In the early 90s, I was on a Jacksonville, Florida beach talking to my friend’s Uncle Harold. Uncle Harold noticed my white t-shirt sporting a picture of a man wearing mountaineering goggles standing on the summit of Mt. Everest. Uncle Harold asked me, “Is that you?” I laughed and told him I picked up this t-shirt from a vendor at a tech conference. I then asked him, “Have you been to Everest?”

He replied, “I’ve been to base camp.”

Seventeen days before my 50th birthday, I was standing at 17,500 feet above sea level at Mt. Everest Base Camp.