Connections: Two Sisters and Tim McGraw
(Oh sweet bejeebus, this ought to be
good….)
I attended a concert with both of my
sisters.
(Hahaha… Wait, that's it? And seriously?
Aren't you like in your fifties or something?)
I am NOT, thankyouverymuch. And yes,
seriously. My sisters are each a few years older than I am, so we weren't all
that particularly close growing up. Now, I consider them both to be my friends
as well as siblings, and we are all closer now than we ever have been. And for
the first time, we were all at a concert, standing together, enjoying the music
and laughing together. And you know what? It was pretty damn cool. And it got
me thinking.
(See "sweet bejeebus" comment
above.)
Would you stop that!
(Alright, fine, I'll bite. What did you
think about?)
Connections. There are so many
connections in my life, swirling in the proverbial six degrees of separation, that
I found myself grateful, humbled, and frankly a little awed. Granted, my
sisters have been part of life literally since the moment of my birth, but for
a time years and miles had separated us. Now here we are, all these years
later, not only spending time together for family birthdays and holidays, but
for fun. Fun. With my sisters. Just because. For that I am a lucky man. I know
many who don't have that same luxury, whether because of death, distance, or
disagreement. I feel for those people, and lament the fact that they don't have
the same opportunity I have.
It doesn't stop there, however. As you
know, my friends are my family and those in my family are my friends. It is a collective
family that extends from here to Australia and back. Like the Duggars, it is
continually growing.
(Are you pregnant???)
What? NO! Oh my gawd! I meant I am still
making new friends.
(Oh. *giggle*)
In addition to my sisters, I spent the
evening with another friend who recently came into my life, through one of my
sisters, no less. All these connections came together for a wonderful, warm
spring evening at a Tim McGraw concert.
(Were you boot scootin'?)
That's Brooks and Dunn, smart ass. And maybe.
ANYWAY… McGraw ended the show with his hit ballad Live Like You Were Dyin'. It brought the house down, and got me to
thinkin' even more.
(Can I say 'oh boy' now?)
Yes. Because this is going to be quite
existential.
(Oh boy….)
The whole premise of the song is that a
man in his forties had a health scare that caused him to finally live the life
he wanted, and needed, to live. It's a powerful song, and those that have heard
it know what I mean. For those that haven’t, I strongly encourage you to listen
to it. Multiple times. Listen to the lyrics and let them sink in. As I stood
there, listening during the show, I looked around at my siblings and friends
and felt a happiness that even I find hard to describe.
Just this morning, however, I made yet
another connection, through a friend, that brought memories of my friend's death
a year ago roaring back. All it took was something as simple as an irreverent posting
on Facebook. And I was reminded.
(Of what?)
Of how short and fragile human life can
be. I was reminded how important it is to embrace those you care about, and to
embrace strangers and welcome them into your life.
(Doesn't embracing strangers usually
result in arrest for assault?)
I'm being serious, dammit.
(Sorry.)
I'm reminded how lucky I am to have so
many wonderful people in my life. And I am reminded of those words I wrote a
little over a year ago with my friend's passing, encouraging myself and you to,
well, basically live like you were dyin'. In the past year I have traveled, I
have loved, and I have cried. I have smiled and laughed and danced. I have
lived, and relaxed. I have enjoyed. Admittedly
it's still a little bit of a foreign concept to me, but I'm working on it. That
doesn't change my advice then, and my advice to you now.
(Which is….)
Live. Live life. Like McGraw says, live like
you were dyin'. If there's something you'd like to do, do it. Remind those that
you care about that you care about them. Go for a ride to nowhere without caring
how long it takes you to get there. Do what makes you happy with whom you're
happy. Don't let time slip by. We have such precious little of it as it is. Hell,
go out and buy a new cowboy hat. Why not?
(You did, didn't you? Pics please.)
I did. And I rock that hat, dammit.
(What's that about riding a horse and
saving a cowboy?)
Hey, you said it, not me.
(Touché, pussycat.)
So, the moral of the story: What McGraw
said. Yeah, that. Just stay away from the bull named Fu Man Chu.
©
J.J. Goodman 2014. All rights reserved.