If you regularly follow my work, you may have wondered where I’ve been. Was I abducted by aliens or kidnapped by members of one political group or another? Some of you who have known me since my rugby days may have wondered if all those headshots I took pushed me into a straitjacket at some well-hidden center for the reclamation of one’s cognitive abilities.

WELL! The truth is reality slapped me in the face with a wet blanket. It reminded me I was no longer that twenty-something kid who found a family in rugby. The one who could play matches all weekend, party with the best of them, and show up bright and early on Monday morning at the office.

Yes! Reality got my attention. So, for the last several months, I have focused on ensuring my wife and I are prepared for whatever reality throws us. For the record, that is often easier said than done.

So, you ask, what did we do? Well, we began to pray a lot and think over the things we’d learned by watching our older friends and acquaintances walk the same path we were walking. We, like others, had questions to answer.

Questions such as, “How long can we live on our own?” “How long can the two of us rattle around in this large house without going a bit bonkers?” “How long will it be before our kids start campaigning for us to move into a Senior Citizen community?”*

The questions running through our heads started us moving toward community living. For those unfamiliar with the concept, “community” is now used for many old folks’ homes. We’re not yet in need of assisted living, and we hope we’ll never need memory care. Still, we are one major incident or illness away from being forced to move into a “community.”

That said, I am at the point where I can return to the keyboard and share my thoughts with those who are interested. So, here I am today, telling you that reality is always lurking just around the corner.

Accordingly, it would help if you were prepared for it to step out and slap you in the face. For the record, that does not mean you should fear every corner, challenge, issue, or cable news horror piece you see.

It means you should be aware and prepared to handle whatever reality throws you. In my case, my heart condition and possibly some mistakes on the part of my cardiac team came close to putting me in the hospital, if not the ground. Thanks to my primary care doctor, we avoided that little scenario and the potential negative outcomes.

Stay tuned! I have not been writing for a while, but I have been thinking. I have more to say about what has transpired in my life in the last few months, what led to it, and what you may want to keep in mind as you continue your journey.

*Perhaps I did go bonkers due to all the distractions and issues we’ve encountered. I published the first part of this series earlier in A Mountain Climbed.

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