How Lucky Am I?

My brother told me last Saturday that I should play the lottery. Not just because it was 07/07/07 but also because it was my wife's and my 17th wedding anniversary (see, then we'd get that fourth seven in there).

Now anyone who knows me knows I'm not really a gambler. I'll play with a slot machine program on my home PC with virtual money, but I just don't get into dropping coins in the slot and pulling a lever (I'd pull the lever if I did - hitting the button is just too quick) in real life. I played about $10 worth of coins in a casino in Niagra Falls back in 2003, and it was all gone in just a few minutes. I just don't get any enjoyment out of tossing my money away on something that has too much chance on any return. I'm not patient enough to wait for the machine to hit - that's not a skill I inherited from my parents. If I ever went to Las Vegas, I'd go for the food, the shows and the people watching. I pretty much lump playing the lottery in the same bucket. I played it maybe once or twice growing up in New York state, but that was it. And even when we got the lottery here in North Carolina earlier this year, it just didn't interest me. Besides, that silvery stuff you scratch off of the tickets gets everywhere - and then you have to clean it up.

No, where I am lucky comes from the fact that I've been married happily to the same woman for 17 years. That, in among itself, is a major accomplishment in this day and age. We met in the summer of 1989 (and neither of us was really looking on that night) and were married just shy of a year later. We have one son, a nice home that is just right for us - not too small or too big, and a couple of dogs (a beagle and a boykin spaniel). Our neighbors are friendly. We have family that lives nearby - close enough to visit for the day or a weekend. And I have many friends, some from as far back as junior high school - mostly whom I communicate with now online in one form or another. We eat dinner as a family every night, and at night and on weekends I get to kick back and enjoy my various hobbies. Who could ask for anything more?

Not me.

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