So I am like the rest of the social media universe. I constantly get these “25 things about yourself” quizzes, and they always tell you to put your friends on the spot and get them to do it too. I got three of them this morning alone! I hate that “embarrass your friends and make them do it.” thing.

Mind you, I like reading the things. I like to know about people. When I visit the blog of someone new to me, the first place I go is the “about this person” page. So after getting the three quizzes this morning, I decided to just make up my own list, publish it and ask no one to do the chain letter thing. If this is not your thing, move on. I’ll write a poem later this morning, I am sure. Or there are plenty of poems before this post.

So, 25 things about me

1. I turn 64 in a few short months. Age has never meant much to me, but this will be different because my poor wife will probably have to listen to me singing the Beatles song, “When I’m Sixty Four” for a whole year.
2. I fight depression. Regular readers know this, but the key word here is “fight”. I don’t suffer from depression. I am not afflicted with depression. I fight it with a vigor and discipline I never knew I had.
3. I began writing poetry so I could have a class with my girlfriend when I was in college. The girlfriend only lasted a year or two after the class (She’s long and happily married, I understand.), but I found something that has been a part of me ever since. Sometimes the best things happen for the dumbest reasons.
4. I wrote poetry most of my life since I took that class. The only time I stopped writing it, my life and 1st marriage came undone. I don’t blame the lack of writing for any of that. But it is funny how one of the first things my therapist made me begin doing after I began to try and rebuild myself was…. write poetry.
5. I am a cat guy. I like dogs well enough. They like me. But me and cats just connect. It’s a soul thing people who believe in soul things with animals tell me. I just know I love the little feline beasties.
6. I spent most of my adult life designing, building and project managing things like control rooms, TV studios, and Network Operations Centers for broadcast. Even now, a few years out from that, I can design a TV studio in my sleep.
7. Some of my friends call me a Rennaisance Man. My theory is that if you are interested in almost everything, and get old enough, you become a Renaissance Man (or woman) by default.
8. I sing. I’ve sung most of my life. I’ve sung rock and roll, show tunes, jazz, as well as gospel and contemporary Christian music. I’ve even directed traveling music groups. But I never learned to read music until I was in my fifties (Thank you, Mrs Murray). No, I am not great, but I am solid enough most groups let me sing along.
9. I am a diabetic. Just found out three years ago. I had none of the symptoms. One month I was fine. A month later I took a physical and voila! I had it. For a guy who was a poster child for the sugar and carb industry, this was a major shift in lifestyle. I finally get cigarette smokers still wanting a smoke twenty years after they quit. Wave a pecan pie in front of me and I start shaking.
10. I have a weakness for convertibles. I drove my dad’s Karman Ghia when I was a kid (until a run in with a big red pickup did it, and almost did me, in.). Then I got all responsible. At forty-something I realized I no longer needed a glorified U-haul for my work and got a used LeBaron convertible. I’ve had convertibles ever since.
11. I have a weakness for brunettes. I married (the first time) a blonde, but before and after, I am a brunette guy. It’s like cats and dogs. Both are nice, but what I love are… Yeah, you got it.
12. I am two years into my second marriage. It was a totally unexpected thing. I kinda thought I wasn’t marriage material anymore.  But as we got to know each other, I could not imagine life without her. Two years in, I still live in amazement and joy.
13. I have a bad habit of jumping into things I have no qualifications for. I’ve done it with work, with avocations, with leadership positions and religion. Somehow it works out and I find far more success than I deserve to. God protects the foolish, I suppose. I don’t have any other explanation.
14. I’ve lost both my parents in recent years. That has been hard. Those of you who have lost parents know. Those of you who still have yours, treasure them. I still find myself mourning at the strangest times.
15. I love antiques. My parents loved them and it took. I loved them and it took with my kids. Old stuff has staying power, and the patina tells stories. I love things with stories. Come to my house and everything you see has a story. Don’t ask and get me started. You might never get out.
16. Pizza is my favorite food. Pecan pie is my favorite dessert. Both of them are bad for me, so I don’t eat them often. But when I do, I eat the whole pie, no matter which one it is.
17. I’ve changed dramatically the past fifteen years. They tell you life settles down as you hit middle age. You can’t prove it by me. My head spins a lot.
18. I’ve changed a lot in the past two years. I credit my wife for that. If the measure of a marriage is that you make each other better, she’s a roaring success. I am smarter, more compassionate, braver (not brave enough, but braver), deal with my emotions better, and on top of it all, happier because of her presence in my life. And we’re only two years in!
19. I live in Vermont. Most of my family and friends live in Virginia. I’m not sure if I am Virginian in Vermont or a Vermonter from Virginia. My family still wonders what in the world I am doing up here.
20. I love cooking and making things and fixing things. I hate it when people watch me do those things. I know where that comes from (thanks Dad!), but it still strikes me as weird.
21. I love Sherlock Holmes stories and pastiches. I read them constantly. I think it is because he is as logical as I am not.
22. I didn’t drink coffee much till I was in my forties. Now I am an addict. No excuses, I’m just an addict. I used to make fun of how much coffee my dad drank in his old age. I can’t do that anymore.
23. My love languages are words of affirmation and touch. I am blessed with a woman in my life who has the same love languages. When I say blessed, I’d use neon to announce it if I could, but I am stuck with black and white letters.
24. Being broken, having my life come undone, was the worst best thing that ever happened to me. (Thanks, ex-wife of mine.) The worst part I probably don’t have to explain. Anyone who has been there knows. But the best part? I experienced grace and kindness and love in my healing that I did not deserve, and it rekindled my faith in God and my faith in people in a more real way than you can imagine. It also taught me compassion and patience at a whole new level.
25. I’m not done yet. And that scares me and excited me. Like I said, I tend to jump before I learn to fly. That doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

Here’s number 26: I am an introvert, and writing this kind of thing is hard!

Be well. Travel wisely. Be your true self,

Tom