Crossroads

(Source for image - http://www.dbm-info.co.uk/images/research/crossroads.jpg )






















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Life's crossroads

What does it all mean?

As of late, I see myself getting more fatalistic with age.
Certainly not every life event is preordained.

But, alas the milestone events appear to happen without
any way to stop, change, or avoid them.

Not every falling leaf, raindrop, sunbeam, tear, or smile is fated.
But, those crossroad events seem immutable and beyond control.

What does it all mean? And where do I go from here?
I chose to walk my life road with a mate.

And fate has snatched her from me.
Plucked like a rosebud before coming to flower and full bloom.

No gloom, doom, or brooding temperament will I wear.
I control the attitude, demeanor, and character of my life.

Though uncertainty, doubts and trials still await me;
the road lay ahead with surprises and happiness yet to come.

But, does Fate intervene in life? Well, I believe so. The following is what I believe one could call Fate in one person's life.


New Abode

One day during World War I, Winston Churchill visited France as a volunteer to observe the fighting first hand. In his sandbagged shelter at the front line, he was brought a message from a visiting general, a former acquaintance, who wanted to see him. Churchill was instructed to walk to a crossroads some three miles away, where a car would meet him. After waiting at the crossroads for nearly an hour, however, he was joined by one of the general's officers. The car had been sent to the wrong crossroads, the man explained, and it was now too late for any meeting to take place. Churchill, understandably peeved, began the long haul back to the trenches in the dark; then, as rain began to fall, he produced a stream of silent invective describing the thoughtless general.

When he finally reached his camp, Churchill was astonished to find that his shelter had apparently disappeared. Five minutes after his departure, he learned, a shell had come through the roof, obliterating the structure and killing the man inside.

"Suddenly I felt my irritation against General X pass completely from my mind," he later recalled. "All sense of grievance departed in a flash. As I walked to my new abode, I reflected how thoughtful it had been of him to wish to see me again, and to show courtesy to a subordinate when he had so much responsibility on his shoulders."

Churchill, Winston Leonard Spenser (1874-1965) British politician and writer, First Lord of the Admiralty (1911-15, 1939-), prime minister (from 1940), Nobel Prize recipient (Literature, 1953) [noted for his remarkable eloquence and leadership ability; for his memoirs and letters; and for such works as The Second World War, The Great Republic : A History of America and My Early Life]

[Sources: Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes]

(Source - anecdotage.com - http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=3888 )

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. . . never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.

Winston Churchill

(Source for quote - http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=423 )

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November 1st marks four months since Pam died.

Pam - We all love you and miss you. Jerry and the Kids.

PS All of us are hanging in there and doing as well as can be expected.