Three Wishes

By Rob Watson

Surely you have considered what you would wish for if you found a magic genie that would grant your three most desired wishes. Think back. Say to the last year of high school. What is it you wanted most in and for your life at that time. Forget my babbling here. Take some time and recall what you really wanted... then look at your life and see what you have gotten.

It has always been the same three wishes for me. First I would have wished for true love. My second wish would have been for an adventurous life. My last wish would be for money. So, how have I done?

True love... that was a rough road. As I look back over those long ago years. Today I see those times as wandering through a field of beautiful flowers. Opportunities at hand for the thing I was seeking but I did not see, or did not reach out. Maybe I was looking right when that I sought was on my left. Perhaps I over reached, right past what might have been, to strive for what would never be. Fortunately, the story does not end there. I am sure I have found true love. I have been able to share it these 28 years with an especially loving and caring woman.

An adventurous life... I set one of my life's goals as to sail around the world. How boring could that be? As a substitute I bought a plane ticket to circumnavigate the Earth. I have gone most of the places I have wanted to go... well not the moon or one of the stars... but interesting places, battlefields, museums, national parks, cruises, hikes to the top of mountains, an 18,000 mile driving business trip that touched nearly every state... Canada, much of Europe, a touch of Asia. Hunting trips and many more to numerous to mention. I built my own car, drove it, raced it, scared the bejesus out of myself and others.  Sang the Messiah (chorus, base) in public performance. I even watched my team, The Saints, win a Super Bowl. (How unlikely did that seem until a couple of years ago) I keep chipping items off one end of my bucket list and adding to the other.

Money... I cannot recall ever wanting for any necessity for more than a few days. If I wanted something or needed something, I found a way to get the money. Early on I would pick up pop bottles and turn them in for the deposit. Later i worked in my parent's store. In college, I mostly did odd jobs.  After the Air Force trained me in electronics, I was able to fill time with temp jobs or actually use my education to do substitute teaching. Most of my reasonable desires and a fair number of my wildest dreams have been purchased from money in hand. My pile of money would impress very few. Still there is a little bit for charity, for the church, and an occasional visit to the gambling tables. It may even be enough to keep me in room and board until the end...

Now think about it. Money, a genie would have fixed me up with a lot more, but I have had enough. An adventurous life, I could have climbed a higher mountain, driven a faster car, bet a million dollars on one roll of the dice.  Then, true love, maybe a genie could have made the wait shorter. However, he would have had to work to find someone prettier, sexier, more loving, more caring.

I have to say I got my three wishes. What about you?