Life at 40

This year I turned 40.
It wasn’t an overly-dramatic-mid-life-crisis kind of birthday, but rather a great time to reflect on where I am – where I’ve been – and conclude in general that life is good. Could I have envisioned 10 or 20 years ago just where I would be in life when 40 came a calling? Probably not. What about when I was merely 11 years old? No way. Married to a Southern boy? Living in Texas? Raising these 3 kiddos? Leading bible studies??? Not in a million years. So I was intrigued by one of Grant’s final assignments of elementary school – an essay called “My Life at 40”. As he wraps up 5th grade at the ripe ‘ol age of 11 he is making his predictions on how his path will look and where he’ll be when he hits this milestone. Right now he is only in the timeline phase of writing – but as we read it last night we were cracking up and for posterity’s sake I knew that I just had to document his ideas. Here is his timeline list of the highlights of his next 29 years…..  (with my comments added in)

2013 – Start middle school and play 1st season of tackle football
(football will be a recurring theme)
2014 – Play on the football team for Harpool Middle
(see)
2015 – Have a big growth spurt
(his greatest pain is that growth charts only put him at 5’11”)
2016 – Start high school at Guyer
2017 – Get drivers license and play Guyer football
2018 – Win a state championship with Guyer
2019 – Start taking biology classes to prepare for my future
2020 – Finish high school and go to the University of Georgia
(????)
2021 – Play on the football team at Georgia and study biology
2022 – Win the Heisman Trophy
(if you’re gonna set a goal, by gosh, set it high!)
2023 – Get a 2022 Camero
(Daddy will be proud – never lose the depreciation of buying new)
2024 – Graduate from college with a bachelors in animal science
2025 – Get drafted in the 1st round by the New England Patriots
(remember, he is a Heisman Winner….)
2026 – Become Rookie of the Year   🙂
2027 – Catch the bass that breaks US records at 23.14 lbs
(seems unrelated but remember animal science…and life after football)
2028 – Patriots win the Super Bowl
2029 – Extend my contract for 34.7 million per year
(getting a little fiction-ey in here now)
2030 – Patriots win another Super Bowl
2031 – I announce my retirement from football
(gotta go out on top)
2032 – Get married, move to NM and buy 765 acres in the mountains
2033 – Build a warehouse and start my new business, Grant’s Game Calls
(think Duck Dynasty – still out on the beards)
2034 – Make $750,000 in my first year of business
2035 – Build a mansion and start having kids
2036 – Invent the best calls in the world!
2037 – Become top voted Outdoor Brand of the Year
(is that a real award?)
2038 – Me and my crew take a hunting trip to Alaska
2039 – Have a girl and name her Nicole
2040 – My son becomes an All Star Athlete 🙂
2041 – I turn 40 years old

He then writes:

Later I retire from the business world at 49 and move to Big Sky, MT.  There I become a National Parks Ranger at Yellowstone until I am 85.  I die peacefully in my sleep at the age of 97.

Oh my sweet boy……I hope it happens just like that.

And if (when) it doesn’t, it will be perfectly different in all the best ways.  I love your goals – I love that you aim high – I love your confidence.  And I love that knowing who you are as a person means that if you fall anywhere short of a State Champion/Heisman Winning/1st Round pick/2X Super Bowl champion football player that you will take it all in stride and be no worse for it.

So I guess if I’m gonna start predicting my next 40 years I need to add in my granddaughter, Nicole, my all star grandson and a few trips to Yellowstone 🙂