I can't imagine a life without fly fishing. Then again some people can't imagine their lives without their children. I don't have kids and never planned to. It wasn't in the cards for me. The kicker is that I'm a teacher. Any pings of regret or melancholy (and there still are some) have disappeared with my ability to make a difference in the lives of my students. I don't have an easy job but then again somehow life evened out. If I had children then I probably never would have become a teacher. I wonder how our lives would have been different if we had never picked up a fly rod or found FAOL.