‘Oh sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you,’ the singer proclaims. The discovery of life’s mystery is easier to sing about…than to discover. I asked an old gentleman…probably my age at the time…what he could recall about the 1940s…and he replied that it had been so long ago and he had been so busy working…that he did not remember much. He went on to say that looking back on the 40s was little more than a blur in his memory. I think that there was more truth in his words than I realized at the time of our conversation. Working at Life…tends to obscure Life.

The Geese surprised me this morning. I was at my favorite Campus Pond and when I rounded the corner of some foliage…there were many of them languidly indulging in a Thursday morning swim. When they saw me… they did not flinch or Honk. We have seen each other before. As their world swirled about them…they were singularly focused on the tasks at hand…swimming and bobbing for food.

I spoke to my old friend yesterday. Our conversation made my day! There are many who say that they are your friend…but there is only a handful…who live their title and claim. Those that do so…are worth their weight in gold. So to be present for your life…is a worthy cause. To have a sense of place and purpose in life is a bringer of contentment and happiness.

Chet did not seem to have many friends. He was a bit of a loner…with thick glasses that made his eyes look pronounced. He appeared to be just the type of friend that Billy B. wanted to have. Most of Billy B.s first grade class already knew each other due to having gone through kindergarten together. Billy B. had not attended kindergarten nor had he lived in Eldorado until a week prior to school beginning. Billy B. had begun life as a rather outgoing person until his mom and dad began having marital difficulties and he witnessed the unhappiness that their problems brought both of them. The move to Eldorado had been a surprise for Billy B. and he had been told it was for the purpose of mom and dad making amends and dad getting away from the ‘other woman’ in Chicago. So…Billy B. had become contemplative as life delivered him a massive change from his Leave It To Beaver lifestyle…to a big and cold and haunted house across from the High School…that had a rat in the bathtub the first morning the family awakened. Chet was a breath of fresh air and a good and faithful friend. He and Billy B. liked to play with soldiers and cowboys and sundry action figures. Chet liked his hot dogs directly out of the package and Billy B. learned to like them that way too…although Neva J. was appalled. Life had presented lemons to Billy B. or a New Normal…as some would say…and he acclimated to it with gusto with his good friend Chet.

What appears to be devastating can often be a door of opportunity…if we are willing and able to walk through it…