I don’t know for sure why I have been so compelled to write this post. As those of you who know me well will attest, I’m not one to talk about my own travails or problems, and that’s not the point. But for some reason I need to share this.
Saturday night I walked into a local bar and was greeted by a dozen or so of my friends, family, and co-workers. Bangie Thing had arranged a surprise party for my 45th birthday, and it was indeed a surprise. I joked that we were celebrating me having survived that long. It was only a half joke.
The week before I walked away from this.
I kissed a palm tree at 60 MPH. Those of you in the public safety professions who have responded to motor vehicle crashes know the forces involved to do that much damage to CVPI. I myself have worked accidents involving slower speeds and seen the human carnage that they caused. I have a sore rib cage and an even sorer left hand from where I apparently punched the dash board on impact. I might have broken something, not sure, but I can more or less use the hand so no biggie (Just as long as I don’t try and do anything too strenuous involving my index finger that is.) But that’s it. Not another scratch on me. St. Michael and St. Erasmus were definitely with me that night.
This is what a CVPI looks like normally, with my handiwork in the foreground, just for comparison.
But that’s not the point of all this. This wasn’t the first time I’ve given my Guardian Angel a migraine, that’s for sure. But this time I realized just how precious life is. Maybe I’m just getting old, or maybe when I saw the look in Bangie Thing’s eyes when she saw the car, or maybe when I looked at my princesses; what ever it was I realized beyond a doubt just how foolish I was when I thought before that I was indestructible.
So the next time you kiss your loved one goodbye for the day, be sure to tell them that you love them, and be sure you mean it. And never, ever leave them angry. Don’t let their last memory of you be of anything other than that of the love you have for them.
And thank ever merciful God for every day you have.