WHEN ALL SEEMS FUTILE, A "FOR GRANTED" GIFT SHOWS UP.

     
      On Friday night, when confidence in myself was at one of it's too often lows, when one illness after another took their toll in my recent past to the point that it seemed they would never stop, a gift showed up at our door around about 9:30 P.M.
      That gift was my daughter Kim and her husband Gary. Oddly enough though, I had been through a trying work day around our house in an attempt to make it look presentable outside to the neighbors and in preparation for Spring. My yawning was persistent and I couldn't get past 8:00 P.M. so I hit the sack and was asleep in minutes. As a result I missed greeting them when they arrived and so graciously allowed me to sleep.
       Sleep has a habit of overwhelming me when the "perfect Storm" of negative happenings take place and there's absolutely nothing I personally can do to reverse it or control it. Prostate Cancer treatments,  (Successful I might add), followed by 2 heart procedures and 3 stents inserted shortly after that, and then to top it all off, Diverticulitis, a bleeding condition at which point the colon bleeds excessively internally and can also be quite fatal. Believe me, it can play with my mind!
      Gratefully and with the help of prayers and encouragement from all of my Starbucks friends of all religious faiths, I was delivered through all of that by the great Hospital workers at three different hospitals without exception.
      There is no other profession in the world that can compare with the dedication and compassion that accompanies these people, from top to bottom.
      But I have a tendency to let those very important facts slip away too readily once I'm feeling physically better. I'll try not to from now on.
      So the feeling of seeing my oldest daughter, a gift born on my birthday over 50 years ago and who had undergone successful Leukemia treatments herself 5 years prior, was a bit overwhelming to say the least. I enjoyed a visit that was much too short for my liking, but I understood they had a busy schedule with it being a Canadian Memorial Day weekend and other folks to visit.
      The realization struck me as to how fortunate and full my life really is, with a couple of pretty daughters, concerned relatives, wife and friends being there to bolster my moral, and believe me it's nice to know that there's really someone who wants me to stick around.
      It's a good feeling to realize who my friends really are, who I'm comfortable with and who wants my presence. It's even nice to know the ones who don't.
      I can handle it all at my age of 75, and look forward to enjoying what years are left to come.
               Just Sayin'.