Out of the Basement

I had to say goodbye to Dekker tonight. I would say it is was unexpected... sudden... but it wasn't. He was 13 years old and an old man... for a dog. But,  he was an old man from birth.  He didnt liked to be held,  but he didnt like to be alone. He was quiet and seemingly pensive, but could let loose and tear through the house with the best of them. Itll be different with him gone.  I wont have to wash that bath mat nearly as often that he liked to sneak off and relieve himself on... Morning coffee wont be the same, there'll be too much room on the love seat in our bedroom where he crowded me every morning for the last 13 years! My office will be quieter without that old dog snore of his as he slept on the floor waiting for Angie to get home. It's already quieter... too quiet. I will miss him. Alot. I rubbed his nose as he went to sleep... he hated that.   I loved it... I loved him. Goodbye old man.

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." Corrie Ten Boom From our devotional this morning. Reminds me of one of Angie Stewart Callahan favorite songs, Fear Is A Liar. I hope today to live in such a space that I am not drained by the future not yet known nor the anxious impending never realized. May we live joyfully and peacefully in the blessed now. Thank you Lord in advance... Good morning.

Happy Mother's Day to all those past and present who have borne the task of caring, loving, toiling and yearning for their children. It's obviously a complicated task being someone's mom! She does the sacrificing and laboring so all we see are the adventure and excitement of our youth. They do their work quietly... with little regard for recognition. They are the silent saints who bridge the gap between the ignorance of youth and the hubris of our adolescence. A week or two ago I found some old videos of me and Angie Stewart Callahan and Darren Callahan playing and singing while on one of our regular visits to see my mom and dad. My mom was holding the camera while Lisa Popchoke Callahan and my dad sat and help to create the background scene of one of those beautiful moments often forgotten in the days that would come, but previously remembered when recalled. But there she sat... holding her camera... ushering and directing her kids to share their gifts and to reward her...

I have always been intrigued by Occam's Razor. In a word it just states that if there are multiple hypothetical answers, the one with the fewest assumptions is most often correct.  It is used by philosophers, psychologists, and many other scientists to problem solve... to sort out the riddles of the universe... to know! I think it is exercised in our fatih as well.  This week has been a week for me where its use has been overtly evident.... I can see in my mind's eye as it writes out the many hypotheticals of my life on some big dry erase board, offering me assumptions to help draw down to the most obvious answer... I saw it as I read in John when Jesus asked Peter for the third time, "do you love Me?" I felt it writing on that big white board as thoughts turned to words in numerous situations throughout my week as co worker and friend alike allowed me to speak into their lives something from Him that would heal or comfort. As a few people listened to my songs... giv...

There was this moment…  David S Callahan (c) 2017 There was that moment just one moment ago, that I thought I was okay. Then I opened up that picture and I saw that incredible smile. That's when it hit me that I would not ever see it again. At least not in the same way… in a tangible way that let me reach out and touch you and say I love you. It was in that moment that I knew that I was not okay; I am just learning to be okay. It is not the same. It is a new and different kind of okay. I can't just mend or heal or work through this one. Time won't heal this wound. Time is the enemy. The longer I live, the longer we are apart. Not that I don't want to live, but living without you here is not a deal I was willing to strike. I guess we never think it through when we are negotiating this life. But we live it with its most painful consequence… loss… Don't get me wrong, I am moving on just like you would have wanted. But I can't tell you it's as easy ...

One week ago today I would go to the long term care facility and see my dad for the last time. I am sure that such a statement would seem to some a milestone laden with heavy grief, sorrow, and a modicum of melodrama. In some ways it may have been, but in other ways, not at all. One week ago today I said goodbye to my dad, but only physically. I believe with all my heart that he and I said goodbye a few days before that when I had to leave Mississippi and head back to Georgia. I told him, "I love you... you know, you have been a pretty good dad and I thank you for loving me!" He just replied, " I tried to be, and I love you more than you will ever know!"  Those were the last words we spoke other than goodbye when I was leaving, but the real message was summed up in a 51 year old son hoping that the 73 year old father knew he appreciated the life he gave him... and conversely, the older telling the younger that he hoped it was enough... I really did and It tr...

I had lunch today at a place I haven't eaten at for over forty years (yes I am that old!) I first went there with my dad at about five years of age and I still think it was to my memory the best burger I have ever eaten in my life. Memories swept over me like a cool breeze in an early fall as I soaked in every nuance and fiber of that piece of my life. It is amazing how the littlest things set your mind to churning... I always knew it as Bill's Cafe in Cabbagetown. Now its known as Little's Grocery Grill. I dont get that way much these days. I will say, it is a lot different than when I lived there. Its ironic how old and delapidated becomes historic and trendy. We were just surviving...  now they're all thriving! Years back when I told my mom what the property was going for there, she just shook her head and laughed! They always say the difference between crazy and eccentric is the size of the bank account! But today, I just soaked in the old... the nostalgic... ...