Retrospection

[Roses]

I suspect most of the posters on this forum aren't in their first flush of youth; looking back on your lives what has made you happy and what has made you sad?

I wouldn't want to change too much of my life, but I wish my childhood hadn't been tainted by Christian fundamentalism, a moderate Christian upbringing would have been much more tolerable.

My husband and I have wonderful children of whom we are so very proud.

I delight in the banter I have with my family, my recent birthday cards were as mischievous as always. My husband's offering was a get well card, he said he hoped my senility is curable Since I fractured my shoulder I have had so much teasing from him, the children and my siblings. The kids said they will let me know when they have saved up enough for my one way trip to Mars, to visit my acre plot of land there. They can't afford to bring me back again, cheeky muppets!

Whilst of course not everything is perfect, I consider myself a very fortunate woman.

[ad_orientem]

Not sure I would have done much different. I've had a good time. Got up to quite alot of stuff. Could have done with a bit more dough though.

[Nearly Sane]

I would suggest the normal things. I've been made happy by other people, and sad by other people. I have been disappointed by me, and impressed by me. Outside that, cheese is great, Babbity's is a sacred place, and tribalism is not a boon.

[Sebastian Toe]

The kids said they will let me know when they have saved up enough for my one way trip to Mars, to visit my acre plot of land there. They can't afford to bring me back again, cheeky muppets!

Might I suggest that they set their sights on a trip to the moon instead?
Still won't be able to bring you back but on the plus side you will get to go much sooner!

 

[Aruntraveller]

I think we are, as a generation, uniquely privileged, in that we are able to experience other places with so much more ease and economy than even our parents.

So I have travelled around India and visited many wonderful places. If I were to pick one, it was one bright morning in 1986 at an old hill station called Kodaikanal, in Tamil Nadu. We had rented a hut for a couple of nights on a hillside looking out over a vast valley 7200 feet up. I had awoken early, left him in the hut and walked outside.

And oh boy, the air was so clear, it was so quiet, it was so still, it was magnificent to use the true meaning of the word. I have never forgotten the 10 minutes I spent alone in that place at that time looking out at the world above the clouds. It is a memory I return to in times of sadness to remind me of the true joy there is to be found in the world.

This link shows the kind of views I'm talking about:

https://tinyurl.com/ydagcevy

[torridon]

Wow Trent, that brought back memories, I went bumming round southern India on buses and trains in the 90's, including Ooty and Kodaikanal, wrote my first ever blog post about it,  Here, my photos of the cliffs and town at Kodaikanal :

https://www.flickr.com/gp/126490368@N08/KqD6m8
https://www.flickr.com/gp/126490368@N08/TQ9L60

[Roses]

I am so glad our daughters, now in their 40s, grew up in the era before the Internet and mobile phones, I reckon that made parenting easier than it is today.  I reckon my husband and I would have made ourselves very popular by checking their phones and ipads on a regular basis, as we would have done had such things been available to kids in the 70s and 80s.