A long time ago, I realized that to strive to be the best, to pursue perfection, was nothing but folly. It's impossible to be perfect. There will always be someone smarter, thinner, prettier, richer, funnier- well, wait a minute. I draw the line at funnier. I think the greatest compliment someone can ever give you is that you made them laugh. I really came to realize how important laughter is for one very particular reason. I was on the way home from my husband's memorial service.
I imagine you're probably thinking, "What could be funny about that?" Well, my husband used to love my sense of humor. He hated my sarcasm, though. We used to laugh a lot. I would give him a hard time because he was very particular about the food he liked, and he loved Roy Rogers. My daughter and I were driving back from Rockville, MD, from his service, and we were passing by Roy Rogers, and my daughter made a remark about being hungry, and I went into a spiel about Mike's extremely intricate ordering routine at the drive-thru at Roy's. How he had to have a "fixin' cup," and one BBQ sauce and two mayos, and God forbid the poor person at the window would forget any of it - it was like the end of the world. I can think of ten things I'd rather do than order a "fixen's cup." I'm pretty, no fuss, no muss. Probably comes from all my years as a waitress, eating on the fly between guests, I don't "church" up my food. I eat it, then I'm done. My daughter and I laughed from Thurmont to Fairfield about different things concerning my husband and his eating habits. It was good to laugh. I had spent so much of the last 18 months in tears; it was like a small burden was lifted.
He wasn't perfect. Far from it, but neither am I. Over the years, I've learned to leave perfection out of the equation and strive to do my best. I was thinking the other day that all my life, I've been a jack of all trades and a master of none of them. That also taught me something. It taught me that there is NOTHING on God's Green Earth that I can't do. At 57, I BELIEVE that and I'll keep pressing on. I can never promise you perfection, but you will ALWAYS get my effort.