Thankful For Small Things

My day was busily spent dashing to various appointments, including the physical therapist, for my damaged and irreplaceable knee. Most days, I am grateful for the ability to take the pain in stride, whether from the Nautilus machines or just moving about. Today, however, the knee really gave me a run for my money.

While I was able to complete the required regime, and enjoy reclining with an ice pack afterward, unknown to me several hundred unfortunate people were making a very scary landing in New York's Hudson River.

A noticeable pall hung over those in the lobby area, as I exited the therapy room. People stood, eyes fixed and mouths agape at the digital images streaming from a nearby television. It wasn't until I reached the car, however, and my ride turned up the radio that details of the a commercial airliner's descent into the cold depths fully emerged.

At last hearing, one hundred and fifty people and their flight crew, bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, collided with a flock of geese, which caused dual engine failure. The pilots and crew executed a water landing after only three minutes in the air, and all aboard were able to get out alive, averting possible tragedy.

Events such as this make me realize how much there is to lose when a life is at stake and how often I, like most people, assume that tomorrow is guaranteed when, in fact, the opposite is true. Life can and does change on a dime. In this case, with the meeting of geese and plane, two disparate things intersecting in the sky.

I am grateful not to have been on that plane and happy that everyone survived. I'll take a sore knee and a warm cat over a plane crash any day of the week.

Until next time...