Toss the dice.
Take a chance.
Not easy for a woman who hates to gamble. But nothing in life is ever a sure bet.
Not signing up for the doctor’s draft because the war in Vietnam was winding down.
Deciding to have our first child a bit too early with no guaranteed income.
Buying our house without enough saved yet for the down payment.
Starting a new school with no money, equipment, or supplies.
Writing a book at age 70.
Downsizing to a condo during the pandemic.
Balancing safety with sanity to survive COVID-19.
Hoping not to roll snake eyes.
Not easy for a woman who hates to gamble. But nothing in life is ever a sure bet.
RetroFlash/100 words
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Laurie LevyBoomer. Educator. Advocate. Eclectic topics: grandkids, special needs, values, aging, loss, & whatever. Author: Terribly Strange and Wonderfully Real.
Characterizations:
right on!, well written
Wonderful Flash, Laurie. You certainly have taken chances and rolled that dice many times. So far, your luck seems to have held. Good for you…keep holding that hot hand!
Since the pandemic started, I feel like I’ve been coming up empty. I guess the chances I take are being with friends and family when it is a safe bet.
What an eye-opener to learn all the risks an unassuming, petite, early childhood educator took to get where she’s at!
Life certainly is a crapshoot Laurie, and love the femme fatale in the photo!
Thanks, Dana. I have no idea who took that picture of me this year or why I made that pose. It does somehow seem perfect for 2021. I hope for a less sinister photo for 2022.
Wonderful RetroFlash, Laurie, about all the times you have tossed the dice. And I love the photo too – was it taken specially for this prompt, or did you just happen to have it in your collection?
Thanks, Suzy. As I told Dana, I found the picture in this year’s collection when I was making a family photo calendar. I have no idea what possessed me to strike that pose and suspect my granddaughter took it.
As you say, “Nothing in life is a sure bet,” and as I like to say, “Life is a crap shoot.” Love that photo, Laurie!
Thanks, Barb. Lately, both expressions apply to life during a pandemic. Going out soon is have lunch with my husband’s triple-vaxxed sisters in one of their condos. Seems like a safe bet, but these days anything I do feels like rolling the dice.
Laurie, how true, and all perfect examples from your own life. We hope to break even (like the gambler in the song) and maybe win some now and then.
You are so right, Marian. I never expect to win, but will happily settle for breaking even these days.
Great metaphorical take on “rolling the dice,” Laurie. And the RetroFlash format works perfectly.
Most importantly, you highlight just the sort of life-changing risks that truly are not for the weak of heart. Or the unlucky. But it sounds like you hit the jackpot every time, Madame Gambler!
That’s because I only selected the hands I won, John (LOL). But we do roll the dice any time we leave the house these days. All and all, I think I have been a lucky lady for someone not inclined to gamble.
A great litany of risks, Laurie, from draft resistance to your own sub-prime mortgage caper. The book at 70 also seemed to fit alongside your other capers but I think best of all, the portrait of the snake-eyed mad woman staring out from behind her safety/sanity net! I think you should use that photo on the back of your next publication!
You are right about that photo, even though I have no recollection of posing for it. Most likely, my granddaughter took it when I wasn’t paying attention. I can’t believe we bid on a house with full confidence that somehow we would save the rest of the money for the down payment. Of course, those were different times (1975). There was no way either of our parents would have bailed us out. I think we were so young and confident that we definitely rolled the dice on that one.
I did the same, one year earlier. $28k & $3k down got us a house that’s now worth at least $1.5 mil in sky-high SF. It served us well!
https://www.myretrospect.com/stories/the-kitchen/