The Unexpected

One day, I was driving through the hills in Newcastle, CA. I came across something I have never seen before. A bull being ridden like a horse.

This got me thinking. It is the unexpected that always surprises us the most. We go along our day enjoying the life we provided for ourselves. We see the loss of others and the more we see others lose, the more we feel well, "I'm glad it didn't happen to me."

This seems to create the belief of "well, that won't happen to me" syndrome. Which is true; it won't happen until it does.

All my years in law enforcement, I saw loss almost daily. Death, disability, destruction, violence and more... Even the victims to crimes told me "I didn't think it could happen to me."

I was the first officer on the scene of an incident at a home where an eight-year-old girl had a granite countertop fall onto her neck. As she lay paralyzed waiting for medical to respond, she asked me, "Am I going to die?" What do you say to that? 10 minutes earlier, she was a jovial girl playing inside her house. She ended up in a wheelchair with major life-threatening medical issues for life.

I knew my father would someday die. But, when it happened, it seemed too early. He didn't make it to 80 years old. This year, my friend lost his son who was in his early 20's. My relative lost his son in his early 30's. Both causes happen to "others" every day. But, those things didn't happen to them. Until they did...

Life is always good; until it's not.