I ran into this chart from 1971 the other day. Ruth and I married that year, and we both bought new cars, so it struck a chord with me. We were in our third year of teaching and making about $7,500 each. It may have been a bit more, but it wasn’t as high as …
Category: Life Lessons
Lucky Streak
Once we landed, I took my bag of five-dollar bills on the shuttle to the casino. During the drive the five of us decided to try to parlay our collective stash into an even greater win. We’d place several wagers on a variety of games. We’d bet on blackjack, play a hand of pai gow …
Another Poker Tale
I started playing poker with a new group of guys in The Villages about six weeks ago. There’s a guy from Virginia, one from Pennsylvania, another from Maryland and three from New York. Nobody drinks alcohol. They’re focused on the cards. They take fifty cents from each pot until they reach twenty-five dollars (fifty hands), …
Cowboy Ethics
Ruth and I recently watched “Yellowstone”. We’re Johnny-come-lately to the series, but once we got started, we binged watched every episode. Now we’re plowing through the prequel, “1883”. We’re equally impressed. We also attended the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas last December. Ruth has always been a fan of cowboys. She likes the broad …
Young Republicans
When I was a freshman in college, I met the guy on the top left of this picture. He was a junior at the time and had worked with my dad at Faygo Beverages in Detroit. I’ve forgotten his last name, but John was from Grosse Pointe. He liked my dad and loved Faygo, the …
Basketball Flashback
Brady’s junior year basketball team hasn’t been as successful as they anticipated. They thought they had a good team, and perhaps they did, they just struggled to win games. The Michigan High School Athletic Association’s tournament begins for them on Wednesday so perhaps tournament time will be kinder than the regular season. Time will tell. …
“Yeah”
Ruth and I text Brady a couple times a week. The coronavirus, and the accompanying shutdown, provided us a small blessing. Many of Brady’s basketball games are live-streamed, and we get to watch them. We text him to wish him luck and offer words of solace or praise after the game. He responds to every …
Autograph Seekers
BZ Tebo, AKA Elizabeth Tebo, signed several copies of her book, “The Elephant on Aaron’s Chest”, during her book debut yesterday. It was well attended. Her mom and I are extremely proud of her accomplishment. Witnessing her book signing reminded me of the time I took my grandson, Brady, to meet the former major league …
A Father’s Perspective
I’m going to a celebration next Saturday in California. Our daughter, Elizabeth, has published a book and it’s making its public debut that day. “The Elephant on Aaron’s Chest” is thirty-six pages long, contains two-hundred and eighty-nine words, and took fifteen years to write. You can’t rush perfection. Elizabeth is a licensed clinical social worker …
B.S. – Before Scanners
I started working for the National Food Store as a stock boy in 1963, the fall of my junior year of high school. I liked the job and my boss liked me. My boss was C.J. Perry, but he preferred “Perry”. I called him “Sir” my first day on the job and it stuck. I …