Sounds awesome, I am not quite at the same age as you but close and like you I was and still am a digger, inquisitive and not prone to follow trends or fads. I was in the crossover time up till Junior High school, but the early parts were much as yours, my High School was really tough and one of the best in the country, more PHD’s have come from there than any other HS in the Country. You had to apply to get in and the curriculum was rigorous and explorative
Love your profile, I understand you and I am a lifelong learner and will be so till it is dirt nap time
Enjoy your time left, I really enjoyed your post, and yes I do enjoy helping others to open their minds and ask questions, to search not just accept
Spend a lot of time reading these days. Still digging into history through books. If I was younger and had money I’d be on the road to a historical society, or to a library to search through old newspapers on microfilm, or at the National Archives to dig through their records. I spent a lot of my vacations there, going through Civil War military records. At the time my dream was to be able to be locked into the Archives and have all night to search through stuff.
My mother...God Bless her, enjoyed reading, and she read to me when I was little. I can still remember that. My favorite story was “Rapunzel.” I was the baby of the family, and so she had the time to spend with me. She’d take me to the local branch library so I could get books. It was one of the reasons I was able to read before I even went to Kindergarten.
I used to ask God to let me live long enough so that I could read all the books in my bookcases, but then I’d cheat and buy more books. I’m not asking for much in the afterlife, just some good books to read, and my flavored coffees. That’s it, and I’ll be content.
Hope you’re content too.