I just reached a place

 Where the willow don’t bend

There’s not much more to be said
It’s the top of the end  (Dylan)

40 years ago this coming June i took the biggest leap of my life......at the age of barely 20  i left my home and family and everything i knew to join the United States Navy........truth be told i was terrified by the fact that my life was not my own.....i was in fact property of the US Government.......4 months later that Govt sent me to deserted tropical island in the center of the Indian Ocean for 1 surreal year........12 straight months without a phone, live TV or realtime contact with the outside world.......i survived it all.....and then i lost my brother.....nothing could have prepared me for that and i would never be the same.....never shocked again.....that was the greatest shock of my life....from that point on i mentally prepared for everyone i knew to die......as soon as i heard someone was sick i began preparing for their death....not morbid......just refusing to be caught off guard ...it was a difficult lesson ....but my self defense system would serve me well....and the next 3 years i barely flinched when sent to the Persian Gulf, Mediterranean Sea,  North Atlantic, Cuba , you name it......90 days drug ops.....6 month cruise......crossing the Libyan Line of Death......unfazed..........

25 years ago i took a much smaller leap.........i left Brooklyn for good and moved to the open spaces of Monmouth County....closer to family but leaving all my friends......close to the Ocean, close to the racetrack, plenty of golf courses....but i had to commute to the city....and shortly after i arrived i was knocked out of my seat by the impact of a 767 hitting my building......the 2nd biggest shock of my life.....i went into defense mode and mentally shut down.....on my way home i thought about everyone i knew on the street and on the Cops or Fire and i assumed they had perished..as calls rolled in for the next two weeks i just accepted the horrible news as confirmation.........perhaps spurred on by those events a few more friends came over the Goethals and did enjoy a wonderful 25 year run and i never regretted my time in Little Silver.......great yard, great pets, many parties.

Next week i leap again......this one feels different as i prepare to retire from Wall St after the summer also......i may take a job bartending or the starter on a golf course just to stay busy ....who knows........but having turned 60 i am also putting up the defense system and i am very much aware that as i say goodbye to people....it could be the last time i see them...or the last time they see me..........not morbid....just realistic......i am excited to turn the page and see what lies ahead in the Palmetto state.........i will sit in my new yard with my faithful companion (Matteau Matteau Matteau) and we will  drink cold beer and listen to soothing sounds of the Grateful Dead and the piercing lyrics of Mr. Dylan......i will continue the Blog and hope to be back in time for Sweater Nite......but i know people make plans....and God sometimes has other ideas in mind..........stay safe....stay well.......hope to see you all down the road a spell

2+3=BEEER

Grandma said, “Boy, go and follow your heart
And you’ll be fine at the end of the line
All that’s gold isn’t meant to shine
Don’t you and your one true love ever part”
I been walkin’ the road
I been livin’ on the edge
Now, I’ve just got to go
Before I get to the ledge
So I’m going
I’m just going
I’m gone