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Life is Good An Essay by James A Graves, Jr.
I’m sitting alone in a restaurant, waiting for my meal. It’s lunchtime on a Saturday at a local mom and pop, home-style Southern food place called, Ed’s Restaurant. In what seems like another life, it was Ed and Buck’s Tastee Freeze. As a teenager I could be found there on a Saturday night, but never alone. But eating alone is a regular thing for me these days. And has been for a while now. I used to hate eating alone. I would avoid it if I could, ordering out & eating in my hotel room, in my apartment, or at home after the divorce.
During my 25-year career with the FAA, I traveled occasionally, mostly attending two or three-week classes at the FAA Academy at the Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. OKC is a huge city. There are many great eating choices with a pleasant atmosphere, but, for me, eating alone took away from that. Sitting alone, surrounded by people enjoying a meal and the companionship of friends & family was depressing. So I ordered my meals to-go, preferring to eat alone while I watched TV.
But time and circumstances changes things. Now I’ve become so accustomed to eating alone that it almost seems normal. I wish it didn’t, but that’s life.
Because most restaurants don’t have single seats at a bar any longer, I sometimes feel guilty sitting alone at a table for four. Feeling out of place, I anchor a table with three empty chairs, and with nothing else to do, I sit and watch the people around me. It’s an interesting pastime. Obviously enjoying each other’s company, people give me hope. Despite all of the chaos, stupidity and seeming madness of existence today, life goes on. People care about each other. Parents love their children. Children love their parents. Love and friendship shows.
The need for friendship and companionship is felt more today than at any time in history. But despite all of the inescapable negativity coming from almost every direction, life is still good.
While it is true that life is hard, and that life is often unfair, and with only a few, very special historical exceptions, no one is going to get out of it alive. Nevertheless, life is good. God has this. The possibilities are endless. God is in control, and life is good.
©2025 J Graves, Jr.
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