The Next Grand Adventure

We moved when I was young. A lot. I remember one time, when I was about in the 3rd grade, the class assignment was to write a little "THEME" as they were called back then about how many times I had moved. It took Daddy, Talmadge, Mama, and Sue to figure up how many times we had moved. And they figured they had missed a few. The number was 32. And I was in the 3rd grade.

We weren't finished moving. We moved the next year to Florida for six months - where I went to two schools - one for 14 days. I tell everyone I'd find the lunchroom and the bathroom at a school and we'd move. At the end of that six months, we moved back to Denver. Then we moved  three or four more times in the Denver area, and finally, when I was fourteen, we moved to Alabama. I had the best childhood. I had the best people watching over me - Mama, Daddy, Talmadge, Sue, Montez, and Grandma.

Life with Johnny Butler was never, ever dull. I guess all those early moves, and the fact that Daddy never shied away from a challenge, has served as a model for me. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes I have totally missed the point. Daddy is pretty much fearless when it comes to a challenge and a change. So was Mama years ago when she left her home and family in Germany and followed Daddy to rural Alabama. I'm not quite as fearless as I used to be, but I also don't back down from change and challenge. Daddy and Mama have gone through many changes in their lives. The real constant with them has been each other. I'm not so good in that department.

I'll be 55 on Wednesday, and I find myself starting this new phase of my life in an altered set of circumstances. Maybe not quite as fearless as I was when I was 25, 35, 45...but still confident in the Next Grand Adventure. I'm not alone. I have a wonderful, loving, caring family...and I never underestimate the guidance of my Heavenly Father. I figure with a support system like that - the nex 45 years (yes, I plan to live to 100 so I can torture my great, great grandchildren with stories of my youth) - the next 45 will bring more change, more challenge...more adventure!