Cherish Each Day

Cherish each day. You never know when it is going to be your last. Worse yet, you never know when it is going to be the last day on earth for a loved one.

Late this morning, I was making homemade soup for lunch. My wife Nikki works close by in Shasta Lake City, and she comes home to have lunch with me. As she stepped out the door at her work at noon, she paused to say good-bye to her co-workers. It was just a split second of her time.

She started the car and began her seven minute drive home. Turning down our street, Lassen Street, she proceeded as usual toward our home when she caught something out of her peripheral vision above, a shadow falling. She looked and reacted, no time for thought, just slam on the brakes. Crash! A huge tree fell across the road. The trunk was two feet in diameter, big enough to have crushed the cab of our little Camry, and of course it would have killed my wife instantly. The tree trunk broke the street. It landed two or three feet in front of her car.

What if she had not turned to say good-by to her co-workers? What if she had been glancing in another direction and not applied the brakes? If she had not applied the brakes, the extra distance would have place the roof of the car directly underneath the tree.

I am a lucky man today. My wife is alive. The tree hit directly in front of the car, some of the limbs scratching the hood and front grill, and that is with the breaks fully applied.

Another thing to be thankful for: anti-lock brakes.