Jim and I were a couple of years apart...me born in 1949, Jim in 51....our families [my dad and Jim's mom were first cousins} moved from the small berg of Scott, Ohio, to SW Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico, South Venice, in 1954 was our first stop, the Polings ended up in Englewood, and the Houseworth bunch in Venice. Another brother of dad's, John, joined us in Florida a few years later. Eventually there would be 6 of us male cousins...2 Poling boys, my brother Mike, me, and our Houseworth Cousin, Gary...a younger male, Kim Poling, would come along later but he was much younger and not that old when the Polings moved back to Scott in the early 60s...we would follow along about the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, moving to Celina, some 30 miles south of Scott. Gary and his dad's family would stay in Venice.
Anyway my point being, out of the 5 older males, all born between December 1946 {Mike and Gary} and Jim in June 1951...I am the only one of those male cousins left...Kim is still around, back down in Florida...but Jack{killed in Vietnam} and Gary, Jim, both via Heart Attacks, and Mike, a form of cancer, are all gone...not one made it to 70. Here I am 69 years 4 months...might make it, might not...you never know what God has in his plans?
Regardless, it is time for me to finally give up Officiating and Umpire work...the Summer Heat has been brutal for lack of a better description....so I will finish up the ACME District at Lima Central Catholic tonight, and then work the State ACME Semi Finals at Defiance this weekend, I will then hang up the Baseball Gear, next to the Football and Basketball "stuff" already on the shelves....
We will see where we go from there...but for now, my decision is final...the mind is willing but the aging body? Not so much....
back later>>>>
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