Life Shapers

This Life Shapers document was originally written for my mother on Mother's Day as a reminder of all the things that happened to me in my life that shaped who I am today. While not all inclusive, it captures a great deal of the highlights. It made me realize I am a lucky man indeed for having had these experiences:

Sat on a pile of ants crying while my dad took many pictures of me (he didn’t know).

Ate oranges, apples, and bananas from trees.

Touched the Great Buddha in Japan.

Was chased by pecking roosters, mad dogs, German kids, Japanese kids, helicopter pilots, moose, bears, bad guys, angry parents, and the cops.

Steered a canal boat on the Zider Zee in Amsterdam.

Drank rainwater collected in the leaves of tundra grass on the cliffs of an Aleutian Island while watching gray whales breach in the Bering Sea.

Hit home runs, scored touchdowns, won wrestling matches, set a school track record, made the Japanese Little League All Stars, and lettered in four sports.

Lost every single game in football one season, struck out, broke a leg on the field, suffered a concussion during a game, and got kicked off a team.

Wore real wooden shoes in Holland.

Broke four leg bones, seven ribs, my wrist three times, and my nose twice.

Played guitar on stage in a band in junior high, high school, as an adult in bars, at company parties, private parties, and state fairs.

During 20 years in the Navy I learned to protect, learned to spy, learned to kill with extreme prejudice, learned to be inventive, and learned to lead people. I walked beside people of greatness. I also saw the inequities of the world’s selfish and witnessed the tyrannies of evil men.

Launched and recovered fighter aircraft from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Saw men die violently, up close and personal, for the first time.

Lived at sea for ten months at a time, several times.

Married a woman I hardly knew (still with her and still love her 34 years later).

Stood on a boat between Europe and Asia.

Watched the Marines march in parade uniform at sea during our nation’s 200^th birthday while my son was being born half a world away.

Left my wife and children many times for duty to my country, never sure if I would see them again.

Stood, swam, floated, and paddled in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean

Sea, The Caribbean, Sea of Japan, Gulf of Mexico, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Bering Sea,

Bermuda Triangle, numerous rivers, and too many lakes to count.

Watched kittens being born on my friend’s bed, then watched two of them die.

Played in a swamp full of snapping turtles, cottonmouth water moccasins, and copperhead snakes in a gravel pit. Never feared any of them as much as I feared the watchman who tried to keep us out of the gravel pit.

Caught blue-tailed skinks off the bricks of my house. Also caught salmon, baby rabbits, frogs, snakes, turtles, crayfish, crabs, birds, and possums, all with my bare hands.

Started forest fires, helped fight forest fires, and set my bed on fire accidentally. Also set a neighbor’s yard on fire with a plastic fire breathing (hair spray and Zippo lighter) Godzilla.

Ice-skated on a ten-mile long lake in the Alaska wilderness.

Walked and climbed on glaciers.

Paddled kayaks, canoes, and inflatable rafts on rivers, oceans, wetlands, and lakes, sometimes at midnight.

Helped raise two fine sons. My proudest moment was the first time I saw them play in a band together on stage at the university, I thought they were cool.

Went to school in Japan, New York, the Aleutian Islands, Washington DC, Anchorage, Alaska, and Virginia.

Climbed trees, mountains, tundra cliffs, buildings, and down into caves.

Buried my father.

Camped outside in a lean-to at 40 degrees below zero.

Flew remote controlled jet powered targets at Mach 2 for Navy fighter aircraft to shoot at.

Shattered all combat pistol course records for the Navy.

Learned to speak some Japanese, German, Spanish, Italian, Farsi, Vietnamese,

French, and Filipino.

Played with marbles, yo-yos, pachinko games, toy soldiers, read comic books, traded baseball cards, collected coins, pulled wheelies on my bike, shot BB guns, and jumped on satellite shoes.

Played army, played guitar, played hooky, and played around with girls.

Was initiated as a Navy Chief Petty Officer and later, appointed to Senior Chief.

Cracked my head open on the cobblestones of El Morro fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Got banged up, bruised, cut, soaked, burned, shot, and exhausted beyond belief during Crisis Response Force Training.

Got married in a tiny chapel with only three people present.

Didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 19 and married (which never stopped me from driving in high school).

After 20 years of working on some of the most sophisticated intelligence gathering equipment in the world, I went to work for Hewlett-Packard as an entry-level production worker.

Watched dolphins lead U.S. Navy warships through the straits of Gibraltar. Also watched dolphins swim alongside my ocean kayak in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ate fresh killed quail cooked in mud balls by an 85-year-old black man I met in the woods while hunting in the swamps of Virginia.

Was at the 9^th grade teen club dance when a girl I knew fell over dead from inhaling freon from a plastic bag while trying to get high.

Stood on the ruins of the Parthenon in Athens and watched the sunset. Also watched the sunset from the Colossus of Rhodes, the Serengetti Forest, at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk where humans first flew, a cliff overlooking Mt. Fuji in Japan, a C-130 aircraft 30,000 feet over North Africa, and way too many islands to list.

Watched ravens for hours and found my inner spirit…mischievous…clever…the prankster.

Wanted a Fender Telecaster electric guitar more than anything in the world when I was ten. Finally got one when I was 38 and played that first night until my fingers bled.

Watched my baby brother fly his F-18 on a 7-G carrier break at NAS Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels. Talk about cool! Two months later he was flying incredibly dangerous combat missions over Kuwait during the Gulf War. I was continuously sick with worry until he was home. A few years later I was at his side when he beat cancer, possibly caused by Gulf War inoculation cocktails. The war tried to kill him twice...

In Japan we had a Japanese maid. I would say what I thought might be naughty Japanese words in front of her. If she scolded me, I ran to my bedroom and wrote that word down as an authenticated Japanese naughty word…for future use…the beginning of my colorful vocabulary.

Was violently run over by an 18 year old pregnant girl with no insurance while riding my motorcycle

Learned to fly fish at age 46…found out where heaven was.

At age 51, reconnected with some great folks I grew up with in remote parts of the world...this after 40 years of leading different lives. I rediscovered once again that some things never change; we instantly had bonds and connections few others will ever know or understand. This comes from experiences and life shapers of our own, living and growing up together in a time and place removed from America's mainstream, very tribal like...part of the military family. What a great way to grow up!