Ah, peace, that elusive butterfly in the human garden of emotions. What brings peace to one might be the very thing that stirs another’s existential anxiety. Peace, it seems, is as personal as it is universal.
Many find peace within themselves. Peace is not just the absence of conflict; it’s the presence of inner calm.” Peace often comes from feeling connected, whether through family, friends, or a community. Others turn to the natural world that soothes the human spirit. A walk in the forest, the sound of waves. For some peace comes from aligning with a set of beliefs that promise a higher purpose or afterlife. One engaging in acts of kindness can bring peace for others. Engaging in or experiencing art can be deeply peaceful. Some find peace in understanding the world through technology or the vastness of knowledge available today. Others find peace in writing; the explosion of blogging proves that.
I can experience peace from the above items. However, about a year and a half ago, I had a near death experience. I was laying on the operating table and a medical assistant said, “Doctor his blood pressure is dropping fast.” I was feeling very bad, and I thought I just took my last breath. I do not know where I went, but I felt a peace I have never felt in all my life. PEACE, TOTAL PEACE! I cannot explain it, but the feeling was great. I believe I had a preview of time after death. When I came back that feeling of PEACE, TOTAL PEACE! disappeared and I have not felt it since.
In conclusion, I believe that I will not experience that feeling until the time after life.
“Hello, this is TomT2.0, welcome to my podcast”. This is where I ramble on about anything. You can listen or read, whatever your preference. The prompt is “What is a word you feel that too many people use?”
“Uh”, is the word I feel is used way too often. Many, many times people use the word uh, between thoughts or paragraphs. This tells me that your brain is thinking of a response and the word uh is filling the silence. As if silence is bad. It is not too bad in a face-to-face conversation, but a public speaker saying the word uh many times is irritating.
Another phrase used too many times is “you know”. A comment is made, and the next phrase is “you know” How do they know that I know? I guess that is enough moaning and groaning for now.
If you want to receive notice when I post another blog, send me an email; at mail@tomt2.com or anything else you want to say to me. https://tomt2.com/
Good evening! The voice you hear is TomT2.0. The voice you hear is me. Not some AI voice I picked up from the internet. Dominic, a relative of mine. I am related to him somehow but, that is another story for later. He suggested that I use my own voice because it will add a personality to the podcast. Therefore, here I am. Email me at, mail@tomt2.com and let me know what you think.
All of my employment history is working for someone else. In 1987 after thirty years of working for someone else, I was laid off and had to learn how to look for a job at 46 years old. These were difficult times. Recently divorced and had two teenage sons to provide for. I almost started a small business then. I incorporated and thought I would continue a service that my former employer provided. Unfortunately, or fortunately my previous employer turned down the proposition and went another route. If I opened the business, I could have lost everything because the industry changed dramatically and the need for what I was going into disappeared five years later.
For a period, we would go to flea markets and sell anything available, and I was a distributor for an importer for oriental made items, I guess you would call them impulse items. I thought of getting a location and opening up a gift shop. However, having two teenage sons the financing was just not there. After four tough years I finally found a full-time job and retired in 2006.
Now that I am over eighty, I do not have a vision of opening a shop. This is my playground; this is my fun. My email address is mail@tomt2.com. Let me know what you think.
Daily writing prompt
If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?
Around a year and a half ago I experienced a near death event. I had a massive blood clot between my lungs, and I thought I took my last breath. I don’t know where I went but wherever I was I experienced something I have never experienced before in my life and that was peace, total peace. I believe this was a preview of time after death. I cannot explain what it felt like but, I must say it was great. Since then, I have not felt that way since.
Since that time, I have been on a blood thinner prescription. The medical team could never determine what caused my clot. I did not fit any item on their laundry list of reasons for my blood clot. Therefore, I was put on this medication and told to expect to take this pill every twelve hours. They told me to try to be consistent. If I start taking them at seven in the morning, then take one at seven in the evening. Getting in the habit of taking one when I get up and one when I go to bed is not consistent enough. Since it may vary by two to three hours. Also, they said if I forget one do not double up the dosage. This could cause internal bleeding. In other words, they gave me a good scare, be consistent or maybe pay the consequences.
Sure, I make sure that I take my keys, money, driver’s license, and all the other necessities. However, the most important thing for me is to carry one day’s dosage on me in case I am delayed somewhere. I think I can say, “I am on life support.” mail@tomt2.com
Daily writing prompt
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
A couple of years ago our neighborhood had an early fall snowstorm. The leaves were still on the trees, and it was a wet heavy snow. Many branches were broken off the trees. My neighbor, Carolyn who lives across the street, had a branch break from her tree that was maybe three-four inches in diameter where it broke off the tree and maybe ten feet of branch with leaves. Carolyn is a widow for over eight years. She lives by herself and over eighty, maybe ninety.
I looked at the broken branch on her lawn for two or three days. I then decided to go over and offer to cut up the broken branch and throw it in her trash container. She was totally surprised and said she has called her daughter, and she was going to come over, but she did not know when she could come over. I said I could do it now and she agreed to allow me. It took less than an hour to cut up to the size so they could be put in her trash container. After completion Carolyn offered to pay me, and I said no. I was just being a good neighbor.
That is my story.
Daily writing prompt
Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.
Ten to eleven o’clock is the normal time for me to go to bed and sleep. Seven to eight o’clock is the normal time for me to get up.
Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately, there are events that does not make it a simple eight-hour sound sleep. First, my bladder requires attention at least twice during that time. Some nights it happens four times. Many times, I get up go and come back and go back to sleep almost immediately. Other times not so fortunate. My mind starts working and I start thinking about many different subjects and takes different times to fall back to sleep. I remember the good old days when I could fall asleep and sleep for eight hours before my bladder would say, “hey Tom, it is time to pee!”
Secondly, I have started to wake up somewhere around four or five in the morning. I guess I do not need eight hours of sleep anymore before I feel rested. I don’t get up at that time. It gives me a good time to reconcile various events in my life. It may be a recent event or some event that happened many years ago. I do enjoy this time though; it gives me a time to think about actions I took or relationships in my life. Also, I take time to talk to the creator. It is usually a one-sided conversation though. After this mental activity I usually take a snooze before it is time to arise. I cannot remember the last time an alarm clock was needed to wake me up in the morning. Apparently, my biological clock never goes to sleep.
As I become older the afternoon nap is becoming more common and the ten-fifteen-minute snooze has become an hour or more.
I went to Copilot it came up with this, “Gratitude is a powerful practice that can improve mental health, life satisfaction, and overall well-being. Then it had six examples. 1. Small moments of joy. 2. Keep a gratitude journal. 3. Express gratitude out loud. 4. Practice mindfulness. 5. Spread Kindness. 6. Appreciate little things.
Since that confused me more than anything I will give my simple expression of gratitude. “Thank You!”
After over twenty years of being in a management role and hearing complaints, dissatisfaction, demands, threats, and very few compliments. It dawned on me that most people go through life with more negativity than positive responses. I have come to the habit of attempting to express my gratitude with a compliment. I make it a point to spend some time and point out someone’s good performance instead of just pointing out problems.
Thank you for reading my blogging, I am believing you have created many happy thoughts, keep it up.
I am over eighty and have been relatively healthy throughout my life. In spite of smoking for over twenty years and doing very little exercise during that time. I also have drunk my share of alcohol.
My first surgery was when I was fifty. It was cataract surgery on my right eye. This was an outpatient surgery, and I was home before lunch. I was amazed at how bright and clear my vision was. Ten years later, I had the same surgery on my left eye. Since the surgery was done by two different providers I do not know if this done on purpose or what. The first implant had the focal point for distant vision. The second implant has the focal point for close vision. The only time I have to wear glasses is for close detail work. It is amazing how your brain can adjust for two different focal points.
My second event happened in 2018. I started having pain in the early evening on my right side below my rib cage. Finally, around 11pm my wife took me to the ER. The CAT scan showed an 11mm kidney stone in my right kidney and it got in a position where it attempted to travel down the tube to the bladder. The ER personnel said that was the largest kidney stone that they have ever seen. It was removed by going up from the basement and used a laser to break it up. I peed chocolate milk for 12 hours after the removal.
Finally on February 7, 2023, around 2:30 in the morning I woke up with a terrific Charlie Horse in my left calf. I massaged it trying to relieve the pain. Big Mistake! The pain decreased but about 30 minutes later I had difficulty breathing, woke Dee my wife and she called 911. The EMT’s took me to ER. The CAT scan showed a Pulmonary Saddle Embolism between my lungs. Otherwise, a gigantic blood clot. The speculation was that massaging the calf dislodged the clot and it migrated up to my chest.
They gave me three options. First, to attempt to use medication to remove the clot. Secondly, to go under anesthesia and enter through the groin with their instruments and remove the clot. Finally, to do the same procedure but the patient stays awake during the procedure. They said they have had the best luck when the patient stays awake and alert. That is the option I chose.
The most painful was when they cut the vein or artery for the entrance of the instruments. The other was just discomfort. After about 30 minutes I heard one of the assistants say, “Doctor his blood pressure is dropping.” I was starting to feel really bad, and I was at the point I was thinking this was my last breath. I blacked out. A period later I woke up and was starting to feel better. After about 45 minutes the surgeon was finished and told his aide to finish it.
The doctor started talking to me and asked how I was doing and that he got most of the clot but there were areas he couldn’t reach. In the conversation I asked. “Doctor, I heard an aide say my blood pressure was dropping”, how low did it go? There was a pause and he finally said, “Tom, you don’t want to know how low it went, and I am not going to tell you.” I still don’t know how low it dropped. He also stated, “Tom, I think we made the right decision for you to stay awake. I am afraid that if you went under anesthesia, I would have lost you.” That was an eye-opening comment to me. I then spent three days in ICU and then went home.
This was a near death experience, and I may have had a preview of time after death. During the time I blacked out until I woke up, I experienced something I have never experienced in my entire life and that was peace, total peace! I cannot express or explain what I was feeling but I am ready to feel it again. Was this a preview? Who Knows.
That was close to over a year and a half ago. I am doing well. I will never get back to myself before this event, but I am happy where I am.
Since the end of March, I have been combining my postings from various platforms and producing a twenty-page series of magazines named Rambling Magazine. Since I have been posting on Word Press since 2009, I have a collection of over 200 postings. I am also on Sub Stack and posted many articles on YourHub.com when it was owned by The Rocky Mountain News. Also, I was a participant of a local writing group.
I was told I should write a book with my comments about anything postings. Writing a book and compiling it may take a year or more. That is why I went with the magazine platform. Since I am in my senior years, I may have 10 days left or 10 years. I did not want to start a book and never finish it.
My podcast page is my most popular area. The current buzz word is podcast, and it has become a great addition to my site. That is why I have composed a podcast for Rambling Magazine Issue #1. We will see how the response will be.
ABOVE IS THE PODCAST FOR RAMBLINGS MAGAZINE ISSUE #1
There are times when I wish I was twenty years younger. I believe I could make a career out of this challenge. This blogging journey has been exciting and satisfying.
First a little history about me. I was born and raised a Catholic. My mother was a devout Catholic and Grandma, her mother was also. Grandma lived with us until I was fifteen when she passed away. My dad was raised a Baptist but did not practice any religion. Anyway, I was started out as a catholic.
I went through all the things a young person did growing up as a prospective Catholic. I went to catechism every Sunday after service. Listened to my mother and grandma about the Catholic religion. I was baptized, did first confession and first communion. Finally, confirmation, to become a soldier of Christ. During that time, I ended up with the impression that it was very difficult to become worthy of entering heaven. After your death God was there with his big tablet and you had to account for every sin you committed during your time on earth. I cannot ever remember being told that God loves you unconditionally. During this time the church used fear of eternal suffering in hell to be a good human. Being just human was a sin.
I went through most of my life as a Catholic. Trying to earn my way into eternal life with God. During this journey I had some spiritual events. First, when my grandmother was on her deathbed, she did not have time for us. She said that there were these two angels in the corner of the hospital room waiting for her. You can believe that or not.
Secondly, when my mother was in hospice, she said to me. “Tom, I am afraid of dying. I don’t know what is waiting for me. I am very afraid.” This really bothered me because she was a devout Catholic and I thought she should be more prepared for death. I was disturbed until a short period after her service my mother came to me in a dream. She was sitting in her favorite chair with the Mona Lisa smile on her face and communicated to me. “Tom everything is great, I am at peace, do not be concerned about me.” You can believe that or not.
Thirdly, I met this girl in grade school. We became very attached to each other. We had something special. Being the jerk I was in high school; I ended the relationship. Around sixty years later she came to me in a dream and said “Tom, I was meant (created) for you. However, you rejected me. Our lives would have been totally different if you would not have rejected me.” I woke up with a start and it bothered me. After a period of time, I did some research and discovered that she died three days before I had this dream. Did a spirit visit me? You can believe it or not.
Forth, I was taking a walk alone in the afternoon and this voice said to me. “Tom, stop trying to be somebody you are not, just be yourself, that is why you are on earth. Since then, I am just being myself.
Finally, I had a near death experience and after I thought I took my final breath I was someplace, and I felt PEACE, TOTAL PEACE! What I felt is difficult to explain. I was having a feeling I have never felt in my eighty plus years, PEACE! I truly believe I experienced a preview of time after death.
In conclusion, my religious experience and the above spiritual events has prepared me for the final days. The final days may be soon or twenty years from now. When the time comes, I will be ready to experience that feeling of PEACE, TOTAL PEACE!
I am convinced God loves us unconditionally and Christ died for our sins.
The night of April 11th, 2010, I had a strange dream. This involved a girl, (woman) I have not thought about for 68 years. This was Sandra. I went to grade, junior, and high school with her. In grade school Sandra and I were very close. The first time we met we were attracted to each other. That was over sixty years ago, and I can’t say that I can remember that much about that time. We did make it a point to be next to each other and would look for each other when there was a gathering. I do remember one event that still is important to me. During that time there were tables the size where two individuals sat at the table. We always made it a point to sit at the same table if we were able to. Anyway, the teacher was rambling on, and I was on the left Sandra was on the right. Our arms were resting on the table, and they were barely touching each other. I was starting to get this tingling feeling from my elbow down to my wrist where our arms were interacting. This felt great! I can still feel the tingling going up and down my arm. Sandra was having the same response. She looks at me and smiles. I will never forget this moment. This was before sex ever became involved or thought about. One could say she was my first girlfriend, maybe even my soul mate and didn’t realize it.
We went on to high school and began to drift apart. My teenage years were very hard for me. I was angry and mad. I didn’t like myself. I didn’t like the feelings and thoughts I was having. Those apparent hormones were doing a number on me. I had a loving family, All the things a teenager could expect. Driving at sixteen, a part time job and money in my pocket. Looking back at those times, I would say I was a jerk. Because of this I killed the relationship between me and Sandra. We went our separate ways, and I didn’t think of her until April 11, 2010.
In this dream Sandra came to me and said, “Tom, I was meant (created) for you. However, you rejected me. Our lives would have been totally different if you would not have rejected me.” This dream was a visual and moving dream. This bothered me because I wondered why I dreamt of Sandra after not seeing or hearing about her for over fifty years or more. Finally, on April 18th I thought I would search for some information about Sandra.
Going to my yearbook newsletters I found out she was married to Ed. I did a Google search and came up with an obituary stating that Sandra passed away April 8, 2010. That was only three days before I had my strange dream. This really shocked me and leaves me with more questions than answers. Was this a visit from someone who recently died. Would my life have been different? Would it have been better or worse? I will never know. I have had a good life and I feel I have made more good decisions instead of bad decisions. Did this change my outlook? Yes, it did. I have never been a strong religious person even though I was born and raised a Catholic. They teach that there is life after death. But I always had in the back of my mind, that may be wrong. However, after this dream I am convinced that yes, there is something after death. This dream occurred in 2010 and the dream relieved me of that thought ever since. death is not final. You can come to your own conclusion. Life is one large teaching experience. From birth until death, you are learning.
In the middle sixty’s compliments of the US Army, I spent approximately fifteen months in Germany. I was stationed at Merrill Barracks in Nurenburg and Cambrai Frisch Kaserne at Darmstadt. This was during the Cold War era and there were around 500,000 US military in European countries. During that time, I was able to do some traveling around the area. Visiting Munich, Frankfurt and a trip to Switzerland. All in all, it was a good experience in spite of being in the Army.
It has been over sixty years since that time, and I would like to see what that area looks like now. I am sure that area has changed quite a lot, and I would not recognize the area.
Another area I would like to visit is the lower area of England. My dad’s roots are from Cornwall England back in the 1530’s. It would be interesting to see something about the area my ancestors came from. I had a DNA test and found out that 50% of me is from Germany, 40% from England and 10% from other European areas.
This is just a dream I have. Since I am well into my seasoned years I kind of doubt that this dream will ever come true.
Retirement is a highlight in one’s life. You work many years, and the goal is to retire in comfort and enjoy your remaining years. Retirement is one of the American dreams that can come true. It takes some planning and saving to reach the goal. Also, it takes a little luck for all the cards to fall in place so that Retirement can happen.
Since I retired eighteen years ago, I will share what I did to help me live comfortable in retirement. First, I made sure all my credit cards were paid off. The only balances I had in credit cards were monthly expenses and they were paid off totally every month. I inquired what my social security monthly amount would be, and the small pension amounts we would receive after retirement. Reviewed the condition of the vehicles seeing how many years they would last before replacement. Then, made a tentative budget seeing if our retirement income would cover the necessary expenses every month. Entertainment items such as trips and vacations would come out of savings. The decision was made to retire and hope our finances would last longer than us.
Everything was doing ok until the financial crash of 2008. At that time our portfolio showed unrealized losses to be over one half of our portfolio. The decision had to be made to sell the stocks and change the unrealized losses to realized losses. Since I didn’t need the money, I elected keep the stock until the value of the investment returned to the purchase price and then sell. We didn’t make any money, but we didn’t lose any either. It took about seven years to finally regain all our original investments. These were scary times, and the decision were made to pull out the stock market completely and just invest in secure investments. I was just becoming too old to live with that stress and insecurity. We have been ok financially since.
As you become older health issues tend to hamper retirement plans. The vacations and trips appear to be shelved because of health issues. We have had over eighteen years of comfortable retirement and feel very fortunate to have these years. Hopefully we will have many more.
At the time being I am passionate about writing my tales and stories from my eighty plus years of living on this planet. There is a driving force in me that I cannot explain that keeps telling me to put the stories and tales in words. I have become passionate about this project. I spend many hours writing and composing. I wake up in the middle of the night with a prompt about a new rambling. Then I spend an hour a more thinking on assembling and composing it. I am watching tv and think about what I could write about the subject being broadcast. I guess I am hooked.
When I retired in 2006, I started writing. Before then I was too busy working, raising a family, and solving everyday problems one encounters. I joined a writing group, and we would meet once a month, write for an hour and then share our stories and offer suggestions. In 2018 I decided it was time to stop going since my writing interests were declining. Around 2006 I also opened up a Word Press account and published quite often. However, that interest declined after a period.
After my near-death event about fifteen months ago, I dusted off Word Press and starting writing and publishing tales and ramblings about anything. This has created Ramblings Magazine https://tomt2.com/about-dee-t2-0/ I decided a magazine format would work out better for me. One may ask, why a magazine instead of a book? A book could take a long time to compose, and I am at the point where I may have twenty more years or twenty more minutes. Only time will tell.
In conclusion, my passion is writing today and will continue until I am no longer able to.
After months of cold and snow for months the time of the best part of the year is finally here. Yes, I am talking about springtime.
Winters have become hard on me since I have been retired. I do not like being couped up in the home listening to the furnace coming on many times and for long periods. Leaving me wonder how much the utility bill is going to be this month. Ever since I have been on blood thinner medication, I am always cold. Looking out the window and seeing all the dormant leafless trees is depressing. The wind blowing and watching the snow swirl makes me feel very glad that I am inside instead of being outside going to work.
Then, as usual the weather starts to warm up, the residual snow piles begin to melt, and the days become longer. Spring is here. The trees start to leaf out. The grass starts to green up. You can see the springtime flowers blossoming and you do not have to deal with below freezing temperatures. The cure for my bigtime cabin fever is here. God is good!
As the days and years go by, I have come to the conclusion that I am just a mere mortal. Am I going to do anything or write anything that leaves a lasting impression on this world? I kind of doubt it.
I have had a good life experience. I was raised by loving parents and did not have to suffer any hardships and tragedies in my growing up years. I was able to work and provide for the two sons I fathered. I served my country with time in the army. Marriage and family life have entered my life twice. I am still experiencing my second marital journey. Over eighteen years of retirement life and I sense more years of this journey on this earth.
Over a year ago I survived a medical near-death experience. During the recuperation period I thought that there must have been a reason for surviving. It has been over a year now and I am still searching for the reason. I am beginning to think the only reason I survived was to experience and learn from that near death encounter.
With that said, I am just a mere mortal and will do what mere mortals do and that is to attempt to live a good life.
As I recall the friends I had when growing up until my senior years I try to think of what they had in common? Most friends come from encounters at school, neighbors, work, church and so on. Friendships develop from conversations and encounters. Many do not develop into anything, and others grow in a friendship that becomes a gift of life.
The quality that I value the most is, a friend allows me to be myself and I allow them to be themselves. Once you are allowed to be yourselves the union will become stronger and memorable to be remembered throughout the remaining time in your life.
This was not a job but is what I did to earn some extra money. During the summer when I was in middle school, I caught and sold nightcrawlers for the local sporting goods store. The owner told me he would take all I could catch. He paid me a buck a hundred and then sold it for two bucks. I would drop off the nightcrawlers on Thursday and the anglers would buy them for the weekend. I would average about a thousand a week and that was ten bucks a week. The only expense I had was flashlight batteries. If I remember correctly, I would earn about two to three hundred dollars for the summer. That was a lot of money in the fifties.
My next job was parttime at the public library while going to high school. I was a library page, which is code for a do whatever was necessary. The most interesting job was running the elevator on Saturdays. The elevator was automatic, but the crowds were large, and they overwhelmed the automatic system. Another job was they had a basement and sub-basement where books were stored. They would receive an order and they had pages in the basement where they would retrieve the books and put them on a lift that carried them up to the upper floors.
After graduating I started working for a government contractor that was building the Titan I ICBM for the government. I was a teletype operator in the purchasing department. Unfortunately, the job was on the swing shift. So much for my night life.
Three and a half years later I received the letter stating, “your friends and neighbors have selected you to become a member of the United States military.” For the next two years I was in the army. I was fortunate enough to go to Germany instead of Viet Nam. I then had two years of active reserve and then two years of inactive reserve. Then my military obligation was over.
After my two years of active duty, I returned to the aerospace contractor because there was a law that they had to hire me back since returning from military service. A year later I was laid off. They just hired me back to fulfill their legal obligation to have a job for me after military service.
I then started working for a large electronics manufacturer in the consumer electronics industry. First, I was an assistant buyer, then a buyer and then became a department manager. This career lasted for over twenty years and was the highest paying position in my working period. After a purchase of the company a year later the company buyer decided to close thirteen distribution warehouses across the nation and here, I was forty-six years of age and without a job. During that time the unemployment rate was eight percent. Try to tell me there is not age discrimination happening.
Working in part time and temporary positions for four years I finally get a full-time job in a high-tech position where lasers were used to cut close tolerance components used in the solid-state electronics field. This was a field that was totally new to me. I started as a temp, and it worked into a full-time position. Tell me a positive attitude and hard work is not the way to go. This continued for thirteen years and then I decided it was time to retire and have been retired now over fifteen years. Now, “Every Day is Saturday!“
After retiring I decided to give writing a try and this is where I am now. I have posted over two hundred articles on WordPress and having fun doing it. Most of my articles are about experiences in my life. I am not doing this for money, I am just doing it because I enjoy reminiscing and sharing events in my life.
https://tomt2.com/ Stop by and make me feel good. I like to see a lot of viewing numbers, likes, and comments.
Throughout life you start to accumulate stuff. You get material things. You learn, you have encounters with other beings. You collect all this stuff in this short span of your life. Society promotes that material possessions are the most important in life. Many have a worth more than I cannot comprehend. Do they have it all? That is up for debate.
Little over a year I had a near death experience. I was on the operating table, and I heard an aide say, “doctor his blood pressure is dropping”! I was feeling really bad. I could not inhale or exhale. I thought, this is it! My life is over! After that I felt something, I never felt before in my life. I felt peace, no fear, no anger, nothing, just peace. This peace is very hard to explain. But it is a peace I want to feel again. No, I did not see a light at the end of the tunnel, no angels, no music, just peace, Total peace.
After a period of time, I started to hear operating room noises, I am still alive! What a shock, I thought I died. For a period of time, they did things to me and then the doctor started talking to me. He said, “Tom we got most of the clot removed and things look promising.” I said that I heard my blood pressure dropping and I asked him how low did it go? There was a pause, and he said, “you don’t want to know, and I am not going to tell you.” To this day I don’t know how low the blood pressure was. Continuing the conversation he said, “Tom I think we made the right decision to keep you awake during the procedure instead of anesthesia. I am afraid that if you would have gone under anesthesia, we would have lost you. I feel I had a preview of time after death. Total peace!
My conclusion is that “having it all” is obtainable, but it will happen during the time after death.
I recently discovered a website Near Death Research Foundation. It is an interesting site. I am going to enter my experience on this site sometime.
Daily writing prompt
What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?
Everyone has stuff. Many have lots of stuff. Others have more stuff than they need. You get attached to a new car or new home. Small mementos from someone you are attached to may mean a lot, but they are just stuff. This world is full of stuff, and many are necessities for a comfortable life. Money just buys stuff but that does not guarantee happiness. I have no material possession that I want to put in my coffin when I pass on.
What I do value is my memories played out in my living days. I value the family and friends in my life and all the wonderful memories that they were a part of. Memories of grandma, my parents, my sons, my spouses, my stepchildren, and everyone who has entered into my life is what I cherish. Maybe they could put a thumb drive in my coffin with all of these cherished memories.
I have all kinds of collections. Do they have any monetary value? Not much. My collections are items I have collected over my life. I always think, “can I use this at some later point?” With that in mind I started collecting.
My first collection is my nut a bolt collection. Since I have been a homeowner since the early seventies I have done many projects around the home. You always don’t have the correct nail, bolt, screw, so you trot off to Home Depot and get what you need. You always end up with leftovers. So, I started collecting them. I also had projects that I recycled. I removed every nut, bolt, screw, washer, nail, that I could save. My collection has expanded to five- or six-gallon containers. Bolts in one container, nuts in another and so forth. This collection has saved me many times when I needed a couple of bolts and nuts to repair or finish a project.
The next collection is coins and paper money throughout my life. I have silver dollars, Indian head pennies, buffalo nickels, old quarters, silver certificates of paper money. I also have a stack about an inch high of two-dollar bills. Are they valuable? I don’t have a clue. I have just been collecting them through my life. I also have some World War II savings bonds my parents took out for me. Sure, they could be cashed in, but the paper bond and the age of them is worth more to me than the monetary cash in value.
Third collection is photos. I have photos my parents have accumulated over the years and the photos I have also collected over the years. Many black and white photos and color with my dad’s collection of slides. The last time I looked at the slides they are starting to discolor and fade. I don’t know how long they will last. Digital photography came into existence, and I don’t have a clue how many thousands of photos I have. I have the problem of finding a photo. I never bothered to catalog them. Therefore, I must use the hunt and search method.
Another collection is my rambling writings about my life and experiences. This collection is the most valuable to me. Whether it is valuable to anybody else is up for debate. WordPress contains a large portion of these ramblings. https://tomt2.com/ I have a collection of all the articles that were printed in the Rocky Mountain News insert of YourHub.com. During that time, they published over seventy-five of my posts. This was the motivation to start writing stories and tales down.
My newest project is Ramblings Magazinehttps://tomt2.com/magazine I have had comments that I should write a book. I thought about it, but a book may take years to do so I thought a magazine would be better since I am in my senior years and my warranty ran out many years. ago.
I never thought much about a legacy until after my near-death experience in February of 2023. MyBloodclot (Podcast). After the event I started to reconcile my life and thought, “why was I given a second chance?” I must have some unfinished business to do before my journey is over. I am just a mere mortal. I do not jump over tall buildings or stop speeding bullets. All I have is over eighty years of life on this earth. Searching for the purpose of a second chance I have decided to write about events and experiences in my life. Last August I remembered I had a site on WordPress and became active in the site. Since then, I have posted many events. Is this the purpose for the second chance? Who knows for sure.
The legacy I want to leave behind is, He was a good man. He tried to do the right thing. He was fair and didn’t take advantage of his fellow man. His faith of God and life after death was strong.
I hope my two sons remember me as a good father who did what he thought was right and necessary so they can live a good and productive life.
I hope my spouses do not regret that the years they spent with me was good years together and do not regret the years together.
I hope my stepchildren do not regret that I came into their lives and can call me stepdad with pride.
I hope all the other people I have come in contact with can say, “he was a good man!”
I was born and raised in cold weather. The day I was born the weather was in the middle twenties. Denver metro has cold weather from October to March every year. In January there is usually a couple of episodes of below zero weather. That is when it is really cold.
When in grade school I remember walking to school, which was about ten blocks away, in cold snowy, blowing snowstorms. They didn’t have school bus service for public grade schools in those days. The cold and snow were just something you had to deal with. The coldest and most miserable was when I was in the army stationed in Nurenburg Germany in the winter of 1965. That was cold! Plus, you had to be out in the cold making sure the equipment was still operating.
I didn’t pay much attention to the weather until I started to become older. The older I get the more I think about cold weather. It has been over fifteen years since I have retired and now I do not like cold weather. No wonder older citizens move to a warmer climate when they get older.
I have been a leader and a follower. In my growing years I was a follower. You learn to lead by following. Throughout my growing years I was never a head boy or the leader of a school club. It was easier to follow in army period than lead.
After army life I decided it is time for me to move forward in a private industry. I became a team lead and worked my way up to swing shift supervisor. Two or three years later I became a department manager for a large electronic manufacturer. I held that position for over twenty years. I think that could be classified as a leader.
During that time, I hired and fired for a department of over fifteen employees. We had office workers, warehouse personnel, delivery drivers, and outside salespeople. There was also a building. I had to get the contractors to maintain the building, lease delivery vans and have a solution for any unforeseen problem. The only requirement from corporate office was to show five percent net profit every year.
It was an experience and sometimes very stressful. Unfortunately, when I was only forty-six the corporation closed 13 warehouses across the nation, and I became unemployed. I survived the transition from a high paying executive to a person that had a difficult time finding a second career.
Now it has been over eighteen years since I retired, and all things worked out well.
Without a doubt my favorite fruit is bananas. A half of banana with my boring breakfast cereal. My doctor recommended that I eat a half of banana because of the high sugar content, and I am prediabetic. You peal them instead of wash them, how convenient.
Next is the grape. I prefer green grapes over red. But they do say red grapes a better for you because of the additional antioxidants. Oh well, life is not perfect.
The third pick is oranges. We have become attached to the small Cuties. Some call them clementines. Standard size oranges are just too large for me and the sometimes can be a job to peal.
One must not forget apples. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Finally, are olives. I enjoy green olives. Sometimes I eat 6-7 or a dozen at a time. These are the small olives, not the martini size large olives. The olive haters ask me, “how can you stand them, they are too bitter?” I reply, “In a previous life I was a Roman soldier and during a march to a new battle we would stop by the olive orchard and eat them right off the tree.” If you believe this tale, I have a bridge in Arizona you can buy.
Since I am in my seasoned years, I think it is too late to think about an improvement I could make.
However, I can think about what I could have done differently. Throughout my life there was a telephone. In my younger years the phone was a four-party system, and each party had a special ring, so the parties knew whether to answer or not. It is amazing how this technology has progressed.
Throughout my years I always waited for the phone to ring and very seldom started a call. It is one of the many questions that I don’t know why. I still do not like to make phone calls. Therefore, I should have made more phone calls instead of just waiting for the phone to ring.
Daily writing prompt
What’s one small improvement you can make in your life?
What gives me direction in my life? Everything that I have learned or experienced in my life.
From birth until now everything that I have learned or experienced in life gave me direction. I learned the necessities in life like going to the bathroom in the toilet instead of my diaper. My mother raised me as a Catholic and that gave me direction in my young years. Going to kindergarten and twelve more years of schooling added on to this direction of life.
Army service gave me a vast source of knowledge of how to deal with many different personalities and cultures. You meet hundreds of people from different parts of the country, and this was a great help in my later years dealing with people. This learning experience was very helpful in my journey of life and do not regret it one bit.
Employment in private industry, marriage, raising children, divorce and the heartaches and hurt involved in all of the above made me realize that the perfect life I have dreamed of may not come true. These events made me realize that my dreams may not be the purpose for my time on this planet.
After a period of time, I found a new direction with a new loving wife and her loving family. This told me there is light at the end of dark tunnels. Following this I retired and discovered that “Every day is Saturday.” and the stress of full-time employment is over. We also moved into the home of my dream. These events also gave me a direction in life.
A little over a year ago I was standing in front of deaths door and Dr. Death was holding the door open. I survived and as my wife says, “your room was not ready yet.” Again, another life experience has changed my direction in life. Life is not over and according to statistics the survival rate of my illness was three to five percent.
In conclusion, many events in my life and learning experiences has changed my life. I believe the purpose in life is to learn, and one should learn as much as then can in this short visit on planet of earth.
When I was Young the exciting thing to do during the summer school vacation was to sleep outside between the houses or in the back yard. Two or three of the neighborhood kids would have a campout. It was spooky and scary staying outside with no parents nearby. Of course, this was before your parents had to be concerned about rampant crime and many things could be done without that fear.
My next camping experience was after I started work full time and some co-workers were campers and they would invite me to go with them to camp up in the mountains. Fishing and camping over the weekend. What an experience. I never did like sitting around the campfire though. It seemed like the smoke from the fire always followed me and my eyes would burn, and my clothes would retain that smell of smoke for a long period.
My next camping experience was during basic training. You received a shelter half and you had to find a buddy so the shelter half could be combined to make a pup tent. The army didn’t call it camping though, they had their own name, it was called bivouac. Then In Germany they had maneuvers and had these large tents that held eight or ten troops. I can’t remember what kind of tent they called them.
My final tale was after I was married and had two sons. We had friends that had a van, and I became enthused about a camping van. I bought a delivery van from the company I worked for and converted it to a camping van. The kids would sleep outside in a tent and the adults slept in the van. It was a fun time of my life. Unfortunately, I became divorced, and the budget could not afford a van and camping.
After my life became more stabilized, we occasionally went camping. I would rent a RV for the weekend or the week. It was fun, but I did not enjoy driving the wide RV and the length of the RV. I learned to take a tranquilizer before I started the trip. It was fun and enjoyable though and it gave me many good memories.
I think of the past more than the future. I am in my senior years and have over seventy-five years of memories, experiences, and good times. I am sure this is obvious in my articles I post. If it wasn’t for my past, I would have nothing to write about.
I am just a mere mortal. I don’t jump over tall buildings or stop speeding bullets. I have not done or accomplished anything spectacular in my life. I love my country and I am experiencing the American dream. I am praying that the American dream continues for many generations to come. I have been retired for over fifteen years and my American dream is close to being over. If you have read previous postings, you see that most are about memories or past experiences.
Friends and relatives have said I should print out my articles so they would not be lost. I said, “that is the purpose of TomT2.0 on WordPress.” However, that did make me think and that is when I came up with this Ramblings Magazine idea. Where this ends up only time will tell. I started with the WordPress postings and the next resource will be articles from a writing group I was a member in and then articles from Yourhub.com published in the Rocky Mountain Newspaper that was closed around 2012. I estimate that I have enough articles for over fifteen issues. What happens after that who knows?
Therefore, if the people who said that they would be interested in having a printed copy they have the facilities to order a copy of the magazine and it will be mailed to them. Talk is cheap and will see how many put down money for a printed copy.
As I reconcile my life, I have come to the conclusion that my biggest regret is that I could have been friendlier than what I was and kept in touch with friends throughout my life.
In my young years I was scared. Life scared me. I was afraid to try things and go places. The first day of kindergarten was traumatic. All those strange kids and a new environment really scared me. For safety reasons my mother walked me to school and would be waiting for me when school was out. Telling me to “don’t talk to strangers” didn’t help me either. I survived and went to junior high and high school next. During that time, I made many friends and did what was normal for the period. Unfortunately, high school was a difficult time in my life. I guess it was the hormonal change and just the period of growing up. But, during that time I was angry and mad. I was mad at myself, my parents and everyone around me. I do not know why. I graduated from high school, and I never attended one high school reunion. I never kept track of any high school friends.
On to full time employment and a period of army time and making friends. On to married life and raising children, making more friends. Life continues and retirement happens and a move to a new home. More friends.
I have had many friends throughout my life. However, my biggest regret is I never kept in touch with the friends. Once a period of life is over, I would lose contact with the friends. My wife Dee has kept contact with friends throughout her life. If fact she is having lunch with three from her grade school tomorrow.
Therefore, my biggest regret is that I never kept in contact with friends out of my past and I could have been friendlier than what I was.
Daily writing prompt
Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently?
The decision was made last summer. I have had WordPress site since 2009 and I let it go dormant until last summer. I also opened up a Sub Stack account at the same time since I forgot that I had this account. Now I am posting on both accounts.
Over a year ago I had a life-threatening event and I thought I was going to breath my last breath. Miraculously I survived this serious event. My blood clot During the three days in ICU, I had plenty of time to search for the purpose of my survival. I still feel there is a reason I was given a second chance. After six months of recuperating and still searching for the reason I survived, and I had the thought maybe I should share my thoughts, ideas and stories in a blog type format. I heard about Sub Stack on a news article and started blogging and then I remembered about my WordPress account and revitalized it. I now have over 200 posts on WordPress and over 50 on Sub Stack. Some posts are the same on both sites.
I also Have a Blurb account. blurb.com/user/tomtreloar that I have also had for a long time with a selection of books I have published. I then discovered that they now have a magazine publishing section, and this would fit perfectly for me.Rambling Magazine
Recently Writers Digest started following me on X (formerly twitter) and this news excited me. People must be noticing this mere spec in this gigantic universe. Now I have seen about freelance copywriting. I am retired and it appears that my finances will last longer than me, so I do not need the money. However, I will consider the opportunity if it happens to come my way.
In conclusion, deciding to resurrect writing and posting has been a good decision for me. It gives me something else to do and I am learning more about the internet and software used. Where this all goes, who knows?
Daily writing prompt
Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
Here I am 14 1/2 years old. I continued from junior high school (now known as middle school) and started high school in the fall. The junior high school was walking distance from home. The high school was far enough away that I had to take the public bus to get there. I have used public transportation before so that wasn’t scary. The size of the high school and the number of students were scary though.
In junior high there were boys and girls. No big deal. The girls ran around with the girls and the boys ran around with the boys. You did start to notice a little that the girls shape started to change a little bit. Maybe they should just stop eating so much.
After summer break you and start high school and see the girls from your junior high and think “WOW!” they have really become attractive and interesting. Also, during that time, you look down and see all this hair grown between your legs. When did that happen? It wasn’t there yesterday. You wake up in the morning and your male plumbing is acting and feeling very strange.
In high school, there is Junior and Seniors and you are exposed to street sex talk. There is a difference between boys and girls. One form of entertainment was to go the local drugstore and look at the Playboy magazines from the top of the display shelfs. WOW! The female body is really exciting and desirable. You want to join in on this excitement.
My mother sees the change and knows it is time for the traditional home sex education session. She goes through the biological difference of man and woman. She also takes the opportunity to bring up the religion aspect and reminds me that sex outside of marriage is very sinful and should be avoided. She reminds me that women can get pregnant very easily. This was the time before medical birth control and the condom was known to be not very reliable. Finally, she tells me that many women try to get pregnant so they can get their Mrs. degree. She also told me. “Tom do not let your hormones lead your life and change it that you may regret sometime later.” This really alarmed me and for a long time I thought, will I ever know if she married for love or married me just to get a Mrs. degree?
This is what I learned during high school, not in high school.
For most of my life I have tried to be something I was not. Many times, through life I heard “You should be like, whatever name you want to insert.” In younger years I heard; you should be more like your brother. Just because he is five years older than me, I should be like him? I guess I was a handful when I was young. Going to school I hear the same thing. You should be more like Johnny. At church I hear you are a sinner and should be more like the saints and apostles. Well, I got the picture, I should be somebody I am not and be somebody that fits in the surrounding society.
My teenage years were very difficult for me. For some reason I was angry and mad all the time. I hated myself and my situation. Was it because I was trying to be somebody I was not or was it just the hormonal change that everyone goes through during that age. One will never know.
I was drafted into the army later and looking back now I think this is one of the best things that happened to me in that period. This was in the Viet Nam era but fortunately my service period was served in Germany instead of Viet Nam unlike the seven other men drafted on that day. They all went to Viet Nam. Why I went to Germany and not Viet Nam is something I will never know. In the service you meet all kinds of people from many different areas of the country. Because of that I realized that the human race is not that bad. All the ones I met were basically good and were just trying to get through the challenges in front of them.
I have spent maybe two thirds of life trying to be somebody that I am not. You may believe this or not, but, one day I was taking a walk around the greenbelt near our home. There was nobody around and I was just having some silent time to my own. Then this loud voice came out and spoke. “Tom stop trying to be somebody else, just be yourself! Your purpose in life is to be yourself!” After that event I have decided to just be myself. Since that time, I been at peace since and am actually enjoying just being myself. I even like myself. This is one positive change I have made in my life.
Daily writing prompt
Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
What kind of animals make the best pet? All I can do is go by memories of pets I have had. We lived in a small home with Grandma, a brother and I. Naturally Mom and Dad were there. It was only a two-bedroom house. My folks slept in one bedroom and Grandma in the other. When I was young, I slept with Grandma until I became older. I would say maybe until fifth or sixth grade. They had a roll away bed that was put in the living room at night and my brother would sleep on the roll away. They did make another bedroom out of the attached garage sometime in my young life. That made sleeping arrangements much better.
When I was young, my parents allowed us to have cats, no dogs though, there was just no room. The yard did not have a fence and that was the main reason they gave us the reason for no dogs. The cat was sent outside to sleep at night. I remember the cat’s names. There was Jughead, Sandy, Boots, Tiger and Lucy. My parents said male cats only, female cats have kittens. The only way we got a female cat was one day Lucy was at our backdoor as a kitten. She stayed around for a couple of days, and I became attached to that loving cat. Finally, they relented and said OK we can keep her. This was in my later teenage years and yes, she did finally get pregnant. At this time, I was then drafted into the army. I was in basic training when the kittens were born. My mother played midwife and by the look on her face when the subject came up. I think she really enjoyed helping to raise her midlife family. They didn’t have much difficulty finding new homes for the kittens.
I also had other pets in my younger days. One summer I won a baby duck at a bazaar. I was able to keep it until the fall. I built a cage for her and in the evening, I would lay down papers on the garage floor and take the cage into the garage and the duck would follow right along and stand on the newspapers and let me put the cage over her. She knew the routine. She became Thanksgiving dinner to a needy family we knew from church.
I loved my duck. Never gave it a name though, it was just duck.
I also had other living creatures also. I had a goldfish. It just swam around in the fishbowl and came to the top of the water for food. I also had a turtle. It was just as boring as a fish. We used to keep it on top of the hot water heater. Well, it was forgotten about for a couple of days and the water all evaporated and so much for a turtle. In junior high they had hamsters and guinea pigs. We used to let the hamsters crawl in our sleeves and shirts. They were fun. My son had a ferret. Those animals had a weird smell. I had a rental property for a while and the renter had a boa constrictor about six feet long. No thanks!
In my marriage I finally was able to have a dog. Ginger was some kind of mix. Had her for a long time. I also remember other dogs. There was Gypsy, Cuddles and Missy. Missy was a peekapoo, she weighed less than five pounds. Had her for over thirteen years.
Normally my day starts between 7am and 8am. I put on my robe and go get my morning blood thinner medication with my vitamins. Then I turn off the oxygen concentrator located in the pantry and continue to the kitchen. Every other day I make a pot of new coffee. A pot usually lasts a couple of days. If some is left, I just turn on the maker to warm up the remaining coffee.
I then fill a glass with water and take my medication and vitamins. Then I walk around the home and open up the shudders and let in the light. That does depend on the time of the year. It may still be dark of sun shining in.
I then continue going down to the “Man Cave” located in the basement. Turn on the TV. One must find out if we are in a war yet or some natural disaster happened. How many shootings and death happened in Denver Metro overnight. unfortunately, the news is more bad news these days than good news. Oh, I also watch the weather to see what kind of day it will be. Then I wake up the laptop and read my emails and delete all the junk, spam, and phishing scams. Will the FBI ever learn that I do not reply to their email threats? I then go to X, formerly Twitter to see what is happening there and how many hits I have received. I then go to WordPress, Sub Stack and Blurb to look at the latest activity on those sites. Sometime in this hour nature calls and I do my daily duty to keep my bowels healthy.
By this time the hour is usually over, and I go to showering, brushing teeth dressing and eating breakfast. Since I am retired, if I run over an hour, it is no big deal.
Daily writing prompt
What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?
Since 1994 I have been addicted to Computers. I bought my first desktop computer from a co-worker who built computers. I think I spent around Seven hundred dollars for it. Those were the days of floppy disk drives, 32k modems, Windows 3.1 and cathode ray monitors. Those were the days where dependability was not a strong feature. Remember, “The Blue Screen of Death”? Storage capacity was below a gigabyte.
Technology has really changed in the last thirty years. Now they have storage in terabytes, thumb drives larger than older desktop hard drives. Access to the internet by many means instead of the phone line. Solid state hard drives. Ever drop a laptop and the mechanical hard drive was killed? Desktop and laptop sales are decreasing because smartphones are becoming so versatile. They say this technology is just the beginning. What will we see in next ten years?
I cannot imagine what my life would be like without computers and internet. My handwriting looks like chicken scratching. My typing accuracy was never very good. It was quite a feat to type a page without a typo. With the help of the computer and Microsoft Office of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel I can look like a professional, which I am not. I am able to share my thoughts and memories thanks to the computer and the internet. Although, I spend way too much time on the internet. I never did get into gaming. The most I play on the computer are solitaire.
I have two favorite movies and have watched them many times. I have the DVD for both them and pop them in when I need an uplifting moment. Also, if I happen to be watching or streaming tv and I stumble onto them I start watching.
The first is, How the West was won. This is a 1962 movie originally filmed in Cinerama. This was a process of projecting on three screens, and it was supposed to give you a panoramic view. I was nice, but you could see the splits of the three screens. When they remastered the movie for the DVD the split screens are not so obvious. The storyline was about a family that migrated from the east and migrated to the western frontier. It had stories about the Civil War. How the train expansion helped speed up the expansion into the frontier and stories taking place in San Franscisco and California. The music in this movie was great! It was an important part to the success of the movie.
My other favorite is Patton. This is a 1970 movie about the experience of General Patton during World War Two. This is my favorite movie about World War Two. There is Saving Private Ryan, Battle of the Bulge and many more. However, Patton is my favorite. For some reason I have a large interest in this war. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because I was born at the beginning and my parents talked a lot about the war when I was growing up. I have watched every episode on the History Channel about the battles, and Hitler with the Third Reich. Maybe I am trying to understand how people became so dark to do what atrocities they did then. In my life there has been World War Two, Korean War, Viet Nam War, The Gulf war in 1990, and the Iraq War in 2003. I know I left some out. My life has been full of wars. However, my most interest has been WWII.
Daily writing prompt
What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?
from Wikipedia, “A superstition isany belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown.”
Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is “belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion”. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.
Throughout my life I have been exposed to many superstitions. For example, do no step on the cracks in a sidewalk, brings bad luck. Break a mirror, you experience seven years of bad luck. Four leaf clovers bring good luck. Friday the 13th is a bad day. My oldest son was born on Friday the 13th, I can’t say that was bad luck, but good. I could go on for hours about superstitious encounters in my life.
I am a product of a religious mother and grandmother. They were very religious Catholics. I was raised a Catholic. I suppose you could say baptism is evolved around a superstition. If you are not baptized, you die with original sin and will never see heaven. I was taught if you die with a mortal sin, you do not go to heaven. You should be in the state of grace to receive the sacrament of marriage and so on.
I have had strange spiritual events in my life. My mother had a very painful medical death, and she was terrified of dying. How could this be? She was a very religious person, and all this faith did not prepare her for death and the other side. This really bothered me that she was so unprepared. About a week after her service I had a dream, my mother was there sitting in her favorite chair and said, “Tom everything is good. Do not worry about me, continue your life!? I was put at peace and my confusion resolved.
I had another dream about this girl that I have not seen or heard of for over forty years. She said in my dream, “Tom, you and I were meant to be together. If we would have ended up together our lives would have been totally different.” Yes, that bothered me. After forty or more years why did I have a dream about her? This bothered me for a couple of months, and I finally went to my alumni newsletters and got here married name and made an internet search and found out that she died three days prior to my dream. This is spooky. However, it did convince me that death is not the end.
Another event happened in the last ten to fifteen years. I was going for a walk around the park and this loud voice came and said, “Tom, stop trying to be somebody else! Just be yourself! That is what you are expected to be! Ever since, that I am Just Myself!
So, is this superstition or faith? I guess it all depends on what the definition a person has of superstition and faith. I know one thing for sure. My spiritual events have impacted my life more than all religious teaching and superstitions.
Dear Tom, it’s hard to believe that a hundred years ago you came into this world. It was shortly after the beginning of World War Two. You were only three years old when the war was over, so I am sure you do not remember much about this war. However, remember standing in front of the home and watching the military vehicles driving down the busy street a block and a half away going to Denver Federal Center maybe five miles west of home. It seemed like hours watching all those trucks going by. I am sure your parents talked about the war a lot when you were very young. I am sure their conversations left a lasting impression on you.
Remember your mother walking you to school when you started grade school. There was a busy street between home and school, and she wanted you to be safe. Miss Kusckan, Mrs. Keebler and Miss Lee are teachers one never forgets. All the boys had a crush on Miss Lee. She was young, blond and so sweet. Everyone’s dream was shattered when Mr. Groutt, the math teacher married her.
Life continues with junior high and high school. Those years were tough years. Our hormones were acting up and strange. Unfortunately, those were years of anger and hatred. We were mad at ourselves and everyone else in our life. Smoking and drinking became an important part of life.
Then came full time employment and the army. Remember when you took the military oath after being drafted and the night long train trip to Ft Leonard Missouri. The military sure changed your life and outlook about other people. Looking back at this time you learned so much about people by meeting people from all parts of the country, New York City, Florida New Orleans, California, Chicago, just to name a few. If Viet Nam wasn’t staring you in the face, you may have made the army your career.
Back from your military duty you were looking for love and someone to have a family and begin the life every young red-blooded American wanted. Your desires come true, and you meet a young lady from Nebraska. Then marriage, a home, two sons and good job. Life could not be better. Unfortunately, this dream came to an end after about eleven years.
Divorced, unemployed because your job was eliminated. These were challenging times for you. But you did not give up. During those times you met your future. You met her in a divorce support group. Ten years later marriage happened. you have now been together for over forty years. Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Remember a year ago you were at deaths door and Doctor Death was holding the door open. You defied the odds that only three to five percent survive this kind of procedure and forty to fifty percent die within six months after the procedure due to some other illness. It was just not your time. Your journey is not finished.
After eighteen more additional years I am wishing you a Happy 100th Birthday! You have had quite the journey. You have met and interacted with thousands of individuals through this life and learned a lot. I must remind you that the purpose in life is to learn. Learn as much as you can in your life!
My middle name is Lee. A simple name just like me. Does it have any special meaning, I don’t think so. The story I got from my parents is that they did not know what to name me. They did not want to name me after any relative or friend. My older brother was named after my father, and they said that they found out after a period of time the same name in the family can be confusing. My brother is five years older than me and there was only the two of us.
I was born after the beginning of World War Two and my parents told me they could not think of a good name. so, for a name search they went to the listing of the men being drafted into the military. Apparently during that period, the draftees’ names were printed in the newspapers. They came across the name of Thomas Lee, they like it and here I am. I do not have a clue what his last name was or anything else. All I know he was from the Denver metro area.
Daily writing prompt
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
Sorry, I did not have a favorite shoe. To me a shoe is a necessity not a luxury. Life would be tough without shoes. Looking at scenes during Jesus’s era and seeing those open sandals and bare feet. No Thank You!
I remember when going to grade school high top tennis shoes were the type to have. You just didn’t fit in if you did not have high top tennis shoes. My mother would shop at Thom McAnn’s shoe store, and we always got our shoes there. Are they even around anymore? A new pair of shoes always gave you a blister somewhere on your foot. When I started in corporate management Florsheim shoes were the brand to have. I had one pair, and they were the worse shoes in my life. After a short period of time, they were not comfortable and lasted less than six months. That was the last Florsheim I bought.
In the army I received two pairs of combat boots and one pair of class A shoes. Since I have a small foot, size eight, I received combat boots made for WWII They had a date of 1944 in the boot, and this was twenty years after the war. The boots received the most attention in my entire life. They always needed to be shined and one pair had to be spit shined for guard duty. They lasted many years after I got out of the army. Probably the reason they lasted was because I did not wear them that often.
I never did get into all these designer shoes or sport shoes like Nike, New Balance, Adidas or others. After I married, I accepted shoes from Target, K-Mart, or Walmart. Cared less about brand name but how they feel and wear. I am still in that position now.
In conclusion, I never had a favorite pair of shoes and never walked “The Yellow Brick Road” in them.
Daily writing prompt
Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.
February 7, 2023, I received a gift from God. It was one of the greatest gifts I have received. On that day I was afflicted with a gigantic blood clot between my lungs. The surgeons gave me three options. The first was attempt to use medication to break up the clot. The second was to go up through the groin into the artery using anesthesia. The third was the same procedure but the patient stayed awake without going under anesthesia. They said they had the best results when the patient stayed awake. I picked that option. The most painful was when they cut into the artery to insert their equipment.
Somewhere in the procedure I was feeling very bad. I was at the point that I thought this is my last breath. I must have passed out and sometime later I woke up and was starting to feel better. The remainder of the procedure took about forty-five minutes. after completion the surgeon talked to me and he said, “Tom I think the right decision was made to stay awake. I am afraid if you would have gone under anesthesia, I would have lost you”. At that moment I realized I just received a gift from God!
After three days in ICU and an additional day in the hospital, I went home. Doing some research and I find that only three to five percent survive a clot of that size. Also, most patients die within six months after. Well, it has been over a year now and I am still here! This has truly been a gift from God. How long this gift continues only God knows.
A patriot is a person who loves their country. It is generally seen as a positive. Many have ancestry from a foreign country. They have seen or heard how their life has improved in this country compared to where their ancestors came from. They have realized they can believe a religion they may have been restricted from. The world is full of controlling countries and that may be the reason they immigrated. Whatever the reason, a love for a country is starting to materialize when they come to this country and feel the opportunities. Have you ever heard of anyone immigrating to Russia, North Korea for the opportunities?
Defending a country against its enemies, and a desire to see it succeed is very important. There are national cemeteries across the nation that are full of patriots that stepped up and fought and defended the country. Millions are in these cemeteries that made the supreme sacrifice in battle defending this love of country.
Most countries aim to instill patriotism in their youths from a young age, often through education and exposure to patriotic symbols and events. I remember in grade school they would raise the flag when the students were entering. When they were raising the flag, you would stop and wait until the flag was raised. We were taught about the many symbols and history of this country. Unfortunately, I have heard that this has diminished in the last years. If this is true, I am afraid that this will affect this country in the future.
Patriots believe it’s their duty to vote in elections. This is based on their sincere desire for their country to succeed. Patriots pay attention to the events that are happening in the country and vote accordingly. Way too many do not vote and do not have a clue what is going on in the country. I am concerned that this lack of interest could affect the future of this country.
Yes, I consider myself to be a patriot. I vote consistently and follow local and national news and events. I served in the military and was willing to give my life for this country. I respect the flag and symbols of the country. I love this country and have no desire to go to any other country. This country has been very good to me, and I have lived the American Dream.
Daily writing prompt
Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?
I can’t jump tall buildings, not as fast as a speeding bullet. I haven’t received any heroic metals or certificates. Not a high paying singer, actor or businessman. Not an elected official or important in a religious order. I am just a mere mortal.
Born during World War II. Raised in Denver Metro area. Spent two years in the army. Went to Germany during that time. Got married a while later. Fathered two great sons. Had to experience a divorce and the heartbreaks associated with that. Remarried again after I met the woman, I should have met twenty years sooner. She blessed me with two great stepdaughters and two stepsons. After working forty-five years, retired and now have enjoyed over seventeen years of retirement life. I have experienced the “American Dream!”
Just a mere Mortal.
Daily writing prompt
If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?
What were your parents doing at your age? Unfortunately, my parent’s journey was over before they reached my age. My mother passed on from bone cancer when she was seventy-five. This was in 1982. Three years later, my father passed on from a heart attack when he was seventy-five. This was in 1985. Since I am over eighty, they both are watching me from heaven then and now.
I have many good memories of mom and dad. They gave me a strong base to live my life. What I am and what I have done is because of them and the values and lessons they taught me. Sure, we had disagreements and differences, but I will always remember and love them for what they gave me and the love they showed for me. I am confident somewhere in the future we will meet again.
If I had the power to change one law, it would be to enforce the laws now on the books. It can be seen everywhere that current laws are not being enforced. For example, thousands are coming across the border every day. All of a sudden, the immigration laws are not being enforced. Crime is rampant in major cities. If by chance they are arrested, then the DA then releases them with no bail. Just to be released to commit their next crime. Shop lifting must be legal these days. A new phrase emerges, “smash and grab” where large numbers enter a store and take whatever they want. You never hear of any arrests and prosecutions for these crimes. When was the last time you saw a police officer writing a ticket for a traffic offense? How many expired license plates have you seen lately? Because of the political atmosphere it has made it appear that there is a double standard in the prosecuting procedure. Any law that is not enforced, the law becomes useless.
Daily writing prompt
If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?
Back in 2016 my dream came true. For about two years prior we have been looking for a new home. A medical emergency prompted us to do a home search since the EMT’s was not able to get their gurney down the hallway. We looked at many building sites in the Denver Metro area and was not having much luck finding our dream home. We were about to give up the search and started to accept that the home would not be found.
One night around eight PM we were driving down this street we have been down many times in the past. I was going east and happened to see this for sale sign in a residential neighborhood. I asked my wife, “would you like to tour a home I just saw a for sale sign?” She said, “might as well, it doesn’t look like we will find a new home.” When we got home, I made an internet search and got the address and listing. It was just put on the market Thursday one day ago. Contacted our agent and she made an appointment for Saturday afternoon. We went Saturday and signed a contract the following Sunday.
The house was built in 1998 and the original owner was moving to Phoenix and was selling his home. It was all I ever wanted in a home. A two-car garage that didn’t need to be used for storage space. A large master bedroom larger than the 10 x 12 one we are used to. The laundry room is on the first floor, one of the requirements since we are becoming seasoned citizens. The HOA takes care of the lawn, trash pickup, snow removal, gutter cleaning, and other items. The basement is finished, and it has a workshop. something I have always been dreaming about. This was the final straw. I wanted this house.
To this day I still do not know how I saw the for-sale sign. It was dark and four houses down the side street. My wife says, “it was the Holy Spirit at work and this home was meant for us”. One will never know. We have been here for eight years and will more than likely spend the rest of our lives here.
TomT2.0 