Beech Tree News Network

It’s hard on a person to outlive loved ones.  Recently, my family watched the movie, “A Man Called Otto.”  The story line is about a man whose wife was his whole world.  “There was nothing before her and nothing after her,” he said.  After she passed away, he started making plans to commit suicide, so he could join her.  Every time he made the attempt, however, someone interrupted him.  It turned out that his neighbors needed him, so he decided to keep living.  Eventually, he passed away from a heart attack.  My granddaughter, Sabria, cried.  “He died,” she sobbed.  “Why did he have to die?” 

               “We all have to die,” I said.  “The important thing is to find a reason to live before you die.” 

That is the single hardest lesson I have ever learned.  That probably sounds strange to most people, but I think that lesson was hard for me to learn, because I didn’t have hope, and I didn’t practice gratitude.  Gratitude has to be practiced, just like anything else that becomes a habit.  It doesn’t just fall on you.  I began by telling God everything I was grateful for when I woke in the mornings.  I continued by thanking the people around me, including my family, for both big and small things they did for me every day.  Gratitude has become a habit with me.  It makes me feel both humble and important.

  The following is my partial list of reasons to stay alive:

1.      

To make God glad that he gave me a second chance.

2.      

To love and support my family.

3.      

To finish my writing projects.

4.      

To hold the light for Garey when he’s working on machinery.

5.      

To help Garey with technology.

6.      

To give vegetables from my garden to my friends.

7.      

To continue getting rid of stuff I don’t need, so my children don’t have to later.

8.      

To put out feed for the birds in the winter.

9.      

Those British mysteries aren’t going to watch themselves.

10. 

To make sure my cats continue to live in the manner to which they have grown accustomed.

This is just a list of ten reasons.  I add to them daily.  Today, I added an amendment to reason number 10: To teach my cats not to do annoying things, just in case I outlive them, so that whoever they end up with doesn’t give them to the animal shelter.  I added this amendment after Sister Cat decided she didn’t like the zebra on the dining room table.  She knocked him over, then grabbed the tablecloth with her claws and tried to pull him and his friend the giraffe, along with the large glass vase full of flowers, onto the floor.  I caught everything right before they came crashing down.  I yelled at her, and she’s still hiding.

I continue to be grateful for her, though, and I will give her some Greenies later, when she shows her little face again.