Blessings

Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about my life and my many blessings now and over the years. At the age of 64 most people would be looking for ways to slow down, but not me. Not many people my age would have asked for a paddleboard for their birthday to take up a new sport, but that’s exactly what I did. I’ve never been one to be able to sit still for very long.

After having a rather rocky start I have been able to accomplish a lot of things I never dreamed possible. The day I was born I was given my last rights by a Catholic Priest before I was able to take my first breath on my own. But somehow I survived and this was only the beginning. Unfortunately, due to my premature birth I was born with hearing difficulties that, for the most part, I have been able to overcome. In addition, I had nine broken bones before the age of 15, usually spent at least one day in the hospital each summer and lost my father at the age of 15.

I was able to make it through those early years and graduated from high school and college even though I was told by several educators that I would never do either. I was even able to pay back my student loans.

I have climbed to the top of some of the tallest mountains in the lower 48 states as well as some not so tall mountains and explored the depths of the Grand Canyon. I have spent a couple of days and nights in the deepest part of Hells Canyon, which is thousands of feet deeper than the Grand Canyon, and have been to the lowest point in the United States, Badwater in Death Valley National Park. I have logged hundreds of hours of flight time as a pilot and witnessed the birth of my son Nicholas. I was even the first person in the family to get to hold this miracle.

Due to my education, I have been able to learn a lot about the processes of our planet Earth and the universe around us and have been able to experience many of these for myself. I spent my career as a geologist cleaning up the environment. I have touched some of the oldest and youngest rocks on the planet. I have spoken to fish in the stream, wild and domesticated animals, even though I usually do most of the talking. I’ve swam with dolphins and surfed with sea lions. I have spent countless hours sleeping under the stars, looking up and wondering if there is life out there. I have experienced the adrenalin rush of floating the largest rapids in North America as well as rappelling down the canyon walls in Zion National Park. I have gone parasailing, zip-lining and even ice-skated on frozen ponds in California and Wyoming. Due to my unending curiosity I have been able to research and learn things beyond what college could have taught me on subjects like climate change, politics, racism and even gender dysphoria.

I have been fortunate enough to be healthy and able to give to gift of life to others in the form of the 700+ units of blood I have given over the years.

I realize that some people may think that I am just bragging, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I had a very difficult beginning and I am very grateful for the life that I have been given.

I know that I am not a saint, far from it, but I believe that Heavenly Father had a plan for me, from the beginning, and has been watching over me and has given me this Wonderful Life that I have experienced and the health that I have enjoyed.

But with all of the blessings that I have enjoyed the one blessing that I cherish more than all of the others is spending my retirement years with my Wonderful wife Barbara and our quirky dog Hopper.

If I was to die tomorrow, my only regret would be that my Wonderful life ended too soon because there is so much more that I would like to experience.