"Greatness knows itself" (Henry IV)

.....As promised, Life #5 typically began with a traumatic event sometime in 1976. All four children had left the nest empty.  Well, not really completely empty; my wife and I were still inhabitants, as well as a dog whose name I have forgotten.  I was never too fond of dogs ever since I was confronted by two enormous St. Bernards who lived with our neighbors in Long Branch.  They were really harmless, and neither had a canister of brandy dangling from their necks. However, my daughter, Bonny, was very fond of dogs and other four-legged beasts; so it seems we always had one in the house--as well as a white cat we called Simba, if I recall.  But to get on with it--we had been married for 29 years at the time, but the marriage just seemed to have lost its excitement and its joy.  Bonny had gone to California to seek her fortune--or whatever, and Thelma became severely depressed; I guessed that she wanted to go out west so see how Bonny was faring & so I bought her a ticket and away she went--never to return, as I have said in a previous blog posting.  So, I was left alone and lonely with a four bedroom house, a load of furniture, silverware, dishes, a dog...and lots of memories.  We were divorced after 30 years.


.....And now, after a fashion, I was single again. I had no inkling as how to go about living a single life--what with the war and the hospital and college, and the marriage, I never really led the normal single life.  However, I decided that it was time to put down the dog, sell a whole lot of stuff in a lawn sale, and then take a sabbatical leave from school after selling the house.  This time I took a whole year at half pay.  I bought an Around the World ticket from SAS for a ridiculously low fare.  I flew to England, France, Holland, Denmark, East and West Germany (great beer!), India, Indonesia, Israel, Iran,Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Bora Bora, and on the island of Morea, a Club Med.  And then I returned home and back to school where I had been Chairman of the English Dep't. as well as the Varsity soccer coach and coach of the Track team. The Board did not want me to coach anything while I was in charge of the English Dep't.  So, I resigned that job and continued my coaching. I simply could not abandon all those kids on my teams to someone they did not know...or trust.  When I got back to the States, I bought a blue Mustang, rented an apartment in Syosset, and filled it with furniture of my choosing.


.....Then I went about learning how to lead the single life.  It started by going to bars where I could meet women...and this venture was a huge success.  I met and dated about a dozen of them, and it became a dazzling, awesome life.  However, on New Year's Eve, 1978 I went to a house party sponsored by B'Nai Brith where I met RH+. And I stopped dating all but her.  She was 39, but about to turn 40 on Feb.2. I made her a birthday party in my house.  She lived in the same development.  From that time on we became...shall I say, enamored of each other?  Of course, and our relationship as singles lasted for five years. She came to all my games and waited at the finish lines for me while I ran two 26 mile marathons in my fifties.  By this time, I began to believe after all I had accomplished in my life, that if I hadn't achieved "greatness", I was pretty damn close.  But as Shakespeare said, "Greatness knows itself."  However, there were still some mountains yet to climb.  When I retired in 1982, I went to Florida and bought a condo in Delray Beach.  In 1983 Rhoda and I were married in New York, and she joined me in Florida where we have lived for the last 29 years.  
......And that's about it for Life #5.  It began with trauma and ended with trauma; I understand that marriage and retiring and moving to a new environment are considered traumatic events. And so they were...but they were fun traumas...if there is such a thing.  Life #7 has some surprises.  Be there.


Life #7