HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA-PEPPER!

Hooray, my 2nd Birthday celebrated on steemit!

I've been documenting a little of my activities today so that I can share a bit of "a day in the life of @papa-pepper" with you in the near future. I know that some wonder, and although you get a lot of glimpses, I figured I'd put together some events from one actual day, and what better day than my birthday?

This morning, I stopped in at the new gratefulvibes discord channel https://discord.gg/y863T7m and got to hear @paradise-found and @sunnylife sing "Happy Birthday" to me! What a wonderful start! When you combine that with the high value of SBD, it sure is a good day to celebrate being a steemian too!

TRAGEDIES ON MY BIRTHDAY

Not every December 8th has been a happy one in world history. The very day that I was born, back in 1980, was also the day that John Lennon was shot and killed. For that reason, many "older" people actually remember the day that I was born, but for another reason. Tragedies have a way of hitting home with people and causing them to remember where they were or what they were doing the day that they heard certain news, and the murder of John Lennon was one of those events.

Then, in 2004, on my 24th birthday, “Dimebag” Darrell, the guitarist from Pantera was shot and killed on December 8th. I remember hearing that he was shot, but when I realized that he died, then it hit home. While I remember the death of "Dimebag" and had always known about John Lennon, I just realized today that back in 1982, the singer Marty Robbins also died on my birthday. He died from complications from a heart attack, so at least he wasn't shot. For those of you who are not familiar with Marty Robbins, here is my favorite song that he recorded.

EL PASO - Marty Robbins

REFLECTING

Here I am today, already 37 years old. Sometimes I may look or act younger, but that's the truth of the matter. It seems in many ways that I am just beginning my life, since we stand at the doorway of our entire new future on the homestead that we are building. However, I've already been married over a decade and a father for almost eight years now.

I think that a lot of my youth was completely wasted, as I paid little attention in school (though I get really good grades) and then just did whatever I felt like for about the next decade after graduating high school. I wandered aimlessly, lived for pleasure, and thankfully escaped with my life and health.

It is sad to think that it took me so many years to understand the things that I now do. I am so blessed to have been made aware of the common "slavery" of people these days and also to have a wonderful wife who was just crazy enough to go a completely different route than the majority of Americans currently are. I can taste the freedom that awaits us every day, and step by step, we are working to teach and train our @little-peppers so that they won't have to waste so much of their lives trying to free themselves from economic bondage and the woes of modern society.

To close, I've got to once again share how fortunate I am to be here, with all of you, on steemit at this time. It truly is a revolutionary platform with amazing potential, and we are just get started!

I cannot stress enough that steemit ultimately is what we make it. We each have something to contribute, and different ways of playing a role in the community. I think that many have appreciated the way that I've interacted here, and I don't mind leading by example. I just hope that you all do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do! Thanks for being here to share my birthday with! STEEM ON!

As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:

proof-of-birthday

Until next time…

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