We spent this past weekend saying goodbye to some great friends. We were shocked when they first announced that they were putting their house up for sale. They have lived on the lake for many years. He retired from the auto industry back in the days when things were going well in Detroit. How could anyone want to leave Northern Michigan and move to Arizona? In our friends’ situation, they already had a second home in Arizona and in recent years became what is commonly called snowbirds. They just tired of caring for two homes. The warmer climate and lack of ice and snow did have its appeal.

All of this got me to thinking about life and how we travel down so many different roads during our time here on earth. Life is truly a wonderful adventure. When we start out, we haven’t a clue where we are going to end up.

As a youngster, my Mom and I used to take my wagon and walk to the grocery store. Like many families then, we had only one car. Mom stayed home and was proud to say she was a homemaker. On our way to the Piggly Wiggly, we crossed the railroad tracks and often had to stop for a train going by. Back then the train consisted of a steam engine, the freight cars and on the very end a red caboose. The caboose had a little back porch and we would often see the brakeman sitting there, leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the railing. He would wave at me as he went by. I thought to myself that he must have the best job in the world, sitting in that chair watching the whole world going buy as he rattled down the tracks. I could picture being like him and going all the way across the country in that caboose, crossings the prairie, over the mountains and through the desert. Maybe I would see wild animals and cowboys! Yes, I was sure that I would work on the railroad.

Time passed and I grew up. Like most kids I had a lot of dreams along the way. I never forgot that guy working on the caboose. I made it through high school and was lucky enough to be able to go to college. Somewhere along the way the railroads decided that it was cheaper to put a flashing light on the back of the freight train and eliminated the caboose all together. Of course, they also eliminated the man who sat on the back porch as well. So much for my first career choice.

I never did work for the railroad. Likewise I didn’t become a radio operator on an ocean freighter or a soldier of fortune. I never got to explore the North Pole like Admiral Byrd or become a broadcaster like Walter Cronkite. Instead, I chuckle at myself, as I tell people that I was just a weenie salesman for a meat packing company. The good news is that along the way, I made a lot of friends, fathered two great children and have enjoyed pretty good health. After working for 40 years I was able to retire in Northern Michigan, thus fulfilling another boyhood dream to live in the north woods. I hope to be here for the rest of my life but then you just never know what awaits you… on down the road.