Posting on a gun forum this morning got me to thinking about material blessings. It occured to me that I have always measured my material well-being by the outdoor sports resources I had on hand. When I was a kid growing up in a poor family of cotton mill hands, I felt wealthy if I had on hand a carefully salvaged and recycled supply of fishhooks, lead sinkers, and an old cork float or two. Throw in eight or so shotgun shells, enough for a Saturday morning of squirrel or rabbit hunting, and I truly hand it made. The first twenty hard-earned dollars I ever had in hand at one time went to buy a Mitchell 300 spinning reel to go with the old second hand rod I already had on hand.
I still have the reel, completely worn out but I can't bring myself to throw it away. I still fish with a couple of 50+ year old Garcia fiberglass rods.
Today as I sit here on the verge of old age (which is perpertually defined as a few years older than I am now) it still seems to be that way. I don't want bigger houses, nicer cars, my old truck serves just fine, but I still have a need to accumulate the firearms I could once only read about and dream about owning. I think it also accounts for the Busse collection.
But that's material wealth, not real wealth as I have come to define it. in the lat few years, wealth to me has meant still being able to touch the woman who has seen fit for some unfathomable reason to stick by me for 42 years. It means that I have an adopted son who at age 35 still finds reasons to call me almost every day, most of the time just to talk, and who never went through that stage where I was a stupid embarrassment to him. It means I have a once tremendously rebellious adopted daughter who now seems to think me to be a pretty decent dad. It means having two fantastic grandchildren, a boy and a girl, and living close enough to them to attend all of their school functions and sports activities.
However, as Kim has become increasingly more capable of living independently of me after ten years of close supervision and care, and since the death of my mother for whom my two sisters and I shared constant care duties for several years, my idea of my true well-being has lately been refined further. I finally managed to put it into simple words in my mind a few weeks ago.
Trying my best to not get preachy on this forum about my faith, which is sometimes difficult to do, true wealth is now synonomous with real peace, which is to have people who still need me, and to know that I have done the best I could for them when it is time to let go.
I still have the reel, completely worn out but I can't bring myself to throw it away. I still fish with a couple of 50+ year old Garcia fiberglass rods.
Today as I sit here on the verge of old age (which is perpertually defined as a few years older than I am now) it still seems to be that way. I don't want bigger houses, nicer cars, my old truck serves just fine, but I still have a need to accumulate the firearms I could once only read about and dream about owning. I think it also accounts for the Busse collection.
But that's material wealth, not real wealth as I have come to define it. in the lat few years, wealth to me has meant still being able to touch the woman who has seen fit for some unfathomable reason to stick by me for 42 years. It means that I have an adopted son who at age 35 still finds reasons to call me almost every day, most of the time just to talk, and who never went through that stage where I was a stupid embarrassment to him. It means I have a once tremendously rebellious adopted daughter who now seems to think me to be a pretty decent dad. It means having two fantastic grandchildren, a boy and a girl, and living close enough to them to attend all of their school functions and sports activities.
However, as Kim has become increasingly more capable of living independently of me after ten years of close supervision and care, and since the death of my mother for whom my two sisters and I shared constant care duties for several years, my idea of my true well-being has lately been refined further. I finally managed to put it into simple words in my mind a few weeks ago.
Trying my best to not get preachy on this forum about my faith, which is sometimes difficult to do, true wealth is now synonomous with real peace, which is to have people who still need me, and to know that I have done the best I could for them when it is time to let go.
:thumbup::thumbup:
