Fortunate Son

A postal worker in Connecticut is sitting in her mail truck and a tree falls onto her vehicle and kills her. A woman in the Bronx is struck by an arrow that comes out of nowhere and she dies. A piece of steel falls off a truck on the LIE and a man is killed when it pierces his windshield. How is it that I am alive and these people, surely deserving of long lives, are not?


A new year, a new decade approaches (although there is some dispute on that - does 2010 signal the end of one decade or the beginning of another? Discuss). There is SO MUCH that I was blessed to experience this year (good and bad - we miss you Julie!) and once again I am reminded of my good fortune to live here in America, to live in these times of medical miracles, to live in comfort with the ability to afford health care (for now anyway...we'll see what transpires in the coming year), to live with family and friends and neighbors and colleagues who provide unending support, to live knowing my freedoms are fought for and protected by a courageous group of military men (shout out to DJ) and women, to live with love and laughter and light and, yes, sometimes lunacy.


Look at those faces above...could the blessings I enjoy be any more obvious? Our Christmas celebrations were wonderful - I pray all of yours were as well.


I do not know what the next decade will bring, or if I will be around to celebrate its end. I would be lying if I said it wasn't something I ever think about - of course it is. The reflection of "What have I been able to enjoy?" is almost always followed by its corollary, "What will I miss if I am gone too soon?" And more often than not, it is the mundane things I think about: not being around to help decorate Taryn's first apartment; missing out on assisting Ian with his first real job interview; wanting to be at Emily's when she hosts her first family get-together (vegetarian meal included); watching Warren put the final touches on our house (OK, fine, that wouldn't really happen if I lived to be 150 anyhow). But you get the picture - no yin without the yang.


Will fortune smile on me for 10 more years?


Blessings and Love to All - and a special set of prayers for the Ryan family (Magda, Rob, Chris and Maddie), who lost husband, Dad, and FDNY first-responder Jim Ryan on Christmas morning after a series of Ground Zero-related illnesses took its final toll. Our thoughts are with all of you on Earth and with Jim in Heaven.