Sunday, September 03, 2017

The Good Ole Days Are Created NOW

     Our daughter, Celeste, just sprinkled cold water on my back as I walked by her. She giggled and her brows danced up. She painted a mischievous smile on her face as she continued washing the dishes and singing along with the Dixie Chicks on the radio.
     The Dixie Chicks sang, The Travelin’ Soldier, a song about a girl who fell in love with a soldier who wanted someone to write to while he fought in Viet Nam. It reminded me of how Denise and I wrote ourselves in love with our letters to and from the Tonkin Gulf in Viet Nam.
     “You do realize that song could be about your mom and me, right?” I said.
     Celeste’s eyes twinkled and squinted, “Nah! You and mom are the last thing that I think about when I listen to this song!” Then her smile fell off her face for a second. “He dies, dad. It’s a sad song.”
     “OK. The first part of the song could be about your mom and me.”
     She laughed and said, “Nope, I never think about you and mom when I hear this song.”
     She’s lying, of course.
     We were playing and being completely in the moment and in the moment is when the Good Ole Days are created.
I don’t want to go back to the Good Ole Days of the past. I want to create the Good Now Days NOW! 
     I found some letters I had written during the war about the day and night we spent on R&R at golf tee number 7 on Grande Island in Subic Bay, Philippines. Fighting in a war is not the Good Ole days. But, those precious moments when we could escape the war and play, now those moments were the Good Ole Days. They taught me to create my own Good Ole Days regardless of the hardships I have to endure.
     Today, I have work to do. And I have play to do, too.

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