Submitted by John M Moore Grandma had the neatest old car. Actually, it wasn’t all that old at the time, it just seemed so to me when I was young...

As I wind up another year, I always look back to recall some of my experiences and count my blessings. As the years have passed, these lists are longer every year- and that is ok. I am thankful for the time, experiences, and years I have lived. I am also often reminded of the phrase, “I always knew I would get old; I just didn’t realize it would happen so fast!”...

It began unexpectedly. Her mysterious, stately beauty caught me by surprise. It was 1979 and I was 28 years old. I had just been married a couple years, started a new high school teaching job and was working on my graduate degree at ISU. I did not need this distraction. ...

We are living in the midst of a time that most of us have never experienced. I vaguely remember stories from grandparents and older relatives about depression times, war times, hard times and difficult times. But to be honest, I’ve been pretty protected from those actual experiences. ...

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up. It seems just when we figure out the system, it changes. I was reminded of this thought recently when I looked through a box of old family photos. Life was hard for our ancestors. Cooking, cleaning, child rearing, working the land, making a living, maintaining a car were all difficult. ...

John M Moore January 31, 2020...

December 5, 2019 In 1971 I was in my first year of college and found myself meeting and greeting all kinds of new people and ideas. It was my first glimpse into a big world, full of new experiences, people and situations of which I had been totally unaware of up until this time. ...

1974 was the first year I considered myself an adult. I had graduated college at ISU, saved my money, paid off my 1972 Charger and was living on my own in an apartment near Indianapolis. I was employed in my first teaching job at a fairly large high school. While it had its many challenges, it did reinforce the decision I had made to pursue a teaching career...

I’ve finally come to realize that family is truly a gift and blessing from God. Didn’t think too much about it in my younger years, because we are who we are and really have no choice into which family we are born. But as I’ve traveled this life a bit I’ve realized that the family we are born into can make all the difference in the quality and quantity of our lives. ...

It started on my 50th birthday. There I was minding my own business, teaching every day, still raising our boys, working after school hours to make extra money for the family. Who knew a trip to the mailbox that day would be the beginning of a new chapter. ...