The best year of my life

[Cantwaitanylonger]

For some reason, I have been thinking of the best year of my life.

37 Years ago, it was my first year away from home and I was a freshman at college. I roomed with complete stranger and met all of the new kids in my dorm immediately. Within a few weeks, I had a girlfriend that adored me (not sure why). I was nervous about going into engineering school but I found out that I wasn't as stupid as I thought I was (or as stupid as my high school guidance counselor told me I was). I owned an old motorcycle that I loved to ride. I was financially broke and it didn't bother me the least, I had a summer job waiting.

I made my closest friends in my life that year and still keep in contact with them. We studied hard and then partied hard daily. I let the women have their way with me....Really not a care in the world.

There was something very special about knowing where you fit, where you are going, and being excited about what the future holds.

How about your best year?

 

[pb4uski]

While college years were very good, I'd have to say the first couple years after college... working hard and partying hard and had money to spend.... sowing wild oats and later met up with DW... my best man was my roommate during those years and we are close to this day... four of us from those days 40 years ago, along with some other friends, do an overnight camping and bass fishing trip each year.

 

[kimcdougc]

I would say June 24, 1979. Met my "soul mate" after only knowing him two weeks I married him on July 11th. All this led up to the family I have. Our journey has been the most exciting, hard working, loving of my life. Life is good.

 

[Jerry1]

Had a hard time in my younger years. My best year(s) was about 2010. I started making more money than I ever thought I would, bills were no longer a concern, basically did what I wanted in fixing up my house, going places, buy stuff, going golfing, enjoying work. At that point, children were grown, but still, family life was good. Basically a time went things finally came together. It took awhile.

 

[scrabbler1]

The best year of my life was the ~12-month stretch starting in mid-February of 1988, just before I turned 25 years old.


My career was beginning to flourish, as I was getting some good pay raises and my second promotion. I was saving up some decent money (~$15k, a big amount for me back then, and it was over 100%) for a down payment on the co-op apartment I would begin the process of buying in early 1989 and still live in today.


I was enjoying some success with women, as I was a late bloomer at age ~25. I had a memorable Thanksgiving weekend that November. And I met a guy who would become my best friend for the last 30 years (the snake-bit one I have mentioned from time to time).


My next best year would be in 2003 and early 2004, when I turned 40. A lot of fun things happened in that year, too, including the growth of my interest in planning to retire early. I had some more successes with women, including meeting the one I have been in a relationship with for the last 14 years. My portfolio grew by 32%, the largest percent growth in the last 21 years. Life does begin at 40 doesn't it?

 

[Souschef]

The best year in my life has been 2007. I took my now DW to Tahiti, a dream she had since she was 17, and we were married in November on the island of Santorini.
We just celebrated our 10 th anniversary.

 

[Just_Steve]

To many good ones to choose a best one. It would be much easier to pick a worst year.

 

[Scuba]

The best year in my life has been 2007. I took my now DW to Tahiti, a dream she had since she was 17, and we were married in November on the island of Santorini.
We just celebrated our 10 th anniversary.

Wow - great story. Congratulations!

 

[Scuba]

I don’t think I can pick a best year, but the best period of my life was probably 1994-1998. During that time, I moved to a new area after getting divorced, made many new friends including someone who has been my best friend for 23 years, and met my DH. I had a lot of fun being single in 1994-5, and a lot of fun starting a new romance with DH in 1996 and ultimately marrying in 1998.

There have been a lot of good years in my life, but this period stands out for me as the best. The last 15 months since we ER’d have been pretty outstanding too!

 

[DrRoy]

I always thought that my college years were very good. They had a high ratio of freedom to responsibility. Met DW there. Now I'm 10 months FIREd. That's even better.

 

[RAE]

I always thought that my college years were very good. They had a high ratio of freedom to responsibility. Met DW there. Now I'm 10 months FIREd. That's even better.

Yeah, the same thing applies to me. College years (except for the crazy girlfriend) were a lot of fun, yet productive at the same time. Met some really great people, learned a whole lot. Then graduating and getting a good job was great (and a big relief). But the last 8 years (I retired in 2010) have been awesome as well, although in a totally different way. Now I get to do what I want, when I want..there is nothing else like it!

 

[W2R]

The older I get, the better life becomes (for me, anyway).

When I was 13, and going through the miseries of junior high school that many of us experienced at that age, my mother told me it was the best time of my life. I was horrified at that thought. I am glad that she was completely wrong about that.

 

[FIREmenow]

The next one.

 

[Nemo2]

The worst year was when I lost my late wife to cancer, and then my Border Collie.

The best year? All the others.

 

[MichaelB]

The best year of my life is yet to come.

 

[B0bL0blaw]

The year I turned 30 has to rank up there for me. Asked my wife to marry me and she said yes, hit a real groove at work where I felt like I was being challenged yet excelling and growing, we bought our home, took an amazing vacation to Spain, and just really had a lot of things go well.


I do also look back fondly at high school and college years, but I know it wasn't all peaches and cream when I was living it. My strongest memories are the good ones, though.

 

[Jeffman52]

I had some really good years when I made less money and had a better "work/life balance". I would hook up my Jon boat and go to a local lake or pond any after noon after work and fish until dark. Hunting season would roll around and I would do the same. Times seemed simpler then and they were in many ways. As the years have rolled on especially the last 5 years, my work has taken up WAYYYYYY too much of my personal life. Gotta pull the plug on this work thing ASAP just to get off that hamster wheel. But there are some really good times sprinkled in along the way and many more good times to come. We go on a Ski trip yearly with a group of friends. Over the years some of them passed on, and others are not healthy enough to Ski but the group is still going. This year is Keystone Colorado. Heading there in a couple of weeks.

 

[97guns]

I didn’t go to college so my high school years up until I was 22 was really fun but the best year of my life came in 2015 when I met my wife and I’ve been in a dream state ever since

 

[Bigdawg]

There have been some really awesome years. Senior year of HS playing for the state championship, hosting a student from France, graduating and heading off to play college football. But if I had to pick one 12 month period it would have to be Sept 1991 to Sept 1992. Just before leaving for Okinawa for a 12 month tour I witnessed first hand a SDSU freshman named Marshall Faulk come into the game for the injured starter and rush for 386 yards. I got to Okinawa where I hooked up with my boot camp buddy and started scuba diving. I was a tin bender and got to work on some incredible aircraft. Soon after getting there I had to go qualify on the rifle range. While cleaning my M-16A2 after qualifying I met a fellow Lance Corporal who I will be celebrating 25 years of marriage with come March 26th. I left that island with over 120 dives under my belt, a future DW and a future tax deduction who is himself a proud successful Marine. That year was a huge turning point and kicked off the 2nd half of my current 52 years on this planet.

 

[albireo13]

still waiting for the best year

 

[6miths]

I love the idea of the best is yet to come. There have been so many wonderful ones to be thankful for and very few truly bad ones. Life happens. Being able to make lemonade is one of life's greatest gifts. If I had to truly pick a year or years it would be childhood until the end of high school. It was an amazing time and place to be young and carefree, feel so privileged to have had it so good.

 

[Cantwaitanylonger]

I forgot to mention that I also had rock star hair and a flat gut back then. Now, not so much.

 

[Nemo2]

Following Souschef's lead.......the best was late 2003 when I met my "child bride-to-be".

Pic taken in the Fall of 2016...she's 65 to my 75:

Wouldn't want to be, or go anywhere, without her.

 

[Onward]

College, which was my first time away from home.

It was also the sunset of a life that didn't require my convincing other people to give me money.

FIRE is like a second childhood, but with all your friends in prison.

 

[Walt34]

It's hard to pick out a single best year but there were several different periods that stick out as being happy. One was the last two years of HS, I had a part time job and the income from that gave me an independence that I'd never known before. I bought a 100cc Yamaha motorcycle and rode that through the winter (and I haven't been "quite right in the head" about cold weather since). The next summer I bought a car and got a used set of chrome reverse wheels for it if anyone remembers those.

While I generally liked college, it was a commuter community college and was more of a "nose to the grindstone" period than anything else, going to classes and working part time, full time in the summer. I finished up the B.S. degree one class at a time later.

Next was after I was hired by the police department and was immediately earning half again more money than my father had at his peak. So a couple of years later I bought an airplane, a Piper Tri-Pacer that I kept for two years. What a fun two years that was! I thought it would be a "chick magnet" but when most found out it had one engine they all but ran away. Not all though, and flying to Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay for lunch and a walkaround was fun day to spend with a pretty girl.

Next has to be finally meeting and marrying DW. Next July will be 30 years of wedded bliss so I think it's gonna last.