Midweek Thanks

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No, no “musings” today. It was just too good. What a wonderful day I had!! Yesterday I was in a funk. I LOATHE November 22, because it’s the anniversary of when my mom was stricken with a brain aneurysm. I’ve told the story before, and I won’t burden you with it again. As I said on my Facebook message, it was much harder to go from Thanksgiving plans to watching EMS take Mom out in the space of less than 90 minutes than it was to get the phone call from the hospital that she had passed 17 days later. Many of you have been through something similar, and you know the pain. Today I didn’t feel a whole lot like being festive, so I just decided I’d go to a nearby Mark’s Feed Store for some turkey (enough to bring home for lunch tomorrow, too). After lunch, I went to a different park for a walk. Along the way I got two unexpected blessings. When I came out of the restaurant there was a Prius backed in next to my car. The driver was sitting in the car with his window rolled down (he’s an Uber Eats driver, there to pick up an order) and apologized for not giving me a lot of room to maneuver into my car. Well, that wasn’t his fault, he was between the lines and so was I. That’s a poorly-drawn parking lot. At any rate, we chatted for a couple of minutes and left each other with Thanksgiving well wishes. Then I went to Joe Creason Park for my walk. Joe Creason was a columnist in our local paper when I was a kid. His column was called “Joe Creason’s Kentucky,” and it was one of those slice-of-life, fun, restore-your-faith-in-humanity columns. Yes, we needed those even back in the 60s and 70s. There’s a tennis court at the entrance of the park, and that’s where Creason died in 1974, suffering a heart attack while playing tennis. The park, therefore, was named in his memory. While walking I took the picture you see. At the bridge over Beargrass Creek I saw a displaced Marine (there’s no such thing as an “ex-Marine” ), sporting a USMC shirt, walking toward me. He was older, and I saluted him, thanked him for his service, and identified myself as his Uber driver (it’s a long running joke between the two branches of service that the Navy is the cab driver for the Marine Corps ). We stood and talked for a good 15 minutes, then we resumed our walk — together — back up the hill to the parking lot. He’s a Camp LeJeune vet, and he has the early stages of some rare blood disorder. Still, at 74, he has an amazing, positive outlook. He said he walks the park, about 4-5 miles, a day to stay in shape. That was a remarkable blessing, and an unexpected one. When we reached my car I shook his hand, thanked him again, and wished him and his wife a good Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving has already been made for this year!!