The slight changes that can alter life.

You could be walking along, trip on a rough patch of road and go down. Might be a bruise or might be a broken bone that doesn’t heal and sets off a series of problems. You just never know what might change your life radically.
 

Perfect examples of what you've pointed out Bob:
1. I took at job for $1,000 less a year because I could walk there instead of bussing it and my young son's future school was right around the corner. I wound up getting two promotions from clerical to field investigator, to state investigator with significantly higher pay, which ultimately allowed me to retire early.

2. My mother talked me into moving to this apartment complex when it was brand new. I originally didn't want to live in this area. I found out a few years later that I actually own the unit (well actually a share in the co-op) which offers substantially lower housing costs (again great for living on retirement income). My parents moved out early on, but I've been here for 54 years.

3. A young man who I recognized as a former board member, talked me into waiting for his machine to finish so I could do my laundry (the other double loader...only ones I use, was broken). I used to love to hear him talk at the meetings...what a voice! At first I resisted because the 23 minute wait may as well have been 23 hours to me, but he was persistent and talked me into it. He told me he has a radio show and I thought perfect, cause I got music to be played. He told me he was working on tracks too. We had a nice conversation while in the laundry room and the rest is history.

Now he's my Honorary Son (#3). I act as a consultant for his show and advisor for his music projects. He's even included my son in the collaborations. He's also had me as a guest on his show 5 times since that fateful April day. Sometimes we go shopping or just hang out. Having lost his other female role models (his mother died when he was 9 and he lost his beloved aunts), he considers me one of the biggest blessings in his life and thanks me almost daily for everything.
 

OneEyedDiva said:
Perfect examples of what you've pointed out Bob:
1. I took at job for $1,000 less a year because I could walk there instead of bussing it and my young son's future school was right around the corner. I wound up getting two promotions from clerical to field investigator, to state investigator with significantly higher pay, which ultimately allowed me to retire early.

2. My mother talked me into moving to this apartment complex when it was brand new. I originally didn't want to live in this area. I found out a few years later that I actually own the unit (well actually a share in the co-op) which offers substantially lower housing costs (again great for living on retirement income). My parents moved out early on, but I've been here for 54 years.

3. A young man who I recognized as a former board member, talked me into waiting for his machine to finish so I could do my laundry (the other double loader...only ones I use, was broken). I used to love to hear him talk at the meetings...what a voice! At first I resisted because the 23 minute wait may as well have been 23 hours to me, but he was persistent and talked me into it. He told me he has a radio show and I thought perfect, cause I got music to be played. He told me he was working on tracks too. We had a nice conversation while in the laundry room and the rest is history.

Now he's my Honorary Son (#3). I act as a consultant for his show and advisor for his music projects. He's even included my son in the collaborations. He's also had me as a guest on his show 5 times since that fateful April day. Sometimes we go shopping or just hang out. Having lost his other female role models (his mother died when he was 9 and he lost his beloved aunts), he considers me one of the biggest blessings in his life and thanks me almost daily for everything.
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Wow, you just never know what new chapter may open up in your life from choices you make, whether big or small. I suspect that you have made a lot of good choices in life. Perhaps that came from having good guidance when you were young, or just being a perceptive person, or perhaps both.

I think many people evaluate choices based on surface appearance, and quite frankly, I think many advertisements are counting on that. Then there are others who depend more on inner guidance, which I think is the wiser alternative. You may be tempted to hire someone based on their experience, but if inside you feel otherwise, it's best to listen to that feeling.
 
While patrolling the Pennsylvania Turnpike early one morning at 2:15 a.m., I came upon a vehicle parked illegally. I pulled in behind the vehicle and turned on my emergency lights, got out of my vehicle and approached the parked vehicle. Using my flashlight, I looked inside and saw 2 women that appeared to be sleeping, which again was illegal in that location. The turnpike has special pull-off areas for sleeping.

After rapping several times on the driver’s window, they both woke up and rolled down the window. I told the driver she was illegally parked, but there was a pull-off area 8 miles in the direction they were headed. The driver then informed me she was waiting for an emergency truck to come by because the right front tire was flat.

I asked her if she had a spare, but she didn’t know, so I had her open the trunk and there I found the spare and a jack. I changed the tire and put the flat tire in the trunk.

A few weeks later, I received a letter from the Governor thanking me for my courteous and professional behavior in changing the tire on his daughter’s car. She was on her way home from college to spend the Easter weekend with family. I kept the letter and put it in my memory book as part of my legacy as a state trooper.
 
Sometimes I think that the type of school I went to could influence the type of person that I would end up as. I went to integrated schools in Rochester, New York, in the 1950's, and I loved it. In the 1960's I went to all white schools in Florida, and hated it.

Later in life I reasoned out that going to integrated schools at an early age, better prepared me for the future if I should go to a larger city (which I did of course) and live in apartment houses and get jobs with people of other races and ethnic backgrounds.

When I look back at going to integrated schools, it seemed like the real world that I lived in. I didn't feel that way in schools where everyone was the same race as me.

This not meant to be political. These are just thoughts that I have often thought about.
 

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