Life's Moments

Everybody reflects on the year at year's end (or maybe should).  I know I do.

I've figured out that life isn't a big picture sort of thing.  It's more like pieces that when assembled constitute the whole.

Another way of looking at it is like a painting.  It really isn't the final product as much as each individual brush stroke.  Hopefully when you step back and look at it, you see a masterpiece.

But life can't be looked at as a whole.  It's the parts.  It isn't the broad strokes.  It's a collection of small moments.

When we're in it, when we are living this life, we even have trouble looking at the big picture.  Try as we might.  We can't see how the little things add up to the whole.

We can't see how the little decisions lead us to bigger conclusions.  We can't see how important those little things are at the time they're going on.

Like the time when your teenaged daughter opened up about the meaning of life while you sat at the foot of her bed.

Any time a grandchild walked in and screamed your name. 

When you all got stuck in a downpour and were soaked to the bone and yet finally saw the humor in it and everybody got the giggles. 

A shared sunrise, where no one says a thing but each knows what the other is thinking.

A much needed hug for a broken heart.

So you take a hundred vacations and the one everybody remembers is the one where it seems everything went wrong.  But then, why do you remember that one?

A buddy and I drove to and from Colorado on a bike trip a couple of years ago.  You know what I remember about the trip out?  The obscene burrito that my buddy ate at a truck stop somewhere in New Mexico.  It was awful.   He loved it.

And the trip back?  I remember driving in the middle of the night and we're in the middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma and find a Motel 4 (that's no typo) for a few hours sleep.  You got a bed (small), a towel, and a bar of soap at Motel 4.

So looking back at 2015, what comes to my mind?  

Times with grandchildren.  Mostly time in the pool.  The Christmas Train last weekend.  Ice skating on Market Square.  Movie night.

I remember meeting a guy on a distant beach that I will probably end up doing business with.  Our initial encounter was sitting under a cabana, looking out at the ocean.  Our next encounter was in his conference room in Nashville.

I remember lots of laughing in the football coaches office at MHS.  And walking out with the team through the stands on Friday night.  Good times in the training room with the student trainers.  And Josh and Drake.  They always seemed to be in there.

Maybe there were some hiccups along the way but in the big picture, 2015 was a great year.  But good riddance 2015.  Hello 2016!