Charles,

Thanks. Mostly it was to make sure Beane knew I was going to harass him as soon as he got over his 'event'. (You ready to rumble Mike? *bg*)

The other reason I decided to absent myself from the forum for a while is that, like Mike's proclivity for the sauce, I have to make sure I don't get swallowed up in all the fun going on around here. I expect to drop by every so often and toss a thought bomb or two just to get folks arguing over the same old territory one more time - far too easy. (You'd think folks would have figured out how to move some of these discussions forward by now *G*) Imagine, some still do not believe in God (they will some day - I hope not in a bad way) and some still actually belive that being a liberal/socialist is a good thing. Tsk tsk..

How's that? *G*



>>Love God with all of your heart, mind soul & strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.
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>>:)
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>Spoken with great wisdom. Nice to see you back, Doug. CIS Foxforum was long ago.
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>>>Mike Beane's situation is reason for this post.
>>>
>>>It seems getting older, retiring from a job, undergoing a "fractuosity" like a heart attack, cancer, or anything that may take you to the intersection of life and death causes one to ask, "what matters?"
>>>
>>>Having been almost killed on numerous occasions, growing older, retiring from one job, etc, I've given it a lot of thought. I have come to the conclusion that family, friends and making things better than they would otherwise be, without you, are the only things that REALLY matter. Everything else is fluff or distraction, it seems.
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>>>As I was getting closer to retirement, I asked myself, "did I make a difference?" I think I did, and I continue to do so in my chosen field. It is my passion, so it's easy to do. The next hard question is really the same question for life. I've heard it said that few people will say, on their deathbed, "I wish I had worked more." I've been a work-a-holic all my life, or so I'm told. So, I've been working on spending time with others who matter. It's like I tell my wife, God's not through with me yet!<g>
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>>>Mike, this is for you, buddy. What matters in life?