h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Harpy Bird Dog to me!
Humpy Berm Dig to me!
Hippy Bong Drag!
Hoopy Bard Dray!
Heaping Borscht Plate to me-e-e-e-e!

Lordy-lordy, the times that I’ve seen in these last four-and-a-half decades! I could write a book about the good times and the bad times and some of the seemingly inconsequential mediocre times. Or, I could just have lived them. Which I did. One of the things I like to do is share little tid-bits of that history with y’all. Heck, we all like to do that, don’t we!? Elsewise, we wouldn’t be here on-line writing down all our thoughts and experiences to share with one another.

Here are some things that happened in my life:
I was born in Germany and spent the first few years of my life as a citizen of that country.
I lived in a multi-family housing project, just to one side of Lindsay AS.
I lived with my Mutti (single parent), my Opa (mechanic), and my Oma (housewife by then).
I was adopted by my American Dad, and he, my Mom, and I came to live in the US.
I lived in Florida (without snow), where I learned English, what pine cones are, and about tides at the beach.
I moved to Mississippi with my parents and learned to ride a bicycle, and that playing in the woods is fun.
I learned to swim while in Boy Scouts during one of our camps, so I could enjoy pools and the beach much more.
I learned the value of friendships and how they change over the course of years.
I learned to throw punches and wrestle, and to pick those fights judiciously, avoiding them if possible.
I found that I was not well suited to play many of the rougher sports due to my small stature.
I also learned that I could still participate, even if it meant I had to expend greater effort or use better tactics.
I came to realize that I actually enjoyed learning and the thrill of helping people by sharing that knowledge.
I had my fair share of infatuations with girls who were my peers, and with certain teachers.
I dated only a few girls during high school, and found a variety of ways to lose them.
I only ever kissed and hugged, never daring to go any further because of naïveté and the wrath of my parents.
I felt the strain of having only one parent at home when my Dad was assigned to two separate overseas tours of duty.
I lived through the confusing times when my parents argued about each other’s fidelity and the possibility of divorce.
I came face-to-face with personal accountability and responsibility after I failed my senior year in high school.
I joined the Air Force and learned I could adapt to any situation life threw at me.
I learned to maintain seven distinct electronic equipment systems, about one new one every three years.
I gloried in teamwork with my co-workers and developed a flair for going beyond what was required.
I had my first sexual experience with a girl from the technical school we both attended.
I found out that buying a house and choosing its design is a hectic process.
I felt the world yanked out from under me when, a month-and-a-half after getting married, my wife asked for a divorce.
I learned that crying and feeling sorry for myself didn’t accomplish anything, and moved on with my life.
I let myself love again with a new wife and, in short order, was graced with a beautiful baby girl.
I found I could still speak enough German to function in polite society, and became an ersatz translator.
I found out that infidelity is no respecter of time or place, and had to let an unfaithful wife go, and lost a portion of my daughter’s life.
I came to realize, once again, that there is still life to be lived and much to be learned.
I found out just how big a state Texas can be, and the variety of landscapes it boasts.
I learned to play water volleyball, to water ski, and to run and to bicycle as regular forms of exercise.
I learned cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and applied the process to save a young lady’s life.
I became an on-air disc jockey for a contemporary Christian radio station for three years.
I found out being forgiving can backfire when, after re-marrying my second wife, had to divorce her again because she got caught in a drug bust.
I learned a lot about single parenting and the turmoil a child can face in such a lifestyle.
I figured out I knew absolutely nothing about how sneaky love can be, especially when you’re just ordering a treat in a Dairy Queen.
I was relieved to find there are other people (or one special one) who believe in monogamy and commitment.
I was flabbergasted to suddenly cobble together a family of six, and strove at ways to make that work.
I was humbled to learn how much love our God had written (and protected) in his Word.
I was privy to many family dynamics I’d never have experienced without such a large group.
I remembered my own teenage years, and the challenges inherent in them, when my kids had their turn to live through it.
I found out that Iceland has a rugged kind of beauty, and that isolation is what you make of it.
I learned that the long nights near the Arctic Circle can have awesome results; a simply wonderful baby girl!
I felt a pang of loss when I retired from the military, though I relished the challenge of being in the civilian workforce.
I felt a pang of loss as our first children left home to start lives of their own.
I felt betrayed when the technology company I worked for laid off twenty percent of its staff all in one day, without advance notice.
I struggled with odd jobs at minimum pay, until I found something that could be a career.
I found I could work in a Tire & Lube Express.
I was proud that I sold seven cars in five weeks, though my commission sucked.
I had high hopes at becoming a restaurant assistant manager, but the smoking environment got to me.
I put my congenial attitude to use working at a wine and cheese retail store / restaurant.
I was relieved to be hired at a nuclear plant, though my ‘foot in the door’ consisted of being a groundskeeper / laborer / janitor.
I have been patient to coax my wife through some of the challenges in her life, and found our relationship the sweeter for it.
I know that my life is still in the writing, and whatever I can share with friends and family is the legacy I pass on to them.

Because of my relationship with God, because of good friends and acquaintances, because of a determined deliberate mind-set to think the best of people, I've had a wonderful life full of some amazing highlights. What a thing to realize for my forty-fifth birthday!

Thank you, all of you, for being a part of my life here-and-now, and making this interaction on-line something special. May we always be good friends to one another.

B4ireminisce2long

Wow B4. Thanks for sharing another great journal entry. Gives me some ideas for a journal entry I will be writing on sunday or so...

Great entry, B4. And happy b'day.