perseverance
[ pur-suh-veer-uhns ]
noun - : continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition : the action or condition or an instance of persevering : STEADFASTNESS
Everyday is a triumph in my book. Unless you were born with a silverspoon up your ass… surviving each day and dealing with humanity in any form is an incredible test.
I was recently sitting in the diner eating my breakfast near two older gentlemen. These men looked warn with what looked to be eighty years of perseverance.
They were talking about how they continue to take on the mysteries of life. One of the men has decided to accept the challenges that life brings. The other man is still trying to “figure things out.”
The first guy wasn’t necessarily throwing in the towel. He just wanted to declutter the complexities that have warn him down throughout his lifetime. The second guy didn’t want anything to do with that. He wanted to be full of “piss and vinegar” until the morning of his last breath.
I have two daydreams about the end of my life. One has me sitting in a cabin in the woods with a creek babbling near by. I’m wearing bulky sweaters and comfortable slippers. I’m either sitting in the rocking chair on the porch reading Keats and Shelley…. Or… I’m sitting in front of my typewriter at a desk in the loft that has a picture window looking at pines and that babbling creek.
The next daydream has me living in a mid century decorated apartment overlooking Lake Michigan up in Edgewater. I never leave home without a sport coat, a hat, a cigar and a smile. No matter if I’m going to mass every morning at Saint Ita’s or to the Green Mill in the evening for a set of jazz.
I could live in the woods and read romantic poetry and write stories about the past.
Or
I could live on the Chicago grid and dance to Ellington, pray with the Catholics and sip martinis with other aging Gen X members.
They are both great endings to this wonderful life. I’d be satisfied just sitting at the diner with a dear old friend. Talking about the 1977 White Sox, Superbowl XX and the Great Flood of Chicago in ‘92.
March continues to be colder on the backend. Next week is Holy Week for us Catlicks. No more Lake Michigan square fish from McDonald’s and egg and pepper sandwich’s from Mr Beef.
Sunday brings the full moon of March, the Worm Moon. The eclipse is a couple weeks away and don’t forget opening day somewhere in between.
Persevere and be astonished today.
