Life is a gift ... moment by moment

Sometimes we have to do things we never planned to do.

Take, for example, my niece.

There she was this weekend, all breathtaking and gorgeous in her wedding gown.

I wish you could've seen her.

You never would've guessed that only a few days before her wedding, she had to scramble to find an alternate site for the reception after a water pipe burst in the restaurant she had booked nearly a year ago.

It probably never occurred to her she'd have to do that. But we don't always know what we're capable of doing until we are called upon to do it.

I was proud of the way she took it all with such grace. I've been proud of her for lots of things. I only wish that I had been more present in her life. That's what I was thinking as I watched her at her reception, dancing with her dad.

I remember when she was born. My brother called me. "We've got us a baby girl," he said. "You've got to come home and see her."

It was almost two years until I got there, but she was every bit as perfect as he had described.

I don't have many stories to tell about her. I wish I did, but I don't. While she was busy growing up, I was busy doing ... well, laundry or something.

Next thing I knew, she was going to kindergarten. Then she was graduating from college. And then, she was getting married of all things.

That's how it is with children. You need to spend time with them, because one day they'll find better things to do.

The day after the wedding, my husband flew back to our home in Las Vegas, and I drove back to my hometown where I'd rented a cabin on a lake.

It was pitch-black dark when I got to the door and discovered that I had locked myself out.

The landlord had mentioned a spare key in the basement. In the dark. With spiders the size of Danny DeVito.

I thought of my niece. Would this be better or worse than a broken water main?

Using my cell phone as a pitiful excuse for a flashlight, I creaked open the basement door and spent five of the longest minutes of my life searching for a light switch. I had no clue where that key was hidden. Finally I closed my eyes, prayed really hard and started feeling along ledges ... until I found it.

I was lucky. Had I had found anything else - spider, snake or, God forbid, rat - I would not be alive to tell you this story.

After a long shower, I sat in the rocker on the porch, studying the moon on the lake and thinking about life.

It's all a series of moments, isn't it? Some are maddening as a broken water main; some are frightening as a basement full of spiders; and some are lovely as moonlight on a lake and the memory of your baby brother dancing with his baby girl.

Moment by moment, planned or not, each is a gift. Life.

Sharon Randall's column is distributed by Scripps Howard News Service and published Saturdays in the TimesDaily. She can be contacted at P.O. Box 777394, Henderson NV 89077 or at randallbay@earthlink.net.