This week's topic was suggested by Sanjana. Interesting to consider is that her past is really quite recent and her future filled with the promise you might expect for a bright teenager. Mine and Ramana's situations are reversed - we have long, deep pasts and somewhat limited futures as we are both septuagenarians. The future belongs to the young while the oldsters get blamed for the present.
It is safe to assume most people my age have been asked at one time or another if they would go back to their high school days and relive them, knowing what they do now. The answers vary widely.
I enjoyed my high school years immensely, in spite of my shyness and problems with girls. I was likened many times to a big teddy bear. That seems fair enough - I really was that shy until I met a cute little blond who really was the first female to really give a damn about me. She started pulling down some of the walls I had built up around myself. She did look a bit funny wearing my letter sweater though. She is still short, cute and one of my very best friends.
Perhaps I would advise my younger self to get serious about a future a bit sooner when it was clear sports were not in my long-term future. In 1976 in Connecticut I was enrolling in broadcast school, but that plan was interrupted when Lynn was transferred back to California, and we discovered Lynn was pregnant just before we started the road trip back to California. Lynn was not happy with her job in LA and so she resigned. To get back at her, the company let go 3 weeks later. I joined RadioShack in November of 1977 while Lynn and Jamie moved back to the Bay Area to look for work. The plan was I would move back to the Bay when she was settled as RadioShack agreed to transfer me when that time came. I considered going back to school and getting a Masters Degree in Public Administration but frankly, the notion of college again was not high on my list of things to do and I was promoted fairly quickly by RadioShack.
I enjoyed a long, somewhat successful career with RadioShack, but the last half of it was spent being Lynn's caretaker.
A message to my future self? Try to get along better with Jamie as her life struggles are about to take a big downturn as she enters the home stretch with HD.
That ends my shack take on Sanjana's topic. Be sure to check what Sanjana and Ramana have to say and I will see you next week, same bat time and same bat channel.
No surprises Shackman. As expected, a pithy and reasonable take on the topic. More or less what I have written in my post but, a different approach using personal reflections.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry for what has been thrust upon your family. My thoughts and prayers are with you always my dear friend.❤🙏
ReplyDeleteYour personal insights and self-awareness are always moving because they are unadorned and ring so true. You are facing a seemingly daunting future and it takes a lot of courage to face it so squarely.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, Chuck. Our later years are full of loss, regret, and pain. Yet, we have a choice in how we react to this time of our lives. It takes tremendous courage to face the challenge, doesn't it? One of Neal's uncles said, "There is no shame in getting old, it's just damned inconvenient."
ReplyDeleteRemember the good times, cuz. You are loved! Praying for the long haul ahead: for courage, strength and persistence.
Love,
Char