I had forgoten how blessed I am

I gad an old friend stop by yesterday, I have known him since we were 7 yrs old., so we grew up togather. Now his son and my son are best friends and have been since grade school. Well his son has spent 2 tours in Iraq, and he is now home for good, he and his father stoped by, his father my childhood friend now lives in Roanoke Va, and I have seen him maybe 5 times in the last 20 years or so. We shared a lot of old times, and my kids learned a lot about thier ol man they had not known nor I had intended them to ever know. I woke up today not thinking about all the horrible things I have done in life, but thinking about how I grew up. I grew up in WV, my childhood up till now has been a Norman Rockwell painting, My Grand mother had a wood cook stove and a pot belly stove for heat, no running water, had a hand pump on her kitchen sink and yes The old out house. I lived and still live in the country, my wife of 24 years she never had running water when we met and had The old out house, and drew water from a well. My mind is so at ease today, just thinking of wadeing the creek saining minners to fish with, frog gigging all nite catfishing trips riding our bikes back from all night fishing trips with a stringer of catfish haning from our handle bars. Then as we got older, I got an old 1970 Chevy pickup truck, we would get all the guys and girls get the beer and the smoke and head to the swimming hole and yes skinny dip in the moon lite. I grew  up in a house where you did not fill your plate at the table till dad said GRACE and you did not wear a hat at the table or show up without a shirt on. We wnet to church every Sunday where we had a hell fire brimstone preacher who would sling sweet 5 rows making church announcements, go to the creek singing shall we gather at the river for baptising. My life was/is a Allen Jackson country song, and a Norman Rockwell painting rolled into one. My boys now 23 and 21 was raised just like me, feeding the hogs working the cattle, putting up hay, fishing the hole nine yards, They still wear shorts and work boots in the summer, I can look out my back window and see my cows, I still go to a one room country church with an outhouse and a hand pump outside, we still have people in biboverhauls come to church, we have guatars, a banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and a dobrow player in the church, just like 75 years ago. I Love my life, I had forgoten how BLESSED I AM TO BE A COUNTRY BOY, FROM NOW ON IM GOING TO LOOK AT HOW BLESSED I AM AND FORGET ALL THE BAD I HAVE CAUSED IN MY LIFE!!!!! This is a true story im happy to be me, Thank you Butch Rhodes my friend for reminding me of how happy I am.