JUST THINKING......

"the simple things in life are what get you through the day, and that fear and loneliness are but self-contrivances, and that life's great moments are just what Tennessee Williams always said they were: the kindness of strangers."

This is a quote from today's Chris Rose column which can be found in the Living section on NOLA.com. Its brilliant. I've always enjoyed reading Mr. Rose's columns. Before Katrina and well....after. Through his self-admitted slide into severe depression, he chronicled for the rest of us, the truth regarding New Orlean's recovery and also, the lack thereof. But this quote sums it all up. For him, for me, and for everyone else. The column was about an old eccentric cat-lady that lived next door to him. Before Katrina and well....after. A quiet simple woman of 80+ who spent her life, a life that she loved, reading and writing haiku and taking care of her beloved cats. She stayed for Katrina, and although Chris thought he was taking care of her, bringing things she needed periodically, she had done much more to take care of him. Her simple life and sweet spirit helped him to get through the his 'bad' period after Katrina. Then, in October of this year, in a grocery store parking lot not far from her home, she was mugged. Two horrible young creeps knocked her to the ground, stealing her groceries and her purse. They, also, in the process, broke her hip as she hit the ground. She was hospitalized for a time, surgery on her hip, and then, recovering nicely, she moved in with her son for awhile....just until she was able to get back to her home and her cats. But that never happened. She died recently, a blood clot in her lung is what took her life, but it was all a result of her unlucky run-in with the two hell-bent thugs that she had the meeting with in October. Although the story of her dying is one of the saddest stories I have heard in my life......I am thinking that for the time she was here on earth, she was probably happier than most of us. As Chris expertly weaves the truth of it....she lived each day for the blessings it held, never to look ahead much. And I'm thinking now that if we all could do that, we would all be better off for it. It is the future that we think we have that has lead us all to our constant emotional wanting. Looking too far ahead reminds us of what we don't have now.......and we should be looking and thanking the universe for what we do have now. For example, I am always wishing I had more money so that I could buy more things, go more places, thinking that I would be able to enjoy life more. But, when I really think of it, I already have everything I need to make me happy. I have a beautiful family....my son, his wife and my two gorgeous grandchildren. I have a nice job that I am soon to retire from and will have enough money in retirement to sustain my current lifestyle. I have a nice house with nice furniture and a nice car. I have great friends that help me laugh through good and bad times. I have a wonderful dog and a wiggy cat that also help me to laugh every day. But yet, when I look down the road, I want more. And, the real question is "Why?". I am making myself a promise today. To do better at not looking down the road. To enjoy every day for what it is. I have Chris Rose's cat-lady neighbor to thank for helping me see it. Wherever she is now, I hope she knows, that thanks to Mr. Rose's column, she has probably helped hundreds, if not thousands of people to reflect and decide to do the same. One last thought and promise.....I will be kinder to strangers. I will, at the very least, offer them a smile and when I run across the little opportunites to do more, I will.