Ten Best Days +

 Could you name the best ten days of your LIFE in order. This is not events or situations, these are days. After making a list with considerable thought, I have concluded that it might not be possible to list the ten best days of your life, but rather the ten best events of your life.  Example: The first time we saw Ben, our puppy Newfoundland, was that an event that we remember or is it the day we lived that we remember. It was certainly an event that was remember. I think of his big dark eyes and his red bandanna around his neck that day and how Denise who gave him to us was happy that we liked him. What about the rest of the day? Completely lost as best as I can remember. So back to the ten best days of your life.  Can you name ten days?  So here goes my list

1.)  A summers day, age about 15, motorcycle riding along the lake and meeting Linda for the first time. I remember the day as well as the event. I didn't know what that day would lead to, but I remember the day, and cherish the event.

2.) Seeing Andrea for the first time.  I remember the day at work and the time running to hospital , seeing this dark haired baby with big eyes, and going home alone thinking about the responsibility that just came into my life.

3.) Chris's day of birth. I can still feel the warmth of the day sitting in the driveway on that unusually warm February day waiting for the time to come. I can visualize the drive to the hospital and feeling calm about the situation, and then the burst of excitement with the gift of a new life.

4.) Our sons wedding day. I remember the full day and all the events. The preparations in the morning, the blessed feeling at noon, the celebration and party affair, the jump in the lake at sunset with camera in hand to get a picture of the newly weds sitting on the dock, the glow of the evening with just family. I the remember whole day.

5.) Driving into Ottati, Italy for the first time.  I recall my apprehension. expectations, and being completely overtaken by spiritual presents of my Grandparents that led to tears and still does to this day. A day with an unbelievable life experience.

6.) Walking in the moon light with Linda in Italy.  I remember a drive through the country side of Italy, making a fine photograph of a small mountain town and having a man ride by on a donkey.  Eating one of the best meals of our lifes and realizing that I am the product of my immigrant Grandparents dream.

7.) A springtime hike with a friend, at about age ten. I remember a spring day that lasted forever. It was sunny, warm and quiet.  I hiked all day with a friend who now I can't remember, but the day is always in my memory. It was a day when I felt like I could hike and walk forever. We went along the river to McCarthey's  farm and many other places. I was alive and full of  the sense of exploration. The day was long and felt like it lasted forever. We ate with my Grandparents and talked about our adventures. It was the day I realized that I loved nature and wanted to explore. I still can't remember who the other fellow was that went with me. But this day opened the door to many other fond days of exploration in my life.

8.) Getting my job with NYSEG. ( more of an event than a day lived) I remember coming home that evening, after many months of discouragement, to greet Linda with the news of my new job. I remember her asking me with big wide eyes " Did you get it?"  I swaggered with my walk and said, "Yep"! That day led to many changes and gave my family the security it needed.

9.) Receiving a photography award in Harrisburgh Pa.  Event more than a day, It was a warm evening and a very formal affair. I received the " Best of Show" above every form of art work that was displayed, and there was some very good artwork to be considered, To me. this was recognition for many years of staying the course and staying true to a purpose.

10.) This one should be near the top because it is more than a day, it's a summer, a youth, a daydream. Laying on the couch in Linda's house in the summertime and hearing the song, (as well as many others) "It's a turn down Day" When I want to feel good, I only have to think about those days.

11.)  What the heck, I can think of more than ten days. I remember a day in the fall. A beautiful fall day. October 14 Th. to be exact. Linda and I are sitting on the dock of the lake. The water is calm as glass. The fall leaves are reflecting in the water. We have a bucket of minnows and a couple of fish poles.  We are catching small mouth bass one after the other. Linda catches the largest small mouth bass to date. We laugh for joy, smell the fall leaves in the air, and feel the fullness of our youth.

*Update-very special time.  A day in my life I will never forget.  It was a warm August night in the small town of Ottati Italy where my grandparents were born and raised.  It was a festival night full of celebration and music in the small town piazza.  All of my Italian family was there as well as my immediate family from the U.S.  It was a dream come true to be in the hometown of my grandparents surrounded by family.  The most special moment came when my young grand daughter, Bella, (8years old) came up to me and asked me to dance with her.  What a special moment this was for me. We danced around and around to the music under colorful lights and the sound of laughter and celebration.  After the dance I sat back and took in the wonderful atmosphere, and then I recalled a dream I had a few weeks prior to making this trip.  It was about my Grandmother running through these streets as a young girl laughing and playing with her friends.  I sat there almost as if frozen in time, watching my own grandchildren running and laughing with their Italian relatives in this very place.  It was a magical night and one I will never forget as long as I live.  Thank you Bella for asking me to dance that night.  Pops

So how about it, can you think of the best ten day of your life? Or maybe they are just events that we remember best. either way, try to remember the good because the bad is too easily remembered.  I just opened a fortune cookie after my Chinese meal. It read " Find release from your cares, have a good time"