Okay, kids, my mom, like your grandmoms, lived a long time, ninety-seven years. Whenever and wherever I was when stateside, we spent an hour or two on the phone doing the NY Times Sunday crossword together, right up to a few days before she went to that Big Bingo Parlor in the Sky -- her doctor/nephew ascribed it to our Steelers being upset by Tim Tebow in the playoffs a coupla days earlier...lol
She had seven kids, two of whom were considered 'black sheep' by everyone: one is a sister who spent time in prison and the rest of her time screwing over anyone she could; the other one spent thirty-one continuous months in Vietnam, owned Harley's most of his life, had his tavern closed after being busted for running a sports-book in the back, counseled gang kids in LA, was in a PBS-TV series in the 70s, a three-day winner on Wheel of Fortune in the 80s, owned a way too successful club in Seattle and became addicted to drugs and gambling, did the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, earned two Master's degrees and spent the last twenty years of his career[s] working across the globe in the worst possible post-war, post-disaster environments in service to ravaged populations.
Ma loved the fact that I took risks, altho' w/ the caveat that I would likely end up alone. She liked when I would come home w/ torn clothes or a little bloody as a kid after sticking up for kith and kin, and most folks were surprised and confused at what a kick she got out of all the scrapes out of which I was able to extricate myself. She didn't love me more than my sibs (well, maybe one or two...lol), but she was definitely proud of my curiosity and willingness to jump in and test the waters of whatever.
Ma would've loved Jordan Peterson's advice to take risks, pay close attention, always speak truthfully and challenge everything inconsistent in our environment. I'll betcha Fox, like myself, ain't betting any monies on penny-plays that he can't afford to lose, and that if he does indeed get burnt he'll chalk it up to experience, hopefully learn a little something from it, and move on to whatever's next that looks like fun and maybe even profitable. Different strokes for different folks, Drama, including grandmothers that don't all think alike, yours sounds great btw, I never had one.
Fox exudes a cheerful attitude, which is a person's greatest treasure, and his reminders to keep smilin' are the best counsel available. We all find ourselves in unknown territory w/ MMEG, it's called chaos, and we have a choice of a vast array of available reactions to it, some of which are optimism, curiosity, pessimism, panic, fear, timidity, denial and going numb.
Good luck to all three of us and everyone else on this board!! No reason to give up yet, hang tough and KEEP SMILIN'
Long MMEG
