listening to the radio today, country of course, the hook on a song new to my ears struck me as a nugget of truth. "life isn't about the number of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breath away."

ain't it the truth though, and not all of them will have been happy times, probably for any of us. into each life a little rain must fall they say. the instant it registered on my consciousness that my five year old sister was gone. the moment it became evident that my parents would not be taking another breath in this life. in those instances my breath left me and it was a minute before i could take another.

but ones' character is forged in the bad times as well as the good. among the good times there's the moment all those years ago when i heard my soon to be wife say "i do." there's the first time i laid eyes on our son chris-- "oh, my god he looks just like my dad" and our daughter kelly-- "oh, my god she looks just like your mom." it took my breath. neither of them resemble the ascribed grandparent much at all but at that second in time...

anytime i'm privileged to hear our christopher sing there's a catch. that first glimpse of kelly on her wedding day as she took my arm to walk her down the aisle. bobby singing, "breeze off the river" in "the full monty" at le petite in new orleans. singular instances in time in which pride makes breathing pause for a second, the the pulse races just a bit and tears fill the eyes.

it is these times, when added to all the others, that make a life. a life worth remembering. aio