WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU USE ALL YOUR NUMBERS UP ??????????????
It was February 5, 1991. You may think that was a while ago and that it's strange that it's so clear in my mind but I remember it like it was yesterday. I'm very thankful that my rememberer still works sometimes. I'll try to explain why all of this is still so fresh in my mind after all this time. You see, February 5 is my birthday. My son Josh's birthday is February 1st. Josh had just turned 5 years old and as most 5 year olds, he was very inquisitive. We had just had cake and ice cream and were sitting around the den talking and Josh, while sitting on the floor playing with some of his cars, looked up at me and asked.....Dad.... What happens when you use all your numbers up???? At first I didn't understand the question, but then I realized what he was asking about. To Josh birthdays were just numbers and I assume he liked these numbers so well he wanted to make sure we had all the numbers we wanted.
As life goes on we learn that how many numbers we have aren't near as important as what we do with these numbers. We learn to look at our numbers with a new and different perspective than when we were five years old. When we are young children we look out at our future. We set goals for the next 10, 20, or even the next 50 years that we assume will follow. We think our numbers will go on forever. Then as we get a little older, we only look for the next five or so years and then, just next year and finally we think of just today. And as we get older we not only look ahead in a different way, but we find ourselves looking back more often. We start this looking back at a young age also but as the numbers we have left changes, so does our perspective. We start out looking at "things" that make us happy, then turn to "things and times" that make us happy, and then we find the things that make us happy have disappeared. We still remember the times but now what has moved to first place is the "people" that make us happy. I think all of this is a cause to celebrate. A time to join with those people we love. A time to remember and a time to maybe shed a tear or two. A time to really look at those around us and a time to remember the good times with those that have used all their numbers up. YES....May tomorrow is a day to Give Thanks.
When I was a young child, I wanted to be thankful for a new bike. Now that I'm old I'm thankful for the old second hand bike I had.
When I was a teen, I wanted to be thankful for the shiny new Corvette I had. Now that I'm older, I'm thankful for the 53' Mercury I had instead. The Blue bomb we called her.
When I was a teen , I also wanted to be thankful for having the prettiest girl in school on my arm. Now that I'm older, I'm thankful for having the most beautiful woman in the world that I've called my wife for 44 years.
When I was a young man I was so proud when Cindy, My first born came, that I told everyone I wanted a dozen just like her. Now that I'm older I'm still proud of and thankful for Cindy, but I'm also proud and thankful for Vicki and Josh and I'm so very thankful that God saw fit "not" to give me three children just alike but three as different as night and day.
When I was young I wanted a big "house" with big rooms. I'm now thankful for our cozy "home" that love fills with a warmth that man cannot produce.
I'm thankful for the seven Grands that will be at our house tomorrow and the love I will see shared by them, one for another, as we eat and share stories of old times together and dreams of times to come.
I could go on and on about things and times and people I'm thankful for. I could talk about vacations and family times. I could write pages about my sister Dianne, that went to be with the Lord this year, and talk about the love that she shared with us all and the way she shared God's love until her last day here. I could talk about friends that I still have from Kirkwood and from High School. I could talk of new friends I've made on facebook and at our antique booth. I could tell of how thankful I am to still be here after my heart surgery almost four years ago, when the doctors told me my numbers should have been used up then. And I could tell you about how thankful I am to have had my surgery because it made me slow down and really notice all the great things and people I'm surrounded by and it also gave me a chance to write some of my feelings down that hopefully the grands will enjoy as they get older. Yes I'm a Blessed Man. I am Blessed by a loving God, by a loving family and by loving friends. And today and tomorrow and everyday that follows I will have my own special THANKSGIVING DAY. For you see....... I haven't yet used all my numbers up.....
HAPPY THANKSGIVING MY FRIENDS. MAY GOD BLESS YOUR DAY AND GRANT YOU MANY MORE NUMBERS......................
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
THEY CALL IT PROGRESS, I CALL IT SOMETHING ELSE
I sit here on a cold blustery morning and as is so often the case, my mind wonders back to a simpler time. A time when there were no bills, no ills and no pills to take every day. My biggest concern back then was who was going to join the rest of the neighborhood kids up at "THE FIELD". Oh "THE FIELD"...... It was our (the neighborhood kid's) field of dreams. At the time it was as big as Ponce de Leon ballpark, but in reality it was probably 175 feet by 175 feet. No matter the size, size really didn't matter, it was where legends were made, dreams came true and although I didn't realize it at the time lessons were learned. The field was just part of a city block that for some reason had never been developed. It fronted Winter Avenue on the east, Leland Terrace on the west and Park Place on the south. I knew it had to be an important field because Park Place was right beside the Boardwalk on the Monopoly Board. On one corner of the block was what we called the Little Store. It was just a little neighborhood store where we always went to buy candy and whatever else our moms would send us after. It was also where I learned my first entrepreneurial skills. I learn very early on that I could comb the back alleys for empty Coke bottles and take them to the Little Store and trade them for money and with this money I could buy candy. As you can see, I learned about the pleasures of life at an early age. Yes, life was simple and the bottle business was good.
Right next to the Little Store was a restaurant called the College Inn Restaurant. You see the north side of the block, where our field of dreams was, had been developed. There were these two businesses along with a Pure Gasoline Station and these three business faced College Avenue. It was called College Avenue because about two miles down the road was Agnes Scott College. I ride by this area pretty often nowadays but it's all changed.. Oh sure, most of the houses are still there and the streets are still there but the field and the businesses have been replaced by a Marta Station. Rapid transit they call it... Progress they say.... It's for the betterment of the people they tell me
... I beg to differ..... Part of whats wrong today is Rapid Transit. Seems like we're trying to get everywhere and do everthing to fast. We're trying to get our children grown to fast. I learned more at that field and The Little Store and the Pure Gasoline Station and The College Inn Restaurant than I bet anyone has ever learned on a Marta Train. I learned that it's good to create your own entertainment. I learned about teamwork and competition. I learned about fair play. I discovered that I could learn from the older kids and I learned that when I got older I needed to be patient with the younger kids. At the Pure Gasoline Station I learned it was a good thing to take time with a young child and to not just tell him what you were doing to fix a car but to show him. I learned what "Full Service" meant and that it wasn't a bad or demeaning thing to get dirty while working and earning a living. And ohhh the things I learned at The College Inn Restaurant. The restaurant wasn't just a sit down restaurant but also a drive-in restaurant. You could pull your car in the back, park under the awning, and Ol' Henry would come out, take your order and have your food to you before the first inning was over. You see, the parking lot backed right up to our field. Ol' Henry was what we called the "Curb Boy". The Varsity calls them "Red Caps" but to us Ol' Henry was just a "Curb Boy". At the time, I thought Ol' Henry was an older man but looking back now I would guess O' Henry was 19 or 20 years old. On those hot days when the sun would beat down on us, Ol' Henry would call for us to come on up and get us a drink. He would buy us all a coke and he taught us how to sit and rock on a coke crate. If I close my eyes I can still hear Ol' Henry telling us a story or talking about a catch one of us had made in the field or how far one of us kids had hit the ball, all the time laughing from the depths of his belly. When it was cold weather we would gather in a little shack they had built for Ol' Henry on the back of the restaurant to get out of the cold. Again we would grab us a coke crate, sit down around a little wood stove, rock and listen with smiles on our faces as Ol' Henry told us his stories. I don't think I ever knew a happier soul than Ol' Henry. He was color blind, he enjoyed his work, he shared his wealth, and yes, looking back he was a very wealthy young man, and he loved life. Ol' Henry was one of the first people to teach me that riches aren't to be measured in material things and people shouldn't be judged by the color of their skin.
Yep...They call it progress.... They can dig up the field.... They can tear down the old businesses and the can build something new and shiny, but they can never take away the memories and the lessons learned and they can never take away the laughter that I can still hear coming from the depths of Ol' Henry's belly. Oh the memories we've built. Just something to think about......................................................
I sit here on a cold blustery morning and as is so often the case, my mind wonders back to a simpler time. A time when there were no bills, no ills and no pills to take every day. My biggest concern back then was who was going to join the rest of the neighborhood kids up at "THE FIELD". Oh "THE FIELD"...... It was our (the neighborhood kid's) field of dreams. At the time it was as big as Ponce de Leon ballpark, but in reality it was probably 175 feet by 175 feet. No matter the size, size really didn't matter, it was where legends were made, dreams came true and although I didn't realize it at the time lessons were learned. The field was just part of a city block that for some reason had never been developed. It fronted Winter Avenue on the east, Leland Terrace on the west and Park Place on the south. I knew it had to be an important field because Park Place was right beside the Boardwalk on the Monopoly Board. On one corner of the block was what we called the Little Store. It was just a little neighborhood store where we always went to buy candy and whatever else our moms would send us after. It was also where I learned my first entrepreneurial skills. I learn very early on that I could comb the back alleys for empty Coke bottles and take them to the Little Store and trade them for money and with this money I could buy candy. As you can see, I learned about the pleasures of life at an early age. Yes, life was simple and the bottle business was good.
Right next to the Little Store was a restaurant called the College Inn Restaurant. You see the north side of the block, where our field of dreams was, had been developed. There were these two businesses along with a Pure Gasoline Station and these three business faced College Avenue. It was called College Avenue because about two miles down the road was Agnes Scott College. I ride by this area pretty often nowadays but it's all changed.. Oh sure, most of the houses are still there and the streets are still there but the field and the businesses have been replaced by a Marta Station. Rapid transit they call it... Progress they say.... It's for the betterment of the people they tell me
... I beg to differ..... Part of whats wrong today is Rapid Transit. Seems like we're trying to get everywhere and do everthing to fast. We're trying to get our children grown to fast. I learned more at that field and The Little Store and the Pure Gasoline Station and The College Inn Restaurant than I bet anyone has ever learned on a Marta Train. I learned that it's good to create your own entertainment. I learned about teamwork and competition. I learned about fair play. I discovered that I could learn from the older kids and I learned that when I got older I needed to be patient with the younger kids. At the Pure Gasoline Station I learned it was a good thing to take time with a young child and to not just tell him what you were doing to fix a car but to show him. I learned what "Full Service" meant and that it wasn't a bad or demeaning thing to get dirty while working and earning a living. And ohhh the things I learned at The College Inn Restaurant. The restaurant wasn't just a sit down restaurant but also a drive-in restaurant. You could pull your car in the back, park under the awning, and Ol' Henry would come out, take your order and have your food to you before the first inning was over. You see, the parking lot backed right up to our field. Ol' Henry was what we called the "Curb Boy". The Varsity calls them "Red Caps" but to us Ol' Henry was just a "Curb Boy". At the time, I thought Ol' Henry was an older man but looking back now I would guess O' Henry was 19 or 20 years old. On those hot days when the sun would beat down on us, Ol' Henry would call for us to come on up and get us a drink. He would buy us all a coke and he taught us how to sit and rock on a coke crate. If I close my eyes I can still hear Ol' Henry telling us a story or talking about a catch one of us had made in the field or how far one of us kids had hit the ball, all the time laughing from the depths of his belly. When it was cold weather we would gather in a little shack they had built for Ol' Henry on the back of the restaurant to get out of the cold. Again we would grab us a coke crate, sit down around a little wood stove, rock and listen with smiles on our faces as Ol' Henry told us his stories. I don't think I ever knew a happier soul than Ol' Henry. He was color blind, he enjoyed his work, he shared his wealth, and yes, looking back he was a very wealthy young man, and he loved life. Ol' Henry was one of the first people to teach me that riches aren't to be measured in material things and people shouldn't be judged by the color of their skin.
Yep...They call it progress.... They can dig up the field.... They can tear down the old businesses and the can build something new and shiny, but they can never take away the memories and the lessons learned and they can never take away the laughter that I can still hear coming from the depths of Ol' Henry's belly. Oh the memories we've built. Just something to think about......................................................
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