The Golden Leaves of Fall

Just out back of the house is a favorite old Hickory tree that blesses us every year with its rich golden leaves. They seem to appear suddenly, almost overnight in late Fall.

This year they spoke differently to me, as I now sit in recovery from my second life threatening diagnosis. It seems that I too, am in my Fall years at 77.

Were it not for the skilled hands of my surgeon, and the DNA of my dear father, who unexpectedly just passed, though well into his 100th year, I might see this unanticipated moment more threatening.

However, the moment seems more like privilege, a moment for deep learning, surely testing my faith!

I boast not, when I say that my spiritual reserves have been used dramatically over the years in the lives of those suffering the life-threats of various maladies.

Yet, months of diagnostic data, though met with deep theological response, had convincingly denied me the benefits expected, my own miracle. After long consideration of risks to myself and my family, I now find myself in a place never to this degree known, with a reality of just how vulnerable life is!

My "leaves" have become golden, this winter likely different than previous seasons in my life.

Don't get me wrong, my dreams are still huge, and the means available to fulfill them moreso than any generation before!

God willing there are stories to be told and new ones yet to be written.

I am not threatened by the sudden colors of the old Hickory tree, nor the prognosis that awaits the pathologist's study of tissues removed!

My bark is much thicker than that!

My dreams are still more energizing than the threats of my age. In fact, I trust my colors even more golden now, than any crisis before.

Thanks, just needed to process all that!