Perfect Moments....

[daytonadan1983]

In dealing with this ongoing health drama, one of the coping mechanisms has been "life isn't perfect, but there are perfect moments."

So allow me some therapeutic time by sharing a couple of mine and hope you share yours.

1) Laker game with the kids. Daughter has just taped her appearance on Jeopardy!.The student workers UF "loaned" you for your women's game with the Gators have just posted excellent copy for a December non-conference game and freed you up to make the trip to LA.

So we have lower bowl tickets for the Staples Center..One look down to the court you realize that your friend and husband of your WBB coach is the official who just correctly called blocking on LeBron, who briefly loses his damn mind before resuming putting 42 on Popovich and the Spurs.

You sit back, look up and say "Thank You-- What Do You Want?" And the still small voice replies "You're Welcome" and "We're good" makes you smile.

2) walking her down the aisle was great, but it was the daddy/daughter dance to "If I should fall behind" at her reception that was truly perfect.

Damn. I have had a good life
But if you all have a moment, send some energy this way. Thanks.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I think I posted this long ago, but one Friday during my senior year in high school I had the following occur:

1. Got an A on a pop quiz, and in another class, got an A on a test that I thought I had done poorly on.
2. Found out that I got a major part (not the lead) in our senior class play after thinking I hadn’t done anything spectacular during the tryout reading.
3. Went home, checked the mail and got my first college acceptance letter after previously receiving several rejections and wondering to myself if I was going to be stuck at home going to community college. I ended up going to the second school that accepted me, but I still root for the first school as they saw something in me that only one other school did.
4. That night, my Dad and I spontaneously decided to drive to the Meadowlands and get tickets to see the crappy Nets against the Lakers. We figured we might as well see Magic and Worthy. Lakers went up by double-digits into the fourth quarter, and then this brand-new Nets guy with a funny name that almost nobody knew who he was starts hitting shots, leads a comeback and the Nets actually force overtime before losing. Turned out, Dad and I saw Drazen Petrovic’s Nets debut after they traded with the Trail Blazers for him.

That’s still one of my most favorite days.

 

[daytonadan1983]

In dealing with this ongoing health drama, one of the coping mechanisms has been "life isn't perfect, but there are perfect moments."

So allow me some therapeutic time by sharing a couple of mine and hope you share yours.

1) Laker game with the kids. Daughter has just taped her appearance on Jeopardy!.The student workers UF "loaned" you for your women's game with the Gators have just posted excellent copy for a December non-conference game and freed you up to make the trip to LA.

So we have lower bowl tickets for the Staples Center..One look down to the court you realize that your friend and husband of your WBB coach is the official who just correctly called blocking on LeBron, who briefly loses his damn mind before resuming putting 42 on Popovich and the Spurs.

You sit back, look up and say "Thank You-- What Do You Want?" And the still small voice replies "You're Welcome" and "We're good" makes you smile.

2) walking her down the aisle was great, but it was the daddy/daughter dance to "If I should fall behind" at her reception that was truly perfect.

Damn. I have had a good life
But if you all have a moment, send some energy this way. Thanks.

One more

Bethune-Cookman vs. Cleveland State.
Coach played for the CSU NCAA tourney team. I served my mission in the Akron and Cleveland missions. "We're going full circle, Dan" Coach said. I replay "Coach, we live in Daytona. We don't do circles, we do laps"

Oh, yeah,.the.game wouldn't be on campus, it would be at Quicken Loans Arena...the year after the Cavs won the NBA championship. It's located in one of my former assigned proselytizing areas.

Flew in the day before and had a perfect day. Went to Kirtland and saw the Church historical sites. Went to former.areas.

The next day, made the drive to the arena. So.many memories. Then the arena .
But then you had the game, and it was forgettable December non conference basketball, but at least the CSU SID shared my sense of humor and credentialed Harry Doyle and Joe Tait and had Roger Dern, Willie Hayes and the rest of those guys on a ticket list .

The Plain -Dealer didn't show up, but I got the feature about my coach from the News-Herald I wanted , so that was good.

After the game, I'm in the Cavs media room doing post game. I hear a voice go "you got the laps part right" as I wrap up and head to Public Square for dinner. It was perfect.
.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I've written this before.

The last night of my junior year in college, we had a house party. Beautiful, 70-degree night in Richmond. Borrowed my friend's cherry red Ford Galaxy convertible to drive my date home, she was a senior who was graduating the following week, so I had clearly outkicked my coverage.

Driving west on Patterson Avenue headed back to our apartment at about 2 a.m., wind in my hair, smoking a Marlboro red (from the cardboard pack, of course), and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" starts playing on WGOE. One of my all-time favorite songs.

What a perfect moment at that time of my life. I still had my senior year in front of me, and the possibilities seemed endless.

 

[Chet Lemon]

Great thread idea …

Although I’m sure I have lots of these, particularly regarding my own family, I go back to 6 years old. The year was 1983. The White Sox had clinched a tie for the A.L. West the night before, which I saw on the news. That was a huge deal in the four-division days.

I had a nuclear meltdown, realizing we weren’t going to any more games that year. So my dad slips out of the house and goes and test drives some Cadillac he can’t afford just because you get free White Sox tickets. He comes home and surprises me and that night we watched them win the A.L. West at the old ballpark. I never saw him that happy again, as the years beat him down. But on a September evening on the South Side of Chicago, as Harold Baines lofted a sac fly to right and he was surrounded by his two young children, his wife, and his mother-in-law (he somehow got her a ticket from a scalper), I know his world felt perfect and so did mine.

His headstone includes a Sox logo.

 

[dixiehack]

Two very different moments:

1. I was supposed to be Alabama Class of 97. For various reasons, some of which I didn’t understand even a decade later, that turned into Kennesaw State Class of 2006. But that still meant I was the first to graduate college on dad’s side of the family and one of a very few on mom’s side.

Don’t really expect anything from KSU beyond being told where to line up, but they had a continental breakfast and were genuinely happy for us.

Met my family on the quad afterwards and hugged and cried with my parents. (Found out later that pissed off my ex.) Then showed them my favorite Cajun place for lunch and we went to fireworks at the Braves game that night. Just one of those days where everything flowed.

2. It still haunts me that my relationship of five months ended this winter. Feel free to laugh but it was the first serious relationship I was in since my divorce more than a decade ago. And the high point was one glorious uninterrupted Sunday when we laughed and talked and connected like usual and then two shy people who had been burned before let go of our inhibitions and just held tight to one another and made up for years of missing kisses.

This was no La-Z-Boy story and it is laughably tame by everyone’s standards here. But I had forgotten what it felt like to be that alive and appreciated.

Nothing is ever going to come as naturally and as clearly as that relationship did. Candidly I know there isn’t going to be another one for my remaining days. But I still think of that January day and the memories sustain me. I prayed for one more chance and got it.

 

[Here me roar]

About a decade ago we went to Ireland. And we had one magnificent day on the Dingle peninsula. It was a planned expedition but with no details or expectations. We stopped at Inch Beach, in the cold wind, and stripped off our shoes and walked in the ocean. And then the drive was spectacular. Along the way my kid held a lamb and we scampered up and down a seaside cliff. We stopped at another beach before we turned around and headed back toward the town of Dingle. We took an impromptu tour of the harbor on a boat, watching the juvenile gannets learn to fish, and had some good food. It was really one of my best travel days ever.

 

[Cosmo]

I'll throw a recent one out there ...

Went to Chicago to see my favorite band for three nights. Was supposed to fly out Thursday morning, flight canceled. Rebooked to the afternoon. Delayed six times until we finally left DC after 10 p.m., so I missed the first show. Finally got to O'Hare around midnight, took the Blue Line to Division and Milwaukee and trudged to my AirBnb, slightly defeated. Woke up the next morning determined to make my one big Chicago day the best it could be.

Got breakfast at a little hole-in-the-wall diner. Stopped by the dispensary for some gummies and a small penji. Met one of my good friends and the friend he was staying with. Beautiful 80 degree June day, jumped on Divvy bikes and explored Chicago in the best way possible, just riding around. Had an afternoon beer at a downtown bar that still allowed smoking. Grabbed an authentic Chicago dog down by the lakeshore. Sat on the beach for a bit. Rode around some more and went back to my friend's spot, listened to some records while sipping on an Old Style. Went to grab Thai food for dinner with another friend. Watched the first half of U.S.-Paraguay at Stella's, walked through the Puerto Rican pride parade down to the Empty Bottle and saw a ripping rock show. Hung out with friends at the afterbar until I finally tapped out. It was the most carefree, fun day I've had in ages. Will sustain me for a while.

 

[Chet Lemon]

I'll throw a recent one out there ...

Went to Chicago to see my favorite band for three nights. Was supposed to fly out Thursday morning, flight canceled. Rebooked to the afternoon. Delayed six times until we finally left DC after 10 p.m., so I missed the first show. Finally got to O'Hare around midnight, took the Blue Line to Division and Milwaukee and trudged to my AirBnb, slightly defeated. Woke up the next morning determined to make my one big Chicago day the best it could be.

Got breakfast at a little hole-in-the-wall diner. Stopped by the dispensary for some gummies and a small penji. Met one of my good friends and the friend he was staying with. Beautiful 80 degree June day, jumped on Divvy bikes and explored Chicago in the best way possible, just riding around. Had an afternoon beer at a downtown bar that still allowed smoking. Grabbed an authentic Chicago dog down by the lakeshore. Sat on the beach for a bit. Rode around some more and went back to my friend's spot, listened to some records while sipping on an Old Style. Went to grab Thai food for dinner with another friend. Watched the first half of U.S.-Paraguay at Stella's, walked through the Puerto Rican pride parade down to the Empty Bottle and saw a ripping rock show. Hung out with friends at the afterbar until I finally tapped out. It was the most carefree, fun days I've had in ages. Will sustain me for a while.

The last bit about the day being “carefree” strikes me. It seems like the all-access device we all carry in our pockets subjects almost every moment of every day to the possibility that someone can blow things up at any second.

Had a long, good talk with my friend, a small business owner, about that very thing on a similar trip a couple weeks ago over a few backyard beers, and setting boundaries in this day and age.

Glad you were able to escape the grind for that day.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Just last week, we were on a much-needed island vacation. Just breathing the ocean air was a relief.

One night, we got a great seafood dinner right on the water and then hit an ice cream truck on the other side of the island.

The kids got on a mega-sugar high, so we just walked up and down the coast line for a while. It was a perfect, clear night and we stayed long enough to see the perfect island sunset. The kids were laughing and joking and awed by our surroundings. My wife and I had a quiet moment in between all the hyperactivity to just appreciate each other

A good-sized crowd formed to watch that sunset, and people couldn’t have been friendlier and more willing to just relax and share what we were seeing.

That was a pretty good night.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

The "carefree" really struck a chord with me. I'm at the stage in life where all I want to do is experience calm and happiness. Not necessarily for me (though that would be nice), but for my wife and 2 kids. I want them all to be happy and to thrive.

If I could, I'd take every bit of stress, hand-wringing, worry and unhappiness from them and put it on my shoulders. I know that's not possible, and definitely not healthy for my own well-being, but a perfect moment for me is any moment where I come to the realization that they are happy, healthy and thriving.

 

[Flip Wilson]

Our daughter lives across town near campus, though she's not currently in college (still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. We're pretty much resigned to the fact that she won't go back to college.) Our son lives at home but is always working or hanging with his girlfriend.

The other night, it was just the four of us for dinner, and daughter decided she wanted to spend the night in her old room. So all my people were under one roof and all was well.

 

[BTExpress]

I was always a pretty good student in college. Took meticulous notes. Attended any pre-exam sessions the professors held, etc.

Except for one spring Anthropology course. Got As on the first two exams, but for some reason I just zoned out the last month. Maybe it was because the chick sitting in front of me looked like the blonde from ABBA, or I just got cocky that I had this college thing down, but once the semester ended I basically had . . . almost no notes from the past three weeks! And honestly couldn't say what the hell I was supposed to have learned during that time.

I had pretty much resigned myself to bombing the final. Two days before the exam, the professor calls about 5-6 of us down at the end of class and hands each of us a small slip of paper. It reads:
"Because of your scores on the first two exams, you have earned an 'A' in this course and are exempt from taking the final examination. Good luck in your academic pursuits."

Felt like I got the mother of all mulligans.

 

[ChrisLong]

Tell us more. I want to know about your Agnetha Faltskog look-alike.

 

[garrow]

Two very different moments:

1. I was supposed to be Alabama Class of 97. For various reasons, some of which I didn’t understand even a decade later, that turned into Kennesaw State Class of 2006. But that still meant I was the first to graduate college on dad’s side of the family and one of a very few on mom’s side.

Don’t really expect anything from KSU beyond being told where to line up, but they had a continental breakfast and were genuinely happy for us.

Met my family on the quad afterwards and hugged and cried with my parents. (Found out later that pissed off my ex.) Then showed them my favorite Cajun place for lunch and we went to fireworks at the Braves game that night. Just one of those days where everything flowed.

2. It still haunts me that my relationship of five months ended this winter. Feel free to laugh but it was the first serious relationship I was in since my divorce more than a decade ago. And the high point was one glorious uninterrupted Sunday when we laughed and talked and connected like usual and then two shy people who had been burned before let go of our inhibitions and just held tight to one another and made up for years of missing kisses.

This was no La-Z-Boy story and it is laughably tame by everyone’s standards here. But I had forgotten what it felt like to be that alive and appreciated.

Nothing is ever going to come as naturally and as clearly as that relationship did. Candidly I know there isn’t going to be another one for my remaining days. But I still think of that January day and the memories sustain me. I prayed for one more chance and got it.

Nobody should feel free to laugh at that, my friend.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Tell us more. I want to know about your Agnetha Faltskog look-alike.

View attachment 23177

The Name of the Game, Dancing Queen or Mamma Mia?

 

[waterytart]

Two very different moments:

1. I was supposed to be Alabama Class of 97. For various reasons, some of which I didn’t understand even a decade later, that turned into Kennesaw State Class of 2006. But that still meant I was the first to graduate college on dad’s side of the family and one of a very few on mom’s side.

Don’t really expect anything from KSU beyond being told where to line up, but they had a continental breakfast and were genuinely happy for us.

Met my family on the quad afterwards and hugged and cried with my parents. (Found out later that pissed off my ex.) Then showed them my favorite Cajun place for lunch and we went to fireworks at the Braves game that night. Just one of those days where everything flowed.

2. It still haunts me that my relationship of five months ended this winter. Feel free to laugh but it was the first serious relationship I was in since my divorce more than a decade ago. And the high point was one glorious uninterrupted Sunday when we laughed and talked and connected like usual and then two shy people who had been burned before let go of our inhibitions and just held tight to one another and made up for years of missing kisses.

This was no La-Z-Boy story and it is laughably tame by everyone’s standards here. But I had forgotten what it felt like to be that alive and appreciated.

Nothing is ever going to come as naturally and as clearly as that relationship did. Candidly I know there isn’t going to be another one for my remaining days. But I still think of that January day and the memories sustain me. I prayed for one more chance and got it.

You’re only 5-10 years away from widows holding casseroles spontaneously germinating on your doorstep. Don’t close off all possibilities quite yet.

 

[qtlaw]

It was early August 2025, a random Thursday twilight round at my local muni because the US Amateur was at my club, it was about 70 at 6 pm and a 5 iron into a 2 club wind to a hole 155 away. Ball landed about 15 feet left, took the slope right and dropped into the hole. Finally, after 62 years.

 

[micropolitan guy]

The "carefree" really struck a chord with me. I'm at the stage in life where all I want to do is experience calm and happiness. Not necessarily for me (though that would be nice), but for my wife and 2 kids. I want them all to be happy and to thrive.

If I could, I'd take every bit of stress, hand-wringing, worry and unhappiness from them and put it on my shoulders. I know that's not possible, and definitely not healthy for my own well-being, but a perfect moment for me is any moment where I come to the realization that they are happy, healthy and thriving.

Blow up your TV
Throw away your paper
Move to the country
Build you a home
Plant a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus, on your own

 

[Slacker]

Blow up your TV
Throw away your paper
Move to the country
Build you a home
Plant a little garden
Eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus, on your own

And buy the dips, man. BUYf THE DIPS!!!