Was there any time in your life you loved the most. I enjoyed my childhood years, free from most worries, except the part when I had to wake up each morning and head off to school.
The evening I met with my wife at a local Denny's for the first time. She had answered a personal ad, that I had placed, and we decided to meet at the Denny's. That was 21 years ago and our marriage has been wonderful since. It took me 21 years of being single/divorced to find her and I finally did. She looked absolutely super in her Roper brand jeans, beautiful western top and wearing a straw cowboy hat.
Glad it turned out well for you. When I look back 21 years, I think my troubles may have started just then.!!
@Susan Paynter As a young adult, just out of high school, I was basically a social drop-out. I lacked the physical attributes of height, being "pretty" to the girls, and was turned down requesting dates. My guy friends, however, basically helpless when it came to their cars, loved how I could make them run. So we hung out together, playing lots of softball and racing cars. Until a new family moved in a few doors away from Germany. They had a daughter! 15 years old, and already an accomplished, licensed Beautician (Cosmetologist), spoke no English, and I managed a bit of German, spurred on by a year of that language in school, and given incentive to help her with English. She was gorgeous, Polish, tall, statuesque but skinny where it added most emphasis. Her waist measured 23 inches! The family knew a young Pole Dentist, single, and very much wanted her to date him. She believed him to be only after "one thing", so declined. Not that I was not, of course, but being shy and backward, it just took a bit longer. Soon enough, we were spending so much of each other's spare time together that her mother thought we should get married. After two years we felt "married", so decided to do it! A small stumbling block entered which required a non-Catholic marrying a Catholic to sign a paper guaranteeing children produced would be raised Catholic. I could not in good faith put my name to a lie which I fully such decree would have been. The compromise was marriage in a Lutheran Church. This was in July, 1965. Today, I know of only 3 people who attended the ceremony who are still living: my new wife, our Best Man Charlie, and myself. Did I mention that her name was Zuzanna? Translated to Susanne, everyday use Susan!
It had to be my 20s for me. I did not go to college out of high school, family life had been less than perfect, I was out on my own so got a little distance, just got a job I loved installing security systems, which led me to taking night classes at community college. I felt as though I had direction, and was making up for those lost years of being disengaged in high school. Perhaps that path was meant to be, as I was astonished at how many of my classmates were on the same work/school track I was, yet were less interested in getting something from it and more interested in just skating by. I could not understand giving up all that free time just to do the minimum...I had slacked off during my teen years, but not at that age. I guess my prior malaise made me hungry to do well. In many ways I continue to retain my hunger for knowledge because of those wasted years in high school. I was not real athletic in high school (played a little tennis) but found my sport in racquetball at that time. I also got into bike riding to the point I would commute to work (12 miles each way), sometimes biking to play racquetball at 6AM, getting breakfast afterwards, biking the rest of the way in to work, then biking home again in the afternoon. I joined a bike club and went on short trips and on long weekend trips. I was pretty slight, so those were both good sports for me. And all that cardio was good for my head. The job I had at the time got me into a decent career path (purchasing & inventory management) that carried me for 2 decades and then transitioned into computer & analysis work. It was a great opportunity for a guy who only had a high school diploma at the time, and I took full advantage, doing work-related research at the library on the occasional Saturday and getting processional certifications. Everything seemed so new.
My best age was in my 50's and 60's. The 3-1/2 years between my first and present wife were a continuous blast! I'm enjoying my 80's, but not as much, due to my emerging physical annoyance of Arthritis.
40-49 any year in my forties. I have never wished to be 16 again. If I could be any age it would be in my forties.
From 35 to 55. I raised my 2 great daughters, saw them graduate from h.s., then off to college, marry, then one to grad school, and then to visit them, and see my grand kids born.
Being in my twenties a time of self discovery for me about me. Being a single parent, returning to college after 11 years to complete my last year, a time of setting goals to better myself and for my family. A very challenging time of those 'firsts.' A lot of personal growth.