1. At 9 deciding to go to boarding school in Ireland - thus missing the upheaval of the Biafran Civil war.

2. Keeping my daughter, Ruth, who I had when I was 19

3. Going to live in Germany and marry Ruth's father

4. Studying social anthropology, though my preferred studies would have been sub-Saharan Archaeology - wasn't on offer at Bonn University

5. Bringing up 3 wonderful children

6. Going with the whole family to Nigeria to attend my father's Chieftaincy inauguration in 1993

7. Taking the children out of school and Kindergarten for two days and camping out on the boarders between Belgium, France and Luxemburg and experiencing my one and only total solar eclipse on August 11, 1999

8. Going to the USA (2003) with my two daughters and visiting Atlanta (my brother and his family) Phoenix (Niece's wedding) and driving from Phoenix- via Grand canyon and Las Vegas to Los Angeles

8. Taking on a job in the area of international vocational education and travelling to India (seeing the amazing Taj mahal) and Ethiopia and many European countries

9) Taking the plunge and moving back to Ireland after over 40 years in Germany in 2017

10 ... so many other experiences... and some I left out... not to forget seriously taking up writing in 2018

Thank you, Elena, for the prompt to reflect...