Nature. Life’s little instruction book. Particularly, when it comes to making do. The Barbados cherry, wide and tall in January became sort and stubby in March when I removed all the dead wood left by the Big Freeze of February. Then came spring. New growth popped up from the roots, and there were lots of roots because there are now four versions of the initial plant. It seems to be thriving as low ground cover.

Meanwhile, the salvia greggii that lived behind the cherry and in its shadow during previous summers has discovered the morning sun and should continue to get a good dose of it the rest of the year. It looks nice and robust these days. No blooms yet, but it’s still early. Both plants are making do, living in the moment, taking whatever advantage they can from the circumstances presented to them. Happy to be alive. Oh, that it was so easy for us humans.

The other day I drove by a place my wife and I used to eat. My heart sank. Unfortunately, it’s on a road where I’ll drive by it a lot. That seemed to promise a ton of sinking hearts. Then I wondered what would happen if I simply smiled every time I saw it and thought good thoughts about my wife. I tried it a time or two in the house just looking at pictures of her. Smiling, thinking happy thoughts. It seemed to work. In fact, simply smiling when I looked at a picture of her felt good. So, I’m going to give it a try as I move around and see if I can turn sad reminders of my loss into joyful reminders of what I once had. Evidence, if you will, that I was a lucky man.

 John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale