DoDDS World Reunion

History of Military Supported Schools

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Banquet Speech at the Indianapolis Reunion, August 2, 2011

I have arrived. It took me 23, 725 days to get here but I have arrived. I have joined the ranks of the senior citizen. Here is my medicare card, my senior pass to the National Parks, my AARP card, my senior membership to the Ephrata Recreation Center, my pacemaker card, and my lifetime retired membership with the Federal Education Association.

Like you, I did some research just to make sure I knew what to expect.

A Beginners Guide to Becoming a Senior Citizen:

There is no denying it. Everyone whose health endures is destined to one day find themselves turning that life page and becoming a senior citizen. You can play around with figures, but matter, it’s coming for us all at some point. When it comes, we can continue to lead a healthy, active and productive life and enjoy our new senior statis by remembering the ideas in this guide:

1. Celebrate your longevity. The first thing to do is to celebrate your longevity. You don’t have to throw yourself a mega party, though if that suits your tastes, by all means indulge. Becoming a senior citizen should not be a time for sulking or melancholia. Survivers have lots of things to do and full lives in front of them yet.

2. Check in with all you Doctors. This is a good time to take stock of your well being in many ways. You didn’t make it to your present age without some good genes but from here on in having a little assistance from trained professionals can give you something to fall back on beside your talented gene pool.

3. Turning a Life Page with Ease. Becoming a senior citizen means arriving at an exciting threshold. If you already are under the care of a specialist or two, this would be a good time to check in with them. Oh, don’t forget a trip to your eye doctor, dentist or podiatrist if you haven’t seen them recently.

4. Stop by your Social Security Office. This would be a good time to talk briefly with a Social Security Representative. Actually, you could call them. The number is 1-800-772-1213. I wonder how busy that line is?

5. Visit the local Senior Center. So far, this guide sound a little gloomy with lots of talk about being old and going to the doctors. If you want to locate some fun, the best place to go is definitely your local senior citizen center. You might like the cribbage group that meets on Friday mornings. You might be really excited about the special trips and mystery rides that are offered.

6. Sign up for a Fitness or Exercise Program. You enjoy whatever you do a lot more if doing it doesn’t exhaust you or wipe you out for the week. The solution is to sign up for a fitness or exercise program. To make it easier and more fun is to bring your spouse or a friend. You have company and your own portable support system.

Published by Lima: I am a former teacher now a freelance writer with a husband, three children and three grandchildren.

Instead of total retirement, I decided to return to the world of work. Do you realize how many things have changed since we were in the classroom? I chose the business world and my title is Director of Communications for our local Chamber of Commerce. Along with the title comes many side responsibilities such as community involvement and serving on committees. One of those committees is the PA Dutch Council of the Boy Scouts. At the end of our first meeting, the executive director gave us our next date to meet. Imagine sitting with some twelve CEO’s and all are taking out their blackberries and adding the date to the calendar. I too, pulled out my calendar. As I said earlier, things have changed since we were in the classroom. The next day I bought my “texting” machine! I am getting so much better on the computer. I use word, access, excel, and publishers with ease. I use Facebook. I have Linked-In and looking forward to Twitter but to be honest, I haven’t Twitted yet. So many new things to learn!

Speaking of Computers. A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. A student asked, “What gender is computer”/ Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men’s group decided that computer should definitely be of the feminine gender (la computadora), because

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women’s group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine (el computador) because:

1. In order to anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can’t think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

THE WOMEN WON……

We do have some senior citizen perks:

1. Kidnapers are not very interested in you.

2. People call at 9:00 p.m. and ask, “Did I wake you?”

3. You can live without sex but not without glasses.

4. You sing along with elevator music.

5. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.

“Oh, God,” sighed the wife one morning. “I’m convinced my mind is almost gone!” Her husband looked up from the newspaper and commented, “I’m not surprised; You’ve been giving me a piece of it every day for forty years!”

I would like to close with a few choice pieces of wisdom. We are never too old to learn something new!

1. Remember, some days you are the bug, and some days you are the windshield.

2. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.

3. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.

4. If you think nobody cares whether you’re alive or dead, try missing a couple
of mortgage payments.
5.   Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.