I got a teaching job in Tomah in 1972. The next year our young family moved from French Island near La Crosse to Tomah. That summer, I joined the Knights of Columbus slow-pitch softball team. We played twice a week in the summer season from late May to the middle of August.  Our pitcher and sponsor, was the owner of Southside Lumber, Stan Zdrojowy.

Stan passed away this last Sunday, age 86. His obit runs a full two columns detailing his military service in the Korean War and the many civic organizations in which he invested many hours, much effort, and had great success.

Ann and I have been attending quite a number of funerals lately. Gets one thinking about life, death, mortality and how short and fleeting is our time on Earth. At the same time, it is useful to ponder how fortunate we are.

Thus far we have enjoyed good health and health is everything. Yes, we are mindful that situations can change in an instant. We have paid off debts early and saved for retirement. So life is “pretty good” right now. We don’t live in a perfect world, what with our political mess, national debt, and terrorist threats. If we lived in a perfect world, I would be president, you would all be millionaires, and the Dodgers would win the World Series every year. LOL.

We retired 6 years ago and those years have slipped by very quickly. We have been quite lucky to travel a bit, bicycle, fly our club Cessna, jog, visit children and grandchildren, be involved in church activities, write a few books, and some columns for newspapers and magazine. I’m learning how to fly RC, Radio Control, planes but I keep smashing them up.

We joined a pinochle club with 13 other couples but haven’t won a round yet. I continue to go to 5 retirement homes and play guitar and sing?? at noon. They are eating and talking and there are kitchen sounds and they don’t hear too good and I don’t play and sing too good, so it works out just fine. They haven’t thrown anything at me, yet.

Today, (Wednesday as I write this) I was at Liberty Village, three story assisted living place here in Tomah. Talked to a couple that arrived there just a few weeks ago. I’ve known them for years and they did live just down the street from us.  He is 95, sharp as a tack, she is about 92, and they will celebrate their 75^th wedding anniversary in early fall. He bought a new Chevrolet Cruz a month ago, and they go to McDonalds for coffee every morning. She had a stroke some time ago, but you couldn’t tell by looking and talking to her. Life is good.