed an elderly gentleman had also crossed the street and was walking toward
me. As I got closer I saw him steadying
himself by holding on to a signpost and his cane. I said to him as I approached, “We have to get out and do our
walking, don’t we?” He responded and I
stopped to briefly chat.
He mentioned that he was trying to build up to
walking one mile. He said he wanted to
be able to walk to church. Noting
limited public transportation he said then he could walk to the grocery store a
mile away. But how would get back home
with a bag of groceries? I said I
believed there was a community program that picks up folks with no
transportation and encouraged him to look into it.
Then I asked, “How old are you?” “Ninety,” he responded. I said, “I am 80,” and shrugged my shoulders
in disbelief. We chatted a bit longer
about our longevity, I bid him a good day and parted. As I walked away I noticed all the tightness in my chest was
gone, my arms felt fine as well. I said
out loud as I walked, “This is a good day to be alive!” I knew I
had to write something about how I felt about this experience and prayed out
loud again that I could accurately record these feelings.
So often when I have a strong emotional response to
some event or experience, a stream of consciousness seems to flow eloquently
through my mind. Then, when I try to
share it through writing I seldom seem to capture the intensity I first
felt.
There is something remarkable about realizing “This
is a good day to be alive!” So often we take for granted that just as
the sun sets it will also rise. Another
day will come and another set of events and experiences. Life is NOT something to take for granted. We all know the day will come that the sun
will still rise, but we will have moved on in the life beyond life. For me, today means just a little more than
it did before my walk. I cherish the
event that brought a stranger to me so I could touch the depth of living again.
May you also cherish this day for Today Is A
Good Day To Be Alive!
