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- Jan 25, 2015
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As I approach my 65th year on this earth and having the day off today I have done a lot of thinking about this road I have been blessed to travel. I guess it is having my Mom visiting and hearing stories of when we were growing up that got my mind churning. I wanted to express some of what has been going through my mind. If you don't want to read some ramblings from an old man just skip this post.
I have been alive for 12 Presidents of the United States, seen 1 assassinated and 1 resign and seen many of these 12 complete their journey on this earth. I have also witnessed the election of the first Black to this land's highest office. Given my upbringing in the 50's and 60's in a small mid-Georgia town this is just remarkable. I grew up seeing signs like "White Only", have seen the KKK doing it's "work", witnessed the freedom marches, seen the assassination of MLK, watched the Viet Nam war protests, served this country as a member of USN during the Viet Nam war era, seen the death penalty go away and then come back, lived through Watergate, Kent State and on and on.
Soul music, Jefferson Airplane, saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Elvis, attended a Pavarotti concert, dreamed of being at Woodstock, played in a band, Count Basie, Liberace, Leonard Bernstein, Lawrence Welk, Robert Goulet and many, many others. My how the music changes... yet through all the changes somehow it still touches my soul. I listened to Jack Benny and the Lone Ranger on the radio and watched Lucy and Desi on TV.
I've seen a man walk on the moon, seen computers developed and shrunk from the size of a building to something that fits in my pocket. Witnessed opinions about our country and our government go from proud and respected to disillusioned and despised. I've seen the idea of family values go out the window and be replaced by a new morality. I've seen Yuppies, Dinks, hippies, color tv's, flatscreens, HD's, super HD's, camera's without film and on and on.
I remember when the evening news was important to watch and was really the news. I remember on a little island called Cuba a man named Fidel Castro along with Che Guevara took over the island with great fanfare. I remember his visits to the USA and I remember the Cuban missile crisis as a 12 year old kid and being scared to death that we would all be annihilated by a nuclear bomb before Christmas.
I have married 3 times and buried one wife, divorced one and been blessed to find my soulmate with the third. I have had and lost many beloved pets. I've been blessed with the opportunity to have sampled some of the great wines,cigars and liquors of this world, eaten in some of American's finest restaurants, seen a good part of the USA and have been fortunate to work in one job with 3 different companies for 40 years.
I have buried a parent and many friends many of whom departed before their time and realized that except for the Grace of God there goes I. I believe I could make this the longest post ever entered here but I am going to stop.
Let me just make a couple of suggestions for all you younger folks. Take the time to enjoy your journey. I encourage you to somehow record it either via photographs or a journal. It is truly amazing what one experiences during a lifetime. When it is happening it just seems like it is just an ordinary thing on an ordinary day. It's only after some contemplation that you realize just how special and precious this life is. I've lived through a very dynamic time thus far. I still have faith and hope in this country and faith and hope in the youth of this country. If I could have 1 wish that wish would be that all of my brothers here have an opportunity to experience the joys and blessings that I have experienced. Keep important things important. The rest will work its way out.
I have been alive for 12 Presidents of the United States, seen 1 assassinated and 1 resign and seen many of these 12 complete their journey on this earth. I have also witnessed the election of the first Black to this land's highest office. Given my upbringing in the 50's and 60's in a small mid-Georgia town this is just remarkable. I grew up seeing signs like "White Only", have seen the KKK doing it's "work", witnessed the freedom marches, seen the assassination of MLK, watched the Viet Nam war protests, served this country as a member of USN during the Viet Nam war era, seen the death penalty go away and then come back, lived through Watergate, Kent State and on and on.
Soul music, Jefferson Airplane, saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, Elvis, attended a Pavarotti concert, dreamed of being at Woodstock, played in a band, Count Basie, Liberace, Leonard Bernstein, Lawrence Welk, Robert Goulet and many, many others. My how the music changes... yet through all the changes somehow it still touches my soul. I listened to Jack Benny and the Lone Ranger on the radio and watched Lucy and Desi on TV.
I've seen a man walk on the moon, seen computers developed and shrunk from the size of a building to something that fits in my pocket. Witnessed opinions about our country and our government go from proud and respected to disillusioned and despised. I've seen the idea of family values go out the window and be replaced by a new morality. I've seen Yuppies, Dinks, hippies, color tv's, flatscreens, HD's, super HD's, camera's without film and on and on.
I remember when the evening news was important to watch and was really the news. I remember on a little island called Cuba a man named Fidel Castro along with Che Guevara took over the island with great fanfare. I remember his visits to the USA and I remember the Cuban missile crisis as a 12 year old kid and being scared to death that we would all be annihilated by a nuclear bomb before Christmas.
I have married 3 times and buried one wife, divorced one and been blessed to find my soulmate with the third. I have had and lost many beloved pets. I've been blessed with the opportunity to have sampled some of the great wines,cigars and liquors of this world, eaten in some of American's finest restaurants, seen a good part of the USA and have been fortunate to work in one job with 3 different companies for 40 years.
I have buried a parent and many friends many of whom departed before their time and realized that except for the Grace of God there goes I. I believe I could make this the longest post ever entered here but I am going to stop.
Let me just make a couple of suggestions for all you younger folks. Take the time to enjoy your journey. I encourage you to somehow record it either via photographs or a journal. It is truly amazing what one experiences during a lifetime. When it is happening it just seems like it is just an ordinary thing on an ordinary day. It's only after some contemplation that you realize just how special and precious this life is. I've lived through a very dynamic time thus far. I still have faith and hope in this country and faith and hope in the youth of this country. If I could have 1 wish that wish would be that all of my brothers here have an opportunity to experience the joys and blessings that I have experienced. Keep important things important. The rest will work its way out.
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