Keep a Journal / Chew Your Food

This is a random post. A feeble attempt to convey a couple of lesson’s I have learned recently. They are such profound lessons to me that in fact, I haven’t even been able to write about them until now. The events occurred nearly a month ago…maybe longer. As many of you know, in December my very close friend and spiritual mentor, Andrea, passed away from breast cancer. This event happened the night before I was to leave for North Carolina to speak at her memorial service. As is our custom, every Thursday night our family dines out. I love this particular family tradition. We take turns choosing the restaurant, I don’t have to cook or clean and we get to enjoy a nice meal together. I love it! This Thursday we went to kind of an upscale family restaurant. Well, I think they prefer to keep it more of an adult scene as there are no kid’s menus, no balloons, crayons, singing and the high chairs are hidden WAY in the back of the restaurant. But we go anyway. Sometimes I wonder if the wait staff cringes when they see us walk in. Anyway, the food is great and the atmosphere is hip so we go, quite frequently.

This particular evening, I ordered the steak sandwich. It’s my favorite! I was quite hungry and took a bite that was WAY too big. Have you ever done that? Taken a bite of something that you knew instantly was more than you could chew? Both figuratively and literally, it’s a problem. This is no different, this time I literally could not chew this big piece of steak and bread. Bardenay is a nice place, and I was certainly not going to spit out partially chewed steak sandwich onto my plate in front of my kids and fellow diners. So, I try to swallow. BIG mistake! The meat gets half way down and stops. The more I try to swallow the harder it is to breathe. UT-OH…maybe I should have spit some out subtly into my napkin because what happens next was WAY more embarrassing!!! I choked. Literally! I looked at Nick with wide eyes and panic written all over my face. All I could think, was “Is this really happening? Am I going to be one of THOSE people who choke in a restaurant? Oh Lord, please don’t let me die here in front of my kids!” I won’t go into every minute detail but suffice it to say, Nick quickly grasped the panic in my eyes and promptly came to my rescue. He is my hero! He saved my life…seriously. I shudder to think of what would have happened, had he not been there. Yes, it was embarrassing but more than that it was terrifying. It was a powerful reminder that tomorrow is never guaranteed.

Now, I personally didn’t think that I needed such a compelling reminder of my mortality as I was leaving to attend my friend’s memorial service. But I got one none the less. It could be, however, that that experience helped me pick up and learn from this next lesson, which is…keep a journal. Not a book of gripes and complaints or unfulfilled wishes, but a journal of experiences good and even bad that make you grow spiritually. Write down your blessings. Write down how much you love your kids and your husband. Remind yourself of all that you have to be thankful for. Write down the little things that happen during your day that make an impression on you. That is the kind of journal I am talking about. Jim brought Andrea’s journals with him to the service and I watched him flip through the pages and read her inner-most thoughts. I saw how hearing her voice come alive again gave him peace. I learned a lot about my friend; that even in her private moments she was the same as the remarkable woman I knew and loved. Her journals were a powerful gift that will continue to bless those who read her words.

As I write I realize this post is coming across like this: “keep a journal for your family because you could die tomorrow.” Which is not my intention. I just wanted to write of these experiences and what I learned from them and that is: “keep a journal and chew your food.” Keep a journal for yourself, as a reminder of who you are and how you are blessed. And don’t bite off more than you can chew…you might end up choking and wind up getting the Heimlich from your husband and watch steak fly from your mouth in front of strangers.