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Along the Natchez Trace

Friday, December 6, 2013

My Little Secret....

My little secret is that today's my birthday.  Okay...  it's blasted all over Facebook and I'm getting birthday wishes from a bunch of my friends back in Ohio...  so... what's the secret?
 Blowing Out the Candles on my 9th Birthday...

It's no secret that  I'm celebrating my 72nd birthday... heck... I expect to celebrate my 100th (and I hope y'all are still reading my blog then.... ya hear?)  The surprise is that it came so soon.  Seems I was still in high school and dating my high school sweetheart.  Gee....  I wish I'd known then what I know now.  But then, I'd never have had my son and daughter if I'd changed things...  and I wouldn't change that for the world.

Bill & I met when we were 40.  Our kids were nearly grown...  sure, they've moved in and out a few times...  and even brought a grandchild with them at times....  but we were young and knew we could survive anything.  Heck, we even raised goats!  That's no secret.....  we could do whatever we wanted.

We both had crummy job situations....  that's no secret.  We both loved what we were doing but had jerks as bosses.  Bill endured much more job crap than me.... but we planned and planned some more.  We could retire at age 55 if we hung in there.  We did...  that's no secret.

Sure enough...  on Bill's 55th birthday he bid adieu to his job.... so long, farewell, adios.  The next year I did the same....  Totally out of the "rat race" and freedom at last!  We could live on the farm and live life at our own pace.

And we did...  for nearly 5 years before the travel bug bit us.
I was 59 years old when we became full time RVers.  Never been in an RV in my life.... not really fond of camping....  but sure as heck wanted to spend the summer in Alaska.  We planned for one year on the road.....  rented our house and everything.  Next month (January, 2014) we'll celebrate out 13th year on the road.  One year wasn't nearly long enough.

Our four kids now have 5 kids of their own and we have 2.5 great-grandkids. 
Celebrating my 15th Birthday...
Yes...  those are the same pink plastic candle holders that were  used on my 9th birthday... 
I don't know whatever happened to them, but they sure got used for a lot of years!  My parents were the original recyclers.

 We still have our health and our freedom.  Our kids and grandkids are all doing well.  We are still traveling....  we are living a life that I never even had the imagination to dream of. 

So....  What's the big secret?  Turning 72 isn't such a big deal...  I'm just wondering how the heck it all happened so quickly?  It seems like just yesterday that my kids were...  well, kids......  that Bill & I were planning where to plant "this year's" Christmas tree, that our kids moved away... one by one....  that our grandchildren were born.....  that our own lives changed from one phase to another.... now our kids are settled and are grandparents themselves....  Bill & I still are able to see the world.....

You know what?  Maybe I don't have any secrets....  I'm truly grateful for my life as it is.  

Hope y'all are, no matter how old you are or when your birthday is.


That's All For Today!

23 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Sharon and may you have many more with lots of adventures in between. Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  2. Happy, Happy Birthday Sharon--what a great blog post and a great way of looking at life--you are my inspiration today!

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  3. We so enjoy reading your blog, finding we have a few things in common. We retired in our mid 50's, rented our house & planned for our Alaska trip, which we went in 2006. Your blogs of Maine inspired our trip there with our daughter & grandchildren & further north to NS & PEI. We have not traveled outside the USA as much as you have. We have worked in ACOE parks & gate guarding to help finance our travel budget. Any of this sound familiar? We wish you a Marvelous Birthday, continued great health & many more years of adventures. Hope we'll all be around to read that 100th year blog! Love your pictures too. Tom & Lynn

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  4. Have a wonderful birthday, Sharon!

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  5. Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Sharon, happy birthday to you...and many more!
    Hope you have a wonderful day. Time sure flies by, that's for sure! And aren't we glad we are here to celebrate?
    Your childhood pictures are so sweet. Thanks for sharing them!

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  6. My what wonderful pictures of your birthdays. You were a very cute young girl that grew into the beautiful woman you are today. So glad that I found your blog and have enjoyed your travels. Maybe we will run into each other when out and about in our RV's. Would love to meet you and Bill in person.

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  7. Hey, Happy Birthday, Sharon. What a wonderful post! We're retired too, and lovin' it. We're careful with our budget, and are just rolling along with the flow.

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  8. Happy Birthday! You have grabbed life by its horns and rode it out of town! Congratulations on living as you wish.

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  9. Happy Birthday Sharon I am sure you will have an awesome day. We are in our 8th year on the road and can't believe where the time went.

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  10. Happy Birthday Sharon!! We're looking forward to reading your blog for another 30-40 years!!

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  11. Happy Birthday to you, Sharon. Just want to add my thanks to you for sharing your life with us. Life does go by faster and faster, it seems. Maybe that's a sure sign that we're a bit older and when we look back at so many years, it gives a different perspective than when we're young. You've had a good life, and here's to many more ahead!

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  12. Oh, Sweet (and Saucy) Sharon... Wishing you the happiest 72nd birthday you could imagine... and many more happy birthdays to come. You are so immediately recognizable in both those photos! Haven't changed a bit in 63 years!

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  13. Happy birthday to you, and 72 more good ones.

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  14. What a great plan you had ... and implemented. It's fun to know people's sun signs... there are traits for sure that come with each sign... I had my whole horscope done waaaay back yonder in the 60's when it was THE thing to do ... lol... You're Sanitarian and I'm an Aries... the fire signs .... love adventure and so forth. We would have made great pioneers.

    I just wish I had been a better planner... instead of just going head first into whatever ... I know it's cold where you are but I tell you... Little Rock is now at 28 heading down to 19... Homer is covered in ice.... OHhhhhh brrrrr and I don't like it.

    Happy ... Happy Birthday, Sharon... you have certainly done well in your 72 years. ;)

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  15. What a great post! I can relate - I still feel like I should be about 35 and have young kids running around the house. Hope you have a very special birthday.

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  16. Happy Birthday. Time does seem to go by too fast sometimes.

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  17. Dear Sharon, we are wishing you a happy belated birthday and may you still write a blog when filling 100yrs. Now, there is hope that I, who will be 89 at that point can still read your blog.

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  18. What can I say, you're still as cute today at 72 as when you were at 9. So 100 should be easy to reach and I'll bet you'll be even cuter. Happy birthday! Or as I like to say, Hippo birdies two ewes . . .

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  19. You have always been my hero... that's no secret, either! :-) Love you so much and so grateful that you're my Mom!! Hope your Texas birthday is as big and fun as that wild state!

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  20. Happy birthday! I hope you have a great day. In no time you'll be 100! Life is what you make it. You've made a very satisfactory life. Keep at it until you're 100.

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  21. I'm a regular reader (found you when researching Lazy Daze), but I don't think I've ever commented before. So first of all, thank you for the blog! It's a pleasure to read (and informational as well). Aaaand, Happy Birthday! How fun to see the photos and to read about how you've made your life wonderful. Here's to many more!

    L.

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  22. Belated birthday wishes, Sharon, as I have been catching up on older posts and learning all about your current stay in Costa Rica. Hope this year will be full of fun advantures and new travels for you and Bill. I highly endorse retirement and took on that new job at 51' when downsized from mynlast job...never regretted that decision.

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