Saturday, April 17, 2010

Getting Older

This is a picture of me when I was just a few months older than Ben is now. The picture was taken 53 years ago.
When I returned from my mission to Germany, I attended BYU. This was taken for my BYU Picture ID. I was 1/4 inch short of 6 ft. tall. I think I weighed about 165. I had my tonsils out when I was five and knee surgery when I was eighteen, Other than that, I felt pretty healthy. I was married in 1979 to Kayleen. We lived in Boise, ID for a few years and moved to Tucson, AZ in 1986. This picture was taken shortly after I moved to Tucson. I had a "procedure" for prostitises in 1989, and had my appendix out in 1996. I still felt pretty healthy.

I went back to school in 1992, and graduated with a Master's in Organizational Magement in 1994. This is my graduation day with Phillip and Timothy. We left a few days later for Disneyland.
We did not travel at all (other than to Utah, Idaho or Disneyland) until our 25th anniversary. We traveled to Kuai to celebrate. Lecia got sick (Tianna took care of her) , but Kayleen and I enjoyed the time together. We seem to have traveled a lot since that time. I like to experience the sunsets from the beach.

Our children have grown to become respectible members of society. We have 7 wonderful grandchildren. I have good employment. I try to serve the Lord. Unfortunetly, I do not have the energy and stamina that I had when I was Ben's age, or even Mike's age. I live with chronic back pain, which is a pain. I can not do many of the things I used to enjoy doing. I still spend time and energy with my grandchildren. Maybe it helps me capture some of the exuberance of youth.
So now that Geoff has become a reality. Oh, many of you do not understand the connotation. In the movie "Men in Black II", there is a 600 ft worm named Geoff, that lives in the New York Subway. I was going to title this post "A Hemroid Named Geoff," but thought better of the title.
Kayleen still loves me. I'm not really sure why. I've lost my looks, my trim figure, my athletisim, and my hair. But she goes with me still, and we will walk together. SOmetimes I look forward to going home to see Father. But there are places in Hawaii and other tropical islands that I have not seen. I wish to spend more time with my grandchildren. I want to change a few things still in my life. Getting older is not for wimps, but we are doing what we can.
BONUS
Kayleen and I went to the ballgame last weekend. On Saturday, the Diamondbacks were losing. But I did get this Homerun on tape. We were cheering so the video is a little shaky, but it is a home run, cutting the lead to 6-3. That was the losing score.