PUZZLE

       Thousands of the irregular pieces were piled before him on the kitchen table.  The project he faced was indefinable in scope.   Perplexed, he initially only looked over the intricately cut fragments that would eventually be assembled into one complete picture.  Then he began the challenge of putting it all together.

       His first step was to turn over all of the pieces to the picture side.  He realized that the job was going to be much more difficult that expected.  Most of the pieces were of the same sky blue color, a few with wisps of white, and many were colored with red.

       Separating the straight-edged pieces first, he worked on the frame. Minutes passed, then hours, then days.  He sorted and fit pieces together in every available waking hour.   Since his table was now covered, he took his meals in the living room while watching television.  When he was not at work or wherever else he might have had to be, he was hunched over the table maneuvering and strategizing with the jigsawed pieces.  He was consumed with his task.

        Weeks went by, and then the weeks were months and the months, years.  Eventually the frame was finished and the picture began to fill in gradually.  As the picture became more complete the pieces fell into place more easily.  The process of assembly became more rapid until the last piece was set.

        When he was finished, he saw the mostly blue background--a sky with occasional clouds--and set against it was were red letters that read "MY LIFE".  He could now clearly see what he had been piecing together, but it was still a puzzle.



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