My earliest memory was being bounced on my mother's lap on the edge of a bed while she sang, "Daddy's little man, daddy's little man. Daddy's little little man." ...kinda a weird memory but as an adult, when I described the wallpaper and curtains, my mom said there was only one place we lived with that decor and it was when I was an infant, probably 6 months old when we lived there. She and I both forget where it was now.

I attended Kindergarten in Wisconsin. I rode the bus! I have a photo the bus driver took of me next to the bus, jumping up off the ground. I had dress shoes on, neatly combed hair, and a buttoned shirt, slacks, and belt. I used to get home sometimes when no one was home (or mom was sleeping) and I made a ketchup and mustard sandwich then sat down and played with Hotwheels on a race track made out of playing cards (remember that my dad was into stock car racing) while watching Perry Mason on TV. We also had a party line phone and I used to secretly listen to neighbors gossiping.

We had a tornado one time and we sled in the winter down a small double bump hill next to our house towards a small creek at the bottom. I remember mosquitos in the summer and visiting a dairy farm next door, remembering a farmer running hose water into a large milk tank to add volume to the milk!...I knew it was wrong back then and that memory really stuck with me! I learned to ride a bike in Wisconsin and I think I taught my sister to ride too.

I attended first grade and part of second grade at Foothills Elementary School in Deer Park, CA. It was a private school and I remember falling in love with a girl named Dolly, my first kiss ...followed by a quick wiping of germs off our lips! I have memories of playing on the playground (which looks tiny now but was huge in my memory), eating lunch, sitting in class, and riding in various cars down the windy road to St. Helena where I lived at the time (a downstairs portion of grandma Vonnie's house and then we rented a home on Fawn Park from missionaries who were overseas.

Thanks to the USAF...again...we had to then move to Aurora, CO.

I attended Sixth Avenue Elementary School in Aurora, CO for the rest of 2nd grade through 6th grade. I remember the playground well. During winters, we love to play dogpile by running and sliding on ice into a pile of students outside classrooms. Tackle football was also a big part of our play during the summer and our favorite was a game that involved throwing a football into the air and whoever caught it was the target and everyone else had to try to tackle that person. It was a good way to learn how to dodge and juke to avoid being tackled and if you got cornered, you could throw the ball into the air again before getting tackled but the tough ones ran until we got caught. I hesitate to repeat the name of this game ("smear the queer") but at the time when I was a child, we didn't know what "queer" meant other than the person running with the football. I now have family members and good friends who are gay and I certainly wouldn't think this was an appropriate name today so please forgive me for stating the name from the 70's.

We got hurt all the time during recess but it was a normal part of playing. Parents and schools would never allow that kind of roughhousing nowadays.

Teachers had very few rules but I do remember that for the first few years there, we could get swatted with a paddle in the classroom when students were really out of hand. We had "turf" during recess and I was part of a group of about six students that "owned" the small slide during recess and no one could slide without our consent, which we always gave to the older or tougher kids...heck, they didn't even have to ask us! We called ourselves the "Witchypoo Gang" and I don't remember any details other than we always laughed at our gang name. I don't think we were very tough in anyone's eyes but our own and I was a "member" just because I wanted to be able to slide without being hassled.

Besides athletic events, I think I won a yo-yo trick competition at the school as well a national presidential fitness award that anyone could win if they were able to do a certain number of situps, pullups, pushups, and a few other things within the limits set. I received a special presidential patch and I remember standing on a stage with about 5 other students when I received it.

I was a big plastic model builder (mostly cars) during this time and at one point I supposedly owned 102 models. It's funny because while I did have a ton of models at home (in drawers and boxes at the top of the closet), I can't imagine it being nearly that many so I must have counted little figures and items that were not part of the main model too. But I have always said I had 102 models so who knows at this point.

I had to deal with a bully. I remember walking home from school and whenever this boy who lived a few blocks over would find me after school, he would punch me and run away. I was afraid of him and was pretty stressed out after school, trying to avoid crossing his path. My dad told me that I needed to walk up to him and punch him as hard as I could and even if he hurt me after that, he would leave me alone. I was too afraid to do it until I finally had enough of this kid's abuse. After he hit me one time and ran. I followed him. When I caught up to him, I hauled off and hit him as hard as I could right in the face...and then ran home. It worked! He never bothered me again.

Then I was at East Middle School for 7th & 8th grade. This was a big change for me since the 8th graders looked grown up, especially in the large walk-through showers we were all forced to go through together...embarrassing. I stuck to my small group of friends who were mostly athletes too, although I can't remember many.

Dealing with a thief - I do remember a boy who always stole food out of my lunch from my gym locker (we didn't have locks). My dad helped me a second time by helping me make a cupcake with melted Chocolate Exlax as frosting. I left it for the thief and after he stole it and ate it, I told him what was about to happen to him. He never stole from me again! I felt bad about doing that to him later but it certainly solved a problem as I'm sure he was "moved" to avoid eating my food ever again.

I learned photography and darkroom skills at this school. I had a very tall girlfriend (Terry F) at this school and we held hands and even kissed on occasion. We were both pretty innocent though. She went to a different high school though so I lost touch with her after 8th grade. However, she somehow ended up on vacation in Napa later when I was dating Karen in college and somehow tracked me down and called my house. Mom answered and when she wanted to leave her number and asked if I could call her back, my mom said "No" because I was in a serious relationship.

I was a pretty good ventriloquist, performing in many school talent shows. I was pretty good...really. While in middle school (I think) I won 2nd place in a statewide talent show at the big Buckingham Square mall in Aurora, Colorado (it existed 1971-2007 before being torn down) and received a large, fancy red ribbon for it.  I remember being really nervous and that the first place winner was a lady with a beautiful singing voice. Mom took me as Dad never attended any of my performances. My idol at the time was Edgar Bergen who had a dummy named "Mortimer Snerd." I received a Mortimer dummy for a birthday or Christmas when I was younger along with a record of Bergen who taught how to be a ventriloquist. I named my dummy Roger, which was easier to say than Mortimer without moving my lips. I blame Karen for not continuing this talent because she saw some horror movie with a doll that came to life when she was younger and Roger kinda freaked her out and she never liked it when I brought him out to perform.

I attended Hinkley High School (Aurora, CO) for 9th-11th grade. I took advanced placement courses and have many stories from an alcoholic teacher, a major food fight, placing a hundred real estate For Sale signs on the front lawn of the school, and talent shows. I was in the wrong crowd at this school and in my neighborhood.

I was a good kid with some bad influences. I chewed tobacco for less than a year until a mouth sore made me realize this was stupid and being healthy was smarter than being cool.

My hormones were kicking in and luckily I was super shy around girls so my multiple romantic situations and a few opportunities didn't turn into big regrets. I  think I was also afraid my dad would catch me going to a party...and oh my how some of the parties my friends attended would have likely changed the course of my life.

Hinkley High was mostly sports and homework. I worked at Burger King because I passed the test the manager placed on me. He asked me to sweep the entire parking lot using a regular broom and dustpan and without a uniform, just my street clothes. It was a HUGE undertaking and took me several hours and was embarrassing as classmates walked in or came through the drive-thru. But I was told that several quit before me and since I completed the test, I was hired. It was a fun job and I was very responsible and did my work, unlike many coworkers who sluffed off. It gave me money so I could save and buy things I wanted that wouldn't come otherwise.

During this time my dad sold two Chevy GTOs ("GOATs") he owned - One that was super sporty and fast (chromed engine, cherry bomb mufflers, upgraded everything) and the other that ran but was mostly a side project. He had leukemia and after being the first cancer patient testing the drug, daunomycin, when it was accidentally infiltrated through his vein and into the tissue of his forearm, it ate away at the tissue so bad that we could see his bones through the wound and he had to have multiple skin graphs to cover the very large hole. Although he got use of his arm again over the years, he initially thought he would never be able to shift again so he sold the two sports cars out of depression, almost giving them away for a very low price, instead of saving one for me. I knew he'd never let me drive one anyway and it was probably good that I didn't have that kind of speed.

At the end of my Junior year, the family decided to move to Napa, CA to be near Mom's family because we weren't sure when Dad's leukemia would come back (he was medically retired from the USAF) and Mom wanted to be with her extended family. We were all excited but I wanted to wait to finish my senior year at Hinkley High. We moved. I hated going to a new school but was excited to live in Napa Valley again because, in my mind, it felt like home.

I attended Vintage High in Napa, CA for 12th grade, my senior year. It was really hard being at a new school for my senior year when all my classmates were close friends already. I generally felt like an outsider but sports (Soccer and Track & Field) helped me fit in with a few friends. I was still pretty shy though. As mentioned elsewhere, I also fell in love with computer programming there and it changed my career choice.

I did notice that Vintage was a LOT easier (academically) than Hinkley back in Colorado. I worked hard for good grades at Hinkley and the competition was steep. At Vintage, classes seemed very easy and I rarely had to do much significant studying because my classmates seemed far behind. I got A's easily and was usually at the top of each of my classes at Vintage.

Karen went to Vintage and even used to come to watch my varsity soccer games because there were a few boys she liked on the team. But we never knew or noticed each other and she never even knew I played on the team until I met her the summer after I graduated.

I was a good athlete from childhood. I could run fast, could throw far, and had good balance and coordination. My genetic testing later reported that I have athletic muscle tissue genetics and I did seem to do better than most at almost any sport.

In early elementary school, I started winning blue ribbons at all kinds of annual athletic events and over the years, I had accumulated a bunch of ribbons. I recall always being the best in my grade at the softball throw (distance), 50-yard dash, high jump, long jump, and the 3-legged race where a buddy and I had the exact same sprinting extension and we figured out we could literally run full speed and stay in step. We won every year.

I took gymnastics in 6th grade and was hooked. I think I enjoyed being able to do things well that most couldn't do very well. I think it helped me feel special inside, which makes sense given my childhood where my father repeatedly told me I wouldn't amount to anything.

I saved money and bought a skateboard. I learned to do some cool tricks on it. The best trick was being able to ride it in a handstand for long distances. I have a scar on my right forearm from a very deep slice after falling onto something in my garage while practicing the handstand trick. Again, none of my friends were ever able to do this so it kinda cool knowing I could. When I was 52 years old, I practiced doing handstands for a few weeks before I did it one last time as part of a "Dancing with the Stars"-type fundraiser event. Here's the video...

I took wrestling in 7th grade and was pretty good. I learned a few basic elements and when I took a Judo class in 8th grade, I learned to fall safely, block punches, dive roll over a dozen students kneeling on all fours, and my Judo teacher taught me how to run up the side of a wall at an angle so my feet got as high as a basketball hoop!...sounds weird but I could really do it and it was really cool. Gymnastics and Judo taught my body coordination and that ability helped me have an advantage the rest of my life.

I competed in gymnastics in high school through my junior year and was pretty good but not the best. I learned how to pole vault in middle school and did really well in high school in our region with my consistent 11'6" vaults (or higher), often clearing them by more than a foot but then mentally failing at 12' quite often...it was an interesting mental wall. I went to the state semifinals my senior year at Vintage for the triple jump...I think. I was an excellent triple jumper (I recall the 45' range but it might have been 42'...I can't find my results online) and my best high jump was 6'0". I was substituted in for the 400m relay race only one time when someone was sick and we set a school record. The coach's son was on the team that held the old record and although he kept promising me to update the wall with our new record, he never did. But I knew we had the record so that was satisfying.

At Pacific Union College, I joined the performing gymnastics team, Gymnasts for Christ. It was an incredible group of athletes and the two coaches we had over the 4 years I performed did a great job of orchestrating awesome shows all over the west coast. My best talents were being able to do an Arabian double front flip (roundoff, half-twisting double front), a full-twisting back layout, a standing front flip, pretty good handstands, and I was really good on the mini-tramp where I could do all kinds of things including an easy double front flip. For my last home performance show, I wanted to do a triple front flip which had never been done at our college before. I finally went for it in practice and landed it well but a little stiff, so I decided that in the home performance, I'd not go quite as high so I could land it more easily. As I landed it with my feet down, I was still mostly in a tuck position and my head then shot down between my knees and resulted in two compression fractures in my spine. I was in a back brace for 6 months. I was married at that time (I had already graduated but came back, only taking the gymnastics team "course" during Karen's senior year) and was voted by the team as the team's captain. Luckily it was my last show but I remember laying in bed weeks later, in pain, and Karen sarcastically asking, "Was it worth it?" I recall saying, "Yes! I was the only person to complete a triple front flip and I did it twice!" I chuckle now thinking how I would likely regret this when I'm much older and that not worth it, but it was funny thinking how dumb I was as a very young man.

When I worked at Adventist Health, I was big into softball and played on their team for many years, and eventually was the team manager. I was a pretty good batter who could place hit to right field (where the weakest player was often placed) and I played first base and sometimes second base. My two older sons were bat boys at times. I was also a good racketball player (AH had a court) and organized a few corporate tournaments along with Walleyball (volleyball using walls in the racketball court).

Mom put me in Cub Scouts at school and I loved it. Our family never went on vacations and I had never experienced camping, hiking, archery, black powder guns, and other skills, so this was an awesome experience for me. I graduated to Webelows and then to Boy Scouts.

I remember being a "Life" scout, working on my Eagle rank when I had to leave scouting. However, the benefits I received from scouting were life-changing. Above all, I learned to serve others. Because of the stress going on with my father, this was a place where I had good male role models who encouraged and taught me skills and a lot of ethics and doing the right thing even when others weren't looking. I discovered that my life experienced joy when I helped others. As an elected, I spent a lot of time with scouts (girls too) as they repeatedly interviewed me for their merit badges and honors and I proudly attended many Eagle Courts of Honor.

I have repeatedly said that I became a city council member because of things I learned as a scout.

I was an introvert and I loved technical things. When Dad was overseas, I learned to fix our lawn mower, bicycles, and toys. I was on a chess team at school but loved a "stamp club" (philatelics) I was in because the teacher made it interesting. I collected stamps since childhood and while I don't anymore, I have some pretty cool stamps stored away safely. I designed an Olympic stamp in a statewide contest (Colorado) and won an award for the design.

I studied electronics and had a cool electronics experiment board as well as a chemistry set with an experiment manual. I enjoyed learning.

When I took a computer programming class my senior year of high school, I immediately fell in love with computers! I loved programming and because I had just moved from Colorado to Napa, CA, I was new at the school so I had few friends, and hanging out in the computer lab during lunch and after school when there weren't sports was a regular habit. I wrote all kinds of cool programs on an Apple IIe and Commodore 24, including a few games my classmates loved to play.

Lightbulbs came on in my Physics class too. How things worked started making sense. I won a few science awards including a national science merit award for an experiment I designed to fly aboard the Space Shuttle. It never flew but I did a good job designing the experiment and my teacher helped submit it.