Ooh Baby Baby, it's a Wild World

I never intended to write a book review on this thing, but I am reading an excellent book. It's called "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller. He is the author of "Blue Like Jazz", one of my all-time favorite books. I appreciate Donald Miller because he is real and lets his readers get to know him, the good and the bad. The book I am currently reading focuses on life and how each life has the potential to be a great story. We are given a blank page, and we decide what to write on it. It's up to us if our story is one worth telling and talking about. As I'm writing, it sounds like a self-improvement book, but it's not that at all really. It's just about life and how we live it. We can live comfortably and be content in our familiar routine, but he points out that none of us would go to a movie after seeing a preview depicting an ordinary individual living an ordinary life. We go to the movies because we want action. Whether it's romantic, comical, or dramatic.... we want action. We want to see a man in his late 30's win Wimbledon after being ranked 116th in the world. We want to see the poorest kid in town win the heart of a wealthy girl even though her father has done everything in his power to sabotage their relationship. We want to see the underdog football player who has never been given the opportunity to play in a game hear the entire stadium chanting his name, after he was so close to giving up on the sport. Hopefully you all are following my movie references... I can count on Deirdre at least. So what stops us from seeking out the action in our own lives? Obviously, there are barriers... mine being money. Sure, I would travel to Australia and explore the great barrier reef if I had a savings account and vacation time. But it doesn't have to be as dramatic as Australia. I'm not trying to be deep, especially on a blog that screams "Are we in Texas Yet?!" I'm just saying, the book is good. It makes me want to get off the couch and do something.

So, the first wild thing I'm going to do is learn how to crochet. A 92-year old with dementia at my facility is going to teach me. I have worked with individuals with dementia for almost four years, and still nearly welled up with tears today as I watched her crochet. She can't remember the names of all of her children, but she could crochet with her eyes closed. Her hands have memorized the movement. She may not know how many grandchildren she has, but she knows that she loves her family, she loves to crochet, paint, and play the piano, and she loves to pray. Oh, and she knows she's 92 because she tells me every time we talk. Now that's a life well lived... and I think her children, grandchildren, and generations to come will be telling her life story.

Here I am... living on the edge with Kevin Dillon at our '96 family reunion.