6. SENTENCE

(today's word is SENTENCE)

We humans take things for granted.  Simple things, like the ability to speak, and to think in logical linear patterns, forming our words into sentences without even being aware of it.  Yesterday I was walking from my sisters house to my house, approximately 100 paces.  I noted my steps as I walked, being aware that each one was a blessing.  I imagined how amazing it would be if I were paralyzed and could finally take just one of those steps.  I have friends without legs, and friends with legs that don’t work, and I am aware of the amazing gift of one single step.  Same goes for talking, and for thinking intelligently, and for writing simple sentences.  Really, we should all be blown away by the number of things that come so easily to us!

I decided long ago, in early elementary school, that I wanted to be a wordsmith.  Not a poet laureate kind of wordsmith, one who has to uphold a reputation.  This blog is pressure enough.  And my ADD makes me a little spontaneous and more of a creator than an editor, and my lack of desire to go back and edit hampers my creativity, because I don’t let things spill out as messy as they should. Nonetheless, I am a stringer of sentences, good or bad.

My husband redefined his use of the word sentence half a dozen years ago when he was appointed by Governor Huntsman to serve as a state court judge.  His sentences are far less creative than mine.  His are meticulously thought out, the law studied and reviewed and applied, his reputation or emotional vulnerability pushed aside as secondary to his understanding of the law.  He is the most even tempered person I know, and the most intelligent.  Though there are many who would disagree, considering the kind of sentences he has to make, he is well suited for the bench.

The other day he had a fellow before him who was being sentenced.  Dave usually asks the guilty if they have anything to say before he sentences them.  Most often they make no comment.  But this day the man said he would like to address the court.  It went something like this:

“Your Honor, I know I am guilty of this crime, and I deserve some sort of punishment.  But I want you to know that I am committed to making serious changes in my life, and if you’ll only give me another chance I will show you that I am sincere.  Life hasn’t been really kind to me, and I’ve been knocked down a lot, but it’s like my favorite singer Chris LeDoux says, sometimes you just gotta get back on that pony and ride.”

The judge leaned forward from his seat on the bench.  He smiled, nodded his head, and responded that he knew that song well.  “In fact,” he said, “my wife wrote that song.”

I asked Dave if the reference to my song “Get Back On That Pony” influenced his sentence.

Nope.

After the courtroom was empty the bailiff approached the judge and said, "Did your wife seriously write that song?"

Yup.