Ruthie

On a trip across middle America this summer we encountered a bubbly waitress at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. She practically hummed as she poured our coffee.

My husband and I had been discussing people and things that stressed us. "Wow, you're a happy person," I said.

Her face lit up as she smiled at me. Her words have resonated with me ever since. "I am a happy person," she said with a laugh. "You only get one chance at life. You gotta get it right the first time. We don't get to do it again." And she bustled off.

I looked across the table at my husband. It had hit him too. We are passionately happily married, but we both lost our first spouses at early ages. We know about the brevity of life. Had we forgotten about that?

Suddenly, whatever it was that I had been worried about that morning slipped my mind. The fact that I wouldn't get to do today again hit me. Today. There would never be another. I had been given this one chance at it. So, why worry? Why let people or things rain on my day?

I repeated her words. Let it sink in. And now I share them with you.

This, my friends, is it.