I quite often think about when I was a younger man. I am now getting older, although still a young guy. I think of why I am not married, why I have no children, why I still have to work for a living-I was a pro athlete, I'm supposed to be retired by now. Where did the money go? The older a man gets, the more he realizes that the money, the women, the hero worshipers, do not matter. The old saying "you can't take it with you" stands true. I have always believed in God, always asked him for the gift of faith, always asked him for help, knowing that he does hear. And now that I think back on my life at this piont, I realize God always answered my prayers. I grew up in the toughest projects in boston and frequently asked God to get me the hell out of here. He blessed me with a dad that worked three full time jobs to move us to the suburbs. I asked god to let me be the best boxer I can be. I won every boxing title in the state, and lost by one vote for the olympic trials in 1983, was on ESPN, boxing on t.v. I asked God to let me help mankind in some way. I became a mailman in a very poor section in boston and then florida, helping people in numerous and sometimes very different ways. I have asked God for more meaning to my life. He has made me aware of the quality of friendships, the love of another human being, the importance of family, how I cherish my nieces and nephews, mom and dad. I once knew the love of a good woman. I continue to learn, and am not too proud to admit my mistakes to anyone who will ask me and maybe learn from me. I have often said that I have lived the life of five people in my short time on this earth. I have done a lot-good and bad-and the one thing that I can tell everyone....what comes around goes around. That I have REALLY learned. Jesus put it another way, let's see if I get this right.....DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE UNTO YOU, FOR WITH WHAT MEASURE YOU MEET, IT SHALL BE MEASURED BACK UNTO YOU. That is a rule to live by. In the end, and I mean the end, it isn't whether you are well educated, or have a great amount of money or power, have abused alcohol or drugs or have done steroids, or treated people wrongly, (let he who is without sin cast the first stone) It's did you learn enough from those experiences to change you as a human being, because you paid the price for your transgressions thru your life. But did it change you? Did it change you into a more compassionate human being, a more sincere person? Only the fool does not change...and that is the meaning of getting older...learning. For me, for now, I try to trust in God more than yesterday, because when I do, things turn out pretty well.

some comic relief in the cement jungle

As you all well know if you have read my last blog, I have delivered mail for two decades. My route was in a very tough neighborhood filled with housing projects. A lot of crime and human misery, tough to deal with day in and day out. But, there were times that were very comical, one such time I will now describe. There was an old lady, probably about 70 years old, she had a dog, the dogs name was William. This dog was what looked to me to be a miniature doberman, very small, I mean a very little dog. The old lady who I will call Marie, loved that little dog and thought that this dog would protect her from the drug addicts that were all over the hood, most of them were strung out and dizzy from the junk they were putting into their veins. Marie used to put the dog into a little push cart that the old ladys took to the supermarket, she would even wrap the dog in a blanket. Well let me say first that the people in the hood have great respect for the mailman, they really do, mailmen bring the people not only the checks they recieve from the state, but we watch out for those people that need it. Even the drug pushers respect that. Well anyway, I used to watch out for Marie and William, they were robbed before(thank God they were not hurt). As they walked into their development, a junkie named black came across the path of Marie and William. Now black was not really this junkies name, but, he was so dark that people called him by the name black. Black was a huge guy, I mean huge, 6ft 5inches tall 300lbs. The guy was mean as a back alley cat, very intimidating even to look at. You did not look black in the eyes because you were nervous even to pass by this dude. Well black was strung out and needed a fix, and he needed the shit now! So he stops Marie and tells her that he wants her money and starts to reach for her purse. Marie being the tough old lady that she was, starts to yell and scream at black, I look around the corner as I'm delivering the mail and see black trying to grab the purse of Marie. Now I'm dreading having to go up to black and stop him from robbing Marie, but I have no option, this sucks. As I start to walk up to intervene, Marie takes William the dog out of the push cart and tells William to get black. Don't forget, William is smaller than most of the rats in that hood, I'm not joking, I've seen cats bigger than this dog. Well William starts to bark, snarl and go after black. Black is backing up with his hands in the air like he is surrendering to the cops, as William the dog is snappimg at him and growling like a mad dog. William is going nuts and Marie is yelling for William to get 'im, black starts to high tail it out of the alley way running like hell with this tiny little dog chasing him out to the street. You have to picture this- 6ft-5inches and 300 pounds of the darkest blackness you've ever seen running down the street with a miniature doberman chasing after him from behind, the dog barking and black running for his life. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life, I laughed like hell telling that story to every mailman in the city, I'm laughing to tears now. The cops catch up to black and arrest him, but not before they have to get Marie to get William off black. I'm busting a gut as I'm writing this. So there was some comic relief to this job of mine sometimes, that was one of them.