Smoldering Embers in a Mohawk Campfire

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

MILESTONE!

Well, I actually, officially... have arrived at "Old Age". No more needing to pretend that I'm a full-fledged Senior Citizen, so that I can get a little discount at my local movie theatres, fast food joints, etc. I can now walk into any public establishment, grovel a bit and be prepared to flash my Medicare card, or other suitable ID and let the pimplyfaced kid behind the counter struggle to find the golden key on the cash register's keyboard... the one that will give me 10 or even 15% off my meager purchase. Uh, that's assuming... he/she is bright enough to handle that, before the manager has to be called, to handle that all-important, often difficult task. Something I've observed during the past ten years that I've been practicing for this BIG day.

I've now made it farther than all but one of my male relatives on my birth-father's side of our family ever did... and he is now gone, as well. But I've got lots of years of catching up to do, if I want to equal... or top the sole remaining male relation on my mother's. I don't seriously expect to be around that long; I've got a helluva lot more wrong with me (physically), than that gentleman. But, it's okay. I just want to go out painlessly, when I make that journey to whatever lies ahead.

In the meantime, whenever you stumble onto this blog... this post, it will be here and you'll know that I did make it this far and that I have some regrets, some things I wish I could change, but that I have also managed some achievements and there are some things I'm proud of. On the "regret" side, among other things, I regret not being taller. I also regret not being skinnier. I won't dwell on the rest. On the other side, I'm proud of the woman who married me (the second time around); it's been almost forty (40) years now. And I'm also extremely proud of the two kids I had part of being a father to... one of whom is shown with me, a little farther down in this post. The other child (man) still lives too far away and couldn't be with us, when the pictures were taken, this past Father's Day.

I guess I've wasted enough space on this memorial to my longevity, except to note that my son sent me the first birthday (email) greeting and my wife was the first to wish me a "Happy Birthday!" in person. No doubt, my daughter will be among my well-wishers and I've already gotten cards from my stepdad and my sister. If there are no more, I am okay with that.