What If? (from Kevin)

WHAT IF...?"

I have the below photo on my desk. I look at it every day. I talk to it sometimes and then will myself to hear the response. Mostly, though, I think

“What if…?”

It’s the one hole that — no matter how I try to fill it — gets deeper and wider.

“What if…?”Our mother died when I was 15.

(And in the interest of full disclosure, that first beer Trip mentioned was consumed in the St. Denis graveyard — behind the D’Avella mausoleum. Joe Maguire, Steve Conners, Paul Finegan, Jim Meehan and I split a twelve pack of warm Gennesee Cream Ale. Hopefully, God will take into consideration that we took the empties with us.)

Like the rest of my siblings, I have a family that knows next to nothing of the most influential person in my life. Sure, I tell them stories. Yes, they see pictures. Every time my daughter amazes me, the deeper the hole gets. Every anniversary I celebrate with Lisa, the wider the hole gets. What if … they had met?

There are holes everywhere. Everyone has their own. I’ll learn from yours if you learn from mine.

Give up the grudges.
Make someone’s day.
Tell Mom you love her.