daily life

Papa’s World – “Looking Back”!

/ Tom / Leave a comment

Granddaughter Ella graduated from college on the left, and preschool is on the right!

Now, she is a Phys-ed teacher to small children.

LOOKING BACK – seems she has come full circle!

We have planted a lot of trees-

In our lives together.

At almost every home we have lived in –

We left something to which we can claim –

Has enriched the property.

“LOOKING BACK” on our lives together!

Buck and Jim have been my friends for decades and decades.

Neighbor to Buck and growing up with Jim.

“LOOKING BACK” on everlasting friendships.

“LOOKING BACK” –

We live our lives like this.

Volunteering at Coastal Living –

Home to seniors-

Volunteering for the local food pantry at the church.

Volunteering for the Protection of Sea Turtles!

“LOOKING BACK” has given us a purpose in our senior years.

Looking back – friendships –

We were all friends in the NVA!

Today we all live close-

“LOOKING BACK, life is good.

Taylor – her life is horses.

Riding, cleaning, and grooming them.

She is a natural.

“LOOKING BACK,” She is a joy –

This IS Taylor!

My grade school and H.S. buddy and wife, Pam.

Looking back and looking forward.

Soon, they will move into their leased home for a year –

In our area.

“LOOKING BACK” and looking forward to making new memories!

Thanks for reading-

PAPA’S WORLD-

My site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

Aging healthy!

http://www.sfitzsimmons.juiceplus.com

Papa’s World – More good vibes in pictures!

/ Tom / Leave a comment

CONNECTIONS – family – friends – neighbors – church – volunteering –

Working – entertainments – visiting – hosting –

CONNECTIONS do make the world go around!

My sons and their families.

They live far away –

NWPA – some 16 plus hours away.

But they always have a place in my heart and soul

CONNECTIONS through feelings!

Living our lives one day at a time –

And-

living our lives to the fullest.


Both connecting and our lifestyles.

We definitely enjoy our life –

Helping others as much as we can.

Volunteering – caring –

Loving our life to serve as much as we can.

CONNECTING TO ALL OTHERS-

The life we choose to live.

For the both of us –

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to golf on OHAU!

The craggy mountaintops with mist –

Lush foliage –

Wild pigs –

Rain forest –

Warm weather –

And ocean breezes.

CONNECTING OUR RETIREMENT LIFE!

Remembering our Lutheran roots –

A little eight-sided Swedish Lutheran Church –

On a hill named MOUNT NEBO –

In Mount Jewett, Pa.

This is Sherry’s ancestors –

And where she grew up.

CONNECTIONS FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT!

Family – grandkids –

Mother and daughters.

And of course “MARLEY” –

The family grand dog!

CONNECTIONS THROUGH GENERATIONS!

To all of you reading this, no matter the time of day – for the first time!

CONNECTIONS – MORE GOOD VIBES IN PICTURES!

Thank you for reading.

PAPA’S WORLD –

My site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

Papa’s World – A lifetime of memories in pictures!

/ Tom / Leave a comment

9-11 – the plane flew right over the building I worked in and hit the Pentagon.

Later – Sherry took family members to a place that they could view the damage.

While this is not the picture they took –

It is what they saw from that view.

A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES IN PICTURES!

These are our close friends –

we were neighbors in the late 80s and mid-90s in WNY.

Buck and Cindy –

we started playing golf back then –

and the gals would make fun of us –

It was a little chilly –

so they would wear MITTENS! LOL

Today – they beat us in scrambles!

A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES IN PICTURES!

We volunteer – helping others – Sea Turtles – Assisted Living and Food Pantry.

Troy – my oldest son – Papa – Shawn – my youngest son –

A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES IN PICTURES!

Sherry with her two oldest granddaughters – Maddy and Ella!

A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES IN PICTURES!

Here is the entrance to the community-

in which we choose to live.

We are thirty minutes to North Myrtle Beach –

and leisure – shopping –

Entertainment and walking the beach –

and the main street.

We are in the middle of thirty golf courses.

We are ten minutes to one beach –

and fifteen minutes to another –

Two other beaches are 30 and 45 minutes away.

Wilmington is 48 minutes away.

Big box shopping in less than twelve minutes!

Yet – we are in the middle of large pine trees –

and live oaks with abundant wildlife.

Gas and grocery shopping are five minutes away.

Scores of places to dine –

and entertainment.

We are living in our dream place –

A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES IN PICTURES!

The day Tammy and Marcus were married –

Today they have 14-year-old twins –

and a 10-year-old boy.

CASSIDY – TAYLOR and BODE!

A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES IN PICTURES.

Marcus – Taylor – Tammy – Bode and Cassidy – and of course MARLEY!

Thanks for reading PAPA’S WORLD – my site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

A LIFE TIME OF MEMORIES IN PICTURES!

Papa’s World – Pictures of life!

/ Tom / Leave a comment

Shawn – my youngest son –

during a visit he made two summers ago.

PICTURES OF LIFE!

Friends – I am fortunate that I still have contact with my childhood friend-

Sherry – Papa – Bobby and Pam – his wife!

PICTURES OF LIFE!

I like to write my blogs so that they bring the above.

There is enough negative news out there –

I love history – ancient finds and SY-FY!

We have made and still stay in touch with many friends.

Sharing our life here near the beaches is a dream come true for us.

FAMILY – FRIENDS – NEIGHBORS and SOCIAL GATHERINGS –

these are what my blogs reflect.

Staying true to my values – those of our families and friends!

PAPA’S WORLD is a window into those values.

Bode – who soon will turn ten years old –

He was the first boy born on Sherry’s side of the family.

Bode – here on turning nine years old – now is ten years old.

PICTURES OF LIFE!

Mother and Daughters –

PICTURES OF LIFE!

Night time picture on Ocean Isle Beach of the Moon and Surf.

PICTURES OF LIFE!

The “KINDRED SPIRIT ” mailbox on the far Western end of Sunset Beach is known as Bird Island.

Here is where many – many years ago – a hippie and his girlfriend –

Carried a mailbox and shovels to install the top of a dune.

They put in a journal for people to write their thoughts.

All these years later – after many replacements –

It still sits there, with two benches and a memorial to these two people.

Well worth the 1 1/2 mile walk to sit and just observe behind the dune and the sand and surf.

The journals are kept and today new ones are supplied for future generations.

THE KINDRED SPIRIT MAILBOX!

Thanks for reading PAPA’S WORLD – my site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

Papa’s World – LIFE IN GENERAL!

/ Tom / Leave a comment

Here we are – 42 years later plus a few months – living in the South – both born and raised in Pa.

Although we lived a mere 40 miles from each other in the rural countryside – we never met.

Sherry did know one of my classmates – through Chorus – I found that out much later.

We attended competing H.S. – and both thought Olean, N.Y. was the big city while we were young.

Funny how life works out – we met when we were around 31 and married a year and a half later.

That was on June – 25th. 1982.

Life in general for the both of us began then.

We were divorced with children – her two daughters – four and nine – and me two sons – nine and fourteen.

We had no money – both working for American Olean Tile Co. in Olean, N.Y.

But we made the most of what we had – spending so much time with the kids – picnics –

day trips and weekend campfires where we lived.

Our friends changed from a few holdovers from our previous lives to a mix of both old and new.

But those old friends became lifelong friends to this day!

Dottie was there before we married for me and her husband Jim who I played softball with –

And less than five years after we were married – Cindy became our neighbor along with Buck –

her husband and we have traveled the world with them!

LIFE IN GENERAL would not be the same without them!

We have come a long way since that time in Pa. and WNY.

Via – Northern Va. – South Carolina and now North Carolina –

We all live in North Carolina now – Jim and Dottie are some five hours away –

and Buck and Cindy some 45 minutes away.

Any of the three places are great places to call home.

We still plan to get together and now all six of us are retired –

Sherry and I are the SENIOR retirees and we hope a lot of time remains –

but if it doesn’t – this journey of LIFE IN GENERAL has all the earmarkings of –

A LIFE WELL LIVED!

Here is to that well-traveled road – I wouldn’t change a thing and am blessed to have met and known all of these people –

and to my wife of 42-plus years –

Thanks for my and our LIFE IN GENERAL!

PAPA’S WORLD – my site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

HERE’S TO “LIFE IN GENERAL” and our old friends who have made it that way!

Papa’s World – Daily life in OIB!

/ Tom / Leave a comment

Cameron Woods Community – the day starts with the morning sunrise – the way the curvature of the coast

to the left is the East – and the right is the West – our backyard faces South and our front yard faces North.

Unique is what I call this – from Charleston, S.C. to above Wilmington, N.C. –

the coast curves in a crescent shape –

WELCOME TO OIB!

The Sunrise in the East from Sunset Beach – we can be on the beach in less than ten minutes!

Often times we hop in the car and come here to walk our steps –

It is flatter than OIB and I prefer to walk here as it is easier on my hip.

We are slowly shaping this area of our yard – the trees are protected and beyond are wetlands.

No – I do not venture in the woods – it is wet in there and we have seen sakes –

although it has been about two years since I saw them.

We do have Coyote’s around – lots of deer and turkeys –

raccoon and squirrels –

Huge Woodpeckers – and a multitude of species of birds!

We walk almost every day and sometimes venture a half hour South to Barefoot Landing-

in North Myrtle Beach –

enjoying the walking and people-watching for me!

We like to golf and try to get together with our besties – friends for years and years –

who live some 40 minutes away.

Always a good time with dinner afterward!

These are but a few reasons we live here and our daily lives!

Volunteering to organize the library at the local assisted living –

Our volunteer work for the Sea Turtles and protecting them.

From Sunrise to Sunset in Cameron Woods Community –

Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset Beach –

PAPA’S WORLD DAILY LIFE IN OIB!

PAPA’S WORLD – my site: livinglifedoingitmyway.blog