We've all met people who think the world revolves around them. I've actually seen some good folks die, and wondered aloud how will the world ever revolve WITHOUT them!
Seems like lately there are a lot more of those type folks dying than ever before. Maybe I am just getting older.
Veteran TV anchorman Dan Miller died the other night. He wasn't just the nightly news anchor at Channel 4 in Nashville....he WAS channel 4.
Sometime back, Miller recalled on his blog, Dan Miller's Notebook, when his then-five-year-old daughter had asked, "Daddy, this is a long time ago isn't it?" He said, "What do you mean sweetie?" She explained, "I mean, someday when I'm all grown up, today will be a long time ago."
We all want to live long enough in hopes that today will be 'a long time ago.' I hope that today will be 'a long time ago,' for my children when they reach the age of 100.
As I have written before, I read obituaries for a living, and it's always the saddest thing for me to file them away after the funeral has taken place. I guess that is why what McKenzie Miller said caught my attention the way it did. If what I am doing today is going to be remembered, when today becomes 'a long time ago,' then I need to get busy and make today count for something good. I guess some days I am better at that than others, but I don't want my life to end up being just another obit in a box here at the station.
My friend, Cathi, told me 'a long time ago' to always take the high road, and I have never forgotten that. Taking the high road, I am discovering, is just about the very best way to travel through this world, but it is a pretty difficult thing to do and maintain, and like I said, I guess some days I am better at that than others.
Dan Miller had a philosophy about life that, in his words, "rises far beyond a simple child's nursery rhyme."
It's a lot of work to get through life. Sometimes those choices we make don't turn out so gentle. It's a good thing when, on those rare occasions, I am able to keep both oars in the water at the same time.Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
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