Standing behind Paul and Macrina’s RV talking about the temporary nature of life, it struck me that no day has been as perfect as today.

I upset a friend; but he forgave me.

I stubbed my toe and stumbled into a counter in a store; but the clerk caught me.

I woke in pain; but the coffee tasted silky and smooth, sitting in the rocker on my porch with the dawn breaking on the other side of my house and a playful breeze dancing over the trees.

When I taught English to GED students forty-five years ago, they struggled to understand present perfect tense.  I realize, a lifetime later, that I should have taken them outside to gaze over the brick building at the stars above downtown St. Louis.  Imagine yourself as a child, in the innocence of an earlier day, gazing at the same stars, I could have told them.  Feel the serenity of this moment, and carry it with you forever.  Present perfect.

I left one world, and came into this one.  Nothing sweeter than this moment exists for me.  Any goodness that comes to me tomorrow will have its own purity.

It’s the thirteenth day of the fifty-fourth month of My Year Without Complaining.  Life continues.

Many Happy Returns of The Day to Chuckie Al. With Love.