Our Enemy in Life is Time

We all have a common enemy in Life and that is Time. It begins when we are born and none of us ever know how much of it we have. When we are young; we all think that we will live forever and that time has no hold on us at all....but it does. As we get older....we tend to think that modern medical technology will come up with some miracle that will slow the process that ages us....but it will not. Eventually we will all run out of time and be over taken by Death and then will ride with him into the great unknown. How will this happen? We all think about this from time to time.....this is also kept as a great mystery.....why can't we know? I have no answer for this except that maybe we were not meant to know. I was in northern Kentucky teaching a class a few years back and was introduced to a woman who was 103 years old. She was very alert and could still get around well and also very chatty. She told us that the only regret she had from living so long was that she had out lived everyone she knew in life. She had even lived longer than all her children and two of her grand children. I could tell that this had caused her a lot of pain. You just have to make the most of the time you have; spending it with the ones you love and doing the things that make you happy. We all know that Life will end one day and all you can do is try to be ready for it.....when it comes. As sure as the sun rises and sets.....time is running out on us all.....and Death will not wait for you to finish up what you are doing. This reminds me of a poem by Emily Dickinson: Because I Could Not Stop For Death....He kindly stopped for me. The carriage held but just ourselves; and Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, and I had put away.....My labors, and my leisures too, for his civility. We passed the school where children played, and wrestled in a ring. We passed the fields of gazing grain; we passed the setting sun. Since then it has been centuries, but each feels shorter than a day. I first surmised the horses heads.....were toward eternity. My Friends....live life as if it will not Last....because, of course; It Will Not!!!

It Is Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day in America. If you get a chance to thank a Veteran today you definitely should. You could even give them a big hug and let them know how much you appreciate them! The Freedoms you enjoy each and every day in America....comes to you through our military and Veterans blood, sweat, and sacrifices made both presently and in the past. In 1978, I was 16 years old working at the A&P grocery located in my home town. I knew a gentleman called Jack; he had been our mail man since I was a little boy and also a loyal customer at the grocery store. I had got to know him quite well over the years. What I am about to tell you has never left me in all these years....It was on June 6th, 1978 that I was bagging up Jack's groceries for him. He said, "Well, today is June 6th and this is a very significant day for me and for the whole country Tony ole boy; do you have any idea why???" Now keep in mind that I was young and not much of a thinker back then....and of course I had no idea what he was getting at; so I smiled and looked up at him and replied "No." He immediately became saddened by this and I could tell that he had expected me to know....so I apologized to him for not knowing....and ask him if he would tell me. He said, "Well, on this day when I was 17 years old....I landed on the beaches of Normandy with many of my friends to help drive Hitler's Army out of Europe and put an end to all the evils they were doing. Many of my friends died there that day and the ocean ran red with their blood. This weekend I am going to see some of the ones who made it back home with me for the first time since that day!" We just stood there and looked at each other for a moment and I noticed a tear running down Jack's cheek....I extended my hand and shook hands with him and said, "Thank You..." I worked at that store for the next 4 years while I attended college and every June 6th...I would see Jack....let him know that I remembered his bravery...and thank him. I believe that Jack is the reason that I am a Combat Veteran today...and I will never forget this as long as I live. I had known Jack all my life...and did not know this about him. Veterans are not going to stick out at you like an Uncle Sam Poster....they are your mail man, police man, friends, and family. They are all around you. Be sure you give a veteran a moment of your time today....if anyone deserves it....they do!