The Holbrook Half Of Life

You suddenly realize that you’ve just lived half a century. You wonder where the time has gone and you look back at all the accomplishments in your life; or the lack thereof. Your future has a limit and the days go by faster. Every summer will have more meaning because, if I can manage to live to the ripe ole’ age of 85, there are only 35 more to go. Thirty-five isn't that big. But then you realize there's a lot of people you know who didn't even make it that long. For instance, my father just passed away this year at 74. If I live as long as he did, then I’m down to twenty-four; 24 more summers and that's it! Family, friends and health; that's what I have right now and I need to continue to nurture these more than ever. I need to help my friends and family know what to say about me in their eulogy; to build my legacy that family would be proud of and to remember me by. Last year was a difficult year. I lost my father and I had some health issues that became ...

A situation came up recently where a christian woman in her later years met a christian man and fell madly in love. It was very quick and their thinking was that if they wanted to get any quality time together with so few years left, that they needed to be together as soon as possible. So the woman packed up her bags in order to move into the home of the man to be together. Well, the gentleman was a upstanding member of a local church and also had some assigned responsibilities. So when the church leaders and pastor heard about it, they struggled with the thought of them living together. To the church, it doesn't matter that the rest of the world is doing it that way now; the church has specific guidelines as laid out by the bible. Consequently, the pastor met with this man to discuss his situation with him. But the question is this; what should the pastor be telling him? Obviously, the church believes that a man and woman must be married in order to be together. Scripture is...

My wife and I have been married 30 years this year and while it has been 30 blissful years, technology is starting to take a toll on us. Thirty years ago, it was unheard of to have a pre-nudgual agreement before you married. And while I didn't even think about it then, I'm sure trying to find a way to back peddle now! You see, my wife and I work in the same office. Thus we are together all the time. There's nothing wrong with that; in fact it's great! But one of the greatest assets I feel I brought into this relationship is being chipped away and compromised which only a pre-nudgual agreement could protect. As a technology expert, time and solitude is key to being successful. You cannot have constant interruptions impeding your God given ability to focus in order to solve the world's greatest problems. But now my wife has perfected the use of technology in the attempt to get my attention at her whim's notice. If it was just texting, cell phone, home phone, o...

On May 21, 2011, my father passed away from cancer at the age of 74. He will be dearly missed. This world lost a very special man and while his impact is small to the 7 billion people who live on this planet right now, to those who knew him, it is very hard to not have him around any more. I loved my father very much. I used to stop on my trips to our hometown to visit and he was always glad to see me. He'd love to spend time with a pint of Guinness to just sit and talk. You were always welcome and never, and I mean never, did you ever feel like you were interrupting anything that was more important than your time with him. And if you were a daughter who tended to dominate the conversations, he would sit there and listen to every word, sipping away on his Guinness; to the very end. (Actually, sis', it always allowed him to have another.) If you shared your problems, he never made you feel bad. Instead, he would show his appreciation for your ability to live life with ...

Not very good at blogging. I just read the last one and realized, it's the only one in over a year. The truth is, you can think of things to say all the time, but do you give the time to write them down? Now there's the problem. It's a matter of forming better habits, isn't it! We all need to do that in some part of our life. So, it's been on my mind to blog more consistently so that I can work on building better habits. Besides, I really do think I might have something valuable to enter that may just be of interest to someone like you out there. Everything I write should and hopefully will be a result of my own learning experiences. I realize I may have the tendency to get preachy. But the intent is to share my own experiences and how they relate to life. I've lived my life trying to do the right things; to be good to people, be a friend to others, and be faithful and trustworthy to those whom I'm close to and love. Again, the Holbrook way is to be everyo...

Being a Holbrook is alot different than being just anybody. To start with, there is a moderate history to the family dating back hundreds of years which allows us to have a little pride in who we are. For example, there are the stories of my great great grandfather Holbrook running with Buffalo Bill during the wild west years. Then there is the battle of Hollow Brook where the Holbrook's got their name from where we, as a small group, protected the King of England. But we are typically hardworking people who enjoy life. Some of us drink too much and others don't drink enough. But we all try to get along with everyone and try not to get into too much trouble. The truth is, if it wasn't for our dry sense of humour most of the time, we might be known for being a very smart group of people. But even to talk about that in this blog would be far too bold for our humble spirits to handle. After all, we are all in the same boat after a great bottle of wine or a pint of beer anyways...