Something's Missing

Yesterday, instead of going to a Super Bowl Party or a friend’s house, I decided to stay home and watch the game on TV. As I munched on great appetizers and watched a really hard fought football game my mind drifted back 40 years ago, to another time where I watched the game at home...alone.

It was 1975 and I was 19 years old and loved watching football. The Super Bowl that year had two future hall of fame quarterbacks with Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers beating Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings, 16-6. It was a great game but a horrible time in my life. I had just recently broken up with my girlfriend, dropped out of college and moved from Northern California to Orange County to try to start over. I was nearly broke and living at a tiny motel on Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa. I was truly alone for the first time in my life, my job prospects were bleak, and to make matters worse I had an infection and needed antibiotics but couldn’t afford to see a doctor. I hate to admit it but I remember sitting in that tiny motel room, staring at that tiny TV and crying my eyes out. I was sick and in pain, but it was the utter and absolute loneliness that finally broke my spirit. I felt lost and didn’t think anything good, or anyone good, would ever come my way.

Fast forward to 2015 and again two future hall of fame quarterbacks are battling it out in the Super Bowl. Again I’m watching the game at home and it’s a tiny little place, but things couldn’t be more different. This time I’m watching the game in the living room of a beautiful little beach house, with a gorgeous view of the ocean on one side of me and a gorgeous wife on the other side. We ate crab legs for appetizers and dined on home made carnitas burritos for dinner. Our relationship is awesome and our love for each other is stronger than ever. Our company is doing well; our children and grandchildren are healthy and are friends are many and amazing. I’m not sick, I’m not alone and I’m not lost...I’m right where I am supposed to be! Funny thing is…back in 1975 I was right where I was supposed to be as well.

I hated my life in 1975 but in looking back I realize that it was an important lesson for me. I wasn’t miserable that year because I was sick a lot, or because I had to live in a tiny motel room, or because I often went hungry. I was miserable because I was…alone! That period in my life taught me something really important. It taught me to never take my blessings for granted and that one of the greatest blessings we can have in life is a loving relationship with another person.

 

When something is missing in your life, it usually turns out to be someone.

~Robert Brault