I am reflecting on my life experiences here in Cleveland, Ohio, as my wife and I go through 50 years of our life’s possessions (otherwise known as stuff), deciding what we will leave behind for an estate sale, and what personal belongings will go to our Florida location. I am one of the few lucky ones to have a potential buyer with a legally binding contract on my Ohio home.
This process is one that your kids usually go through when you die, so we have saved them the trouble. Having your adult life reviewed before your eyes in a few days is a bittersweet experience. Looking at old photos and reading old letters and documents reminds one of how great things were in simpler times in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and also how crude communications were compared to the technology we have today. However, I feel sorry for today’s generation who have little time for deep analysis and pensive thought in their lives and only have sound bites to get their news, and little quality time with their spouse and children; where multi-tasking is the desired skill and there is little patience for focus, concentration, and meditation.
Based on what I see coming our way and coupled with the rapidly changing geopolitical environment, I am glad that at my current age, I won’t have to deal with most of it in the future. However, I am optimistic about America. Although we are going to go through a difficult time, we will eventually purge ourselves of this growing socialist tendency and the political correctness that has completely subverted our value system. After all, we are the last bastion of freedom on this planet; after us there is no hope, no resort.
So, I will say goodbye to Northeast Ohio after 22+ years of wonderful memories, great people, beautiful rolling hills and majestic greenery. I will miss the seasonal changes, the great sports tradition of the Browns and the Indians, and what might have been with LeBron. Cleveland, once a great manufacturing metropolis at the turn of the century, home to John D. Rockefeller and many Presidents, now finds itself struggling for survival in this new service-oriented economy. It may never be what it once was, but with its great people, ethnic diversity, family values and tradition, it will take its place as one of the great cities in the glorious history of this great country we call America!
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George: Cleveland was the first really big city I ever encountered. At the start and early years of WW2. It was a hustling dynamic city. Beautiful buildings. And a favorite memory is meeting and hearing Art Tatum play in a bar on Euclid Ave. in E. Cleveland circa 1942.
ReplyDeleteRoy:
ReplyDeleteI heard a lot about the jazz clubs on Euclid in the 40's and 50's with so many music greats who performed there. Too bad nothing ever stays, as you know.It must have been great to meet Tatum, such a jazz icon.
George
As someone who moved 18 times in the last 31 years, I'd like to offer my compassion and this bit of "wisdom" -- you are one of only 150,000 who make up the city of your destination (not counting the winter crowd) and you bring to it the knowledge and experience you stored up as you were elsewhere. Yes, those may have been nostalically sweeter times, but the best years of our lives are always those ahead...because the open doors which would have never been walked through had you stayed where you were. So as you sift through stuff and part with the past, do not focus on the "good-bye Ohio" -- focus on the "hello Florida" -- you are leaving a trail here already and are wanted and needed.
ReplyDeleteMarina
Marina:
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. I certainly view this experience as a renewal in one's life journey, and I'm happy to have this part of the process behind me.
George