So, The Man just finished the last of his OT with White John, we'll miss him, such a very nice and compassionate young Man. He was extremely pleased with how much Work that The Man put into their Sessions. He said it's rare for a Client to do that actually. The Man joked that I wouldn't allow him NOT to put in the Work. *Bwahahaha* He was telling me what his Mom Collects, Steiff Stuffed Animals and Porcelain Dolls, he finds the Dolls to be Creepy. I told him the Money will be in that Steiff Collection, so, don't throw away Money if he inherits any of that. *Smiles* Dolls can be iffy and a hard Turn to make any Money on, depending on the genre. John is fascinated by our Collections and said he'd rather inherit something like this, coz it's Cool and looks like it has Value. *LOL, but Sweet of him to say out loud so Sincerely.*
We have Asian Paul coming for the PT last visit in about another Hour, then The Man will be done with both OT and PT, moving forward then with Cardiac Rehab at the Hospital next. That will be more closely monitored and I can drop him off at the Hospital for it, then pick him up when he's done. It's right beside our Antique Mall Location, so I can Work my Spaces while he's doing his Cardiac Rehab, so, it will work for both of us. I'm hopeful that after he finishes up those Sessions, he might be strong enuf to go do some things with me again, we miss doing it together, he always enjoyed the outings so much. It was one of the few activities we could still spend quality time together doing as a Couple and enjoy doing, looking forward to it. I still do it by myself, or sometimes with any Kiddos who wanna come along, but, I'd like him to be able to again.
I did Environmental Cleanup this Morning for about 40 Minutes after dropping both Kiddos off at their Work and before it got too Hot to do it. My little Park Ranger was there, he said he has one more Week left at that Park before his Transfer and introduced me to his replacement, a Younger Hispanic Man named Angel. I found a brand New pair of expensive Brand Sandals someone had just forgotten. He told me to just take them, since they'd only have to throw them away, they were exactly my Size and looked like they'd never been worn. People leave behind the strangest things sometimes and you wonder if it's accidental or intentional when it's something nice? Was this person wearing no Shoes then when they left the Park? *LOL* Their Loss is my Gain, they're attractive and very comfortable. I looked them up Online and they are $50-$60... so, Score!!!
I spent most of the Morning looking up and sorting Pokemon Cards I'll be taking in to the Locked Case. They were the Cards the Grandkids told me to look up coz they'd be worth more than a Dollar. The Dollar ones are Selling fast of coarse, but the Kiddos knew which ones had more Value and I'd of had to look up every damned Card otherwise, which would have been too labor intensive. It's Helpful to Google Value of things tho', so that you have a point of reference as to what you should be charging for anything, and especially what you have limited or no knowledge about. I am Clueless about Pokemon and it's HOT right now so I wanna get all the Cards we have into our Inventory already. I bought clear Card Sleeves for them at a Craft Store, you get like 100 of those for about Two Bucks and Customers like the protection it offers.
I didn't get them all looked up and Priced, but I got everything in Sleeves and about 1/3 Priced to take in when I go to pick up my Check. Amy didn't bring in that Trophy yet she's giving me, she may have forgotten or didn't have time to come in again. I don't know that I'll go in Today, but mebbe Tomorrow I will. I just haven't been in the Mood to go out of the House once it heats up to high Triple Digits or use Gas if I don't have to either. It is altering my Habits to have the Economy in the shitter. I won't overpay for anything and will do without it, or be wasteful for what is essential, but higher priced now, like Gas. I just don't have the Resources or Income in Retirement to spend more than I usually Budget for. I'm pretty strict with Budget and won't go over Budget. I've made quite a bit extra with how often I spend time doing Environmental Cleanup now and the volume of Aluminum I'm Recycling tho'. And I enjoy the doing of it, I'm not out spending Money if I'm being Purposeful to do other things that cost me nothing and make a Positive difference.
I invested in purchasing a couple of Old Yearbooks I didn't have from my Old American High School in England. My Family couldn't always afford to buy a Yearbook, and every once in a Blue Moon, one will come up For Sale on E-Bay. I Lucked Out and got Two of them for Two Years I was there and a lot of my Old Friends are in. And neither one had been Written in, so was like New, tho' one did have a couple of missing Pages, for it's Age, the rest of it was in pristine condition and the lower price reflected the damage of just a couple of missing Pages. After that Memorial Page I got directed to recently while trying to find a Friend, showed how many of my Old Friends I've Lost, I decided I wanted to at least have the Yearbooks of when we all were Young and just beginning our Young almost to Adulthood Journey. I won't be going to any Reunions of Lakenheath American High School in England, I doubt I'll even be going to any Reunions here in Phoenix of the High School I Graduated from, I only ever attended one, I think it was the 20th or something, now it would be the 50th+. I just wouldn't wanna know everyone who wasn't there becoz they're no longer above dirt.
I've been more Nostalgic than usual lately, more time spent in reflection about a lot of things, not just past things, but present things, and potentially future things. I don't have Solutions for a lot of it, just hanging tough thru what isn't working well right now and hopeful it won't get way worse, but, there's no guarantees. I fondly reminisce about the Past coz I feel that I had a pretty good one overall, not a perfect one, but, I'm not complaining either, it was pretty good overall. I enjoyed Success and attaining many Goals I'd set for myself, often exceeding them. High School was good for me, I had a lot of Friends, good Teachers, academically I always did well, I have good Memories of it all. My Employers put me thru some College so I didn't have to pay for it. I just studied Real Estate Law coz it was relevant, I didn't waste time with non-relevant to my Career Classes or Socializing.
I worked during the Day and went to College at Night, coz I was a Single Parent at the time with a demanding Career in the Corporate Grind. And being a very Young Female Corporate Executive, of when there were scant few, in a Misogynistic Good Ole' Boy Era, I was focused on advancing my Career and supporting my Baby. I didn't have Time to fuck around or be Miss Party All The Time, like some College Students do. I didn't mind the Challenges as much as I resented the Prejudices and biased Systems that kept Women and Minorities down. You had to be better at what you did if you expected to be promoted above any White Cis Gender Male, even if they didn't have the experience and weren't the best person for the Job or the Promotion. I was very Ambitious and wouldn't be told I Couldn't Do something just becoz I was too Young or a Female or came from the Wrong Zip Code.
But, I had GREAT Mentors who Believed in me and taught me everything they knew. They passed the Mantle to me before or after they Retired and became some of my closest Friends, even tho' the Generation Gap was Wide between my Age and theirs. Mostly Sage and Successful Women older than me that had made it and broken Glass Ceilings a Generation or Two ahead of me. And some older Successful Men too who took me under their Wing and helped me cultivate contacts in a Patriarchal System they had Favor and Influence in. They knew it wouldn't just be what I know that got me ahead, but WHO I knew. The only other route forward was not an option I ever considered, and if you know the Old Saying, you know what I mean. *Winks* And if you aren't familiar of the crass Saying its... In the Corporate Grind it's either what you know, who you know, or who you blow. It's still pretty much True.
Me, Above, the High School Years. None of my own Kiddos liked High School... actually, they didn't like School at all, including The G-Kid Force. It wasn't the most Positive experience for any of them and so I couldn't relate at all coz it had been for me personally. Once I Graduated tho', I Moved On and didn't really look back or consider those Years to be my Glory Years. Seemed when I went to that 20 Year Reunion, for some Classmates, it had been their Glory Years and where they felt the most relevant, popular, happy or successful. Tho' some Classmates I did go to School with really made it in Life after High School, some became famous in fact. One in particular, I just knew he'd be something Special. Even tho' in High School he was a real early Seventies Hippie, he was madly Talented and involved... as an Adult, he is an Executive Producer in Hollywood with numerous Accomplishments! Below are some of Vic's Yearbook Pixs when we were in High School at Lakenheath in England... and some of his Fame Photos now. Vic is 70 now but still Handsome. Such a Nice Guy too. He Dated a Friend of mine in High School, everyone Adored Vic.
Now
I was happy to see Vic's success, he was richly deserving of it and was a really Special and incredibly Talented person at a very Young Age before we were even Grown. And it was good to know he wasn't among the Fallen Lancers who have Died, from our High School Alumni there at Lakenheath, an American Military High School. Vic was one of the Dorm Students, a lot of Students lived on Campus mid-week and only went Home on the Weekends. Becoz all of the Bases in Great Britain were not close enuf to commute to the American High School, so they had Dorms for Students whose Active Duty Parent wasn't Stationed at Mildenhall or Lakenheath. They were Bused Home after School on Fridays.
A lot of the Dorm Students were Friends, as well as many who lived on either Lakenheath in Base House, or Mildenhall on the 'Economy' since Mildenhall didn't have Base Housing so we lived in either English Housing Off Base or American "Projects", if you could get Lucky to get into them. We did both, Lived in Thetford in an Old Victorian English Home, then lived on Glebe Close, which were the American Projects in Thetford, the nearest Town to the Military Base Dad was Stationed at and we could get Bussed to and from.
I was fortunate that my Dad was Stationed at Mildenhall, which was close enuf to Bus us to Lakenheath to the High School daily, so we didn't have to live in the Dorms at Lakenheath. We also had Students whose Parent was Stationed at Upper Heyford, Bentwaters, Woodbridge, Alconbury, Fairford and Croughton, and they were the Dorm Students. They lived in Barracks like Dorms, Male Dorms and Female Dorms... with Adult Dorm Live Ins who Chaperoned them. I don't know that at 14-16 I would have wanted to Live away from my Family at the Dorms... or that the Supervision would have been as adequate as it was with my Parents. I was a Young Hippie and I might have gotten myself into some trouble making poor decisions that Teens are prone to making, especially those of us who were notorious Non-Conformists. *LOL* My Parents were Bohemian Spirits, but our Moral Compass and Parental Respect and Reverence was still set high. Lakenheath High School still has about 350 Students... the HS Opened in 1960-1961.
I'd be more inclined to wanna attend a Reunion of Lakenheath than of my HS here in Phoenix, where I only went my Senior Year and was more of an Outsider. Most of the Students at our HS in Phoenix had grown up together and lived Local all their Lives except for the Military Students whose Families were Stationed at Luke, AFB or had Retired here when they got out of the Military. My Dad's last Base was at Luke and then he Retired after a 27 Year Career. We liked it here so we stayed. Dad was from the Rez in Oklahoma and we certainly didn't wanna live there. And we didn't have Family anywhere else in the States, but we had other Military Friends here that had Retired in and around Phoenix, and we'd known for Years and were Stationed at other Bases together when they were still Active Duty. Some of them had been Stationed in England when we were and decided to Retire here too. One Family we knew from living in the American Projects at Glebe Close in Thetford, bought a Home just a block away from where my Parents bought one in Phoenix. Their Dad Retired a Year before ours did, my Parents remained Friends with their Parents until they all Died.
I lost touch with their Sons, but I know the Oldest one became Career Military who was awarded the Silver Star for Bravery during a War. And the Younger one became a Professional Musician, a Pianist as I remember. Never could locate either of them via Social Media. Their Dad, Ray, outlived both of my Parents, but sadly their Mom, Jean, was the first to Die of all our Parents, losing a battle with Cancer. She and my Mom were best of Friends since the early 1970's. When they lived just a Block apart our Moms would visit each other daily, have Tea and visit, when people just did that kind of Socializing often, while our Dads worked. Our Moms had put their Careers away when they Married Military Men, coz you Moved often in support of their Military Careers. I remember my Moms Friends either visiting us often, almost daily, or us visiting them often. You don't see folks Socializing like that anymore.
I miss the closeness Friends used to have, people are becoming more superficial in their interactions and not very invested in their Relationships, from my Observations, especially of the Younger Generations. When I was a Young Adult I had abundant Friendships and my Grandkids said that mostly, Modern Young People do not. It makes sense to have less Friends as you Age Out coz you find most either end up Moving Away or Passing Away over Time, which, is a predictable outcome as Time goes on. When you get Older, especially after Retirement, you're generally not meeting a lot of New People and you don't have the time ahead of you anymore to establish those tight long term Friendships that develop over a lot of Time spent knowing one another. I've had some of my Inner Circle for well over half a Century now... I'm not gonna Live over half a Century more to have that kind of History with someone 'New'. And when those you Share that much History with are Gone, it leaves an incredible Void that can't be filled.
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The Reminiscing of our cherished Memories sure are sweet tho'... Dawn... The Bohemian
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