Etc.

About me? I’ll attempt to break this down into very brief chapters.

CHAPTER ONE

Born in Iowa and adopted as a three-day-old, I arrived home on Mother’s Day to a mom, a dad and a big sister. Yep. I was the baby which proved out quite well for me throughout my growing up years in small-town Iowa. I walked to grade school, biked to junior high and hitched rides to high school until I turned 16 and won the keys to a 1977 red Ford Pinto. My Dad ran his own small repair business and Mom worked as a cook in the public school system. My sister was a hell-raiser. I spent much of my time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house as a little guy, watching Gunsmoke and Bonanza with my Grandpa and taking rides with him to the Piggly Wiggly in his pale blue Olds Delta 88. I graduated high school in 1983.

CHAPTER TWO

In the Fall of ’83 I went, with several friends to the University of Iowa and started college – a journey that would last six years. After having SO much fun my Freshman year of college, I decided to take a semester off and decide what I really wanted to do. In that time, my parents divorced and I lived with Mom helping her get her life in order. She moved back “home” to be close to her family and sold my childhood home in the process. In 1984, I met my soon to be spouse. I was 19, 20 when I actually got married. We spent time making ends meet and then I went back to college and earned a BA in Corporate Communications.

CHAPTER THREE

My career began in public relations, passed through journalism, detoured through employee communications and went full circle back to PR. Through these stages my spouse and I lived in Storm Lake, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Storm Lake, Iowa; Sioux City, Iowa; and Minneapolis, Minnesota where we both still live today (separate houses). We also added to our family, first with a daughter born in 1991 and then with a son who entered the world in 1994. They’re teenagers now. One is driving. They send text messages and we share many things in common. They are awesome kids and life is best with them.

CHAPTER FOUR

Divorce happens when you get lost. For several years, that’s exactly what I was. With a great career and financial stability for the first time in…ever…I didn’t know what was next. This resulted in several years of growing apart from my spouse and ultimately led to separation and divorce. This chapter is still being written. There have been lots of lessons learned and with the help of some very close friends I’ve managed to rekindle many interests that have become more significant to me in my “mature” years.

CHAPTER FIVE

It gets more interesting every day – life that is. 2009 was a memorable year for me in many ways. When the year was young, I met this wonderful woman…I’ll call her Cheri. In no time, Cheri and I were inseparable. Seems we share everything in common and can’t get enough of each other – so we decided to get married (on Feb. 20, 2010). But with the great news, came sad news, too. My Mom passed away two days after her 90th birthday. I gave tribute to Mom and her full life at her funeral and posted that eulogy on the pages of this blog. I miss her. In other major change news, my oldest child started college, my youngest entered high school and the wheels on the bus go round and round. That’s life. Doesn’t it go by in a blink?

My interests:

Reading, writing, journaling, newspapers, music, concerts, outdoors, fitness (cycling, running, swimming…thus the triathlon interest), finding really good coffee in surprise locations, mornings (like early sunrise time), people, pop culture, travel and, most recently, blogging.

There are many special people in my life as well. My kids, obviously, but others too who inspire me, make me think, help me breathe, cheer me on, and essentially keep me up at night and prompt my feet to hit the floor each morning. I’m blessed.

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