This is not a diatribe on some current issue I think is heading in the wrong direction. It’s about something the late Vin Scully was quoted as saying years ago during his broadcast of a Dodgers game. He was talking about a player who’d been hurt and whose return to the lineup was considered “day-to-day.” When he finished that announcement, he quipped, “Aren’t we all?” And so, that’s the point here – aren’t we all day-to-day every day?
How often do we all get asked, “How’s the family doing?” And how often do we just say, “Oh, they’re all doing great!” Well, I’ve taken Vin’s comment to heart and now I add an important qualifier: “Oh, they’re all doing great today!”
A few weeks ago, a local fellow and his wife were out for a nice bike ride. It was a beautiful day and they were having an enjoyable time together; they were “doing great.” But as they were starting to cross a highway, the husband either didn’t see or hear a motorcycle approaching and they had a terrible collision. The husband was killed at the scene, right in front of his wife, and in a matter of seconds her life changed forever.
Shortly afterwards, a good friend of almost 50 years lost his son suddenly and unexpectedly in an instant. No matter what else ever happens, the family’s lives will never be the same. Pure happiness will take a long time and may never be possible again.
A few years ago, another friend in apparent good health was sitting in his favorite chair on Christmas Day, enjoying the company of his family. Then, he abruptly died while they sat nearby. I’m sure their Christmases now have very different connotations than for most of us.
And many of us will never forget our friends Rick and Duffy Monahon, who were driving home after a relaxing day of skiing when they collided head-on with another vehicle. All the drivers and passengers died at the scene and dozens of their friends and families still mourn their loss. I drive that route frequently, and never without thinking of them.
I’ve got more, many more, and I’m sure you do, too.
Sorry, this isn’t meant to ruin your day, but actually to remind us all how day-to-day we really are, and how fortunate most of us have been on every prior day. In the final act of “Our Town,” Emily has died but gets the chance to return and see just one day of her life. Instead of picking a special day, she asks for a perfectly ordinary day. Her family is getting the day started, eating breakfast, and her brother is getting ready for school. No one is paying any attention to the huge gift of that day that they’ve received. And Emily can’t believe that they’re all just taking the wonder of it for granted.
The problem for all of us is that it’s impossible to be as aware as we should be about every single moment we have. In his song “The Pretender,” Jackson Browne sings, “I’ve been aware of the time going by. They say in the end it’s the wink of an eye.” Yes, it is. Life is short enough without just wandering aimlessly through it and then wondering with our last breath where it all went.
I guess we begin thinking more like this as we get older, when we suddenly can’t fathom how we got to this moment, and how so many of those prior days slipped by unnoticed and without any lingering trace at all. But the further point is, perhaps we still have some days left, if our luck holds, and perhaps we can be more aware of those. Perhaps we can also help our families do the same, and maybe spend some of that bonus time enriching our communities, too. So, yes, by all means, carpe every diem!
L. Phillips Runyon III of Peterborough is an attorney in Peterborough and was the presiding justice of the 8th Circuit Court.