Overview

As my retirement approached, I focused on applying much more effort toward getting closer to my family. As I mentioned, much of my 35 years in the business had been spent traveling the world in search of customers and partners. In addition, my position also demanded that Jill and I host many social visits from customers and partners in our home, which also took time and attention from the children. We did commit to regular time together as a family on Easter vacation, during the summer, and at Christmas, but in truth, Jill carried the load of helping the kids grow, and I sometimes felt as if I were a guest in their house unless I was called on to be the enforcer in some family disturbance.

Today, the children are all grown and married. Linda is married to Henry Hernandez, and they have two sons, Kyle and Brian; Penny is married to John Dinsmore, with a son, Nick, and a daughter, Amanda; and David is married to Leslie Fleming, and they have two sons, Tyler and Colin. Our family that started with the two of us in 1957 is now up to 14. Nick and Kyle are at university, Amanda starts next year, and the rest are in grade school. Some are good scholars and some are good athletes on the whole, a good American cross section. The Christmas before I retired in 1994, I took all 14 of us to St. Croix for vacation. Ten days before we left,...