All the Time

Taking things for granted is something everybody does from time to time.  I was just thinking to myself, in a most idealistic fashion, that I don't take things for granted anymore.  That's not really true.  Living in a state of acute gratitude for the things and people you hold dear would be exhausting.  It's natural to become comfortable with the blessings you have in life.  Life can be cruel in that it will lull you into comfortable complacency, but then everything can change in an instant.  I know this isn't a very insightful or original thought.  Still, it kind of feels that way when you're the one it happens to.

Shock

There are whiskers on my dad's beard trimmer still.  It sits where he left it, in the charging cradle on the counter in his bathroom.  Each time I notice it, I'm struck by the notion that they were him and my grief is renewed.