Seizing Their Moment

My wife and I drove over to Milledgeville last night for me to speak to the Milledgeville Newcomers Club. This Newcomers Club is not your typical one. Although there were some people there who are new to the Milledgeville area, there are members that have been active for over 10 years.

My sister and brother in law, Kikky and Ken, moved to Milledgeville a year or so ago and are members of this organization. I think it must have been their turn to get a program for their monthly get-together.

She called on her little brother to bail her out.

If there is one person in the world I would bail out it would be my sister Kikky.

Kikky, whose real name is Naia Elizabeth, was born at a very young age in Fort Myers Florida while daddy was in the South Pacific in World War II.

She was my mom’s only daughter and absolutely her best friend. She was also the apple of her daddy’s eye. He made no apologies for that and it never bothered her three rambunctious brothers one bit.

Kikky got married in 1965 and eventually moved to Waycross with her lawyer husband, Joe Newton, and they had three children. Joe eventually became a Superior Court Judge and their children turned out to have some pretty amazing genes.

Their oldest daughter, Lucy, and her husband Eric, are both lawyers in Washington DC. Ben is an executive with an insurance company in Atlanta and his wife Elizabeth (you read about them already) just had triplets. Lindy, who is the youngest, is an actress in Los Angeles. I have written about her here but you can find out all you want about her work at www.lindynewton.com.

Joe died a few years ago of a rare form of cancer. We all were reminded that none of us are promised a certain number of days on earth and all plans are subject to change. This family had their lives turned upside down. Death always just does that to folks and has never been a respecter of people.

Ken Williams, who also lived in Waycross, lost his wonderful wife about the same time Joe passed away. Having a few things in common, Ken and Kikky began to hang out with each other and they eventually got married.

They both soon retired and moved to Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville. They are spending their days traveling and playing with grandchildren and basically enjoying life and each other.

As I learned from my friend Eulan Brown, we have two choices when life throws us a curve. We can lie down and moan and groan that life has not been kind to us. Or we can get back up, dust ourselves off, and move on down the road.

This couple chose to dust themselves off and move on down the road.

It was fun for me last night to entertain their new friends in their new town and just to see them living life to the fullest.

I was reminded again last night that we only get one shot at life. Sometimes our plans can get changed in a hurry.

But we do have this moment.

And I am very pleased to know my sister and brother in law are seizing theirs.