I watched a movie about a young couple trying to figure out how to get along with one another.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As they talked, the man asked the woman to describe a day she remembered as a good day.\u00a0\u00a0She did not describe what I expected.<\/p>\n
I wonder.\u00a0\u00a0If we really think back on the good days in our lives, will they be what we think they will be? You know, the kind of day you will never forget, the kind of day you felt a quiet joyful peace?\u00a0\u00a0Let’s spend some time remembering those days.\u00a0\u00a0I bet some of those days at the top of your list will surprise you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I was about 5 years old, I remember dad taking me to the swimming pool he managed each summer in Holdrege, Nebraska.\u00a0\u00a0Normally if we had a “pop” we would split one because they were expensive, a nickel.\u00a0\u00a0But that day he let me have a whole lemon “pop” to myself.\u00a0\u00a0That was a good day.<\/p>\n
Another summer when I was about 10 years old, dad walked cornfields for DeKalb Corn, doing some sort of measurements.\u00a0\u00a0I found out you really could hear the corn growing in Nebraska, a harsh cracking sound.\u00a0\u00a0And any day I wanted to go with him, I did.\u00a0\u00a0He never said no.\u00a0\u00a0At lunch we would stop near an irrigation ditch, share bologna sandwiches and sharp cheddar cheese while he drank coffee and I drank lemonade.\u00a0\u00a0After lunch he always let me swim in the irrigation ditch.\u00a0\u00a0It was just the two of us, and he always wanted me to go with him.\u00a0\u00a0Those were good days.<\/p>\n
One day, when my son was about two and a half, I pulled into the driveway and saw a little head stick through the living room curtain and start jumping up and down, screeching in delight.\u00a0\u00a0He learned the sound of my pickup and would climb onto the back of the sofa so he could look out the window and see me drive in.\u00a0\u00a0I was someone’s whole world.\u00a0\u00a0That was a good day.<\/p>\n
About 10 years ago, my wife and I went to the state fair in Blackfoot, just the two of us, no kids.\u00a0\u00a0We walked through the fairgrounds, ending up at the free stage, sitting and holding hands while listening to a band called Cody.\u00a0\u00a0We had been married about 15 years and she was still my girlfriend.\u00a0\u00a0That was a good day.<\/p>\n
There was a day in Yellowstone National Park when my daughter was a teenager.\u00a0\u00a0We were fishing a small creek; a day of laughing, fishing and just sitting on the bank talking about whatever.\u00a0\u00a0Just the two of us.\u00a0\u00a0Another good day.<\/p>\n
I remember a chilled fall morning in Island Park.\u00a0My wife convinced me to get up before sunrise, make coffee and drive to Harriman State Park to hear the elk bugling.\u00a0\u00a0The two of us, holding hands, seeing our breath in the cold air, and listening to the elk bugle while watching the sun rise.\u00a0Twenty years of marriage and I was still holding hands with my girlfriend.\u00a0A good day (and a lucky man).<\/p>\n
And the good day for the woman in the movie?\u00a0\u00a0It doesn’t even matter.\u00a0\u00a0They are different for each of us.\u00a0\u00a0The key is not to miss them while we are trying to find something better.\u00a0Good days are often not planned. Instead, they sneak up on us and surprise us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wonder how much money we spend trying to buy good days, not realizing they are mostly free, not realizing good days are everywhere – the backyard, the kitchen, a nearby river, a nearby park, a walk in the neighborhood, a drive in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I almost forgot my most recent good day.\u00a0\u00a0It was the day I sat in an old overstuffed rocking chair covered in an ugly pink fabric that my dad gave my mom when I was born.\u00a0\u00a0I spent several hours rocking, drinking coffee and thinking of the good days for this column.\u00a0\u00a0Now, that was a very good day.<\/p>\n
And what were your good days?<\/p>\n
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