The Little Bottle of Chevis Regal...... by Diane Ogden

This is a sample bottle of Chevas Regal.  Sounds more like the name of a dog breed but it is not. It is rather the name of a fine Scotch Whiskey which I enjoy.   One evening back in 1999 I was home after a long days work, children (five of them), foster children, two of them were close to sleeping.....   I felt the urge to have a glass of Chevas Regal.  But none was to be found. So I called my Dad and asked him if he would mind driving to town  and getting me a small sample bottle of Chevas.  And so he did!  He wasn't always an attentive father in my younger years, not saying he refused to get me  Chevas when I was younger of course not, just saying he was always busy.  So in my later years he tried in many ways to make up for his errors in fatherhood.  He ran errands, he went to the Grands school functions, he took them on hayrides around town, he brought me bales of hay and corn stalks every year for my Autumn Yard display, he held my daughter while she threw up blood all the way to the emergency room while keeping me calm also, he set me up a little red tool box with all the essentials I might need at my house, he re-wired lamps, he painted dollhouses, he taught me the different types of moons and what they mean, he taught me to be calm, to laugh, to not need so much.  He taught me to sit and listen, not talk so much.  He built me a fence.  He gave me a car. He gave my son his beloved truck when he found out he was going to die, because that was the only Grandchild he had left that needed something.  So now he could go in peace knowing we were all okay.  He died a couple weeks ago.  So tonight I got the little empty bottle of Chevis Regal out of the freezer where it resides and I filled it.  And I drank it.  Twice. You see I know to only have one or two because anything more than two is trouble.  More than two cats is trouble, more than two dogs is trouble, more than two cars, more than two mothers is yikes, more than two fathers means omg, more than two jobs, more than two husbands, more than two boyfriends, more than two children, more than two anything is trouble!! And its true that anything that happens after 2 a.m. is trouble.  So I remember that and never have more than two sample shots of Chevis Regal.  The label is worn off as the years have passed.  But then we all wear down as the years pass.  I will forever keep my little bottle of sample Chevis that my Dad left his warm house, drove his truck to town, went to the store and brought me an unnecessary little bottle of relief from a long day.  I am not sure I did as much for him as he did for me. Everyone loved him.  We should all be so lucky. 
So until I can find something funny in this crazy life, be well, be happy, be safe, and whether you get rich or not.... be still and listen.  (Be rich it's fun so go for it!)