"On Life and Love After 50" Newsletter
by Thomas P. Blake
Each Friday, I publish the On Life and Love After 50 Newsletter by email. I call my subscribers Champs, because that is what they are. Our
Champs live across the USA and Canada, and in many foreign countries. Their
living situations vary greatly. Some live in the same cities in which they grew
up. Others, like Joanne, have lived in many different states.
In
early April, 2015, before my partner Greta and I left on our trip to Europe, Joanne
updated me about her living situation. She said, “I have lived all over the
country and have enjoyed every minute. Right now, I am in Albuquerque and I
like it here. I’m not considering moving again. I have met so many people and
learned so much from them it has been a great experience.”
I responded to Joanne by
asking:
“How did you come to choose Albuquerque? From where before that? Is making
friends there difficult?”
Joanne
said, “I had never lived in New Mexico. I lived in Georgia, California, Texas,
Nevada (Las Vegas), Hawaii, Arkansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, and
there may be a few more.
“Five
years ago, a friend asked me if I wanted to move back to Georgia. Something was
pushing me in that direction. When I got there, after a few months, I found out
he had cancer. He has been a great friend and I was so glad I was there. It
gave me a lot of time to spend with him before he passed away.
“On
my way to Georgia from Las Vegas (he used to ‘talk’ me across the country), I
told him I had never lived in New Mexico and thought I should at some point. I
was born and raised in Michigan but never liked it.
“When
I found this apartment in Albuquerque, I ‘jumped’ on it. I love it here and
moved about eight weeks ago. (Now, it has been 16 weeks). I’m a ‘people person’
and never have much trouble meeting people. Everyone I have met so far seems
nice, and, of course, I always have my radar up and working."
Joanne continued: People
are the same everywhere you go. They have different faces and names but
still the same traits. I keep saying if whatever you are looking for isn’t in
Albuquerque, you probably don’t need it! At 70 now and thinking I should
probably sit still. I’m sure you’ve noticed this too, but the farther west you
go, the less uptight people are. I love the diversity in the people here too.
Also, the Native American culture fascinates me and there is a lot of that
here.”
I
know of another woman Champ who also moved to Albuquerque; perhaps she and Joanne
will get together sometime.
In
reading Joanne’s email, I couldn’t help but think of the Johnny Cash song,
“I’ve been everywhere.” In the song, Johnny rattles off the places he’s been
including Albuquerque. That could be Joanne’s theme song. (I traveled with Johnny Cash often in the 1970s when he did radio commercials for Victoria Station, the restaurant chain, for whom I was marketing director. For more information on Tom's association with Johnny, see the link at the end of this article)
But one thing Joanne said in her email really struck a chord with Greta and me: “People are the same everywhere you go.”
We have met many different people on our trip. Here we are in Germany, a country that our country was at war with some 70+ years ago. And yet, the people here, and in Hungary, and in Austria, where we’ve also been on this trip, are very similar to us. They want peace, love and harmony in the world.
Greta
and I believe that as we travel these foreign lands, we can make a very small
contribution to world harmony by being friendly, considerate, respectful and
interested in what the local people have to say. We are tiny diplomats of peace
in the world.
Two
recent examples: On Sunday, in the pouring rain, we popped into a coffee shop
in Bamberg, Germany, to escape the cold and wet. A young waitress, about 20 years
old, was so excited when she found out that we were from California, she said,
“Oh, I can’t believe this,” and was so friendly to us (the coffee shop was
filled with young students) that we gave her our email address in case she
wants to visit.
On
Tuesday, Greta and I were walking across the Main Bridge in Wurzburg, Germany.
Near the middle of the river, we sat on a concrete bench to enjoy the beauty
around us--a large castle with vineyards growing on steep hills up to the
castle, beautiful churches, river barges passing below on the river, stately Roman
statues on the bridge--when we noticed near us a family--grandpa, grandma, son
and granddaughter taking a bottle of Wurzburg-labeled champagne and crystal
goblets out of their shopping bag. The son popped the cork.
We
photographed them toasting on the bridge. They saw us. The older gentlemen
asked me in German to take a picture with their camera. He started explaining
in German what the occasion was. Then he asked where we were from. California. With
that, he switched to broken English, very broken, and excitedly told us about
his visit to the American west some 10 years before. His son came over and
translated for us.
The
older couple’s daughter was in Italy. It was her birthday. The man showed me
the gift and card wrapped in bright yellow paper he had for her.
They
had told her they would be toasting to her at that time on that bridge. They
wanted a picture with us. It was a small-ambassador moment, very heartwarming; borders,
war memories and language barriers were replaced with friendships and hand
shaking.
The
message today was inspired by Joanne’s email. Wherever we travel in the world,
wherever we live, for the most part people are the same--they want love and
harmony and peace in the world.
Enjoy more stories on www.findingloveafter60.com
To read about Tom's friendship with Johnny Cash, visit this website:
Tom's book: Prime Rib & Boxcars. Whatever Happened to Victoria Station?
Book cover: Tom and Johnny Cash in 1976
To read Tom's travel columns, go to this website: www.TravelAfter55.com
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