"Va ya Con Dios"

My recent health scare (I’m okay)  got me to realizing just how little I have seen my son over the last 5 years.  Robert Herrick the 17^th Century English poet wrote those famous lines (thanks to the movie “Dead Poets Society”)

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

He was encouraging young women (virgins) to give up their pursuit of chastity in favor of FUN, ROMANCE, and ADVENTURE. Clearly a scandalous poem in his day it has come to have a slightly different meaning today. Today we needn’t fear too many virgins floating around in pursuit of chastity.

The meaning today is doing what you want/need to do right now. The longer you wait, the greater your chance for not doing it at all. We live in a society that promotes waiting.  Retirement is a waiting game, social security is a waiting game, and whole life insurance pays off the most at the end of your life. Wait in lines, wait for love, and wait to have kids, wait for that promotion at work, and wait to get married, wait, wait, and wait. Then one day something happens and what was the point of waiting?

Should “fools” rush in? Should we act on every impulse? Of course not, maybe if you do wait till the end of the calendar year you will get a much better deal on a car or furniture and maybe waiting to make sure Mr. Bachelorette isn’t a frigging nightmare is a good idea. But something’s should NOT be put off. Hugging your kids today or your parents if you can, telling that loved one how special they are or even going to spend time with your son on the east coast. I retired two years ago, and here I sit waiting to go spend time with him. He left 5 years ago, I've seen him 1.9% of all the 1,835 days since.

The bloom does fade quickly from the rose. You have your opportunities and you need to act. So Wednesday of this week, my Acura (God willing) will pull away from the curb with me at the wheel and I will “Vaya con dios”.

Do I want to leave the incredible weather of San Diego? NO Do I want to miss my friends? NO Do I want to, or can I afford to wait any longer to get the next phase of my life going? NO I have no illusions that it will be all wonderful, that’s the good part about living longer you know all happiness and unhappiness is on a sliding scale. Life is almost always “more or less”.

Well, The Bailey Post will continue no matter what the zip code and my e-mail addresses remain the same as does my phone number. Staying in touch is pretty easy these days and I plan to be back here at the very least early 2013. This will be my last “personal” entry for a while. My blog (as most of you know) is about current events and the crazy side of life. I am backlogged on those stories so my next one will be more about what it is about our world that makes us grind our teeth at night. You've all been terrific and moving on isn't easy but I need to

Gather my rosebuds while I may.