At the end of emails, texts and other forms of typed communication,
I would sign off with...Blessings-Tina
Today, it hit me.
Am I asking others to bless me?
Or am I praying for blessings on others?
This term of saying good-bye...."Blessings"
is used by so many. When I ask myself,
'What do I really want people
to think of me when
I am bidding farewell?' A story pops in my head.
It starts with a story about an older gentleman I met
in Alcoholics Anonymous over 15 years ago.
He was the cutest, little man with eyes
that smiled and a grin from ear to ear.
He had a hop in his step, some would
call 'swagga' now-a-days.
To be honest, I don't remember his name but
I remember how he made me feel when I was in his presence.
Everytime I saw this man, which was every Thursday night at my
Alcoholics Anonymous Homegroup Meeting, he
would ask how I was doing.
I would reply back with a moan or groan because
in my early sobriety I still played the 'victim'.
When I finally got done complaining about how horrible my
life was....I started to walk away and almost forgot to ask him...."How are you?"
The man with a gleeming smile quickly, without hestiation, replied back,
"Any better I couldn't stand it!"
I knew this man for over 5 years and every Thursday night,
I made it my mission to ask him, 'How are you?'
And his response, as years before...
"Any better I couldn't stand it!"
One night, he came to the meeting with the same
hop in his step the same smile from ear to ear and the same response,
"Any better I couldn't stand it!"
But, this night was different...
the chair of the A.A. meeting announced to
keep this man in your thoughts and prayers because
his wife had just died the day before. They had been married for over 50 years.
With a tear in my eye, I looked over at the man expecting to see
a glimpse of sadness, sorrow and pain.
Instead, I saw the same smile, the same twinkle in his eyes
and could hear his response from earlier being the same, "Any better I couldn't stand it."
After the meeting, I had to find out his strength, his reason to
being so happy...so I asked the man,
"How is it your wife of over 50 years just died and you can still be happy?"
He said, "Tina, the day I got sober, it was a gift from God, a gift for my wife
and family. My life is better today than yesterday. I live for today,
and I am the happiest man today than ever before. God
keeps making it better and better. And no
matter what happens or who dies...
a day with God in my life and a day sober
is the BEST day ever!"
Any better I couldn't stand it,
Tina M. Levene