A Note For My Future Self

The average life span of humans is made up of 80 years, give or take. That means that each of us are presented with roughly 29,000 days to live. That’s a lot of days….but, is it? First of all, you should probably throw out the first four or five years since you were too young to have developed any memory of them. Second, the average human being who lives 80 years spends over 200,000 hours asleep. If you’re doing the math, that’s roughly the equivalent of 8,500 days. So, what we really have is 19,000 days worth of being awake and aware. Everyone experiences a handful of truly memorable days throughout their lives, like Christmas, important birthdays and anniversaries, the birth of a child or grandchild, etc. But most of those 19,000 days can hardly be distinguished one from another. Or at least at first glance. Yesterday was an example of one such day. It was completely ordinary, as far removed from special as it possibly could be. But something tells me that when I’m 80 and barely able to get dressed in the morning I might look back on it and wish I could live it over again. But, since it was so ordinary, if I don’t write a record of what happened it will just fade into the mist of memory and never be recalled again, as if it never even happened. Consequently, I have decided to make this permanent record for my future octogenarian self to read about and hopefully recall with fondness.

6:30 I woke up to that wonderful feeling you get when you realize that the upset stomach you went to bed with the previous night has disappeared. Then I realized that Lucy was sound asleep squeezed snuggly between Pam’s head and mine. This could only mean that there must have been a thunderstorm during the night. Whenever that happens she jams her head under our pillows until her nose reaches the headboard, then begins trembling, turning our bed into a vibrating massage table. The odd thing was that usually once the storm passes, she hops down. Not this time. 

7:30 Pam is planning a birthday outing for her Mom and sisters today which involves lunch at Tarrant’s West, then some sort of craft show, then presents and cupcakes with tea back here at the house. That means that last night she made a batch of strawberry cupcakes that were waiting for me in the kitchen. I had one with my coffee while I read of the latest horror out of Ukraine.

12:00 For lunch I decided on Mezah, a little Mediterranean version of Chipotle here in Short Pump. I go there every time I want to feel like eating something fresh and healthy. For the first time ever, I didn’t finish. Apparently my stomach issues are still with me. Maybe, given all the tumult in the world lately I am developing a nervous stomach. Wonderful.

Time unknown: I notice that my right eye has started tearing up and will not stop. All day, it is running. So I carry a tissue around in my pocket. I remove my right contact early in the day and use some allergy drops, to no avail. It will be a constant irritant that lasts all day.

1:30- 2:30 I enjoy a nap.

2:30 I wake up from my nap and notice that it has started snowing hard outside. I worry about Pam and all her crew out in the east end driving in the mess. I leave to drive over to Hope Thrift for my 3:00 to 5:30 Saturday shift. On my way over, I take a picture of the March snow:

2:45 Since it’s snowing, windy and cold, I decide to stop by Dunkin and get the volunteer crew at Thrift something yummy. Eight medium Dunkincinnos should do quite nicely.

3:30 The higher ups at Hope Thrift have made the executive decision to close the store early at 4:00. But that still gave me time to make lots of trips out back to the dumpsters. These trips featured high winds, freezing cold windchills and horizontal snow pelting the face. But one particular trip redeemed the otherwise unpleasant experience. There was a collection of plates, saucers and cups that hadn’t sold and needed to be thrown out. I spent five minutes or so slinging each delicate piece violently against the back wall of the metal dumpster wall smashing each into a million pieces and enjoying that sensationally satisfying sound of breaking glass ringing in my ears.

6:00 Pam made it home safe and sound and had a fun time with the girls. I had cleaned up the kitchen from how they had left it but in so doing had thrown out a container of milk that shouldn’t have been thrown out. Good intentions, bad execution.

7:00 By this time I was getting hungry, since I hadn’t finished my lunch. We decided to order pizza from Leonardos. I ate six pieces of a smallish pizza and sprinkled each with crushed red pepper. Pam looks at me with that look she gets when I do something that puzzles her. “If your stomach has been bothering you, why on earth would you eat six pieces of greasy pizza and cover it with red pepper flakes??” I had no rational answer for her. But, I didn’t get sick either, so I was right.

7:15- 8:30 Pam and I enjoyed two episodes of the most well-written, best acted television show available these days..The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It was delightful.

9:00 Watched a little basketball. Worked a little bit on novel number four, then settled in with my 90 day reading through the Bible thing. (I’m five days ahead!)

As I’m sure you have noticed, there is nothing at all special or memorable about this day, Saturday March 12, 2022. But on the other hand, it was a good day. It was a day that reminds you that the majority of life is lived in the ordinary. Sometimes, the ordinary brings a sense of gratitude. So, you write it down for your future self to recall.