By Charles Towne
I met my wife and almost immediately fell in love with her. She was and is incredible. Personality plus, beautiful, and, as the bible says, “sweeter than a honeycomb"! I fell in love and never looked back. Everything that had come before paled in comparison. Our time together was delicious! When I took her in my arms, when I kissed her, and when we walked together and talked together I was transported into another realm.
Yeah, you could say I fell in love, and it remains so to this day.
What do we take for granted?
Right now I want you to concentrate on taking a deep breath... and another. Now, think about what you just did. It felt good, didn’t it? But, due to the fact that we do it regularly, and would die without it, don’t we take breathing for granted?
Consider walking, or running, or sitting, or standing. Do we take these commonplace actions for granted? How about taking a bath or a shower, to just luxuriate and let the water wash away your worries. How about holding your wife or husband, kissing your darling, tenderly touching him or her, or... on the other end of the spectrum, feeling the sting of a bee?
You take so much for granted... until one day you can’t do these things anymore.
The myriad of things we take for granted
My firstborn son Chuck Jr. is dying of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. A short time ago he was a vibrant energetic man. He loved ice fishing, horseback riding, deer and pheasant hunting, and working with wood. It is hard to work with wood when you can no longer drive a nail or even hold a hammer.
Believe me when I say that he doesn’t take anything for granted anymore.
Here I sit at my desk doing my little two-finger dance on my computer. I might be slow, but, eventually, the words spill and splash, and soon I have a document that, poor as it might be, perhaps it will give you pause, and make you think just how fortunate you are. I know that I have considered just how rich and fortunate I am after my recent visit with this man that I love and held when he was a baby.
And soon... too soon... so soon, his life will be done. His breath will return to the life-giver from whence it came. The tears that are on my cheeks I will never again take for granted. Have you told your family just how much you love them lately?
And I ask again, how much do you take for granted?
