For Pat

Those of you who know Patrick Felton, please take the time to read his blog entry of Aug. 12 at www.bikescag.com Old Blog.

For those who don't know Pat, his father has been battling cancer for some time now, and sadly after showing encouraging signs of strength over the past few weeks, he's taken a serious turn for the worse, and appears to have entered the terminal stage of his life. Pat, if you are reading this, please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you in this most difficult time....and know that I'm here if you need anything at all. Please don't hesitate to call....

We very so often take for granted things in life. Even life itself. It's bad enough that we fall into lazy habits when it comes to keeping in touch with friends and acquaintances, but I know I've done the same with my parents at times. I go through the rigors of day to day life, and work, and raising my own family, and I sometimes forget that my mom and dad are out there and would probably love to hear from me. These the people that gave me LIFE. That helped to shape me into who I am. That gave me food and shelter and everything I needed for all those years. Not that I ignored them, or purposely avoided calling them for a week or longer at a time, but I feel like I could do a better job of keeping in touch with them. Dropping by for a visit. Having dinner. Simply getting in touch. At THEIR convenience, not always mine.

Life is a fragile thing for all of us. It is a miracle that any of us survive through the 9 months of a developing pregnancy, with all of the possible things that can go wrong, and all of the billions of things that have to go JUST RIGHT. Every day we are here on Earth could easily be our last day. Whether it be known disease, an unknown internal ticking time bomb (like a heart attack or stroke), a car accident, a psycho killer/terrorist act, a weather related catastrophe.... anything could happen. So we really need to live life to the fullest, and show those that we love EVERY DAY that we love them.

I was just listening to the radio and ironically "Cats In The Cradle" was on. Talk about a very poignant song. I use that song to motivate me with my son. I never want to have to say "a little later, Bran, daddy's busy", because you never know if you are going to get "a little later". Family is, and should always be the most important thing. Friends are important, but family is blood. And blood is the very essence of what keeps us alive.......