September 2010
President’s Message
Snap! Just that fast and we can be in a new life.
It was a sunny morning and I was still thinking of the fun we’d had the night before at my 50th (who’s counting!) class reunion in Healdsburg. Some of us had snuck off and dressed in robes and slippers to reappear doing the class song using walkers and canes. Hilarious, we thought. I didn’t know how close I’d come to that reality the very next day.
The freeway was a-whiz with cars as I headed to the reunion picnic. The radio crooned out a song and I checked the mirror for that last pat of the hairdo, when, WHAM! A huge thud sounded on the passenger side of my van, careening me to the next lane. My hands clutched the steering wheel and I saw the car behind me spin around. “Oh, no,” I let out. I somehow maneuvered over to the right hand shoulder and stopped, my whole body shaking. The ultimate nightmare traffic accident, the one you pray will not happen, the one at 65mpr on the freeway that you are sure not to let happen, just happened.
Harry came to get me. All I wanted was be at home. Needless to say, I didn’t get to the picnic. But, it was an odd day, in that I couldn’t concentrate on anything. Sitting in front of the computer answering emails, watching TV, or even reading a book, all seemed trivial, at odds with the momentous event that had just taken place. Finally, I got it. Got what my subconscious was trying to tell me. It was like someone had died, only they hadn’t. What I needed to do was spend the day honoring the fact that I was alive. I had not been so much as bruised, nor had been the other driver. Yet, my car was totaled. We both walked away from what could have been an unthinkable event. No routine task would do for this day. What I needed was give myself over to thankfulness for my life. And that is what I did. I sat in the sun and thought, read some poetry, reviewed all the goodness in my world.
Now, I have a new car and a new payment. And, a new idea of how fast life can turn. Snap! Each day is a gift, each friend a treasure, each creative notion a wafting of the spirits of the universe. Life is joy, even when it isn’t. I have always intended to live life “‘til I tilt,” now even more so. Get ready world! And to those watching over me, thank you.
