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On youngest son called Sunday. "Do you want to take an Alaskan cruise with us next July?" An Alaskan cruise isn't on my bucket list, Gregory made it sound interesting. Lynnda and I have never been to Alaska except for a flyover on our business trip to Tokyo a few years ago. Getting everyone together in Gregory's family on vacation is a challenge. His oldest two daughters are out of college and working. His youngest daughter is still in college, and son is in high school. The two oldest do not have much vacation time. Lynnda and I aren't getting younger. Our daughter and her husband may go too. Spending a week with our children and grandchildren is something we don't get to do often since they live 7 hours away. After Gregory texted me their cabins, we booked ours. We are going to Alaska next summer!
This week is the West Virginia Governor's Energy Summit in Charleston. During the evening reception I got a call from my friend Warren in Columbus. It turned out to be his oldest daughter. Warren died suddenly on Monday from an apparent heart attack. It was a shock. He worked out at the gym regularly and played pickle ball twice a week. We last saw him and his wife in March on a trip to Columbus. He explained pickle ball to me. It is a much more intense game then I realized. I planned writing on a different topic. This message may be more appropriate.
Warren and I grew up together in Pittsburgh. They lived across the street from us. We met when we were both 5 years old. Our parents became good friends. When I was 7, Dad built a house in the suburbs when my third brother was born. We needed more room and no one wanted to rent to a family with 4 young boys. Somehow Warren's family and ours stayed close and saw each other regularly. Our moms stayed friends and talked routinely. Even after we both married and had families we stayed in touch. Warren lived in Ripley when I moved to Elkview. He later got transferred to Columbus. We got together at least twice a year on our trips to Columbus for NSA Ohio meetings. It is a rare friendship that spans 6 decades. I'm glad we took time in March to stop, visit and take pictures. Life doesn't give do-overs. In March it was late afternoon and we had a three-hour drive ahead; Lynnda and I debated about stopping to see Warren and his wife. I'm glad we did.
Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. Yesterday is gone. Good or bad we can't change it. The only thing we have control over is what we do right now. I like how the rock group Van Halen said it in 1991.
Right Now, Song by Van Halen -- 1991 Lyrics
Don’t want to wait ’til tomorrow
Why put it off another day?
One more walk through problems
Built-up and stands in our way, ah
One step ahead, one step behind me
Now you gotta run to get even
Make future plans or dream about yesterday, hey
C’mon turn, turn this thing around, hey
It’s your tomorrow
(Right now), C’mon, it’s everything
(Right now), Catch a magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything
Miss the beat, you lose the rhythm
And nothing falls into place,
Only missed by a fraction
Slipped a little off your pace, oh
The more things you get, the more you want
Just trade in one for the other
Workin’ so hard, to make it easier, whoa
Got to turn, c’mon turn this thing around …
I've played this song for our high school soccer teams over the years to remind them to focus on the task at hand, not yesterday or tomorrow. To give their best and leave it all on the field. Live with no regrets. It is better to ask a young lady to the Homecoming Dance at the risk of getting turned down then to wonder, "What if I had asked her..."
I've seen families with members estranged for years sometimes for something so minor they forgot what it was but never made up. One dies and it's too late. I have a friend who never took all his vacation. He moved up the corporate ladder but lost his wife in a divorce and quality time with his kids growing up. Sometimes couples put off important things like spending quality time, trips or other things until some future time … then one dies or their health declines.
If you think of someone, call them. I am amazed how many times when I call, I hear, "Glad you called. I was just thinking about you." My brother kept putting off getting a colonoscopy until he could barely walk across a room. When he finally went to the doctor it was too late. He lasted two months. Lynnda chose to get a breast exam when she felt a lump instead of putting it off. She is cancer free today.
Currently most SCUSA natural gas is being exported to other states creating jobs there. One objective of this week's Energy Summit is to find ways to keep more natural gas in the Shale Crescent region creating manufacturing jobs here RIGHT NOW.
Harry Chapin's 1974 song, Cat's in the Cradle is about a father who kept putting off time with his son.
"My son turned ten just the other day. He said, thanks for the ball, dad come on let's play. Can you teach me to throw, I said, not today I got a lot to do, he said that's okay … I'm gonna be like him, yeah You know I'm gonna be like him." When the dad finally wants to spend time with his son it's too late.
Don't wait till tomorrow, do it NOW.
Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com is the director of marketing for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a masters in environmental engineering and over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert, high school soccer coach, professional speaker, author of four books and many published articles.