But Then What Happened?

  FAMILY Aubree May 15 th , 1986 brought with it child #3. It was a boy!!! Just kidding. We were incapable of creating boys. Aubree Faith graced us with her presence. Maelynne was 3 and Tara was 2. I loved my girls and I loved being their dad. I started teaching my girls how to play softball at a very early age. I taught them how to catch, how to throw and the proper mechanics in their swinging of the bat. Sports had meant so much to me growing up that I wanted to share that passion with them. Living in the LA area, the Los Angeles Dodgers played on TV almost every night during the baseball season. Starting at about age 4, Tara would share my recliner with me as we both watched these games and she would ask question after question about what she was watching and I was happy to explain it to her. She tucked away that knowledge and it would become an amazing resource as she grew up playing ball. In 1988, I signed Maelynne and Tara up to play softball at Artesia Park. Mae was 5 and Ta...

  CAREER 1985 marked my first full year at Waltco Truck Equipment Company, where we manufactured and installed hydraulic tailgate lifts for trucks and trailers. How did I get there and what about my teaching career? I will explain. After getting out of college, I was employed at a small Christian school where I wore the hats of a teacher, a coach and an athletic director. Jeana was the school secretary. I loved what I did as I bonded with my students and the athletes whom I coached. But man… it was a real struggle trying to survive in Southern California on a near poverty level paycheck. For we teachers, one of the rituals at the end of each school year was to find summer employment. Our small school couldn’t afford to pay us when tuitions were not flowing into the coffers. So I would find odd jobs as I attempted to keep us financially afloat. The summer after my third year of teaching, I was talking to a softball teammate named Ken after a game one night. I was lamenting t...