When we sitting on the couch eating lunch this afternoon while watching Everybody Loves Raymond, my wife caught this on Facebook. It got me to thinking about my age and how pay attention to the location of the john when I'm out and around.
I also pee a couple times during the night. I've started to use that time to pray for my kids and grandkids and, of course, for my wife.
Should churches develop prayer lists for their senior members to use when they go to the bathroom during the middle of the night? God doesn't have hours, right? We can't wake him up. He's always awake and has a free ear to listen.
Shooting my "gun" while in the Army in the early 70s.
There's a story this morning in Politico about how President Trump got five draft deferments from the Army during the Vietnam War. Four were for college and one was for a bone spur in his foot.
This raises all sorts of questions about his patriotism which he seems to tout all the time. He should talk openly about this. Does he ever talk openly about anything that might be unflattering to him?
I got a draft deferment for college and then the draft board told me that was it. I remember our local draft board was composed of big shooters in our local community who made sure their sons stayed out of the draft. These dads made it clear that power and position made a difference in keep their sons out of the Army.
It worked for Trump. He and I are the same age. I know how disruptive the draft was to daily life back then. A sledge hammer seemed to be hanging over my head all the time.
By the way, I need to disclose that I got into an active U.S. Army Reserve unit and that my active duty was all in this country. I have a cousin who wasn't so lucky.
So, is this fake news about Trump? Is it the truth?
Do you have a blog? If not, have you ever thought about starting one?
I started this blog 12 years ago before social media became a thing and during a time when people thought it was a funny four-letter word. I first read about them in the Detroit Free Press when a reporter did a story describing what they were and how they were different from ordinary websites of the time. I was also intrigued by the first person writing.
When I was 58 I decided to play with it. Now I'm 70 and I have almost 3,000 blog posts on this blog. I'm trying to evaluate why I should continue it.
Back when I started it, I was just finishing a career in and around politics. All my jobs involved writing whether writing news stories, news releases or speeches for politicians. My taste for politics has lessened greatly.
During the intervening years, I got married, had two great kids who gave us five really wonderful grandkids. I love being a husband and a grandfather, but . . .
I have to fill in the spaces of my life. I keep asking myself "with what?"
The above quote seems to say it well. Writing blog posts can help me figure that out. The sand in my hourglass is moving quickly. I need to get more of this sorted out.
I get it. I need to write this blog for me to help me better understand myself. It's way cheaper than going to a $200 an hour therapists who asks a lot of questions. I ask myself questions all the time. If nobody else reads this, I feel comfortable in saying I'm writing this for me.
I know that 70 years old is just a number, but it's still a milestone and it means that I need to pick my priorities more carefully.
This song "Close" from Hillsong states clearly what I want to be at the top of my bucket list. I want that close personal relationship with God the Father, his son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
However, there are so many distractions to that goal. I need to pray it everyday, maybe even more than once. I put it here as both a reminder to me and as an encouragement to others.
My birthday this year on August 31 will be a landmark. I turn 70 which means that I can admit with confidence that I'm older if not old. I'm a member of the first class of baby-boomers, part of a group of more than three million born in 1946 right after the end of World War II.
To reach this point, scares me in many ways. I know that I need to carefully consider what I want to do with this rest of my life. I have a limited amount of time to make a plan, 120 days, 17 weeks, three months or 2880 hours before I reach that mark.
What about a rocking chair
The only way I'd consider wiling my time away in a Cracker Barrel rocking chair is if it was right on the Gulf of Mexico and there was good wi-fi. There's no likelihood of the former happening.
Things that occupied my attention during my day-job years hold little interest to me now. In the past, certain things could excite my passion. I was trained to be and worked as a journalist for many years. Then I worked as a staffer in our state legislature where I worked with and around many different reporters everyday. At one time, I could get excited about politics. That's changed. Governing has morphed into gaggles of people at all levels trash-talking each other without regard for the consequences. The truth of an issue was immaterial.
Effective communication interests me
I still enjoy the whole area of communication where those with a message try to communicate it effectively to change behavior. Over the years, I have written hundreds of news releases, speeches and newsletter articles.
I've watched as people have changed the way they communicate, particularly through the use of social media and the web. I've watched and participated in the changes in this area pretty closely.
Telling stories with video
Story-telling is another area that has caught my attention. I have a personal story that I feel is worth sharing and I know many others who have the same. It's fun to see how this is done through the written word, video and still pictures.
My role as a husband, father and grandfather still excites me. I'm having to be alert to how these roles change as I and my family get older.
Remember the television show Parenthood with a group of grown kids who have their own children? There was a patriarch named Zeke Braverman and his wife. They all dealt with real life issues. They lived their own lives, but they came together as a family unit.
As I traipse through the challenges of aging, I want to continue blogging about it. There are things I will give a lot of thought to and others that will roll off the top of my thoughts.