On May 31st – we are going on another Alaskan Cruise on the Celebrity Solstice, we are taking the inside passage route. Most people our age probably haven’t been on a cruise before.. I’m pleased to say that this will be our 2nd cruise.

I kind of surprised myself by expressing the desire to go on this type of cruise in the first place. I used to be a drinker and like to party. One day about 24 years ago I decided to stop drinking. Personally I don’t want to fit into any sterotype, saying as nicely as possible – outside of close friends, people don’t know the real me.

My definition of a “good time” is a world away from what it used to be, instead of being on a ship and acting like a drunk fool. I have all my faculties about me at all times.. and I’ve spent about 6 decades (by his count) 😂😂😂 being sober. And instead of partying and fooling around, I’ve spent that time learning more about databases, networks, firewalls, and hacking then you could ever imagine. Why?

I will say something that will give you insight into how I think.. but it’s going to be uncomfortable… back in the day – for a long while, due to big issues with my mom, my wife and I were not on speaking terms with my parents. Out of the blue, we got an invite to come down to their house on Northview Crescent in Steinbach for supper, and I let myself think that maybe this would be a chance for a new start. At the very least it was a pleasant surprise for sure.

So we sit down for supper, and about part way through the meal, my mom brings up my adoption, tells me that dad had been hesitant on adopting me. I looked over at him, and he looked pale. She spent the next half hour telling me how my dad never wanted some good for nothing Indian in our home, that he thought they were useless drunks and so on, then my dad proceeded to say all things my mom had said in private and was just as hurtful. After about 45 minutes of listening to that, I didn’t say a word, I got up and we left. To my wife’s credit, it was upon her insistence that we kept in touch with them, I was surprised to some degree that I forgave them.

That was one reason, in a long list of reasons why I vowed to God that I’d never take another sip of alcohol for the rest of my life. And over time, changes to my lifestyle redefined what I enjoyed, I matured and changed into a completely different person unrecognizable from who I used to be. While I’ve seen some people stay in the same place over years or conversely have their best years behind them in college, I’ve thrived wildly over the years, ever increasing in responsibility, wealth, prosperity, and understanding. I don’t mean this in some arrogant way; I stopped drinking, put down a strong firm foundation of living for God and have been building on it ever since. God has blessed me so much, its still hard for me to digest it all.

And this takes us back to the beginning, the guy I used to be couldn’t have enjoyed an Alaskan cruise – and now, I enjoy it fully, making the most out of the trip, I’m so happy to be going back to Alaska, its beautiful and scenic, every visual just breathtaking… I’m not just saying/writing the words; I mean it, you have to go on the cruise to fully appreciate how beautiful it is.. it is so peaceful. I warmly suggest if you ever get the chance to go, bring a monocular – its great for viewing at a distance.

Jason