This morning, as I was just about to awaken, I had a dream.

My supervisor at work approached me in my cubicle and asked me if I had made "my list." I asked him, "What list?"

He said it was the list of what I would have to learn to do if anything happened to my wife. The list that would tell me if I could survive on my own?

That's a heavy thought for waking up.

I'm a lot more thrifty now than I was when we were first married. I think I could handle the family economics.

Of course, I'd have to figure out the shopping. How to clip coupons. Figure out which stores double coupons and when to go to one store over another - does the cost of gas counterbalance the discounts on the sale. That crazy stuff that she does without having to think about it.

I can heat up a can of Dinty Moore beef stew with the best of them. But I don't know what to do with all that xanthum gum, rice flour, etc. to make gluten free food. I wouldn't starve, but I wouldn't get to enjoy cobblers, biscuits, or any of the other things worth getting out of bed in the morning.

I would have to learn to get by on 1 1/2 hours of sleep. So far I need about 9 to feel good. So that would be a huge adjustment.

I would have to find out what exactly is supposed to be growing in the garden and how I'm supposed to tend them and when to pick them.

Hopefully the church wouldn't want me to take over providing meals for funerals. Otherwise, I'd have to learn how to organize meal plans.

Oh, I'd have to learn how to shop for clothes for the kids. Where to get the best deals. When to get the best deals. Which thrift stores have the best clothes. The kids' sizes. How much to buy.

Of course, the kids would be the real issue. She homeschools. I couldn't homeschool while working. I would have to put them in school. I would want to put them in Christian school. So that would actually cancel out any economic worries. There would no longer be any economics to worry about!

Not a list I wanted to consider. But a list, I suppose, we should all consider.

It's funny that she wonders why I love her.

Of course, I didn't mention the real skills I would need to learn: How to talk to myself. How to cheer myself up. How to rub my own back. How to change my whole attitude with a wink and a smile. How to bounce ideas off myself. How to speak wisdom to myself.

So, I suppose that's my list.