It's been my best day yet, what a beautiful choice

A friend of mine recently shared a story with me she'd written about a lovely lady she'd come to call the hat lady. This, because of the elegant hat the lady was wearing the day they met sitting in chairs on the side of a mountain.

It was the day my friend discovered the hat lady was dying of cancer.

The discovery was made when my friend asked the hat lady what she was doing in these parts of the world. My friend wrote:

“I’m dying,” came the immediate reply.

I stared at her for the barest few seconds. “Pardon me?”

She smiled sympathetically at me, for she knew what was coming was going to hurt even a stranger, and she began spinning her tale: a long, childless marriage where alcoholism ruled many a day, a dire diagnosis just a couple of years prior, a decision to not waste a moment of the remainder of an all-too-short life, the saving grace of a merciful Father, and joy unfettered since.

I murmured, I asked questions, I laughed at the funny parts, and I sat with tears running down my face for the rest. She didn’t have long left, she said. The cancer was spreading and her doctors were insisting she return home for scans and treatment. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that—she wanted to cross the Rockies in a Jeep, she wanted to learn to pole dance, and she wished to visit Iceland with her friends—and she was pretty sure she didn’t have time for all of it.

I was in tears as I read my friend's words.

Then my friend told me about a conversation she had with the hat lady some time later when she reached out to check on her. My friend knew the reality of the struggles, the pain, the sadness - but still - the hat lady told her, "It's been my best day yet..."

My friend wisely responded, "and my guess is if I check on you tomorrow, you will say the same thing."

Yes, the hat lady said. I will.

As my friend told me this, I was again in tears. In tears when it occurred to me, our 'best day yet' isn't actually a day - it's a choice. I was immediately challenged by my own question, if a hat lady dying of cancer can call this her best day yet, what day of mine doesn't qualify as the same?

I was reminded of it last night. The end of a challenging day in some ways. The kind of day that wants to lure you into defeat under the false premise that life is more unfair for you than everyone else.

Is anything more unfair than dying of cancer before you get to visit Iceland with your friends. Or learn to pole dance?

I had the chance yesterday as part of my work day to park my car along the side of a road and stare into some of the most beautiful scenery life can paint. I found myself thinking about the challenges so many people were likely facing in their day, while I, Keith, stood absorbing the most peaceful kind of peace creation can offer.

I thought of it again as I dozed off last night. I've never heard the hat lady speak, but I imagine she sounds a lot like my friend. And I could hear her say, "it's been my best day yet."

As I fell asleep, I thought to myself. I like that choice. I like it a lot.

And I decided, yes, I too had experienced my best day yet.

I pray for you all today - I pray you'll have your very best day yet.