Time flies when you are having fun. I still refer to the house I live in as ‘The New House.’ Sunday we will have been here for 23 years. Where did the time go?

I vividly recall driving to our address in Carbondale after a 12-hour shift at SIUC and parking in the driveway to ponder our new house…in the dark. I was driving my recently deceased step-father’s vintage Lincoln Continental car…a car that he had wanted all of his life…and I was smoking a big cigar. I thought that perhaps we had purchased a mansion when I compared it to our four-room dwelling. Now do not be dismayed the New House was far from a mansion and I no longer smoke cigars in the vehicles I own…but it was such a dramatic change for our little family which then included my Mom that it seemed like it at the time.

The idea of living in a new century took some time to get accustomed to. I often read of folks who were born in one century and died in the next and wondered how that must have felt…I never thought that I was one of those people.

I was so poor when MJ and I married that I felt like an outsider looking in the windows of prosperity. I watched while others flourished while I worked 16-hour days and had nearly nothing to show for it. I hoped there was a better future for my new bride…and by God’s grace, there was.

It seemed almost immediately after our move on March 10, 2001…9/11 occurred. I feared as did we all what type of century we were embarking on. My thoughts were consumed with my duties at work as the Superintendent of Building Services and the responsibilities that it contained. I had nearly 10 years to go before retirement.

The teens went by rapidly as we were able to take 4 trips to Europe and renew our lifelong friendship with Margo and Jeff. Europe fascinated me and I hope to return.

Aaron and Jonathon became adults in the New House. MJ and I are so proud of both of them and we are together often.

The pandemic came and altered all of our lives. It was a scary time and many people succumbed to the disease. The world changed for all of us.

I took up my desired hobby of writing and have stayed dedicated to it for 12 years. Few hobbies have afforded me more joy and satisfaction. One of my good blogger friends told me that I have a gift…of which I am humbled and quite sure that I do not.

When I think of 30 years ago I assume I am thinking of the 70s…instead of 94. The 90s were a time of transition for me moving from Assistant Superintendent to Superintendent. The leadership position gave me the wonderful opportunity to offer jobs that are careers and to do so to people who had been shut out of opportunities. Nothing was more exciting or fulfilling to me than this honor of facilitating an open door to such talent and ability.

Church and church government intrigues me. Church provides hope for those without hope in today’s elitist society. The poor, the marginalized, and those with no voice have a voice in the Church if it follows Christ’s teachings. If the church is looking for members…open your doors to those who have had doors slammed in their faces…

We purchased a pool table the first year we lived in the New House. It had been a dream of mine since I was a child in Eldorado. I received a miniature pool table for Christmas one year and spent countless hours playing pool on its tiny felt top. Later my friend Dennis would visit the local Pool Hall and enjoy a few games on the regulation-size tables.

We are almost 1/4 through our new century. What will happen in the next 24 years?

I listened to the President say that there was a time he was told that he was too young and now he is told that he is too old. Such is the rollercoaster of life and its magnificent ride…