Chuck Williams: Defining your own quality of life

How do you define quality of life?

It is an interesting question, isn't it?

Thank about it for a minute. How do you define quality of life?

Saturday night in downtown Columbus I found my definition of quality of life.

In my definition, it starts with simplicity.

My wife and I walked from our home in the Historic District to Eagle & Phenix lofts where my father and stepmother live, a short 15-minute walk up Broadway and down 12th Street toward the Chattahoochee River. It was cool but not uncomfortable at all.

We sat on his deck, watched the sun set over the river and drop off into Alabama. It was a beautiful sunset. We had a nice visit, and it was all very simple.

We then walked back up to Broadway and met friends at the Vietnamese restaurant at the corner of Broadway and 13th. You don't have the stress of finding a parking place downtown when you are walking. It really is kind of simple.

Great meal, great friends, great conversation. You know the types of relationships that add to the quality of life.

After dinner, we walked home, stopping first at Scruffy Murphy's, then at the Houlihan's in the Marriott. We were just taking our time and enjoying downtown life.

At Scruffy's, we ran into a couple of soldiers attending a school at Fort Benning. One of them was from a small farming town in Northern California. He could just as well have been from South Alabama. You know what Hank Williams Jr. says?

"They come from North California and South Alabam' a country boy will survive." The other young man was from Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.

I love talking to soldiers. They add to our quality of life and make Columbus a special place to call home.

At the Marriott, we ran into a couple from Metro Atlanta waiting for their son to meet them so they could switch cars.

He's playing junior college baseball in the Florida panhandle and this was close to halfway.

The kid played high school baseball at Parkview High School, a state powerhouse. So, obviously, they were familiar with Columbus High School baseball. They spoke in glowing terms about Coach Bobby Howard and what he has built here.

Not long after spending a few minutes at the Marriott, we called it an evening and finished the two-block walk to the house.

We didn't do anything special, just enjoyed our town and some of the interesting people in it.

What we didn't do was get in a car and drive anywhere. Everything we needed or wanted -- family, friends, a good place to eat and a little nightlife -- was all within walking distance.

It may not be your definition of quality of life, but it sure is mine.

Chuck Williams, senior reporter, chwilliams@ledger-enquirer.com.

This story was originally published January 19, 2015 at 8:14 PM.