Pictures at an Exhibition

(The "exhibition" is titled, "Mike here are some ways you know you're getting old...")

My last group of guys that I coached on the football field are juniors now. Playing varsity football. And contributing.

My last group of ladies that I helped with in basketball are seniors. (Well, thankfully, there's one junior who played varsity in 9th grade...so I have one more year of connection with the program. Thanks, Katie! *smile*)

My daughter is a senior in HS. That's all I have to say about that. (actually, I have much to say about that...but not just yet)

My son turned 20 this past summer, and is in year one of a four-year professional school. (Pharmacy, as my regular reader knows...)

My nephew graduates from U of FL in the next year. Engineering. A 5-year program there.

My other nephew will sit for his 100-ton boat captain's license exam soon. He already has the 50-ton license, which would allow him to captain any charter fishing boat.

I have taught 2 different students/friends in both high school and college.

Children of guys who played football in my college days are now playing. And worse, some of them have finished playing and are now coaching.

Folks I taught back in my youth Sunday School teaching days are...a) married, b) with kids, c) long since finished with college and grad school, d) making nice livings, e) pastoring churches, f) missionaries in difficult foreign countries, g) lawyers & Drs. & nurses & teachers & such.

My hair and my beard are taking on different hues all by themselves. Others pay righteous bucks for this; not me, baby. Nature's all it takes to look this good (or something...)

I have 10 different surgical scars that are cancer related. (4 from 3 years ago, & 6 from this summer)

I have personally had the following "old people" medical procedures...all in 2008! CT scan of chest/abdomen/pelvis (multiple times)...Brain MRI (twice)...needle biopsy of lung (twice)...upper & lower GI series...cholesterol & liver screen (bloodwork...multiple times)...high-dose IL-2 (2 cycles)...lung function test...dobutamine echocardiogram...video-assisted thoracic surgery (twice)...worn oxygen in a hospital bed out of necessity (a few times during IL-2)...had a PICC line installed to run IV from upper arm directly to my heart(twice)...been rolled out of hospital or clinic in a wheelchair (multiple times)...worn a Holter heart monitor for 24 hours...CT-A and MR-A (whatever those are...a variant of CT & MRI)...P.E.T. scan (multiple times)...had to blow on the dadburn incentive spirometer a zillion times to help restore lung function & tissue...chest x-ray (multiple times)...plus, I know exactly how the parking passes @ M.D. Anderson work, and can find my way around that massive facility pretty well (I'm less good at navigating the hospital part; I blame anesthesia + IL-2 for that...)

I know people who retired when they were my age. (In case you're wondering, let's just say that "retirement" won't be happening any time soon @ Casa Madaris...*sigh*)

The phrase "empty nesters" will be accurate for Lisa & me in about 11 months. Which brings 2 reactions: (a) how in the world can Lisa & I be on the cusp of an empty nest, for crying out loud?? (b) while she is my best friend and we dearly enjoy each other's company, we're not particularly looking forward to both of our babies living somewhere else...*huge sigh*

Both of my children will vote in the upcoming presidential election.

My HS class had our 30th class reunion...in the Fall of 2007!!!

I graduated from high school the year my new pastor was born. (Just thought of that one...now I'm really bummed...*grin*)

I've lived in the house we're in now much longer than I've ever lived in any other house in my lifetime.

Amidst all the hullabaloo over Sen. Obama misstating the number of states in the USA, I was reminded that when I was born, there were only 48! (hey, don't laugh...one day your kids/grandkids will be amazed that Puerto & American Samoa were once merely "territories" & not part of the USA...)

I occasionally get up early in the morning (4-430 a.m.) and come lie on the floor because my back is sore. Of course, I partly blame our mattress for this.

A guy that was an undergrad student at Alabama after I left & took my first job in Indiana is now Dean of the School of Business @ USM.

I'm so old that I remember watching USM's football team before Brett Favre showed up. And I definitely remember watching the Green Bay Packers before he got there...I am a lifelong fan, going back to the Bart Starr/Jim Taylor/Paul Hornung/Ray Nitschke/Vince Lombardi - era Packers. (Aside: Thus, this oft-stated sentence in H'burg totally doesn't compute with me: "I was a die-hard Packer fan, but then Brett left, so I'm tossing all my Packer stuff..." In case you're wondering, that is not a die-hard Packer fan.)

I remember Super Bowl I. My Roman numeral knowledge ends about about XX, so I haven't the vaguest clue what Super Bowl will be played in 2009, but I remember the first one.

(I'm sure there are others; that's the only ones I can think of right at the moment...I'd ask for other suggestions from you, but I'm already too dadburn depressed now...*grin*) Seriously, a summer like the one I've had causes one to ponder much on the passage of time and brevity of life. The late great Keith Green said it best: "life is short; eternity is long."

Know that I plan on enjoying the time I have left--however much that may be--even more than I've enjoyed these first 4(garbled) years. This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Want to help? Let's eat, and drink coffee, and watch football, and go hunting, and worship, and hang out, and go on mission trips, and fish, and listen to live jazz, and talk of life, love, and other mysteries. You in?