A man found himself carrying out a task he did every month; placing flowers on the grave’s of relatives. One day while stooping over adjusting a geranium on his parent’s grave, he heard the grief of a fellow visitor. Walking cautiously as to not be heard, he found himself at a distance gazing upon a man prostrate on the ground in front of a headstone. The man was literally crying his eyes out. As he got even closer, he was touched by the man’s sob’s and heard him repeating over and over again, “Why did you have to die, oh why did you have to die?”. Gently walking up and placing his hand on the bereaved’s shoulder, he tried to comfort him with the only words that came to his mind.

“You must have really been close.” The distraught man looked up and wiping his eyes said, “No I wasn’t.” The man who came to inquire then asked, “You must have really loved the person then?” Again the man through tears replied, “No I never knew them!” Puzzled he then asked, “Then why are you so overcome with emotion?” He blurted out, “He was my wife’s first husband.”

It is difficult to follow a legend. How can someone walk on water when in comparison to you, you wear concrete shoes? I remember my first day as a pastor an individual who loved the previous pastor shook her finger at me and with an heir of disgust stated, “YOU’LL NEVER FILL HIS SHOES.” Being larger in girth than my predecessor I replied, “Yes, but He’ll NEVER fill my pants!” I could tell by her facial expression that that was not the response she was expecting. As I turned to leave I heard the voice of another member smile and say, “He’ll do”.

Unlike the Hollywood elite, I am not so narcissistic that I’ve convinced myself that there can’t be anyone smarter, better looking, brighter, or more talented men than me. But one thing I do take solace in, I am unique. I have met a lot of people, and I’ve never met one that was just like me. Just ask my family.

A lawyer was just waking up from anesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, “You’re beautiful!” and then he fell asleep again. His wife had never heard him say that so she stayed by his side. A couple of minutes later, his eyes fluttered open and he said, “You’re cute!” Well, the wife was disappointed because instead of “beautiful,” he used the word “cute.” She asked, “What happened to ‘beautiful’?” His reply was “The drugs are wearing off!”

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It doesn’t matter what others may think, my wife and my Creator think I am a legend. And at least she thinks I’m cute too, and that’s all that matters!