We need more people like Albert Boynton.
You can read about Mr. Boynton’s experience in World War II on the front page this week.
But what I want to focus on here is his resilience.
Mr. Boynton lived through the Great Depression. He saw the horrors of war firsthand in World War II, then saw some more during his years as a nurse’s aide at Togus, where he worked with veterans with neurological and psychological issues. There was a series of family tragedies, including the death of a daughter at 5 days old. He lost his dairy farm in a fire. What else could go wrong?
Now think of some of the things that annoy or bother you on a daily basis.
Here are some of mine:
On Sunday, my wife was watching one of the “Real Housewives” shows when I wanted to watch the Celtics-Magic game. Very annoying.
On most days, my beautiful, healthy 2-year-old son does not want to go to bed precisely when I would like him to. Highly irritating.
Just yesterday, I bought a bag of Munchies snack mix and was thinking about the ratio of pretzels to the other ingredients. Why do we need pretzels and pretzel sticks? Isn’t one or the other sufficient? It’s an outrage!
The truth is, we all have it pretty good.
To live at this time, in this country, places our standard of living higher than that of almost every human who has ever lived. Even the poor among us enjoy luxuries unheard of a couple generations ago.
We would not enjoy these privileges without the courage of veterans like Mr. Boynton.
During the time I spent with Mr. Boynton, he repeatedly told me how much he feels blessed – not in the flippant way people often use this word nowadays, but literally blessed, as in favored by God.
The next time some petty inconvenience has you fuming, think about Mr. Boynton, and count your blessings instead.
