THOSE WERE THE DAYS “It Is a Wonderful Life”

I was stopped in one of the RIDE checks; the officer asked if I had anything to drink lately and I replied, “No I don’t drink or smoke.” After a pause, I continued with what I thought was a witty retort, “I guess I live a pretty dull life, huh?” He only smiled and waved me on. Later in the day I reflected on that encounter and thought to myself, “wait a minute, my life is far from dull.”

I do have a small sip of white wine during our Christmas dinner and once in a great while I take a puff of a cigarette until it makes me dizzy and I wonder why I did such a stupid thing. I have a great wife and a terrific family I love dearly and am fully aware of their love in return. I have been a freelance writer for thirty years, have a published a book and am honoured to be invited as a guest speaker for various meetings and club gatherings. My mind began drifting to the past sixty years or so and I wanted to go back and find that officer and tell him my life is full and I am not dull at all.

I had my very first written article published in the Windsor Daily Star when I was twelve years old. I still remember the rush I felt reading my own words. Getting married at the age of nineteen was certainly an event far from being dull. During my twenties and thirties I wrote songs, one of which was recorded by a famous Austrian singer named Regina, a talented girl we were fortunate to visit in Austria and who, with her husband, visited our home in Ennismore. During those years it was more fun than work writing a few radio and television commercials, fun because it let me be creative and inventive.

My brother passed away at an early age, which affected me greatly. For the next half dozen years my sister-in-law played the accordion and I strummed a guitar as we toured much of the Windsor, Ontario area and even a trip to Ohio, providing our own musical accompaniment to the sermons I was asked to offer. I am not entirely sure how the transition was made but I ended up singing in a country/western band, a time of my life I truly enjoyed.

I was hit by a car driven by a drunk driver and spent some time laid up, broke my hand playing goal in an industrial hockey league, and endured a heart attack and eventually a heart operation. We have two sons, seven grandchildren and four great grandkids so, why am I sharing bits and pieces of my life? Well I gave it some serious thought, and if some of you are reading this and thinking your life is dull, as I hastily and without forethought evaluated my own, just stop for a while and realize your life has not passed you by, you are still riding the adventure, climb back onto that train of life and enjoy. None of our lives are dull if we truly think about it. 

By: Russ Sanders,  epigram@nexicom.net