Life is a Matter of Inches

Saturday was one of those days where nothing much happened, yet could have been a cataclysmic event. My bride and I started the day with a ton of errands, with the ultimate destination my son's house for dinner. They live 60 miles from us, with all the shopping stops of Dallas between us.

So we fixed a light breakfast of muffins and coffee, then hit the road. AT&T store (did everyone know they don't sell I-phones?)Post office-Office Depot, then north to downtown Dallas to the Farmer's Market for avocados, a small watermelon, and a pineapple. From there to lunch on McKinney Ave @ Jake's Burgers where my bride announced that we need to find a little off-the-wall once a week to eat. I guess I am always stunned to realize that she enjoys spending time with me as much as I enjoy spending time with her. Then on the Apple store where they do sell I-phones. We upgraded my bride's phone and were waited on by a very nice and very well-trained young man. He managed to show us the rudimentary features of the I-phone with virtually no eye-rolls (although I got the same feeling as when we travel to Mexico, he spoke very slowly and deliberately to make sure we got it...we only got some of it) Then on to Crate and Barrel, and a small gift shop, and a StarBucks in the same shopping center. I had to have a break and frappicino. Lowe's and Home Depot were next for some real shopping and since my little Ford Ranger was full, we headed to our son's house. Whew.

A lovely dinner ensued, with great conversation, exceptional food, and memories to be filed into the heart.

On the way home about 10PM, my bride and remarked how reckless the Dallas drivers are on Central Expressway, weaving in and out, cutting people off, zooming ahead and veering across multiple lanes to hit an exit ramp at full speed. Somewhere north of LBJ, a truck changed lanes which caused a car to swerve and come within inches of smacking into another truck. We were about 100 yards behind the nut in the car, so I was able to see the entire thing. With three vehicles all swerving trying to miss each other, I was trying to calculate which way would afford us a safe lane. The car and truck missed (I have no idea how) by inches. My bride gasped, I tapped the brakes to give me the extra few seconds of reaction time, saw a lane to the left and moved over. All missed each other, but I know that had they locked up, there was no way that our little truck and about a half dozen other cars weren't going to be part of a major pile-up. There was simply no room to maneuver in time.
After the adrenalin settled down, we talked about the fact that these nuts who zip around and cause huge problems usually end up killing some innocent family,minding their own business, perhaps at the end of a long and fulfilling day. Wham! Crunch! Slam! and the shape of that family is changed forever.
Inches from a devastating phone call to my kids. Perhaps months of hospitalization, or rehab, or days spent in funeral planning.
I've thought about this all weekend. Even the near miss changed my thoughts and pre-occupied my take on the world and the transience that we take for granted. As mentioned in other blogs, I followed the thought string with all the permutations. What if I was gone, what would my kids and my bride do? What if it was my bride, I will tell you there is no alternate plan, it just sort of faded to a dark and lonely feeling. What if both of us? How would our kids handle it? Inches, less than the width of my hand from a normal weekend to a day that my kids would weep over for years to come.

I will tell you that my disciplines were different Sunday morning and this morning. Different due to thankfulness that we get some more time to enjoy the benefits of a life well lived.

Godspeed, hug those close to you. The width of a hand can close quickly.
Don