Make Every Moment Count
Written by Gordon on December 3rd, 2007
Hello Again! Gordon Graham here with my contribution to the Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union website. Before I go any further, a sincere thank you for the excellent work over the last month with all the wildland fires here in Southern California. And not to be negative, but I can recall my days as a young cop in the 70’s working traffic control at the wildland fires in Malibu. And oddly enough as a young Sergeant in the 80’s I supervised a bunch of cops working on the wildland fires in Malibu. And as a new Lieutenant in the 90’s I set up plans for my department’s participation in the wildland fires in Malibu and I see that the CHP had a presence last week in the wildland fires in Malibu.
And once again I heard the proud residents of Malibu state with certainty that while they lost everything, they will rebuild again in the same site. And I am going way out on a limb here, but I am predicting that there will be wildland fires in Malibu in the future.
And going into really deep thinking, I am predicting that in our lifetime New Orleans will again be underwater. And this is none of my business but I hear they are spending $20 Billion (with a “B”) on rebuilding New Orleans – and they are rebuilding it below sea level. You know, for that kind of money my guess is you could bring in a bunch of dirt from like Nevada and put the city at an elevation higher than sea level, so that it would not flood again, but I am just an idiot who does not quite understand all the great thinking that goes on in the State Capitol of Louisiana. But I am digressing.
Last week was Thanksgiving and while it has become commercialized (like every holiday) I was thinking about all the things I had to be thankful for. And there was a long list. I am thankful that I was born in the greatest country in the history of the world. I am thankful to still be alive today. I am thankful to have had a great career with a fantastic department. I am thankful for a generous retirement program that includes healthcare for my wife and me. And speaking of which, I am thankful that I have a wonderful wife.
Which brings me to something that really made me think. Did you hear about the “love story” involving Justice Sandra Day O’Connor? Here is a little bit of background for you. Justice O’Connor graduated Stanford Law School a long time ago – way before 50% (and that is a conservative estimate today) of graduates were women. Way back then (50’s) women were not supposed to be lawyers. Perry Mason was the TV show of the time and it was apparent that women were legal secretaries and men were the lawyers.
There is an interesting anecdote about how after she graduated (near the top of her class) that she made application to several major law firms and many of them gave her a typing test. “You know, Sandra, you will make a great legal secretary”. And this was just sixty years ago!
Anyhow she started her legal career and got married to her law school sweetheart and the rest was history. She quickly rose to the top and ended up as the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court. And apparently she and her husband (who she met at Stanford) got married and did the whole family thing and she moved up the legal ladder pretty successfully ending up in the 80’s in the lofty position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. And I guess they were madly in love and then decades later he got Alzheimer’s (I worry about this also) and it got really bad for him and so she quit the Supreme Court to take care of him.
And he ended up in a home in Arizona to assist in his care and does not recognize his wife or family anymore. And he met another patient in the facility and in his Alzheimer’s state has fallen in love with this new woman. And Justice O’Connor still visits him and his new girlfriend at the home and is happy that he is happy. She is happy because he is happy! This is one classy woman and her love for her husband is truly a remarkable story.
I wonder how many people really understand the dynamics of what is going on there. So if Mrs. O’Connor is reading this – my hat is off to you and your husband and I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I always had a high opinion of you (mostly from your brilliant constructionist writings) but this is beyond that.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Dr. Laura. I never have liked her or her sarcastic (and often shortsighted) advice she provides to people who have serious problems. Today (November 29) she took a call from a woman who started her question with the statement that “I talk to my Mom every day and….”. Well, Dr. Looney interrupted her with the question, “Why would you talk to your mother every day?” I honestly thought she was joking, but she was not. Dr. L could not understand why anyone would want to talk to her Mom every day. “What could you possibly talk about every day?” was another question she posed.
And then I remembered something out of the news from about five years ago. The police found Dr. Laura’s Mom dead in her apartment and she had been there for some time and was in quite a state of decomposition. And Dr. Wonderful apparently was estranged from her Mom and had not spoken to her for some time etc. etc. Apparently, it is beyond her comprehension that someone could love someone so much that they would want to talk to her everyday. And she is giving troubled people advice!
And why am I boring you with this? Please cherish every moment you have with your loved ones. Life is so short – and you have chosen a high-risk profession. Who knows what the future holds? But we can seize every day and let each and everyone of our loved ones know how much we love them. There will come a time when they and we will not be there so take advantage of every opportunity you have to convey your feelings with your loved ones. I am confident that Justice O’Connor did this. I try to do the same as often as possible.
Anyhow, I promise that the next iteration of this will be more directly related to the great work you do, but I could not pass up this opportunity to share this with all of you.
Gordon Graham
