Do-Overs

Have you ever felt like you had the opportunity for a do-over, a chance to change your direction and start over?  Thinking back, there have been several of those in my life.

Yesterday my friend John Adams was singing John Denver's song, "I'm Sorry". Every time I hear that song, I'm jettisoned back 37 years to a phone booth in the hallway of my barracks in Shu Lin Kou, Taiwan. Talking to my fiance` in Indiana, I pointed out to him that it was as if the song had been written for us, that the words in the song where what he should be saying to me, even down to the line, "...I'm sorry for the way things are in China..." He didn't get the symbolism or the fact that he needed to apologize for anything, and right then and there - that microcosm of a moment - I broke up with him. Had we married, had I continued along that path, my life would have been far different. I got a do-over that day and never regretted it.

This morning as I sipped my Earl Grey, snuggled with the doggies and looked out over the very beginnings of daybreak, it struck me that I have, once again, received a do-over.  For I can't remember when I've ever been happier. Since retiring, my days are filled with love and laughter, and there are so many fun opportunities around every corner. Every day on the calendar holds the promise of time with Doug and the boys, visits with friends and family, even time alone (but never lonely). Maybe a do-over is that path along life where you've strayed ever so slightly and the Lord gently (ok, not always so gently) nudges you back in line with His Good Grace. Thank you, Lord, for your nudges in my life.