Rant #3,843: Happy Anniversary

There isn't much doing in my neck of the woods at the moment.

There is nothing new on my car accident, and really, it is very quiet as we move through this week into next.

I have that eye procedure next week, to repair my partially detached retina, and while i am not exactly looking forward to going through this, it needs to be fixed, so now is the time.

Having good vision is an imperative, so I like that this week has been a bit slow, so I can properly prepare myself for this.

At this point, I just want it done so I can move on with my life.

I got through a torn quad muscle in my left leg twice, I am managing with all the fallback from the prostate procedure I had, I have some other issues, but I have managed to surmount them, so I am sure I will get through this latest thing with flying colors.

I am a tough guy, I guess, and I go back to being brought up in Rochdale Village, South Jamaica, Queens, New York, during my formative years, age seven through 14.

What l learned from my seven years there is to find ways to persevere, even under the most volatile of experiences.

There was so much going on in the old neighborhood--and in New York City--during my years there, from 1964 to 1971, and I learned to make the best of bad situations.

It made me a stronger person, and I have carried that through all these years.

And for that, I would like to wish my old neighborhood a happy 62nd anniversary.

It is belated--it actually happened in mid-November--but better late than never.

The first of the development's 20 buildings welcomed its maiden tenants in November 1963--just prior to the JFK assassination--and my family and I moved into our apartment there in July 1964--and my world changed.

I met new people--making life-long friends in the process--saw buildings being constructed literally from the wood up, and as a seven year old, it was an exhilarating, life-changing experience--

Which I carry with me to this day.

It wasn't all good, it wasn't all bad, but it was all exciting to this wide-eyed kid.

It made me stronger, more resilient, and more of a person--the good and the bad, and even the great and the horrible.

I think those seven years made me the person I am today, for better or worse.

So happy 62nd birthday to Rochdale Village, my old hometown.

You can take the boy out of Rochdale, but you can't take Rochdale out of the boy.