Fortunate Ones

I was sitting tonight watching J play. I have a pretty heavy heart tonight due to some bad news we got this afternoon, so it was nice to just sit and watch him play for a bit. He had a dish and a ball and he was desperately trying to figure out how to pick up one while holding the other. He tried everything. He tried picking up the the ball with the bowl. He tried picking up the ball with the hand he was holding himself up with while he held the bowl with the other. A quick face dive cured that. He tried scooting the ball with the bowl. He kept putting one down to pick up the other only to realize that he didn't have both. Finally he maneuvered them into a position where he could pick one up with each hand while sitting on his bottom. Success! He celebrated by banging them together and laughing. I was proud of him for figuring this all out on his own without crying for me to do it for him.
I got to thinking about how fortunate we are. You know how sometimes you get a bit of tunnel vision about things? I do anyway. I start cranking about how irritating certain little things are. Today it was a client who had two brand new cars and a great credit score only to find out that they had a bankruptcy just a few months ago. It made me feel like that was part of a financial strategy at my expense as a tax payer. My wife quickly pointed out that I don't know all the circumstances and that perhaps the new cars are the only good thing in their lives and that they might not have nearly as good a life as we do. My wife is such a good person with such a big heart. She always sees the good and tries to help everyone she can. I love that about her. So I put some extra effort into finding the best possible insurance and price for them. The client was very grateful. That helped extend my periphery vision a bit.
Then N called to tell me that a dear friends brother was in a motorcycle accident last night and has a traumatic brain injury. He only has about a 30% chance of living at this point. That opened my eyes wide and helped me realize that I have no real problems. He has a young boy at home and it makes me feel so sad for them all. I wish there was something I could do. Go back and gently place a helmet on him so he wouldn't notice, or lift his kick stand for him as he took off. I don't know why these things happen to decent people who are just trying to get by in this world and raise their kids the best they know how. It seems there are so many rotten people out there cheating and ripping us off and doing bad things, and it's the good ones that suffer. I know there are those that will say he should have worn his helmet and this and that but I say they have never known the simple pleasure of the wind in their hair on a country ride. I am the first to say that I don't ride without my helmet anymore and I am the first to tell the story of how my helmet saved my life one lovely Saturday evening. But that is not to say that I never rode without one. I always enjoyed the freedom to decide what was best for me and so I can't fault him for that. I only wish things were different for him and for his family. Motorcycling is like a brotherhood and I feel the loss of one of my own. I only hope and pray that modern medicine can help him recover and live a full life for himself and his family.
Meanwhile, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to be able to just sit and watch my son grow and learn.