DocAndersen
Though I stumble, though I fall.
The path we walk in life can be one filled with pain. Everyone has moments of pain, some of us face pain every day. I have been very lucky, losing friends and family members, but for the most part, my life isn’t full of pain. I am lucky in that way. I do spend time considering how lucky I have been. In the many years I have been working, I have had the chance to see the world. I have had the chance to work with some of the best people on earth. I have a wonderful family. My parents taught to care about others. My grandfather taught me to golf, to fish and not to blindly jump into a puddle. My grandmother taught me to love Jeopardy! Although in fairness I wasn’t able to beat her at the game for many years.
My father’s parents also taught me much. My father’s mother loved reading and shared her love of reading with me. My grandfather Ole was a man that left my life too early. But in the founding of and execution of the Family History project, I found out how much Ole had been in my life when I was little. It made me sad that I didn’t recall the times he spent with us.
Pondering the passage of a birthday can be painful. There is a time; you will reach it as well or even pass it; when you cannot light the candles on the cake, not from handshaking, but because lighting that many candles require a fire extinguisher to put out the rising flames.
Life, as William Faulkner once said “Is a tale told by an idiot. Full of sound and fury.” I feel today no fury, but I do hear the sound. Memories floating around me and reminding me always of things that once were.
I can understand why, it is a good one.
It is a very good line. I suspect what makes us better people is what we do when we finish that pause.
Birthdays and other holidays can give us reason to pause. You have much to be thankful for as you know. Many memories that will never leave your heart. Savor each one as I know you are doing.
That is the line I should use to describe the family history project Birthdays and holidays give you a reason to pause!