I’ve thought about writing for a very long time but thinking and doing are two different things.

When I graduated from high school, I wasn’t very good at thanking people for my graduation gifts, so my mom gave me a ditto master (Most of you don’t know what that is, but it was two giant leaps before the copy machine.) so I could write “one big thank you” for everyone.  My mom passed a few years ago, and I found one of those thank yous.   I had written it to my grandfather – my mom’s dad.

I mentioned three potential career paths in the thank you – attorney, followed by a run for the United States Senate (no joke) and ultimately – become a writer.

I started writing my first book about six years ago, a full 46 years after that graduation thank you.   I didn’t get very far.  What was once going to be my first book, is becoming my blog.  Hopefully, my blog will become my book.

I am dedicating my blog – not sure if that’s appropriate but it’s my blog – to my wife, Ruth, and three children, David, Elizabeth (BZ) and Michael.   Thanks for making life so interesting!

Ruth enjoys design. She watches others and engages herself. We have a picture on a wall that states: Memories are not made up of days, but rather, moments.

This blog will be some of mine.

I’ve learned a ton since that first entry.  Not about writing but about life.  It changes every day.

Since that first post I’ve lost two very good friends, Jim and Mitch, my cousin, Gene, who was my big brother growing up, and Ruth. Each loss was difficult to handle because each one took a piece of me with them.  I’ve written several times about them, so I won’t rehash those events today.  Just know they are always in my thoughts.

Two highlights from the past few years are the birth of my grandson, young Jackson James, and the continued longevity of my friend Ed.  Jackson turns four later this month and Ed will be a hundred and eight in November.  Not many of us can boast of having such people in our lives.

I was exploring the back end of my blog the other day and discovered that people from seventy-seven different countries have read my stories. I haven’t had millions of “reads” but I have had tens of thousands. While most of my readers are from the United States, Canada is second and China is third.  Bolivia, believe it or not, is number ten.  My top two posts are “Kissin Cousins” and “Peeing in the Pool”.  The titles might account for some of the google action my blog has received.

I never thought about a worldwide following.  I was writing for my kids and grandkids hoping they’d learn a thing, or two, about their extended family.  I never considered that other people’s kids and grandkids might be interested.  What I do know is we’re more alike than different.  We all have moments to share.  My claim to fame is I’m writing mine down.  You can too.

I never had a plan when I started.  I just wrote and hoped my kids would read. I decided to publish a book after Ruth died.  It seemed a fitting tribute because without her my story would be entirely different.  Making an audio book seemed like the logical follow-up.  I keep learning through the process.  Writing is one thing but reading aloud and listening to what I’ve recorded are entirely different experiences.  I’ve learned a ton about myself through each phase.

I plan to continue to write for as long as I am able.  I hope you read forever.  Without the reader, they’re just words on a page.  They need to be pondered to have value.  Thanks for doing your part.