Before...

Before I gather up my calendar, my notes, my gear....
Before I  review today's cases and call people to remind them I am coming....
Before I pull on my favorite boots that don't leak in the rain yet come off fast inside a stranger's front door...
Before I put on my favorite coat with the pockets that conceal things I might need should events go wrong...
Before I load up my Trailblazer, program today's route in the GPS...
Before I  get the wire in place for cell charge and tune it into my favorite morning, Saturday, of NPR radio...
Before I head out of this long  rutted dirt road to a concrete one and ultimately cross the fluid Puget Sound...
Before I do anything else to prep for a day of investigating and the many miles ahead...
I think of why I do what I do.....
and how important it is to me and to the people I am going to see.
It's too late for anyone to help Lia (read story that follows if you haven't)...
and countless loved ones of loved ones who've left this planet way too soon.
No one can stop death.
Yet perhaps... just maybe.... we can help keep it at bay.
Perhaps we can make living life easier for someone else.
William Arthur Ward got this concept.He's long gone now...though I carry his words with me today and every day.
Now I pass them to you.

“Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
Before you die, give.”

William Arthur Ward