Among the twinkling Christmas lights and chocolate I stood staring at the display of canes in the durable medical equipment section of Walgreens acting like I knew what I was doing. Jim Brawner had an old knee, worn out from years of running 10ks and marathons, replaced with a shiny, new titanium one. So there I was, choosing a cane so he could transition off a walker.

Like everything else, there are so many cane choices; 4 prong or single, fashion color, animal print, plain black or Moses-like. Since he had tolerated my decorating his walker with garland and flashing LED mini lights, I figured he most likely would rather have the plain black one.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw an older gentleman watching me sort and think. I looked at him and smiled hoping he could offer some advice. Startled that I had caught him staring, he quickly said with a sheepish grin, “There’s nothing like a good cane. I have several.”

I squinted trying to understand. “Really?”, I asked.

“Nothing like a good cane. That’s kind of like saying there’s nothing like a good bra; it’s necessary,” I thought, but didn’t say out loud.

After a 5 minute story about every cane he had, I chose the plain black one and thanked him for his help. And on the way home I thought about the wisdom of the cane man.

Without even knowing it he reminded me, in all the madness and chaos this time of year, not to forget about the simple ‘there’s nothing like a good ________ fill in the blank. There’s nothing like a good cup of coffee. There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep. There’s nothing like a good friend.

So as you dash around today, in the competition of finding a parking spot and the wrestling for the last Wii game, take a deep breath and think about all your nothing is as good as things. It might adjust your perspective.

Jim Brawner most likely will never say, “There’s nothing like a good cane.” He can’t wait to get rid of it. But, you might hear him say, “There’s nothing like a good knee.”