You owe me a debt of gratitude. I have single-handedly saved the world from destruction more times than I can remember, and I did it all between the trips I was taking in my 18 wheeler from Wisconsin to Massachusetts and back. The trouble is, it was so long ago, I don't know if I could recall how to do it now. However, that does not take away from the fact that it did happen, although it all occurred inside of my mind...my imagination. As I look back, it becomes obvious that surely I hold some world records in my driving ability, because I would make that Wisconsin/Massachusetts trip sometimes fifteen times a day. Wisconsin was next to the crooked tree in front of our house, Massachusetts was the big pile of dirt beside the gravel road that passed in front of our place, and the 18 wheeler was, of course, my bicycle.
My favorite way of saving the world was through a deal I had made on behalf of the United States with the Soviet Union. There was a pond in the woods behind our house that had a two and a half inch pipe that went across it, three to four feet above the water, to one of the oil tanks that was near our property. (Well, that's how far above the water it is now, but back then, at least the way I saw it, it was a thousand feet high.) The deal was, if I could walk on that pipe across the pond without losing my balance and falling to the water below, Communism would cease to exist and all the world would be free; but if I fell, the Soviets would rule the world forever. Thankfully, in actual reality, as many times as I walked that pipe across that pond, I never fell one time.
I had a terrific childhood. In addition to all the wild and crazy things that were going on within my imagination, the actual events that I experienced played a huge part in who I am today. My parents lived from paycheck to paycheck, and never had extra money, but somehow, we took a vacation almost every summer. And I'm talking about real vacations...like the one we took with some close family friends to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, sleeping in tents and cooking on a Coleman stove. The total price of that ten-day trip was less than $100. There were also several unforgettable trips to Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. What a life I had!
The challenge that I face today, as an adult, is to make sure that "life" continues. A popular slogan today, that most of us have used from time to time is, "You need to get a life." That's some good advice. It's far too easy to allow job responsibilities, paying bills, and just keeping our heads above the water, set limitations on real life. If we're not careful, we will let "making a living" deprive us of "actually living." I firmly believe in saving for retirement, but what I don't believe in is letting "planning for my future" deprive me of "my present." When you're a child, it seems like those birthdays come so slowly, but as you get older, they seem to start to speed by; and I should know, because I've experienced quite a few of them. In fact, I've got a big one coming up this year, and it's started me to thinking about the brevity of life. What a shame it would be for me to have to face the fact that my time on earth is about over, and as I face death, I look back and realize that I never even lived.
Preston
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