- what advice would you give your younger self if you could go back and be 25 again?
Advice? Well, I can think about things I'd like to give myself if I had the information. I would like to tell myself to aim for 100% in marks in my subjects. My Dad emphasized to get 50% so at times I didn't get 50% or just a little over 50%. This was something that really limited my achievement in many ways.
I would be rather vain if I said I wouldn't give myself any advice. It's the same as the above. I did not work my best. So I would advise myself to aim for a higher rate of success.
- do you wish you'd moved out of the house in Red Deer before now? do you wish you'd moved away from Red Deer at all?
I have never wished to move out of the house in Red Deer but maybe I should have. I like the house and of course, the neighborhood. If I'd moved I wouldn't have all the trash stored in the house but then I can blame Mom for that. When you move you are forced to get rid of stuff. I still have stuff you left me when you moved. The best thing you left me was the little compressor you had.
The first year we were in Red Deer we would have moved at any given instant. If someone had come along and said , "Keith , you can go to Yellowknife tomorrow,." I'd have been gone in a heart beat. Once we got you and Brian we never thought of moving again.
I did have in my mind to go back home and farm with my brothers for a few years. Once it go closer to the time to make the move it didn't look so good. I'm glad I didn't make that move.
So in reality I have never wished to move.
Well, now that I think of it, when uncle John moved to Salmon Arm we did think about moving there.
- if you could meet a famous person (living or dead) who would you want to meet, and why?
- Well I'm really no fun on this one. I don't have any famous person I would like to meet. I think that many ordinary people are fascinating. I wrote about Johnny May , our GG's brother. Johnny was a fascinating bush pilot with a million stories. Now would I like to meet his famous sister? Only if I accidentally bumped into her. I don't really get it about meeting famous people. I don't think anything would rub off on me. As I said before many regular people have done interesting things and have much to teach you.
- Maybe , I'm just sour grapes since I haven't met any famous people!
If I could tell my younger self, say my fifteen year old self, anything, it would be to not hold things in. That the damage in the long run would never be worth it.
ReplyDeleteI think many teenage kids find themselves in that situation.
DeleteHi Red,
ReplyDeleteI think it is so neat that you are answering these questions and even more impressed that you have a child that values you enough to ask them. Not that our kids don’t value us. They just are all busy raising their own families. Gosh there are so many question I wish I had asked the generation before me.
Your Fall colors are lovely. We are still dealing with summer down here. It’s supposed to be 95 degrees today.
By the way…I like that word scrumbly…has a nice ring to it, although this darn iPad has unlined it in red like some kind of warning!
I regret not asking my Dad more. At the time I couldn't think of much. He did tell me some interesting things about his life.
DeleteGreat questions and answers. We have lived in the same house now for over 30yrs, I am sorry I did not move when we were younger. It seems hard to move now. Take care, enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteIt's comfortable staying in the same house.
DeleteHaving kids makes us want to put down roots for sure.
ReplyDeleteI’m with you on the famous people. There is so much we can learn from the regular people in our lives!
Some of my peers taught me some very important lessons.
DeleteSome great questions there to think about!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I did justice to these questions. I tend to beat around the bush.
DeleteReading this makes me wonder what changes I would make in my life if I could go back in time. Oh the list would be so long! Thank you for sharing these questions and answers.
ReplyDeleteI know that I was pretty wild but I had some experiences that many people don't have. I took some chances.
DeleteI would like to tell my teenage self lots of things but I don't think she would have listened!!
ReplyDeleteYou sound like you have had a full, enjoyable life, Red! Good for you - making the best of things no matter what!!
You're absolutely right about telling your teen age self something. I know I was not ready for some of the advice.
DeleteIt was interesting to think about your life as a young man. It's great that you wouldn't change much, other than giving your studies your full attention. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I really failed at my studies. I was not ready for higher education.
DeleteI would tell my younger self not to take anything for granted because life can change in a second.
ReplyDeleteAs a teenager we think we are invincible...especially males.
DeleteThose are excellent questions and answers! This is a wonderful thing for you and your daughter to do. If I could talk with my teenage self I would tell her to think carefully about important decisions, especially how they could affect my future life.
ReplyDeleteAs teenagers we live for the moment.
DeleteIt took a long time to be who I am now. My advice to my young self would have been premature.
ReplyDeleteYour questions and answers are thought provoking.
I was in my mid forties before I found myself.
DeleteWhen I had children, I would never have willingly moved them, except from an apartment to a real house that I purchased, then owned.
ReplyDeleteBeing a teacher, I found some kids rolled with the punches when it came to moving and some kids were devastated.
DeleteHelp me understand this ... your Dad told you to go for 50% on your marks in subjects. Maybe there is a different scoring method in Canada. 50% in my classes would not be passing. 60% was the lowest passing grade. Otherwise, it's interesting to hear your answers to your daughter's questions.
ReplyDeleteRegretfully, I was also a serious underachiever. I would have liked school and learning if I had known.
ReplyDeletePS I forgot to wish you Happy Thanksgiving coming up next Monday!
ReplyDeleteI met Colin Powell once ... a very impressive figure.
ReplyDeleteThis was so interesting. I must say, we did get rid of a BUNCH of stuff when we moved back to Hawaii from Chicago. Hooowever... we seem to be accumulating again. Sigh... I don't know who I'd want to meet either. Hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteMoving is a GREAT way to declutter! The best way, probably. On the other hand, though, it's nice you've never wanted to move. You're right where you should be.
ReplyDeleteWell, the question on a famous person is something I would love to have. I would pick a half dozen of some great thinkers and put them around the dinner table and just listen. It would take some time to find the names that limit it all. Perhaps RGB, Rachel Carlson, Robert Frost...oh so many in this candy dish.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in this idea of asking questions of elders, I have no idea what I would like to ask my parents.
ReplyDeleteOn academic achievement: I was always just trying to pass maths!
i think i can relate to your advice to your younger self dear Red ,your father was farmer and may be he wanted to have you close ,i have few relatives here in my in laws such as one of the husband of my sister in law (hubby's sister) he is landlord with quite a property and land ,he can easily support his kids to get better studies in city near them so they can have better future than him but he does not ,despite of all the pressure his wife had on him he did nothing but kept his teenager boys in school which is only by name a school. reason i can understand after having conversation on the matter with him is that he fears that if he send his boys to city schools he will loose them as new life style would probably snatch his sons from him .forgive me if my example is wrong but i see this here often .my own husband was so afraid when our eldest son decided to go o foreign for higher studies, i had no pressure from parents to have better grads which made me okay to just pass out the class ,i regret that .
ReplyDelete