Sexy ate

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“Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom. Think of love as a state of grace, not the means to anything, but the alpha and omega. An end in itself.”

― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

Yep, I survived another journey around the sun. I hope I have a few more to go. My goal is another fifteen. My dad made it to 83, so it’s in my genes, at least. I took a stroll through some of my photo memories this morning, and this is what I saw:

That must have been one sexy photographer to get this reaction from me at three years old.
Doesn’t look too safe for a four-year-old, but I survived.
Me and the bros grew up camping and riding in the back of pickup trucks.
Escorting my grandma Pernie at my older brother’s wedding
High school senior picture
Long-haired hippy freak at 19
Still into camping at 20
Keeping the softball stats for my team, the Ringwraiths, at 21
Married with two kids in Prescott, Arizona, at 23
Re-reading the Lord of the Rings at 24
Single father at 26
Adapting to the Southern lifestyle in my 30s
My first HR manager gig in Roanoke, Virginia at 40
Vacation in Istanbul at 50
A drunken night in Itaewon at 55
Making some bad life choices in my 50s…
But I still achieved success in my career.
Making friends with the locals in Korea
I dreamed of being a professional darts player when I retired. Turns out I wasn’t good enough
But there were other opportunities for fun as a retired dude spending half the year in Asia.
And the other half of the year in South Carolina
Photographic evidence that I truly am God’s gift to women.
Things didn’t work out the way I planned, but life goes on.
I got rehired into my old job, lost some weight, and tried to make the best of what I had left.
My last night as a 67-year-old in the Philippines.

Thank you for your indulgence.

Lots of things to think about as I plot my course on the road ahead. Maybe I’ll even figure out which way to go before it’s too late. But in the end, I suppose it is all about the ride.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

8 thoughts on “Sexy ate”

  5. Happy Birthday John! Here’s to many more!!

    Re: I dreamed of being a professional darts player when I retired. Turns out I wasn’t good enough

    I know that there are physical things I thought I was pretty good at, and then you meet someone who is at a “major league” level at that same activity and I realized just how far away from them I was. LOL

  7. Brian, yes, exactly. I was near the top of the rankings in Seoul, but playing in those big-time tourneys back in the USA was a whole other level of competition. It was a good experience, but driving for hours just to get my ass kicked got old pretty quick.

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