Life Awaits You On Down The Road

Last summer we said goodbye to some great friends. We were surprised when they announced that they were putting their home up for sale. They had lived on the lake for many years, but they also owned a second home in Arizona and in recent years had become what is commonly called snowbirds. Caring for two homes was a lot of work and the warmer winter climate had its appeal. Basically they wanted to simplify their lives while they were still young enough to make their own decisions. One of those decisions was to come back to the lake for summer visits and we look forward to seeing them again soon. All of this got me to thinking about life and how we travel down 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. Wouldn’t life be boring if we knew what the final outcome would be? When I was a child, Mom and I used to take my red wagon and walk to the grocery store. On our way, we crossed the railroad tracks and often had to stop for a train passing by. It 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 sometimes see the brakeman there, leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the railing. He would often wave at me and I’d wave back. I thought to myself that he must have the best job in the world, watching the countryside as the train rattled down the tracks. I could picture being like him, crossing the nation in that caboose, going over the mountains and through the desert. After watching him, I was positive that I would work on the railroad someday. Time goes by quickly and I grew up. Like most kids, I had a lot of dreams along the way but I never forgot that man on the back of the caboose. At some point, the railroads decided that it was cheaper to put a flashing light on the back of a freight train and eliminated the caboose altogether. Of course, they also eliminated the brakeman who sat on the back porch as well. So much for my first career choice. I never did work for the railroad. I didn’t explore the South Pole or became a broadcaster like Walter Cronkite. Instead, I smile and tell people that I was just a weenie salesman for a meat packing company. Along the way however, I made a lot of friends, had two great children and have been blessed with a good life. After working for what seemed a lifetime, I retired here in Northern Michigan, thus fulfilling another boyhood dream, which was 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.

 

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