this old bird

I go to the Gadsden Post Office every weekday morning to check the OTG P.O. Box. It's usually a quick walk in and out, but Gina had me go in and mail a package. It's been a while since I have actually gone in there and stand in line for service. As I stepped up to the clerk, he said "Hello David". I was impressed that he remembered my name. I said hello back and told him that I needed to send something via certified mail. He handed me the paperwork to fill out and said, "48 pounds". I looked up and said, "What?" He said, "48 pounds...you've lost 48 pounds since January". I told him that I might have because I've been dieting to deal with my diabetes. He told me that I was doing good at it and the subject was changed to this being his last week as a postman. He's retiring at the end of the week. He smiled and I told him congratulations and left so he could call out NEXT PLEASE.

I left the post office kind of baffled. I called Gina to tell her what had just happened and she laughed over the phone. "What's so funny?" I asked. Gina said, "He's a mailman and he's handled so many packages in his life that he can look at you and guess your weight. That's funny!"

"Oh," I said.

I have been loosing weight but have only weighed in only when at the doctor's office (which is rare). I haven't had "dieting" on my mind. I have had on my mind living longer and feeling better. Gina complimented me the other day and said that I've been doing really good on my diet. I told her that I wasn't trying to diet. The diabetes, blood pressure, triglyceride, and cholesterol numbers gave me a shock to really get on the ball. I am not good at dieting, but somehow I am better at living. I told Gina that if I were a hermit, not married and without little loved ones, death would be fine. I don't have a problem with going home for good. I told her that the primary reason I want to stick around and have my health is so I can be here for my wife and my girls. That's how I feel. That's my motivation.

I have been dropping a good bit of weight as of late. I don't care to look at scales because I don't want to look down. Who knows, if I look down I might fall. I don't want to be consumed by the numbers. I just want to get where I need to be, and feel better.

I've had a lot of compliments as of late. I don't look like all those fat photos. Funny thing is, after loosing the weight, I see more wrinkles in my face. I think that I now look fifty. It's amazing how much a fellow can loose if he lays off the white bread, potatoes, and fried dead poultry. Weight is falling off like in that commercials. You know the ones I'm talking about - like the one where a fellow finds some one's butt laying around in the park. My friend Debbie Handy was walking behind me down the hall at church last Saturday. She said that I lost my butt. We walked down the hall a little ways talking about this and that. Then it dawned on me. She was in her office and I had just entered the bathroom when I exclaimed, "Hey, why were you looking at my butt?" I heard a giggle come from her office.

My sister Cindy told me last Sunday that I needed new jeans. I told her that all my jeans were new as of Christmas. Maybe I have lost 48 pounds since then. I might be looking better but I don't always feel great. I've got to get used to feeding myself a little every few hours so I won't crash. I crash if I wait too long to eat. I can avoid the crash if I eat a little something before diving. I am just now starting to feel when my body is going into a dive. If I crash, it takes me an hour or two to pull out of the physical funk I experience. I've got to learn to keep the nose tilted up and can't rely on the auto pilot that used to fly this old bird. Every thing is manual from here on out.

Like Dylan sang, "I keep pressing on."