Dear Reader:

I mentioned awhile back that I had started a series of mysteries by Guidepost authors called the “Tearoom Mysteries.” Last night I finished the book (in the title photo) and to my surprise…the editors had added an extra entry from the Guideposts Archives. (The story, by Laura David of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, originally appeared in Mysterious Ways.)

I suppose they added this entry because the mystery in this particular “Tearoom Mysteries” dealt with crossword puzzles.

I could identify with the friend “Richie” in the following anecdote because Mr. Dingle, our beloved Poppy, always said something similar when asked how he was. Phrases like “I never had it so good” and other upbeat sayings always came as his response. I love the section of Mysterious Ways in Guideposts because for me…it is just another way of describing “God Winks” in life. Those wonderful, inexplicable, fascinating glimpses from God.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” my friend Richie always said. And I mean always. He said it every day… to everyone he knew. He believed it too. I never saw a person get more joy out of life. 

My husband worked with him at a Chattanooga engineering firm, and we’d quickly become part of his social circle. People gravitated to Richie. It was easy to see why. His sense of fun ran the gamut from riding his motorcycle to tromping with pals through the woods to parties on his porch. Sooner or later you could count on him to say those magic words: “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Then, three years ago, Richie was diagnosed with lung cancer. He’s been a heavy smoker most of his life. He’d quit four years earlier, but not soon enough. 

Richie went through chemotherapy, and radiation, dropped weight, lost his hair. But on days when he was feeling up to it, he loved sitting down to a hearty meal. He’d raise his glass and make a toast: “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The company offered Richie early retirement. He didn’t want that. He loved being around people too much. He worked until he no longer could… till about a month and a half before he died, at age sixty-two. 

At his funeral, it was tough to keep sad thoughts at bay. There, printed on the church program, was his favorite phrase, but we wouldn’t hear him say it anymore. For Richie, the days didn’t keep getting better, did they?

After the service one of Richie’s coworkers came up waving the Chattanooga Times Free Press. I figured he wanted to show us Richie’s obituary. Instead, he opened it to the crossword puzzle. “Look,” he said pointing to the clue for 61 across. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

I scanned the puzzle until I found the answer. It might have well been filled in by Richie himself. 

61 Across: IM IN HEAVEN

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So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for the presence of friends and family who make even rainy days brighter by their thoughtfulness. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Yesterday was a rainy day…. Kaitlyn and Tommy had called to ask if it suited for us to get together for Tommy’s much belated birthday brunch. “Perfect” I replied…we had been trying to pull off a get-together since Tommy’s actual birthday in December. I still had his jar of birthday change…which was overflowing with the extra weeks of tossing coins in it.

We went to a restaurant in Summerville where I had never gone before- Graze- and that is what we did….graze over a delicious breakfast. From there we went to visit Harvey and Doodle….we spent time talking about family history and looking at old pictures…one of my favorite things to do. A rainy, blustery day became a memorable one.

You know Valentines is coming… with red tulips to make us smile on a cloudy day. So pretty! Brooke is here today and we are off one more time… my last day of eye surgery (hopefully)

But like Brooke says..it gives us a wonderful excuse to get together!