As a child, i wanted to stay a child and never have to grow up. Crocodiles and pirates, no school, and all that. Really wanted to see Wendy naked.
I don't think I grew up to anything different. Never got my pet croc, closest I got to a pirate was a woolworth's pirate flag and Halloween costume, quit school. Went to work. Never saw Wendy naked.....
I'm still alive to hunt crocs, pirates, and naked Wendy..... got a couple of gators, does that count ?
I can still hear the clock ticking. Might get that croc after all.
I don't believe anything I've done is/was a great achievement. My eight seconds are still running. I will let the comments at my leaving ceremony be the judge of that. I'd like at least one person to say, it was a long eight seconds and he rode it well.
I know at least two of my friends will smile and say, "he was a s.o.b. when was alive, and now hes a dead s.o.b." but, they will be smiling...
As I read the responses, I think about phase 2 of childhood.
Pop was an Oklahoma cowboy turned Soldier thanks to Uncle Sam. Yes, I wanted to be just like my dad.
We had cows and horses. I found out how much work cowboying was. From a very early age.... lots of shit too.
I met a bunch of old wore out cowboys in Oklahoma and Texas. I couldn't see me knee deep in shit and wore out/broke down like them, some prehistoric survival mechanism said, pick another path.
There's another post on the hide about Ft. Benning being pops last duty station, and what I got to live through with that, watching all my soldier heroes (pop and his buds) advance, and 4 of 7 not survive Vietnam. When I tried to enlist, those guys unleashed a shitstorm on me. Something said pick another path... so, no cowboy and no soldier.... did the contract world thing and learned first hand why the buds tried to get me to do different from them.
Option 1, permanent childhood really seemed like a better way to go.
But, all my influences in life said you gotta work and prepare for your future, and I remember the broke down cowboys.... so, I had a 30+ year career in LE. I've been told I did some good there by a lot of people. I'm ambivalent to those thoughts. Motivation for that career was a retirement and health care so I wouldn't be a broke down drunk cowboy sitting in front of an Oklahoma service station pissed in my pants.... and barely able to walk.
My wonderful education system told me great achievers were people like Albert einstein. I recognized I was dumb as dirt compared to einstein and would never achieve shit. That may be why I don't see anything I did as a great achievement, UNTIL I read some of you guys talk about raising the kids,
Then I realize, my greatest achievement was raising a bunch, working very successfully every day to retirement, seeing the grandkids, and still being able to keep my dream of pirates, crocodiles, naked Wendy, and when I hear the clock tick, look forward to what's around the corner, pirate, croc, Wendy, or a great grandchild I'm gonna introduce to a pirate...... just sayin.
My first post is me. Last paragraph on this one is me too, still hunting pirates, crocs, andnaked wendy, waiting on hide member Barneydbd to post her pic in motivational pics... 😁