My name is Robert, I am 80 years old, divorced, with two of the most wonderful kids in the world: Kimberly, who is 38, and Karl, who is 33. I am a young looking 80, healthy, but not wealthy. I do all right, but I’ll never live in the mansion on the hill – think small shack in Booneville.
As to what I am, that is hard to pin down – I am still changing. Like everyone, I am a mixture of good and not so good. Some things have been constant. I am a poet and a mathematician, and a retired hardware engineer by trade (who has fallen into software times). Somehow “engineer” means a person governed by logic, but that has never worked for me. I design by intuition, and then use logic to “verify my witchcraft”. But it does mean that I am a “head” person.
Since 1999 I have been very active with Vipassana meditation retreats and other activities at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre. I guess you might say I am on a spiritual quest. In that quest I have discovered that there is just so much you can do by looking inward and now feel the importance of relationships. My ex-wife and I are friends, and we had a friendly divorce, with caring on both sides and a mediator to help us across the few rough spots.
In most matters, I am somewhat eclectic – I pick and choose rather than accept the whole package. A little of this, a little of that, trying to keep the good and avoid the bad. At this point in my life I am trying to stop denying what is true and affirming what is false, a bad habit I have had up to now. Maybe doing the opposite will make me happier.
Talking and listening are my favorite pastimes. But beware: I tend to overdo the talk and under do the listen. Recently, my four-year old grandson, the Magnificent Caulder, said to me “Grampa, listen more”.
Driven by curiosity (which may explain my fondness for cats), I consider myself a seeker. Kimberly (my daughter) said that is a terrible thing to be. Until recently I thought I was looking for something, but it now seems as if I just enjoy looking.
I am gregarious loner, a very open closed person, and stay mostly by myself when I am not with someone. A bit of a stay-at-home, but I do get out – with friends, hiking, movies, theater, and other adventures.
Every since she was a child, my daughter Kimberly often said “Daddy, when you are an old man I will take care of you”. Now I am an old man and she has kept her promise. I am retired and living with my daughter and her family in Auburn Washington. I spend my time reading, hiking in the woods, playing with technological toys, visiting my family and friends, and taking short “see America first” trips. Most mornings I am playing with technology and afternoons I enjoy the miles of hiking trails in and around Auburn.
Robert Bruce Johnston