Accomplishments at 60

When I was a senior in high school (1968), I made a list of goals. First, I wanted to graduate from college. Second, I wanted to see the world. Third, I wanted a home and family. And fourth, I wanted to make $20,000.
Let's address the last first. Adjusted for inflation, I'd have to make about $100k to make the equivalent of 20k in 1968. I did make that when I was in Japan, but I don't now. Still, I make enough to achieve the other goals.
I graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with honors in English. Since I was the first kid in my large family to accomplish this, my mother drove from Houston all the way across Texas with fresh Gulf shrimp on ice in the back and my little sister and a niece up front with her. It took me seven years, but I had no debt and never needed help from my mother to pay for my studies. Then quite a few years later, I finished my MA in Teaching Foreign Language (with distinction) at Monterey Institute of International Studies, with a Certificate to Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages thrown in. So I exceeded my educational goals by quite a bit.
I have been to 24 foreign countries, many of them for extended periods, not just on vacation, but on job assignments. The army sent me to Germany for 10 years, and my Department of Defense job sent me to Japan for 5 years. I've spent extended periods of time (a month or more) in France, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Latvia, Tajikistan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Egypt. I've spent more than a month in Massachusetts, California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. I've seen more countries than I dreamed I would, but I still have some travel goals: I want to see sub-Saharan Africa while there are still wild animals; I want to see Alaska and Hawaii; I'd like to see mainland China.
As successful as I've been in other areas, I've been luckiest of all with my family. Vera has been the perfect wife for me - educated, sensitive, artistic, loving, faithful, but also strict and demanding when she needed to be. I have now spent 22 years with my soul mate, and for that I am deeply grateful. We also have three sons, all smart and talented young men with good hearts. My biggest remaining mission is to see them graduate from college. After that, I want to play with some grandchildren!
Overall, I have to be really happy with my life. Dr. Stephen Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) calls this "Begin with the end in mind." Vera took his training seminar before I did, and she came back immediately from the workshop and said, "You do this!" I guess that' s true, and maybe it's the main reason I've managed to achieve my goals. That, and we've always been blessed - Someone has been watching over us.