Will Rogers ABOUT GROWING OLDER...

1. Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
2. The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
3. Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
4. When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
5. You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
6. I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
7. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.
8. One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
9. Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
10. Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf .....And finally
11. If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.
    

Smile and have a great day!!

source: October 2008 from my friend H. D. Bolton

50th High School Reunion

About a month ago, I went to my 50th high school union. The last one I attended, before the 50th, was the 15th. It was my first trip home in quite awhile. There were a lot of changes to the physical landscape while I've been away but the biggest change I noticed was in myself and my perspective of things. The streets, buildings, city blocks, and the town were much smaller than I remembered. Many of the people -- including myself -- had changed in physical appearance; however, several of the people were immediately recognizable. Not many, but some!

There was so much catching up to do! I couldn't do it in one evening. I've been planning to write to several of my class mates since the reunion but I haven't. Is it because I don't have the time or haven't taken the time. Is it because other than saying "It was great to see you!" I don't know what else to say.

There were over 200 to 300 graduates in our class and at least 30 of them were deceased. I was surprised at who was no longer among the living. I was also surprised in the connections or my perceptions of the deceased! Two of the prettiest girls in the class were deceased -- one I learned had died several years ago. Three of the deceased played on the varsity football team and two of them I just thought would live and be gregarious for ever. Two of the guys and one girl were what I considered a close knit group. For all three of them to be dead was just beyond what I would have believed.

Life is what it is but I don't think it never lives up to our perceptions of it! Things are never as great or as low as we think. They are never as happy or sad as we imagined. They are never as idyllic or devastating as we may perceive them. LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT! There will be good times and bad times, happy times and sad times BUT MOSTLY, life just is. God gives us a chance everyday to make a difference but whether we do or not is up to us. It all begins and ends with us as individuals. We make life what it is -- good, bad, or indifferent. We can be a blessing or a curse. It is really up to us. As the ole folks used to say -- and probably still do -- "Each tub must sit on its own bottom!" Life is what you make it.

I have committed myself to making life better, but whether I do or not won't be known until the books are opened (Rev 20: 12). May God bless you and keep you until we meet again. Amen!