6 posts tagged “qotd”

What have you lost that you wish you still had?
Submitted by gunderson bee.

I wish I still had the "old life" I had before 2003:  my wife, my health, my job, my career.  Actually, for that matter, my house in Alexandria Virginia, where I greatly enjoyed living, near Washington DC.  All are "lost" now.

At the same time, I am trying hard to build a "new life," and am having some success--despite health limits--most especially because of a new wife, Connie, a wonderful woman that I was incredibly lucky to find.  Anything is better and easier when you can do it together, with a true partner.

Also:  I wouldn't mind having back the $50,000 of retirement savings that the stock market and my financial advisor lost for me during the past six months or so.  

That would be nice, too.

What have you tried in life that you just weren't very good at?

I wasn't very good at a quite a number of things.  Basketball among them, as a young boy in school.  So it is with great pleasure that, at least for the moment, I find that I am beating several relatives in an NCAA bracket pool.  Born out of ignorance, but still . . . 

Also not very good at dancing (are those two related?) and chemistry (a totally different area) and playing the clarinet and staying calm despite provocations, going to church regularly, drinking heavily, or sleeping through the night.

Probably there are other things, but lately I haven't been very good at remembering, either!  

If you had one month to live, what five things would you do?
Suggested by Acerebel.

This is not totally hypothetical, as there was a time that I was so ill it did seem that perhaps I only had another month to live. 

If that were to happen again, I would:

--emphasize to my son how much I love him
--emphasize to my wife just how much I love her
--make sure my "affairs" (legally, financially) are in order.
--pick readings and music that I would like at my funeral.
--try to get the house cleaned up a bit more!

None of them all that much fun.... 

But if I had a whole year to live, I think I would try to get in a trip to China.  Never been, always wanted to.

What are you ashamed of?

I am ashamed that this great country cannot conduct a Presidential campaign on a serious basis, without descending to personal attacks and pointless jibes.  And that it is so drawn out, and costs so much money!  We must look like fools to much of the rest of the world.  That, on top of our costly misadventure in Iraq, is hardly befitting of the world's greatest power.

At least we do have non-violent contests for changing leadership.  In the broad sweep of history, the American system of Constitutional representative government is a kind of miracle.

But we are falling so short of our ideals and potential.  It is embarrassing!  I'm glad I don't have to travel abroad very often, it would be hard to face the questions.

"Are you a morning person or a night owl?  Have you ever experienced insomnia?"

Yes, I have experienced insomnia.  I was often up a couple dozen times in the night.

My doctor concluded that perhaps I had "sleep apnea," which I had only even heard of once.  Snoring is among of the possible symptoms.

Anyhow, I went to a sleep specialist in a sleep lab at the local hospital, and after testing they prescribed a CPAP machine.  It looks weird, but now I do sleep very much better.  I would suggest that anyone who is awake often and snores inquire about this possiblity.  Without satisfactory rest, it isn't possible to feel very good during the daytime.

"What are you most grateful for in your life right now?"
Submitted by Becca-Pink.

Connie down the shore

Without any doubt, the thing in my life now that I am most grateful for is my wife, Connie.   

She is my greatest joy--and indeed perhaps the reason that I even have a life now.  I was pretty ill after Barbara died, and really almost entirely alone quite a bit of the time.  

She is a very good woman:  a loving mother, and grandmother, a good friend--and to me, a loving wife.

Exactly how it happened that Connie came along, I am not sure.  I had not known her at all in my "previous life."

But for her, for her company and her daily presence, for all the help she offers to keep both of us going, and for the many pleasures we share together, I am incredibly grateful.

And, I am very fortunate.  Extremely lucky.