The Numbers That Add Up to 40

I turned 40 last week; that is 14,610 days (and yes I added leap years).

If I am lucky, I have lived ½ my life; if Biotechnology can be trusted, perhaps 2/3.

I have 1 wife, and will always have this 1 wife. In August we will have been married 18 years, so when we are 44 we will have been married for half of our lives (though we dated for 5 years before that, so she has already been the 1 for over 1/2). We have 2 sons (15 and 7) and 1 daughter (13).

Of extended family I have 1 Grandmother left, though with the Alzheimer’s she wouldn’t know me. I have 2 parents that will have been married for 42 years in 4 days. My wife also still has both her parents, so our children have significant relationships with their 4 grandparents. I have 4 Uncles (having lost 1) and 3 aunts (having lost 1). I think I have 15 cousins.

I have been employed by 14 different organizations, including factories, warehouses, architectural offices, tax-preparation services, air-shipping sorting facilities, retail establishments, and schools. I am in my 2^nd year at my current School District, in my 7^th full-time teaching year after all, so I estimate I have taught around 1,000 students.

I have entertained and enriched myself by reading 688 books (not counting picture, children, or most young adult books), and am currently reading another 5. My goal is to hit 1,000 well before I turn 50. I have also read several thousand comic books and graphic novels. Of films I have seen 3379. Unless something drastic happens to free up my time I doubt this number will reach 3500 by the time I’m 50.

As a writer I have written 37 short stories, 17 of which have been published so far. I have written 1 complete novel, and 3 novels that are crawling toward completedness. By the time I am fifty I would love to have published the rest of the short stories, and at least another 4 novels.

Thank you for taking several minutes from your number of years to read of mine.

Regards,

Josh