More questions about my life have been posed through Storyworth, as my family helps me compile my personal memoirs. The book now consists of 64 chapters, while we will eventually add photos and design a cover for publishing. It was last year’s Christmas gift. I was asked to please answer these questions: How do you like to spend a lazy day? When did you get your first car? How did you choose your children’s names? What do you admire most about your father? Some of this will be redundant since it’s been covered in other chapters. 

Let’s start with my dad. He was such a remarkable man, beginning with the fact that he was willing to include me and my sister Judy in his family. Adoption is not an easy process, having to undergo the scrutiny of background checks, supervision by the agency along the way, and not really knowing what you’re getting in raising someone else’s child. It takes strong, loving people to do this, and I’m not sure I would be willing to do it myself. Fortunately, we were able to have our son Adam naturally, naming him after the strong, handsome Bonanza character, Adam Cartwright of TV fame, played by Pernell Roberts. 

My dad was friendly, successful, and lived a long healthy, life. I couldn’t possibly have been luckier to have been raised by a man like him. Yes, he had a temper, was impatient, and spent too much time at the office, traits that I too developed. I often wonder how different it would have been to live life with my biological father. I now know his daughters and grandchildren, so it would have been a very difficult upbringing. As I continue to explore this side of my DNA ancestry, I recently discovered that William Penn, founder of the state of Pennsylvania and grandfather of the Declaration of Independence signer was my 11th Great Grandfather. (See Post #2349). He is probably my most famous biological ancestor, but my dad is by far my greatest hero.  

In retirement, most every day is now lazy. There is no alarm to start my day, just that daily run. I watch entirely too much TV, but as evidenced by the naming of my son, I was part of the first TV generation, and it eventually became my career. Going to a movie, is one of my favorite hobbies, so we hold annual passes to Regal Unlimited. I also enjoy going out to dinner, where doing dishes is not an option. Afternoon naps are becoming a habit. I like the comfort of air conditioning as opposed to the great outdoors and certainly don’t mind being alone. Once upon a time, traveling somewhere would have been part of a lazy day, but anymore it’s hard work. The ideal lazy day would be NO alarm, NO responsibilities and NO commitments. 

My driving test was at the wheel of my dad’s 1964 1/2 Mustang convertible. I also drove his other vehicles, a Ford Galaxy and Country Squire Station Wagon until the summer before my junior year at I.U. when I bought a brand new, bright red, 1971 Triumph GT-6 and took it to Bloomington with me. This car was an exercise in futility. It looked good on the outside but was a problem under the hood. This taught me a valuable lesson about investing in reliable transportation. What looks good doesn’t necessarily run good! I often think of myself in old age as looking good on the outside but rusted out on the inside, the refrain to this poem/song that I wrote many years ago. (See Post #1811 – Poem).

It’s another hot August day – but not just any day. It is the 294th anniversary (24.5 years since 1999) of the first “date” with my current wife. It was actually more of a business meeting, since we worked together at WISH-TV, but it ultimately led to other things. We didn’t get married for another two years, but it was the beginning of our “love streak” of now 8,947 days (the running streak is only 5,336 days). I can’t help it – I like to count days!

It was not love at first sight since I had known her since working in Fort Wayne back in the mid-eighties. My first marriage was falling apart after 27-years, so I was vulnerable, and moved out on my own soon after. It’s impossible to explain the how’s and why’s these things happen, but in simple terms I fell in love again. I do not regret the circumstances. It’s what we like to call a re-do. 

The meeting took place on an 8th at Eddy’s, a restaurant near Geist Reservoir in Indianapolis. It still exists today, and we’ve eaten there several times since. Every 8th of the month, we celebrate this union that led to marriage on 4/20/2001. In the course of our romance, there is our wedding anniversary, and then these monthly occasions that I like to call our “Eddiversary” or “Eightiversary.” (See Post #1768).

I crudely drew a series of three calendars that highlight the early days of our relationship. We had them framed to display privately on our master bathroom wall. This way I can create an anniversary out of essentially everything we did together. From that point on, I then kept a written diary of nearly every day together. It exists on my computer, so I continue to update it. Poems and other memories are kept both on the computer and in notebooks on my office shelves. There are also poems to her hidden in the gifted Limoges Boxes that make up her collection. In these many ways, my love for her is forever preserved. 

Eight is the date,

When our love sparked.

Every month since,

Is carefully marked.

Calendars, Diaries,

And poems like this.

Last much longer,

Than a kiss. 

It started at Eddy’s, 

Grown every day since.

Like every great fortune,

It started with a cent.

Now it is priceless, 

Memories preserved. 

A life together,

That we both deserved. 

We call it a re-do,

But it’s so much more. 

A tribute to the woman,

That I adore. 

An annual celebration,

Just wasn’t ample. 

But daily reminders, 

A better example. 

The 8th is special, 

Jan thru December. 

Though Every single day, 

Together, I remember.

Can’t say it enough, 

That “I Love You.” 

Happy Half Eddiversary,

Let’s start today anew! 

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