I met a milestone today. It was one that I am surprised to have met. Something happened to me earlier this week that got me thinking about the relativeness of a life lived or not lived. It made me very aware that if someone’s life is cut short just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time their legacy would never happen, and for the most part, not many if anyone would ever know how their void would affect future generations.

On the other hand, should someone do something vile that should have taken them out of the picture forever and be allowed to continue their life unabated, they would have a legacy that was not due them. The only upside to this is that future generations may live, do good works, and somewhat balance the scale in opposition to what the unpunished person did.

Perhaps I digress and think too much. Nevertheless, this crossed my mind when I awoke just before five this morning.

I have been given a gift of another birthday today. My 65th. I say it’s a gift because if the stars had not aligned in just the right way I wouldn’t be here. If my father hadn’t survived World War II, returned to Winston County, Mississippi and married my mother I wouldn’t be here.

When I was very young I almost drowned in a pond behind our home. If my older brother hadn’t realized I had slipped beneath the surface and yanked me up I wouldn’t be here. By-the-way, I can still remember seeing a couple fish swimming in the murky water right in front of my face.

And there was that time I was mad at my father for not allowing me to go to town with him one day. I ran out the back door and crawled under his truck to hide. Unbeknownst to me, he decided to go to town in the truck instead of the car. Had the rear differential of that old Dodge been an inch lower to the ground I would have been dragged down the driveway and made quite a mess. Luck was on my side again.

Then there was the time I was installing an attic vent fan and mistakenly tapped into a live 220 volt line instead of the 110 I had thrown the break to. The jolt threw me backwards in the attic, temporarily stunned me, and blew holes in three of my fingers. I was rattled, but lived to see another day.

I can’t forget about the day I was driving home from work in a long line of cars when someone up ahead suddenly realize they were about to miss their turn and slammed on their brakes. Everyone else behind them did the same. – Only my brakes failed. Rather than rear-end the car in front of me, I took the ditch. After traveling about fifty feet my wheel struts broke, allowing my front wheels to point in opposite directions. My car flipped and I kept sliding forward, passing cars as I traveled down the ditch on the roof of my car. I wasn’t wearing a seat belt and when the car finally stopped I was sitting on the ceiling wondering how I was going to get out. Once again I walked away unscathed.

There were several times at work I could have been killed or seriously hurt. Once, I fell from a catwalk. It hurt, but I lived to see another day. Then there was the time I slipped and fell from a moving vehicle, landed on the back of my head and the wound required sixteen staples. Had I hit just a little harder I wouldn’t be here.

There were other times I won’t mention, but as I lay there this morning I thanked Him for watching over me all these years. For allowing me to marry a wonderful girl I have grown old with. For blessing me with three wonderful daughters who have given me five amazingly different grandchildren. What more could an old man wish for as he turns sixty five.

I am grateful. It's good to be alive!

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Rick Algood
June 7, 2017