- I have ridden bicycles with no helmet
- I’ve drank from the garden hose
- I have jumped home made ramps
- I’ve played kickball
- I’ve played baseball
- I’ve played football
- I’ve had a crush on a teacher (still do)
- I’ve chased girls at recess
- I’ve climbed trees
- I’ve fallen out of trees
- I swam in the ocean
- I SCUBA dived in the ocean
- I’ve skinny dipped
- I’ve ridden in a small boat from Florida to the Bahamas
- I’ve driven cars way too fast
- I’ve wrecked cars
- I’ve ridden a train
- I’ve ridden a bus across town
- I’ve ridden a bus across the country
- I’ve raced motorcycles
- I’ve raced cars
- I’ve flown airplanes
- I’ve moved away from home
- I’ve moved back home
- I’ve joined the military
- I’ve seen the sunrise over the Straits of Gibraltar
- I’ve seen the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean
- I helped dig out 241 bodies of American service members from bombed rubble
- I’ve slept on the beaches of the Indian Ocean
- I have swam in the Indian Ocean with no sight of land
- I have traversed the Suez Canal
- I’ve spent a week on a Caribbean Island
- I’ve dined in 4 star restaurants in France
- I’ve had dinner in Italy
- I’ve drank Sangria in Spain
- I’ve gambled in Monte Carlo
- I’ve been to countless European destinations
- I have jumped out of airplanes
- I have slid down ropes onto the decks of pitching ships
- I have slept in the desert
- I’ve helped drop bombs on North Africa
- I’ve swam in the waters of Grotta Azzurra
- I’ve seen ruled people become free in Romania
- I’ve seen wild kangaroos
- I’ve watched the sunset and sunrise in Malaysia
- I’ve been North of the Arctic Circle
- I’ve crossed the equator
- I’ve rescued people at sea
- I’ve seen people die at sea
- I have saved lives
- I have taken lives
- I have been shot
- I have shot
- I have been stabbed
- I have lost family
- I have lost friends
- I have made new friends
- I have been primitive camping alone
- I have driven 4 wheel drive vehicles on mountains
- I have driven 4 wheel drive vehicles in swamps
- I have hunted for food
- I have been hungry
- I have been homeless
- I have seen things no other human being should ever see
- I have seen things every other human being should see
- I have done things no human being should be asked/told to do
- I have done things every other human being should do
When I look back at my life, I realize that I have been blessed to experience so many things that some people only dream of. I have had the opportunity to experience life in so many ways. Not always great. but life experienced.
Would I change anything? Yes. One thing. I would have met my wife much sooner. I would have met her when I was 20 (our age difference notwithstanding). I would have fallen in love with her then like I am in love with her now. So that we could have experienced all of this together.
Beyond that I would not change a thing. My life has made me who I am today. Love it or not. It is who I am. Part asshole and part teddy bear. I love my life and the people in it. I would not change a thing now.