Almost…

Almost is a word with a very clear meaning: nearly, not quite, or close to happening but not fully reached. Today, as I sit writing this column, I’m extremely thankful for that last one…not fully reached. But before I can write about my most recent “almost,” let’s take a look back at some of them from the past.

I guess the “almosts” really started my first day in this world. I was almost born first, but Twin Brother Mark kicked me out of the way – making me forever the “baby” of the family. It was a title he enjoyed calling me until we reached high school. During that summer I had a growth spurt – he didn’t. Hard to keep calling someone a baby when you must look up to him.

My next “almost” happened when Down the Street Bully Brad chased me into the small drainage pipe that went under Flamingo Street. Too big to squeeze into it, Bully Brad stood at the pipe’s entrance throwing dirt clods and rocks at me as I inched my way further and further into the darkness. I almost didn’t make it to the other end, and if it wasn’t for Big Brother James, I wouldn’t have.

During my year in Old Mrs. Crabtree’s third grade class at Mount Olive Elementary School, I had a lot of “almost,” but the one I remember most happened with Candi Samples. I asked her to be my girlfriend by way of a candygram delivered on Valentine’s Day. She never answered. Years later in fifth grade, when I asked again, she said she would’ve said yes, but she never got the message. She had gone home early that day because she was sick…from eating all the candy I had sent her throughout that day and missed that last candygram.

After years of study, I left Auburn without a degree and found myself sitting in my car, filling out paperwork for a new store in town. It was to be the first of its kind, and I would be in the first group of employees that they hired. Finally finished, I opened my car door but had second thoughts. Tearing up the application I drove away that day from a job that would’ve changed my life. They say that anyone who was hired and worked at that store, no matter what they did, are now all millionaires. That store was the very first Home Depot.

I could fill many pages with the “almosts” in my life, but the constraints of this column, and reader’s interest, have me coming to most current almost. Without going into great detail, last Thursday, Yours Truly almost left this little blue globe (and all the people he loves) behind. If not for the sheer luck of an observant coworker walking by and the skill of a bunch of folks in the emergency room, I would not be writing this column today. 

The near death “almost” was the eighth in my life, and by my count I’m now down to my last one. Over the last five days off from work, I’ve looked at all the “almosts” in my life that I’ve missed out on and have come to some conclusions. First, for each one, the missed opportunity led me to a pathway I needed to walk down. Second, almost is never enough time to spend with the ones you love. Third, though you may not realize it at the time, missing out on an almost might just be the best thing that ever happens to you.

Last Thursday, I know for sure (not almost) this was true for me.