Well, today was the day to renew the driver's license. Yes, it's coming on my birthday (trying not to freak out about that fact but that's another story best left for another day) and that means that my current license was due to expire so I had to bite the bullet and renew. In this part of the world, that means you actually have to take a written test -- well, it is not really written any longer since it is all computerized in this day and age. Good student that I am I got the manual last week and actually read through and studied the contents. I was amazed at how much there is to know about driving a car these days. Now, as you know, I'm not new to the driving world; in fact, I have been driving for more years than many of you have been alive! So why was I so jittery about this darn test? Driving to the DMV office it actually hit me that I hadn't been this nervous about taking a test since the final in that damn (and yes, I am swearing) damn (there I said it again) finance class I hated in B-School. Now that's just nuts, right?
After showing enough documentation to prove that I am indeed a living breathing soul I went to the computer kiosk tryng to ignore my pounding heart. There was no time limit, so that made me feel a bit better and there is a way to skip questions and return to them later...unlike the finance final that was timed with a TICK, TICK, TICK obnoxious timer. I relaxed a bit on the first question -- one of the multi choice answers actually made me laugh out loud. So, okay. someone in the State has a sense of humor. As I completed the final question and was being congratulated on the monitor, I heard John Lennon's Happy Xmas playing on the Muzak (or whatever it is called today) buzzing through the small space. John Lennon singing a song about war being over -- written all those years ago and somehow still very relevant in today's world. Needless to say, I sat there quietly and waited for the song to end. John Lennon lyrics pushed aside for a moment, I finished up the process, had a pix taken, thanked everyone for making it a pleasant experience and walked out of the building.
In the car, where Beatrix was waiting, it hit me...today is December 8th. It was this day, in 1980, that John Lennon left this place. In an act that still makes no sense to me at all -- one of the greatest poets or our time was gone...in a flash. I made the short drive home no longer focused on the silliness of a license to drive -- life is a much bigger thing and we don't know how it all works; but what I have learned in the years I have lived is that it is so important to be kind, loving and sharing every moment of every day because we don't know when that moment will be our last. So friends, remember that kindness, loving and sharing should be a part of who we are, not just during the holiday season, but every day of the year no matter who we are or where we live.
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