Stories From My Life

September 20th of 1973 was a memorable day for me. For some time there was a lot of hype surrounding Battle of The Sexes II, a made-for-television tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King in the Houston Astrodome. In this match 55-year old Bobby Riggs had to defend the entire court; basically the doubles court while Billie Jean King defended the inner lines, the singles court.  That same day the Red Lion Lions freshman football team played York Catholic at their field. It was the 1st game of the season.  During the entire pre-season I practiced with the tight ends and was schedule to be the starter. Greg Hileman was my backup. In truth we were pretty close - Greg was the better receiver, I was the better blocker. So a few days before the York Catholic game the coaches approached me and asked if I'd play left tackle. So I was the right end when we were on defense, the left tackle on offense, and place kicker for kickoffs. The second half began with us on defense. After

It's not surprising that surgery would be on my mind today. Therefore I thought it might be of some interest to record the surgeries I've undergone. I define surgery as the doctors do as this list is taken from a hospital printout. September 1973 - repair finger broken after playing York Catholic in freshman football. I had attempted to block a punt and the blockers protecting the punter broke the middle finger of my left hand. In those days, such a repair involved a general anesthetic and an overnight stay in the hospital. Most memorable were 2 things: I missed the Bobby Riggs / Billie Jean King "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match, and I threw up everywhere from the anesthesia. Today such a repair would be outpatient. January 1980 - the same surgeon, Dr. Eagle did exploratory surgery for my right knee. This was an early application of arthroscopic surgery. He discovered multiple tears in cartilage but did not repair anything because, at that time, they didn'

This past week has been pretty ordinary. Caroline started work, Kevin and I continued working from home, and everyone continued the process of moving in. Having access to my walkers and rollator has given me greater mobility. The house is shaping up. We purchased a sofa/bed that should be useful (once it's delivered). We put up some storage bins and tried to connect some speakers I was given for my 10th anniversary at WWT. Unfortunately I have everything needed to hook up the speakers except an amplifier. Crud. Susan and I went to the movies for the first time in quite a while. It was very enjoyable - The Art of Racing in the Rain. Jesse, Rachel and the babies came down to visit yesterday. What a treat. There is talk abut Jesse taking a position that would allow him to live nearby. I confess I like that idea. This morning's sacrament talks were on repentance and very well done. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I then attended priesthood for what I believe is only the 3rd time

We had the greatest cat in the history of the world when we were little. Our home in Red Lion had 2 floors plus a basement. Because the house was built on the side of a hill steps were required for every door except the basement and front doors. That means that there were steps on the side of the house and out the back door. This little detail matters later in this story. We lived at the corner of E Elm Lane and whatever that street going up is Retard was named because of the crazy things it would do. It used to sleep in the middle of the floor, where the sun shone through; would awaken from what appeared to be a dead sleep, run around the first floor of the house, flip in the air and land where he started and go back to sleep almost immediately. Another of his favorite tricks was to crawl under the afghan that draped across the back of the sofa. Joe was still pretty young. When he heard that cats have 9 lives he wanted to experiment. So he started throwing Retard off the top

The last 2 days have been wonderful. Yesterday morning was delightful as Susan and I stayed in our room until late in the morning. A wonderful, relaxing morning. I'm not sure we even bothered to get breakfast. In the afternoon we went furniture shopping with Natalia, Maverick and Khloé. Afterward we had burgers at a new burger joint - a place Caroline and Kevin had frequented earlier. While Susan and I were inside asking some final questions, the children were outside patiently waiting. Kevin and Caroline drove by. So she called Susan to ask why her children were outside of a furniture store - alone. It was a funny moment. The burgers were great by the way. A pretty simple route from our home to the chapel. Then today we went to church; Susan had the closing prayer. We sat near the front so she'd have a short walk. Just before the meeting started I had a bloody nose so I scooted in my scooter around the front pews, all along the far side, basically the whole way around

My junior year in high school I played football, swam, and competed in track. My events in swimming were usually 3 of the following: medley relay where I swam butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle or the freestyle relay. Oh yeah, I also swam the 500 freestyle. Red Lion High School pool Swimming was new when I went to school. The pool had just been built and my freshman year was the 1st year we had a swimming team. That resulted in some controversy because freshman weren't allowed to compete in varsity sports, yet there I was on a varsity team. By my junior year all that controversy had worked itself out and freshmen continued to compete on varsity. My younger brother Joe was pretty good at events I wasn't. He was our best backstroker, a very good breatstroker and a good freestyler. But since he is 18 months younger, I always had the advantage over him. That is until a race late in the season. We were competing a

Yesterday started with a doctor's appointment in Meridian. After getting ready at the Marriott I managed to pack everything but my Kindle. Fortunately today I received a call that they had found it and Caroline, who is working in Nampa, will pick it up on her way home. A Kindle Fire, similar to the one I left behind Anyone who knows me knows that I always have the Kindle with me. It serves as my bookshelf with probably 200 books in it, an audio bookshelf with probably 50 audio books, my Gospel Library, multiple research volumes, a means of quickly finding things on Amazon, and a web browser. I use it far more than I use a phone or a laptop for personal things. Speaking of phones, in order to get a change of phone number from my employer I am obligated to request a 2nd line and 2nd phone which will be issued with an Idaho number. Once I receive that phone I can discontinue the first and transfer the number back to my original cell phone. That sounds great EXCEPT I have to p

Today is a bit different as I'm typing this in Boise (Meridian to be exact). I have an appointment in the morning with a doctor I intend to keep despite our living in Kimberly. Courtyard by Marriott in Meridian I left home this afternoon after doing everything I could for my employer. Susan was busy with a couple of young men from the neighborhood arranging the garage and clearing out her office of boxes so that she could set it up. When I left it was starting to take shape - shelves on the wall, tables laid out, office chair in place, etc... The hallways were cluttered with what used to be in her office. I've been assured my scooter will have room to operate by the time I get home tomorrow. Yesterday was a great day, starting with a great morning and continuing into the afternoon and evening. I've taken to taking baths at night with epsom salts - magnesium in the salts relaxes one just before bedtime, and it reduces pain. We're blessed to have a large tub with 2

This morning my work schedule was light so I headed off to the big city with Khloé and Maverick. We went to our bank to deposit a check, Walmart to acquire some very important items for Khloé - cupcakes and icing for Family Home Evening. Once we made those very important purchases we went to Wells Fargo to pay back Jesse some money we owed him when my nose started bleeding. Trip over. I decided not to risk our last stop which was to be a stop at Best Buy in Twin Falls. On our way home Khloé saw a fire in the distance. Since we could see flames we drove over to see if we could be of assistance. Once we got closer we realized it was likely someone burning weeds, although it was a lot of weeds and the fire was as high as a house. We considered the possibility that it might also be a barn, but since it wasn't a house, and we were limited in what we could do anyhow, we turned around and came home.

One summer our stepmother decided that boys needed to know how to cook breakfast. It was a great idea. So she came up with 4 breakfasts that we would learn to do in a rotating fashion over summer vacation - eggs, pancakes, french toast, and oatmeal. Occasionally oatmeal was replaced by Cream of Wheat which I greatly prefer.

On Friday I was fortunate to get an almost-immediate appointment with a dentist. He was recommended to me by someone helping unload our 4th and last truck of  belongings. That person also happens to be our bishop. I've often avoided doing business with Latter-day Saints because it can confuse relationships. Here in Idaho, that' going to be more difficult, so I called. They had just had a cancellation and squeezed me in that slot which required me to drop everything and leave. The urgency of the matter is 2 broken teeth. The complexity of the matter is my recent heart surgery as it is advised to avoid dental work for 12 months. Pretty simple, huh? What followed was the most thorough dental exam of my life - x-rays, 3-D images, photographs (yes simple digital photographs). They took about 3 hours with me on a day they were supposed to leave early. It was pretty amazing and most of the service was free. I suppose they will charge for the x-rays and 3-D to my insurance, but the

Today our stake presidency was reorganized. Since we are new, we know none of them although the Stake President who was just released is in our ward. The visiting authorities were Area Authority Seventy Henry J Eyring and General Authority Seventy Matthew L Carpenter. Henry J Eyring Elder Eyring told a few stories from his life and a couple from his father's but his primary message was that there are great blessings in keeping a journal. This is my attempt to follow that counsel. Matthew L Carpenter Elder Carpenter endorsed that counsel and noted that he sends out an email to his children as the way of keeping his journal. That's where I got the idea to add this to the blog. My intention is always put Journal in the title so any reader may choose to read (or not), knowing what's in there.

In the spring of 1971 I was finishing 6th grade in Mrs. Sprenkle's class at Mazie Gable Elementary School. As part of the end-of-year festivities there was a big "track meet" where boys and girls of the different age groups were entered into different events by our teacher. I'll be forever grateful to Mrs. Sprenkle for entering me into one event that day that changed the rest of my school days, and helped me discover one of my talents. The only events I remember competing in that day were the 75-yard dash and the softball throw. Prior to that I never thought I'd had any athletic talents (other than tether-ball) because I didn't have the speed of my friends, all of whom were smaller. I struggled playing basketball as it required speed, agility and jumping all things I wasn't good at, especially at the age of 12. I had 2 things I did well that I knew of - tether-ball and kickball. That's why that day of the track meet mattered. I was nervous