Value of a Rock and Roll Attitude

March 9, 2009

I’m sitting here at a kitchen table in our house in Jacksonville that has been on the market for almost three years.

Last Friday I lost one of my biggest and best clients because the CEO quit and he was my sponsor.

In two weeks, I will turn 65, and I have just signed up for Medicare.

And, I’m listening to foot stomping country music and having a glass of wine.

This is a time to count my blessings.

There are many.

But, life is not perfect.

It is relative.

A short while ago, I called my wife and left a message on the phone at our farm in Brooksville. “I’m looking for Annette McCrory,” I said. “I’ve been in love with Annette McCrory since we were eight years old, and I have a picture of eight year old Annette in my office.”

That’s blessing number one.

Shortly after that call, my cell phone died and I discovered I had left my charger behind at the farm when I left this morning.

Life is not perfect.

We have too many horses and too many mortgages to pay.

We also have so many friends; people we truly care about, and who I believe return that caring to the two of us.

That’s so important just because I am about to become 65. It’s been important to me for as long as I can remember.

In fact, I can clearly recall the day that my son David said something to me about my friends. “Dad,” he said, “you really have some great friends and you keep them close.”

Yes, David, I sure do.

I wish I did better with keeping my family close. David and his wife Carol and their two children Mack and Bret are now in Philadelphia, but it seems to me on so many days that they are much farther away and I need to pull them closer.

My parents are 86 and 88 and living in their home. They are doing okay, although my dad is kind of waiting to die. I figure there have been times he has been so mean that God is getting him back by keeping him waiting. They are in Columbus, Ga., about 6 hours from me. I see them three or four times a year and talk to them frequently. But, it should be more.

I am not sure, given my dark history, why Annette McCrory came into my life about ten years ago. She came into it with a huge beacon of light and a rock and roll attitude, and we’ve not looked back. Not once.

In fact, my greatest joy is being with her, watching her and talking about her. Nothing else is even close.

I love my life and just about every single thing about it.

I am not sure what will happen in the next several months. It might get tough.

But, as long as I have my beacon of light and my rock and roll Annette McCrory, I will be fine. We will do okay.