Sunday, February 20, 2011

A Random, Crazy Thought.....

It is Sunday morning, and not yet 7am.  I am the first one, and only one awake here yet this morning.  As I am sitting her enjoying fresh hot coffee, I am being greeted to an absolutely glorious new beginning of a beautiful new day!   :-)

As I am sitting here at the computer, my mind is wandering all over the place, and many different thoughts are passing through me.... and one just jumped out at me and got me to thinking about how just fast time goes by anymore....  I realized that I will be 43 years old in just a month from now.  No, I do not consider that to be significant in itself.  However, that also means that in August of this year, I will have completed my 20th year with the Bellingham Fire Department.  I have already nearly completed two thirds of my career, which means I have just 10 more years until retirement, at which time I will still only be 53 years old..... now this, yes, I do find to be significant.... for several reasons.

First off, Evan will be 10 years old this August.  I swear that he was just a tiny tot only a year or two ago.  I can't believe how fast those ten years have gone by.  I am very confident that the next ten years will only go by even faster!  Second, it still seems so fresh in my mind that I was just being hired on at the BFD.  I still remember being the new guy, and the youngest firefighter and paramedic on the job for quite a while.  Suddenly, I am a veteran on the job, and hold a significant amount of seniority.  Third, we have already been living at our "new" place, Little Bearfoot Farm, for 5 years.  These 5 years have flown on by faster than I though possible.  Finally, it is already practically March of this year, and I am certain that the new year only just began last week!!!

Crazy to think about things such as this..... kind of a range of mixed emotions that come with it.  I so look forward to retirement, so we can have the freedom to do as we please, when we please.  I look forward to being able to travel and explore, and to not miss out on great days of bicycle riding because I am at work.  On the other hand, I love my job, love what I do.  I also know that with retirement, both of my kids will be grown into young adults, leaving high school and moving on into their own lives, whether it be college or something else.

I guess the big thing I am taking out of this random and crazy thought this morning is...... life is actually quite short here on earth.  Time is precious, and family is the most important thing in my life after loving and serving my God!!!  I am also realizing that it is time to start counting down my years to retirement now, and to be planning carefully, so that retirement will be as relaxing and enjoyable and stress free as I am looking forward to it being!

WOW.... 20 years of service already..... who would have thought?!?!?!?!?!?!  :-)

1 comment:

  1. It is pretty wierd to think that you will be retired at 53. That is so cool.

    I will be working until I am 83. :-)

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