I know things are better as a bit of humor has returned to my life. The other night Diane and I attended a send-off party for Don and Lisa Patterson who are leaving Macomb for Buffalo, NY, where Don has accepted a position as the quarterback coach for the University of Buffalo. After some mingling and a toast to Don and Lisa, it time to explore the hors d'oeuvres. I poured a glass of wine, put some food on my plate, and sat down to enjoy a modest sampling of food. You need to get this visual. I'm sitting there with a plate of food in front of me and a glass of wine to my right. I know the drill here. I need liquid with every bite of food so off I went. A piece of meatball and sip of wine. A bite of a chicken wing and a sip of wine. A bite of salad and a sip of wine. Then it dawned on me. This was in fact my usual routine except I inadvertently substituted wine for water, and this was not going to play out well unless I changed my drink of choice. Fortunately for me, Diane saw my dilemma and brought over a large glass of water which ensured a sober ride home. It was another example of coming to grips with change in my life.
Saturday I took an hour walk outside followed by a little racquetball with my Saturday morning walking companion Sean O'Donnell-Brown. We walk about four miles in an hour, just enough to get our blood moving. Neither of us has played racquetball before and it shows but we have a good time. With the exception of a little tennis last fall, the ole competitive softball, football, basketball player Gordy Taylor has sort of disappeared from the scene. Sean and I are novices and kind to each other on the court, but neither of us competes to lose. My point is, after a year of relative inactivity, I may have lost a bit of the coordination gene. I moved to hit the ball and the next thing I knew I landed squarely on my right butt cheek. Poor Sean hovered over me, "are you alright? Did you break anything?" I just looked up, smiled, and said, "Nope, just fell on my ass!" We finished our match and he dropped me off at home. Now I don't know what's in a person's posterior but I know the right side of mine has been sore since Saturday. Hopefully, my coordination will return along with my taste buds and salivary gland activity.
On a serious note, it seems Diane and I have been to more funerals lately than we care to attend. It is always difficult to say good bye forever to good friends when they leave this world to enter the next. My good fortune with my recovery to date is not lost on either Diane or me. We both commented the other day on the fragility of life and the need to enjoy the gift of life as we never know when it will end. No doubt my struggles are the past year have heightened my awareness of this particular reality. I hope everybody who reads this takes the time to savour each day, smell the roses, and be forever grateful for the love of family and friends. It seems so obvious but sometimes we get so caught up with our daily lives that we forget that the most important things in life are not really things at all but rather the people and experiences we encounter on our journey through life.
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