My final blog post should give everyone a break

 This is the final post of my blog, which I've been writing more than 11 years. Enough is enough -- for me and I'm sure for anyone still reading. I'm tired, and so's my prose. At my age, I need to focus entirely on our family and staying healthy enough on the doorstep of 68 to raise two remarkable children with my wife. My daughter will be starting school soon and will need my full support. My son gets more energetic and challenging each day. Doing anything well requires time and commitment, and I have neither for writing a blog at this point. So, here are some final thoughts:
* I want to use this space to apologize to anyone and everyone I've ever offended in person or in print, or in any way, really. I'm sorry, although I realize this means little now. But since I can't turn back the clock, I'll live with my offenses and try to be a better person as I play the end game. 
* Life in Vietnam has given me a remarkable wife and two fantastic children. I know I'm very fortunate and probably don't deserve what I've got now (but I'll take it). The amount of time I've been able to spend with my children, especially my daughter Joanna, has changed my outlook, perspective and attitude. My limited vocabulary prevents me from describing how amazing and life-altering Joanna, my son Elijah and wife Phuong have been for me. (My therapist has contributed as well.)
* I'm living in the land of hurry up. I'm not sure what the hurry is here and why people feel compelled to get ahead of someone else. A handful of cars have politely stopped when they see me crossing the road with one of my children in a white-striped "zebra", but motorbikes and other cars will race around the Good Samaritan and almost hit us. This kind of stuff happens in every country, I'm sure. It happened to me in Peru when I taught there, and in the U.S. when I lived there. Traffic and line-cutting can be real downers.
* Last week I took Joanna swimming and she insisted I take her to a fish shop about a mile away. I don't know the place well but the guy working there looked rough. He banged into me carrying buckets and glared. I stayed outside while Joanna went inside to look at fish, and I hear that guy SCREAMING, and it turns out he's SCREAMING at Joanna. Some woman who also works there starts to usher Joanna out the door. I ask "why?" in Vietnamese because I obviously want to know what happened. The woman just laughs, and Joanna insists she didn't touch anything. Joanna asked me "why did that man yell at me?"  The guy then starts SCREAMING at both of us, motioning aggressively for us get out. I tell him to F-off and take Joanna away. The man starts to charge toward me and the woman gets between him and me and my daughter. This guy looks like he may have spent much of his life incarcerated and I suspect he wouldn't think twice about severely injuring or perhaps killing someone like me in a fight. If my daughter was doing something awful in the store, normal protocol would be to ask her dad to take her out of the store. That doesn't happen here. Joanna has been barked at in a bakery, supermarket, at a pool, pharmacy, coffee shop and fish shop for being overly inquisitive or touching things she probably shouldn't have been touching. Easier to yell or bark at a child, I guess, even when her dad is present. This ignorant behavior from "grown-ups" creates conflict. It's lazy and not real bright, either.
* But for every bully there are so many more people in Vietnam who are friendly, kind and giving. I recently tried to help a young man with his English for a visa interview, and his parents gave me wonderful honey with exotic tea. Other students have given lobster, clothing, coffee mugs. Folks here love to give regardless of how much or how little they have. That's what's impressive. Neighbors share with each other constantly.  My daughter often says: "Sharing is about giving, not taking." (She got that from a video.) People here share. Many people smile at me and my children whenever we're out. They compliment my daughter or son when we go walking. (Sometimes they'll ask how old my "son" is when I'm with Joanna, but no worries. They mean well and that's what counts.) Good stuff all the way around. And more positve news: litter is down considerably here with the presence of more trash cans in parks and on the streets. Better restaurants are opening, meaning more food that I'm used to is available. Damn foreigners.
* There are too many people to mention who've been helpful and important to me. Some won't even speak to me, but they've been a positive influence nonetheless. ... I finish with a little more than 80,000 all-time hits on the blog. My Kindle reading streak is at 964 days in a row. I haven't had a drink in 32 months and a cigarette in over five years. I know .... those are just numbers. But for me they're important because I've learned that the past doesn't have to control the present or future. We can take control with what we do now. Thanks for reading, everyone. See you on the other side.  L8R