Summer 20055/29/11: So today is the "big" day (b-day) and I'm well on the way into my forties. I still would like a better life, and it's been a little challenging lately, but it's really not that bad, and I have accomplished some good things in my life. One more year passing tells me that I have more chances. I've lived, I've loved, I've aged. And I think that's great!
Today, I went to the grocery store with my son and ran into a former student that I taught in 8th grade two years ago. She smiled and said, "I remember you. Do you remember me?"
"Oh yeah," I smiled, " Your hair was blond back then!"
"Wow," she exclaimed. "That seems like so long ago!" It amazed me to think that she is only a year older than my son, and now she works at the grocery, and is about to be a junior in high school.
She was really so nice to me. Back in school she was not. I think she once said she hated me. She mentioned, "I was so bad back then! I would never want to be a teacher. I remember I got thrown out all the time."
I said, "I remember that too!" At which the other cashier laughed. She laughed with me too. She didn't have to apologize. Just her courteous behavior today and laughing with me, and heck, saying she remembered me made me feel good. That and seeing she is responsible enough to have a job! :-) It makes me feel proud, and that maybe I did something memorable to aid her in her growth, knowing she remembers me with a smile and a laugh. It was a bright light on this special day.
I got an excellent facebook message from my Uncle Bob, mentioning "let's ride horse or rapids again...but no skydiving!" And I think, yeah, it's been a pretty good life. I haven't gone skydiving yet, but I plan to, (against the advice of many including Uncle Bob). I'd also like to learn to personally fly a Cessna over the Grand Canyon, because that flirty pilot from last time really got me thinking when he said I was the take-over pilot if he passed out! I still haven't been to Europe, but I'm dreaming and hoping. I can look back at some good things, and I can look forward to even better, because, even though I think this summer is going to be hard work, I have always, always known how to save, plan, and dream.
