rumitoid

I grew up in an idyllic community; a middle-class housing project in the Bronx that had thousands of potential friends, was well-kept by landscapers and security and very safe, had full time recreation teachers for arts and crafts, organized sports, holiday pageants, and everyday activities. I went to a good private school in elementary and high school, things that later in life would be key to getting a good job.

My father was a fantastic provider. Christmas was this extravaganza. Everything on my list and more each year. On Easter, we hunted warm or cold for our baskets, that were all weighted down with a few dollars of change mingled in the fake grass and a ton of candy. Every summer, we went to a small cabin in Connecticut maybe fifty feet from this lake, getting away from the sweltering city for two months. Three meals a day. Tennis, golf, badminton, square-dancing, weenie and marsh mellow roasts, water skiing, a day camp with canoeing, archery, and crafts. I never wanted for a thing as a person under his care.

I was a very good athlete in a number of sports, but excelled in track and field. In 1965, I was named Best Competitor in that category for the city of New York, along with Lou Alcinder (Kareem Abdul Jabber) for basketball. I set a record that stood for three years for long jump for Catholic schools. My one mile relay team at the University of Maryland set the ACC indoor record. I have had no health problems until my sedentary existence in my Seventies. I made up time there.

I had one child, a daughter, that graduated from Smith and never had a problem with drugs and alcohol. She defied her doctors advice about aborting her first child because of the dire health risks to her, her probable death is carried to term. She survived and now, along with a healthy grandson, I have a healthy granddaughter. She is a terrific mother and person.

All this beauty and wonder and grace, and never quite got what could only be this enormous blessing from God. A gift. I never created or planned any of it, nor did I manage it. My avoidance of illness or death was not up to me..Just a blessing. It absolutely startles and embarrasses me today that I could be so blind for seven decades as to this enormous blessing my entire life has been. Took it all in stride, as if I had something to do with it? What a tragic joke.

SWMBO

It really is too bad, but many of us fail to appreciate all the blessings that God has given the until the end is near, and then it often is too late to reach out to help someone who has never been blessed with good people, both family and friends, because in our last few years our health is not up to the tasks at hand.

rumitoid

You are a very insightful and caring person. Thank you.

Armageddun Loc: The show me state

Life with God is like life with Father. I never knew how smart my Father was until I got married. We often fail to see how totally awesome God is until we see less time in windshield than we do in the rearview mirror. The wonderful old hymn says "Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done, count your many blessings see what God has done.

rumitoid

Yes, thank you.

SWMBO

I was very blessed. My dad was a country veterinarian back in the days when country vets were often paid in chickens , eggs, and garden vegetables and lots of apples and a small amount of money when the farmers could pay them. Even then, I often resented not getting any money, just produce. But I learned to cook a lot of good things, make our own ice cream, and can a lot of different things, which I still do.And from my dad I learned how to deliver calves and baby goats, slaughter chickens for the evening meals and bake cherry, apple, and blueberry pies. I also learned a lot about human nature, how to read peoples body language, and who to trust and who to avoid. I also learned how to tell a good person who didn't want to appear good, and preferred to put on a hard shell of protection even when it was not needed. That skill was a gift because it allowed me to see the good in people who were trying to hide it as a form of protection.. NPP was such a person, as were most of the abused boys we have worked with over the many years. All in all, I have lead a very special and blessed life and thank God every day for the priviledge. It has been quite an adventure.

Armageddun Loc: The show me state