Life is a Journey
OK, so what is really important for you to know after all this time? I am living with my wife Karen in rural Pennsylvania after living in various other parts of the US since graduation from MLHS. We live just minutes from horse powered farms and one room school houses.
I have found that life is a series of chapters, and subchapters that overlap the chapters. Certainly Mountain Lakes was the first and longest of the Chapters and one I still cherish in many ways. I cherish you guys because most of you I have known since kindergarten. These were times of growth, awkwardness, and confusion but all in the best setting and with some of the best people I could have asked for to grow up with. After MLHS there was the Drew University Chapter, actually Chapter 2a, which was interrupted by the Army Chapter which was divided into Chapter 3a, flight school and 3b Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, and then back to Drew to finish Chapter 2.
Ah, then the professional subplot (Chapter 4) beginning with entry level management training jobs, then off to Capital Hill in the year of Watergate (yet another chapter) and then as an entrepreneur (more chapters and subchapters). rugby was long and wonderful chapter that began in the Drew years, was interrupted by the Army years, resumed on my return to Drew and continued during the years in Washington DC until the lacerations and pulled muscles began to interfere with my entrepreneurial career. I then ran some marathons but quit after Scott Fechnay stood me up for my third and last Marine Corps marathon just because his wife had a baby that morning. I still haven't forgiven him but Nancy Fechnay is a lovely young woman, so I guess it's ok. Yes, there was a Harley Chapter as well.
About 47 my life began to take a turn. I began to suspect that the universe was possibly the result of intelligent design and there was a creator God, and PS, it wasn't me. So the last 10 years have been a journey of spiritual discovery and reordering the priorities in my life. This was also a time of intense self-examination of what I had done, what I had become, what I was proud of, what I wasn't so proud of and what really mattered (my character) and what really doesn't matter (my titles or social standing) in the grand design. Those discoveries convinced me over time to leave the rat race and for the last three years I have done what I always loved best, flying. My goal now is to reach 2,000 flights over God's great masterpiece, the Grand Canyon. I am also the volunteer business manager of my church.
I am fortunate to have an incredibly lovely wife Karen and each day I try to discover how to be a better husband. I am still a work in progress, more likely to go sideways than forward. I am also working on trying to be a better man, a better friend, and a better influence on those whose path I cross. I have some great friends from each chapter of my life and I try not to lose track of any them because they are all an important part of me.
Karen and I never had children so that is the missing chapter(s) in my life. There are several chapters left to write (God willing) and I look forward to the new chapters and can look back fondly on most of the previous chapters in my life. Certainly post career chapter will be the most challenging of all (for most of us). Let's stick close; we are going to need each other going forward. But if my life stops tomorrow, it has been an incredible journey and thanks for being a part of it.
