Glimmers
July 23, 2010
Well, I’m back from Fantasy Island. My wife and I celebrated 30 years of marriage with a vacation and cruise to Alaska. We had saved and planned for it for a long, long time and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Before the cruise, we spent some time in Washington State. We used to live there 28 years ago. We re-visited the house we used to live in and the hospital where Jessie, our first daughter, was born. It brought back a lot of memories and much appreciation for our journey together over the last 30 years.
This was not our first cruise, but it was by far the best. Alaska is beautiful! As a Florida native, I never tire of seeing majestic, snow-covered peaks. Of course, part of that enjoyment is the knowledge that I get to come home to Florida!
We awakened Saturday morning to the shocking reality that no one would cook our breakfast. No one would clean our room. No one would sneak in while we were at dinner and turn down our bed and leave chocolate on our pillow. No top-notch comedian would entertain us after dinner and no excursion to see humpback and killer whales was to come. Our fantasy was shattered!
But it turns out that real life invades fantasy all the time. You won’t hear about it, but people die on cruise ships quite often! One cruise ship doctor reported he had 4 deaths on one sailing. I had never thought of that. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that when you get that many people, a good number of advanced age, that some of them reach their appointed time.
Yes, my cruise fantasy is over. But my reality is pretty good too. As my boss likes to say, “Any day you can do this,” extending his arms straight out, “is a good day.” Think about it. It will come to you.
Blessings to you all,
Jerald
