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You can’t always get what you want…” The words of the Rolling Stones often echo in my mind as I ponder the countless rejections we humans face over the course of our lives. (The words of the Rolling Stones also often echo in my mind as I ponder the many senior moments we face over the course of our lives. “Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name…”) I nearly died before I took my first breath, but Dr. K.J. Phelps went the extra mile for me in the delivery room. So I’ve always had a “thing” about people getting a fighting chance in life.

One of my fondest memories on the farm as a child was when my Papa would break out the slip n’ slide in the front yard draping it down the fastest hill I had yet to know. As I look back, the hill looks smaller, the slip n’ slide isn’t as long as I thought as a child and the fear of breaking a hip has most certainly ceased the slip n’ slide days. This of course does not prevent me from purchasing one for my own children over the weekend – a secret hope to relive those simpler times through their eyes. As I threw out that thin bright yellow piece of plastic and hooked up the water, I could see my ten-year-old a little disappointed that the slide wasn’t longer. I could see that she was most certainly not impressed but did enjoy the break from the heat. I then watched my four-year old’s eyes light up with excitement as he ran as fast as his legs would allow just to land in a puddle of cold grassy water at the end. In that moment God reminded me just how life can also be a slip n’ slide.