The Greatest Gift I Ever Received

......The greatest gift I ever received was an idea that I want to share today. During the last year or so, I have thought about this often. This gift was given to me over 30 years ago by my ex wife, Her name is Christine, and the gift was ...an idea.
.....The "idea" was to purchase a "town house" in a suburb near Chicago. Christine had gotten the lead on this from her boss. It was/ is a two story town house with a finished basement. We looked at this and decided to buy it which we did.
....So how is this "two story townhouse with a finished basement a gift? Something I never considered a gift, became a "gift." Here is the reason it is a great "gift"
....There are 28 steps from the basement to the second floor where I spend a lot of time on the computer and reading. There is a very comfortable place on that second floor to lay back and read...
...But the TV is in the basement. And the washing machine and dryer are in the basement. And I live alone. (divorced several years after purchase of townhouse) So if I want to wash clothes, I got to collect them and walk down to the basement to put the clothes into the washer. Then I set the machine, and it starts up, and usually, I go back up the stairs to check on the news on the computer or listen to some music on the computer at YouTube. ( I got a collection of old music there)
.....I am retired, so I have lots of time to clean (which I do) and watch the basement TV (which I do) and cook (which I do) and bend down to kill the ants crawling around in the kitchen..(which I do) Sometimes I step on them, but often I bend over and get them with a kitchen utensil. (which I do)
...So what is the big deal about all of this? ...Here is the secret, I bend down often as I navigate the town house, Up and down the 28 stairs from the basement to the quiet room where I type and rest. Walking up and down those stairs is a form of ..."exercise" After many years of up and down the stairs, often I don't like the 28 stairs. It ain't easy sometimes. I am over 65 . But this is a "gift" because I have to walk up and down those stairs if I want to continue living in the "town house" in the suburb near Chicago. Up and down 28 stairs 10 or 15 times a day. Sometimes more, and often less.
...I never thought of those stairs as a gift. But they are. I think those stairs have kept my legs strong, Even on days when I don't to the gym to exercise, I got to walk up and down those stairs. Over and over again, 28 stairs..10 or 15 times a day, sometimes more, and sometimes less---every day I live in that place. Those steps are a gift that keep my legs in shape. And that is the real gift. Just being able to walk up and down the stairs without too much trouble and be retired. .....Sometimes when I am shopping for food at the local food store, and I see many people who have trouble walking through the store with their carts, and riding on carts to buy their food, I stop and think about how grateful I am that I can still walk up and down those stairs, every day, 10 to 15 times. And be retired, and go to the local forest preserve and walk though the forest and look at the trees and bikes riding down the bike path near the walking trail... And I am walking and looking around, And just for a moment, sometimes more, I stop and think, "You know, those 28 stars have improved the quality of my life, not just a little, but a whole lot." Often we need to be grateful for what we have. And sometimes, I look at those stairs, and say thank you to the stairs, and in my mind, to my ex wife who suggested buying this place. You know, this place has 28 stairs which I walk up and down 10 to 15 times a day....And to be able to do so is a great gift. If you got this far, thank you for reading this.. Stuart. ..