Just a few things to keep in mind with this person:
Grew up poor and existed in the streets years before he was old enough to drive
First car was a 63 Biscaynne with a smashed in back end. $45 and it was the most treasured thing to have as he now had a place of his own, a place to sleep at night, someplace out of the weather
He also shoplifted a lot. Some people could view that as a bad thing, but for him, it was one of the ways he got he got money. Cars don’t run on dreams. He also shoplifted a lot of food because, well, that was how he ate.
That homeless criminal only had a 4th grade education. That was just the way it was. The only thing schools were for was a place to be and lunches to eat. That lasted until 8th grade, when he was old enough to not need that building to hang out in and could get food elsewhere, by other means (as previously mentioned).
Finally was old enough to wind up in a place to be offered a new life, “jail/prison or marines” by a judge. It was a marvelous option–a place where he could have a place to stay and be fed, actually be taken care of, looked out for. So off he went to Uncle Sam as soon as he turned 17 as that was the only thing the recruiter couldn’t lie/fake.
After the wonderful, easy life in the marines, once he got out, he had nowhere to go, but he had seen there were other places in the US he knew nothing about. So, he loaded up his backpack, stuck two items in his ‘army jacket’ pockets, then hitch hiked around the usa for some years.
The two items were a colt 1911 45cal pistol and a thick, blue paperback webster’s dictionary. Strange items but those were the big ones. The pistol was for protection for what he knew was out there in the world. The dictionary was for all he didn’t know that was out there. He read a lot, but in doing so, realized there were so many words out there that he didn’t know existed. So as part of his travels, he would read the dictionary, often at the end of the day, while there was still enough light.
Took about 10 years to become un-feral, but eventually he sort of merged into the world of normal people. Never fully assimilated due to upbringing and a good dose of ptsd, but in the end, walked into the world with a master’s degree from a university he had no business being in.
And other than the gift of great appreciation for the little things, things that normal people dismiss, a great gift he has is to question things.
“Why?” is a response he’s going to take to the grave with him. Why? Because it opens so many doors to other things. That word is the Key to the Universe.
Why? if you use it often, your mind and life will expand and keep doing so as long as you keep using it and looking into where it will take you.
Your body may slow down, may even fail, but if you have your mind, you can still Live. And Travel.
So, unlike my first time here about 6 years ago, this time, I received a New User of the Month Badge.
I’ll take it. Being is enough of an award for me, but I’ll accept some appreciation once in a while.
As I’m still not sure of the traps that could be here to disappear posts, threads, or even entire beings, I’ll post a real important message in response to this initial post, in response to myself…