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......................