The Love of My Life

A wonderful memory…

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

It was springtime 42 years ago. I was single and young. I loved art and beautiful women so that Sunday I attended an open house at a charming art school.

After at least an hour, I had lost heart at finding someone unique to date. Then I saw a small set of stairs leading to the third floor of the school’s main building.

I walked up those stairs. There she was with her beautiful artwork and an even more beautiful smile. I offered to consider buying the work. She offered a card with her name and number. I still have it and we are still together.

I didn’t realize until we dated how lonely I had been. Kristine filled my heart with something undefinable I had missed. She was and is the love of my life.

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Oh, Those Scars

“Things don’t go away just because you choose to forget them.” Teju Cole, a Nigerian-American writer

So what helps to heal our souls despite the scars? It would seem a multifactorial process. One thing seems reasonably certain to me. We need all the help we can get.

What we are seeking in essence is inner peace. To me these changes are wrought by the grace of God. I think we all need time in prayer. I try to pray daily. I think methodical stretching, lifting (or resisting), and aerobics put us in a better place spiritually, physically and emotionally. Time in the Word of God settles me and enriches my own journey.

May you each find that peaceful place in your soul that despite the scars is a healing balm on your journey. May God bless you with a deep, lasting, inner peace.

Stuff

Are we too attached to our stuff?

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

The late, hilarious, comedian, George Carlin, had a wonderful sketch about our stuff. Its humor benefited from how attached we are to our stuff.

I had a friend who when moving to a smaller place decided to store a portion of his stuff, a beautiful rug. Upon his return to the storage bin, years later, he found a rat-holed piece of trash instead of his stuff. Hey, it was only stuff. Why get attached to it?

Viktor Emil Frankl, MD, was a psychiatrist of international renown, who, survived the Nazi death camps. He actually lived into his early 90s.

Frankl believed those people who were focused on the material for meaning were the least likely to survive the camps. All the material things in their lives were stolen from them. However, those who found meaning in the non-material, this physician found, were more likely to survive.

Many people in our…

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My Memory of 9/11, now, 19 Years Ago

Infamy…

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

At 9:02:57a.m., on 9/11/01, the second World Trade Center Tower was hit. Not long afterwards I was in our family room. My 89 year old father in law was visiting. We were near the television. I wasn’t watching, but simply listening across the room.

When I heard about a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center my mind went back to the explosive truck at the bottom of one of the towers that had done its damage a few years before. I thought the news was historical, not in real time.

Then I looked. It was horrendous. My heart dropped and my eyes saddened. New York City was under attack. Thousands would die.

I turned to my father in law and said you lived long enough to see this. He said, “I wish I hadn’t.”

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Fatherhood

What a gift!

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

I first appreciated little ones when my two nieces were very small and I would come home from med school in the late 60s and visit them. They were such a grand relief from the pressures of school and so enhanced my life.

In 1980, Kristine and I had a daughter, Courtney, followed by a son, Chad in 1990. Courtney was bright, beautiful and full of love. Chad was as well. Kristine being an artist was struck that as much as she appreciated beauty, God had blessed her with beautiful children.

My memories are centered on how my offspring connection steadily changed for the better, except for 13-14 years of age for obvious reasons.

Courtney is a dear with like interests who makes my heart sing. Chad is the dearest, male, friend I have ever known. I am very close to both of them.

Today is the 26th anniversary of…

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