“Today is a day to feel good about everything you do and the kind of man you are…”
That little tidbit comes from a birthday card my wife gave to me last September. I’m still trying to find that day. “Feel good about everything you do.” Nope, I have not had one of those days in 67+ years. One time I was close, but I watched an episode of either Bay Watch or Knight Rider that evening, so there was that. As to “the kind of man you are,” if she meant “not incarcerated,” yeah, I’m feeling pretty darn good about that.
I never feel good about the blogs I write.
I try to avoid re-reading and just hope for the best on the editorial scrub, but every once in a while, somebody references a point in one of the columns I wrote so I have to go back and see what I said. I always find mistakes, things I could have said better, or complete nonsense, and it makes me (more) nuts to relive these moments.
One day last week my sister texted me to tell me, “Dad’s birthday is February 6th, not the 5th”. She even sent me a copy of the blog section to show me my error; it was circled in red just in case I was unable to find it in my feeble and elderly condition.
I pled a typo mistake rather than a memory error, based on the memory that our mother had a mnemonic she drilled into us to remember our parents and eldest siblings’ birthdays. The younger three kids had no such memory aid. Devil take the hindmost, I guess.
Ruth (that’s the sister we are discussing – try to keep up) granted that point.
Though a stickler for the law, she is all about grace, is my sis. I did, with much nefarious glee, comment on a years ago Facebook post, spiritual in nature, wherein she wrote, “oh my gosh”. I wrote, for all the world to see, that this was technically a violation of the third commandment. She did a little research and posted, “Gee, I never knew that.” “Incorrigible,” brother number 2 promptly posted. If any of the four kids in my family had been on a World Series winning team, what we lacked in pitching, hitting and fielding, we would have more than made up for in piling on.
During the back-to-school-themed blogs last year – back to school for people some combination of younger and more aspirational than I am, or perhaps ever was – I wrote about the influence of two older brothers as I was a kid anticipating first grade. My sister texted me (she a rapid raptor with that text thing) that she had high, yet quickly crushed, expectations of going on to read of the life made joyous and meaning by having a little sister come along when I was five.
Well, Sis, here ya go.
I had, and have, the best sister ever. I can’t recall any unpleasant times, and your support and kindness, have always being a rock to lean on for all your family and friends. She always, from the outside looking in, made the right choices. This helped distract everyone from reflecting on the all the disappointments the third brother (yes, that would be me) brought forth in outsized manifestations.
Her support remains even though she moved off to Georgia, married a Georgia native, and raised four little Bulldogs of their own. I can’t even root against UGA anymore, because I don’t want the disappointment for the three nephews and a niece. I guess if she had to steal one joy from me, this was as good a one as any.
So what, pray tell, does this have to do with anything we talk about this month. Just this: The four siblings in the family of my youth are looking at ages 73, 71, 68 and … somewhat younger this calendar year. Fun, for me, story. On Ruth’s birthday of the year I turned 59, I posted on her Facebook page that I couldn’t believe she was 60. That caused much mayhem and gnashing of teeth. Some days, even with all the other stuff, it is great to be me.
Anyway, as I was saying, all four of the Bice siblings remain alive and in good overall health.
We are aware of the good fortune we have and appreciative of that gift. We all stay in touch in one way or another most every week. Family, friends and community were extremely important to my grandparents and to my parents, and they instilled that life-value into their children.
So please forgive me if this month’s letter is too self-focused, but I tell you these stories to get to this: My inspiration this month comes from the “thought for the day” on my daily desk calendar:
“Don’t wait for a crisis to discover what is important in your life.”
I thought that a good enough thought to share.
PS: For you vocabulary lovers, my daughter was so pleased with her mention in last month’s effort, she stumped me with the word, “Termagant”. Your hint is that Shakespeare might think about taming one. William Shakespeare was English and a prolific (he wrote a lot) writer of poems and plays for you University of Georgia graduates. There. I feel better now.
March 2025
