Once you reach the upper years like me, you begin to look back at all that you have seen or done or said. You can also count the number of loved ones you have lost. When you lose someone, you always have that one person who says "at least you will have memories".

In a way I hate that phrase. Not because it's true but to me I would rather have that person than a memory.

I realized then that my memories are just a list of what I have lost. Sometimes I can bring up a memory from by mind and remember the person, how they sounded, even how I felt when around that person.

Sometimes it is not a person in my memory banks, but an event that occured in my life. Like when I was inducted into the Army. I remember the nervousness I felt and how those drill instructors did everything they could to get rid of that nervous feeling and replace it with confidence. I remember how I felt after a 10-mile hike, wearing 40pounds of gear on my back. How I couldn't wait to lie on my bunk and finally rest, only to be shaken off by the DI just a few moments later.

Life seems to be like that no matter where or at what age you are. You get to know someone then in the blink of an eye they are gone. You barely have time to decide whether you like them or not. To some people it is like that when they get a new job. They are hired, then trained to do whatever is asked of them, then they get so proficient that they train others, then it's over. They are replaced by someone younger or smarter, or by the boss's nephew. After 20 years of service, they get replaced by a high school graduate who doesn't even know how to drive. Such is life.

I worked for many years then when I turned 62, I wanted to find out what the retirement life was all about. At age 63, I was ready to go back to work.

Many have told me to enjoy retirement, go places, see the world. Well, it takes money to see the world and I have just enough money to see the world if it involved going from my living room to my bedroom. With a lay-over in my bathroom for a little while.