Greetings from Norway
One more year,,,,
And "wide reaching" changes ahead,,,
Reorganizing memorabilia of the past,
to recapture some of the paths, through my life
Life is what,If not a map to explore,,
(In the thinking mind)
Once upon a time-----
YOU,, at map point zero,
oblivious to the trek ahead,
the one and only passage
towards your final death,
a million possible paths
From wide and safe with a destiny ahead;
the straight line drawn through the map.
To daring steps up slippery slopes
with unknown rewards, for the adventurous to reap
Your path through the map of your life
comes from playing or not, the cards you are dealt
Still,,, the secret of life, is
enjoying the trekNot feeling satisfied now, because of future goals,
is like celebrating your final destiny; death
Then,,,,A pleasant phone call some weeks ago,,
He called me,
asked if I was still going strong,
if I could remember 25 years ago,
a young unemployed 15 year old,
worked couple years for me,
with computers and software.
Had borrowed $100 from me, at that time
and wanted to repay his debt now.
And to say thanks, for all he had learned from me.
Then telling me he is now a software millionaire,,
Most of those who worked for me, during my life,,,
were in some ways encouraged to provoke their own comfort zone
stretching their ambitions beyond what they believed being possible
Starting their own business, or a career unimaginable for them
To the adventurous onesAn incredible "love story" that had part of it roots,
in a movie that rocked me at age 15
Iconic EasyRider from 1969
A year later I had built my own "chopper"
Doing all of it myself, all machining (longer fork legs, foot rests +++),
welding, painting (candy red with silver flakes), stitching the saddle, ++++
A younger friend of mine bought it a year later.
Then dreaming about building choppers for a living.
Many years later when we were going to California,,
he had decided not to return.
So inside the 3 month visa period,,
he had to find a woman with a double garage and marry her.
To be able to stay legally in USA, and start building choppers.
Hopefully in her double garage :-)
I agreed with most others that it was really impossible,
and especially with only $2000 in his pocket.
A slippery slope yes,, still, I thought it was worth a shot.
California proved to be, too expensive,
but there was young man from home, attending flight school in Kansas.
He had an apartment with a room to spare.
Frank found his woman, and married her.
With a double garage and within 3 months.
Great woman,, they are still happily married, with children.
The business was a long and hard journey before succeeding.
30 years later he showed up in a Norwegian TV series,
about entrepreneurs who became millionaires from nothing in USA.
I came to think about this incredible story when Frank dropped by my office
for a long, long, conversation about past and present a couple of weeks ago.
From his first webpage in the nineties.......
Among other memorabilia,
I found this enlarged photo.
"Memories of another life"
(Golden Gate, San Fransisco 1977)
Many decades ago, it covered the wall of our living room.
Me 22, the young girl 16
Driving around for a month with a rental Mustang.
In THE USA, that for me, was:
"the promised land of milk and honey"
At that time she was serving coffee and cleaning in a hardware shop.
When we split 10 years later, she was,
CEO of large company, a well known local politician,
and European TopFuel drag race record holder.
Many years later, voted "Business Woman of the Year" in Norway
To be continued..........