Regrets of a Grumpy Old Man
By Pat Smart,
Copyright (c), 2023
2023.09.27
I had a dog. Her name was Gypsy Magic. She was my dog for about 15 years. I loved that dog. It was just me and her. It was a great time in my life. I still miss her to this day.
What does that dog have to do with Genealogy? Everything. At 74, I have lived a long life and had many great exploits and feats of peril. As a young kid, I was a cowboy. I rode Bulls and Bucking Horses. I worked for a horse trader and always thought he was the least dishonest horse trader I ever knew. (Everybody knows there is no such thing as an honest horse trader.) Ralph was a mentor to me; he taught me a lot about horses and people, but that is another story for another time.
I also:
1) Worked in the woods as a lead man, a choker setter, and a whistle punk,
2) Built chain link fence,
3) Worked on a farm,
4) Worked on a horse ranch,
5) Spent 20 years and 28 days in the Army,
6) Rode in a rodeo in Europe,
7) SCUBA dived off a small desert Island in the middle of the South Pacific,
8) Drove Big trucks and school buses, and
9) Crashed a Harley motorcycle at 65 mph.
I have been just about everything except a Cop and an Outlaw.
Of all the things I have done and all the people I have met, I have few or no pictures to pass down to my descendants. Since I have no journal to document my life, I have very little to show that I even lived.
I started to write the story of my life, but without pictures or journals, many of my misadventures will go untold. They have already faded in time.
Take it from a Grumpy Old Man that has no pictures of a dog of 15 years and a life of many wonders: Take the time to take pictures and keep a journal so you will live on in the memories of your Children, Grandchildren, and beyond.
Oh and by the way, I really should have gotten a picture of that Alien Space Ship. If you ever get to Morris Town in Arizona. Keep your eyes peeled.
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Pat Smart
480-540-4994
patsmart61@gmail.com