where was MapQuest?

Views: 1,438
Added: Fri. Nov 30, 2007 5:20pm
Posted in: Lifelong Learning

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of all the capabilities on the Internet, one of those I am most in awe of is MapQuest... you simply type in the from and to points, click enter and in a matter of seconds get a map along with detailed driving directions... this is in comparison to years long past you went to a local gas station, got a FREE map and plotted your own trip... if desired, you could even send away a preprinted post card and get a travel package which included a map with your route outlined... the oil companies provided that service free, and they weren't even making the profits they enjoy today... ah, the good old days....

one thing lacking back then - and even now - is a MapQuest for our lives... there was no computer program to plug in the date you were born and see exactly where your life would take you, how long the journey nor the interesting points along the way... I venture to say no one back in high school could see the route their lives would take in that journey to today... even those contemplating college had no precise idea where that path would take them... a few had already met their future wives, in time married, and maintained that marriage for all these years - an amazing feat in this day and age... but for most of us we confidently and blindly charged into the future convinced the best was yet to come, oblivious to the detours ahead...

I know for each of us that road from then to now had many unexpected turns, many hills to climb and interesting stops along the way... that we've managed to take that journey yet still, in some measure, arrive at the same point is a testament to our blessings and good fortune... and best of all, there are still a few more miles we will get to travel down life's road... and for that, I don't need MapQuest - just family and a few good friends...