In his novel You Can't Go Home Again, Thomas Wolfe states, "In the infinite variety of such common, accidental,
oft-unheeded things one can see the web of life as it is spun." Now, if the very nature of this literary citation does not immediately increase my readership by ten fold, I will be surprised. Or not! But the statement has always niggled at me. You see, I've always been an event kind of person. You know, those big things that blow you away--birth, death, graduation, wedding, a truly unique and funny joke--well, you get the picture. I know graduating from school (twice) had a profound impact on my life. I got to spend it working. I know marriage has had a profound impact on my life, and will continue to do. Thankfully, I have yet to experience the death part, and I'm more than willing to wait for that. However, I think Tom (my close personal friend!) has it right. While the momentous moments provide benchmarks for a life, it is what happens between the benchmarks that make the life. The people we love. The daily routine. The fortuitous interventions. They are the things that mold our being. The web they weave is the legacy we leave. So today, I celebrate the little accidental things. And as always, I celebrate you (no little thing, indeed!)! You are loved!
I like the concept of the "web" of life in that webs can be hard to see and are amazingly intricate. And we get caught in the web, though it's a good thing. And, as far as accidents are concerned, almost all of the big things in my life are the result of accidents: I accidentally registered for debate as a 9th grader and that resulted in my meeting Deb (another debater). And that led me to get a job as a English teacher/debate coach in a small town. I accidentally happened upon two gunners in that town who won the state B debate tournament. That got the attention of the Watertown debate program and I came to Watertown to coach debate , etc. etc. As you do, I look forward to the unplanned things that turn out to be some of the big and accidental events in our lives.
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