What A Difference A Day Makes

"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." II Peter 3:8

24 little hours...

Bad things can happen in a day! One day I had just boarded a cruise ship in New Orleans, and I called to say goodbye to my parents. I talked with my Dad for about 10 minutes, and he told me to have a great time. The next day he is gone, and I am left trying to find a way home from Jamaica for his funeral.

One day I am at the beach having a great time. That evening from one of Lee’s favorite restaurants at Gulf Shores I call home to tell him how I wished he could be there with me. The next day he is gone, killed by someone he thought of as a friend.

Before you think I am completely negative, though if you read this blog all the time you have already figured that out, there are good things that can happen in a day! One day I went over Martin and Lee’s house for a barbeque supper. The next day, we were life partners.

One day my Mother is rushed to the hospital with blood pressure of 40/20, and the doctor says he is not sure what is wrong with her or if she can be stabilized. The next day, she is up walking around the hospital room asking when she can go back to water aerobics.

Yes, it is unbelievable sometimes the changes that can occur in just one day’s time that will forever have an effect on our less than meaningful lives. So where am I headed with this opening salvo, you ask? I recently had another devastating loss in my life. While not a death, it was the loss of a great friend from my life. Once again it happened in just one day. On the first Sunday of March, we got together for coffee and a chat just mainly discussing upcoming events in our lives where we were going to get to spend some time together. When we drove off that evening in separate directions, I was so happy to have built this new, strong friendship. Little did I know that the next day it would come crashing down around me.

Crocket has only been in my life for about six months, and it amazes me with my trust issues how quickly our friendship blossomed. He went from just casual acquaintance, to friend, to one of my closest friends so quickly. He is an amazing man who has been through so much in his life, but found a way to better himself through it all. His knowledge, strength of character, and good heart completely floored me from the moment I got to know him. I found myself opening up to him, sharing my life and my secrets, and truly giving him a piece of my heart. Now though because of a tragic mistake on my part, that beautiful friendship that seemingly had no limitations of where it might lead lies in ruins.

He, of course, says all the right things. That he still cares about me, and still considers me his friend. My ideas of true friendship though are very limited, and a cordial nod when we just happen to run into each other does not meet my definition of what a friend is. At this point I truly doubt I will ever even have a meaningful conversation with him again. Not only does he not want us to have any face-to-face talks anymore, he has asked that I do not even write e-mails to him. For someone like myself who really loves to write to express his thoughts and feelings, this has been truly difficult for me. Like a child, I have found myself even writing status updates and checking-in on Facebook (something I have never done much of in the past), simply hoping he will see it and remember our friendship if only for a minute in time.

Peter writes that time means nothing to God, but we humans are all too aware of the passing of time. For all the changes that occurred in my life between the 6th and 7th of March, it would seem that there had to be like a thousand years in that day. Now each day since then as I cry, and drink, and hope for a better result; seems to last a thousand years for me. As I rapidly approach the end of my fifth decade in this world, I guess I notice more and more the quickly passing time. That makes me hate wasting even a second of precious time! In Elizabeth Taylor’s last tweet to the world she wrote, “Every breath you take today should be with someone else in mind”. Well Crocket for the last couple of months that is exactly where you have been…I am sorry!