An Old Railroader's Thoughts

My  sweet Amber and me.

As we make life's journey from beginning to end the people and places that we visit along the way become a part of us. The miracle of birth gave us our beginning with a microscopic map of how we would develop physically. This map was provided by our mother and our father and their parents and their parents' parents. This physical part of our development follows a prearranged path influenced from time to time by outside forces and fads.

It is my belief that the growth and development of our inner self is a little more complicated and less predestined. As we move down life's rambling road we incur relationships with a multitude of other individuals who are themselves traveling along their path to their final destination.

Love of a simple life with respect for others came to me from my grandparents. A respect for nature and it's animal inhabitants and the joy brought by country living came from my cousins. A love of my God and the strength he provides was given to me by my pastors and other faithful followers. I carry with me the healthy competitiveness that drives me to be the best while honoring my teammates as well as my competitors as taught by my coaches and teachers.

I have known love from the beginning of my journey, love of my Mother and Father and my brothers four. But, I learned of a different love as I entered my teenage years. A part of how I feel about and respect romantic love was implanted by the girls who won my heart and shared this new found form of this emotion. Now I have learned the greatest lesson in love, and to Amber, my sweet wife, I will always be thankful.

I carry within me bits and pieces of everyone I have know; the friends, the bosses, coworkers, teammates, coaches and loving family members. My inner development will continue as I meet new souls or become reacquainted with old friends. Within this worn and graying shell, there lives the memories of many, guiding the acts of one simple man. My hope is that I will represent them well or that they will forgive me if I don't.