Toward the end of his life, my dad really cherished his Happy Hours. The martinis and cold beers of his younger days had gradually fallen by the wayside. But oh, did that man love his wine! It was his guilty pleasure. His daily ritual. Something to look forward to when there wasn’t always a whole lot else on the calendar.
When Dad made the difficult move into a nursing home, he was informed that alcohol was not permitted in the facility. The look on his face was priceless and he let them have it.
“You must be joking!”
They were not joking. But something told me we would find a workaround.
Being dutiful children—and the ultimate enablers— my siblings and I quickly devised a sophisticated smuggling operation involving smaller bottles of wine and a carefully selected hiding spot in his room. Eventually, the nursing home staff seemed to figure it out. And, thankfully, they turned a blind eye. Let the old man have his wine. Everyone was happy.
A few days before Dad passed away, my wife and I visited him at the nursing home for what became his final Happy Hour. Naturally, we brought along some of his beloved wine.
By this point, he could barely sit up. His energy was fading, and the simplest activities had become monumental tasks. But when that glass of wine appeared, something remarkable happened.
He slurped it up like an elephant dipping its trunk into a watering hole!
There was still a little fire in the old guy. Still some enjoyment to be found. Still something that brought him peace.
He couldn’t quite finish the bottle, so he asked us to save the rest for another day. But that opportunity never came. A few days later, he was gone.
The Unfinished Bottle
As my brother and I cleaned out his room, I came across that partially consumed bottle of wine in our little hiding spot. I took a picture of it.
At the time, the image was heartbreaking. There it was. A bottle of wine that would never be finished. A Happy Hour that would never happen. A hanging chad. A goal not quite completed. Dad wasn’t coming back to finish what he had started.
And somehow, that little bottle represented the enormous emptiness he left behind.
A Different Perspective
But last week, I stumbled across that photograph again. Same bottle. Same wine. Same hiding spot. But this time, I saw something completely different. I saw hope.
Perhaps it was the promise of another sip that helped keep Dad going through those difficult final years. Perhaps knowing there was something waiting for him tomorrow gave him a little extra motivation to get through today. Perhaps the comfort of having something left in the tank allowed him to close his eyes peacefully at night.
And the more I thought about that unfinished bottle, the more I realized Dad might have been teaching us one final lesson about resilience.
Tomorrow Needs Momentum, Too
We spend so much of our lives trying to finish things.
Clear the inbox. Complete the project. Cross off every item on the to-do list. Resolve every disagreement. Tie up every loose end.
We measure productive days by how much we accomplish and successful lives by how much we finish. And there’s certainly something to be said for finishing strong. But what if we occasionally have it backward? What if leaving a little something unfinished today actually gives us the momentum to attack tomorrow?
Some writers deliberately stop working in the middle of a sentence or scene. Rather than exhausting every creative thought, they leave themselves an easy place to begin the next morning. And in our professional lives, maybe it’s okay to leave a few things on the to-do list. Not because we’re procrastinating. But because having meaningful waiting for us tomorrow can provide direction, energy, and purpose to attack the next day.
The same principle applies to our personal lives. Maybe that wonderful conversation with an old friend doesn’t need to end tonight. Pick it up tomorrow. Maybe that difficult discussion with your spouse or child doesn’t need to be resolved before bedtime. Sleep on it. Come back with a clearer head and a little more compassion.
Maybe today didn’t go according to plan. Maybe we didn’t accomplish everything we hoped. That’s okay. We get another shot at the title in the morning.
Leave a Little in the Bottle
Sometimes resilience isn’t about finishing everything today. It’s about having something worth coming back to tomorrow.
It’s knowing that today’s unfinished business can become tomorrow’s opportunity. That there’s still something to look forward to. Something worth pursuing. Something left in the bottle.
My dad never got to enjoy that final sip of wine. Life isn’t always so tidy and perfect. But a year after finding that unfinished bottle, I now see it as a symbol of something that sustained him. A little hope. A little anticipation. A reason to believe tomorrow might bring another good moment.
So work hard. Love deeply. Fight through the tough days. And by all means, savor the moments that make life special.
But every once in a while, leave a little wine in the bottle for tomorrow.