My friend, Dr. Donna Shaffer, has written an interesting book titled The Roller Coaster Called Life. In the book she refers to life stories as being “defining moments” in our lives. We all have these “defining moments.” Strangely, that got me to thinking about numbers.
I also think there are defining numbers in each of our lives. Here are a few of mine.
“10” – That’s how many pounds I weighed when I was born. You couldn’t tell by looking at me.
“5” – In birth order, I am the second of five. You might call me a “middle child”, sort of.
“40” – When I took my first job at the G&R Dairy Chef (Later Brenda’s Restaurant), the going hourly rate was 40 cents. My job began in the fall of 1963.
“15” – That’s how old I was when I made peace with God. Some people call it being saved. Others call it being “born again.” Still others call it a “conversion experience.” Call it what you will. That was the age I made “my calling and election sure.” Since then, I have “been kept by the power of His might.”
“16” – That was the year I got my first “store bought” haircut. Up until then, my mother cut my hair, along with my three brothers’. There were a few early years when my father welded the scissors and clippers, but my mother took over when he started “soup-bowling” our haircut.
“1969” – That’s the year I graduated from Carthage High School.
“55” – That was my number in the U.S. Military Draft Lottery.
“19”- I was fully 19 years old when I first fell in love. That summer was the shortest summer of my life.
“1973” – In ’73 I graduated from the University of Tennessee. Look back to my high school graduation date. That’s right, I graduated in four years. That feat is not accomplished much these days.
“1979” – That’s the year a blue-eyed blonde named Kathy Oakley and I were married.
“8 lbs. 15 ¼ oz.” – Our first son, J. Brim, tipped the scale at that exact weight. He turns 45 in a few months. It doesn’t seem like so long ago when the nurse turned to me in the hospital delivery room, handed him to me, as she announced to everyone in the room, “We’re going to let his father take him down to the nursery and weigh him.” I promise you. It seems like yesterday.
My mother use to say, “Looking back, it all seems like a dream.”
“45” – That blue-eyed blonde and I were married for almost that many years!
“3” - That’s a big number around our house these days. We have three fine grown sons; and now, 8 finer grandchildren.
“63” – In my head, that’s how old I am. I know. I know. According to my birth date, I’m 73. But that just doesn’t work for me. So, do me a big favor and don’t try to tell me any different.
“81” – My father, Frank T. McCall crossed over to the other side at that age.
“22” – This Father’s Day he will have been gone twenty-two years. It doesn’t seem like that long ago when I got the call.
“88”– My mother made it to eighty-eight. If she had not worked so hard she would probably still be going strong.
“62” – My grandfather, Will Herod Brim, died on November 12, 1963. That’s sixty-two years ago this fall. Like my mother said, it’s like a dream.
“1 million-plus” - That’s the number of blessings I’ve known in my lifetime.
“1” – Along this fascinating journey called life, I have tried to keep God first. I have failed Him often, but He has NEVER failed me.
“1000” – When I get to heaven, I’m going to find a rocking chair and sit in it for a thousand years. After a thousand years, I’ll start rocking.
Copyright 2025 by Jack McCall
