Good Morning All & Happy Thursday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of the loveliest women in the world, our dear friend Andrea (Andy) in Seattle…she’s the namesake of our firstborn child and one could not have a more steadfast, loyal and thoughtful friend (and those are just a few of the superlatives you could use to describe Andy)! She’s a woman of many talents, among them wife, mother, daughter, sister, violin/viola virtuoso, and commercial artist extraordinaire. Here’s to you, Andy, and have lots of fun on your special day of celebration.
Speaking of birthdays, here’s actor Lee Majors of “Six Million Dollar Man” & “Big Valley” T.V. fame, who is 81 today; to actress & gourmet chef, Valerie Bertinelli, who turns 60 today and to Olympic snowboard champion, Chloe Kim, who is 20 today! Happy Birthday to all of you too!
Speaking of celebrations, here’s to my friend and long-time business client, Jim Hutsinpiller, who died earlier this month at the age of 95. Jim was the owner of Climate Control in Spokane and was quite an accomplished golfer. He had a great way of making you feel really good about yourself when you were around him. He had a great smile and a twinkle in his eye. Someone I will long remember. We need more Jim Hutsinpillers in the world, that’s for sure!
Speaking of great people, I’ve been enjoying reading my wife’s letters to me from the 1970s. Just to show that there’s never a dull moment on the farm, here’s an excerpt from a June, 1977 letter (I had just graduated from college and she had returned to Lewiston to work on the family farm during her summer college break):
“The most exciting thing that has happened since I wrote you last: Sunday night, Dale (her sister Nancy’s boyfriend at the time), Nancy and I were watching television, and Mary (Judy’s sister) was in the kitchen. All of a sudden, our dog starts to bark and bark and bark. Then Mary yelled, “Judy, there’s a cow in our yard!” So we all went running out, and then we ran right back in, because the “cow” that was in our yard was one of the biggest bulls I’ve ever seen. After tearing up the yard a little, he took off down the road, almost causing about 6 accidents. I called everybody I knew that has cattle but nobody had lost a black bull. So finally I called the sheriff because I didn’t want him to cause an accident, and that was the last I heard of him. Boy, life is sure exciting out on the farm…”
In a June 6, 1977 letter from Judy to me, she wrote: “I went to Steve Lyman’s house last Sunday to see some of his artwork. He is really talented…” Steve turned out to be an accomplished artist and part of the Greenwich Workshop Artists. He is known of his campfire paintings and created beautiful and stunning wildlife and landscape paintings during his career, that unfortunately was cut short due to his accidental death while hiking in Yosemite Park some years ago. If you’re not familiar with Steve’s works, check him out on Google…you’ll be glad you did. Our family has a number of his paintings. He is one of our favorite, if not THE favorite artist. The world was blest to have his talents.
Speaking of letters, I came across a letter from our neighbor Bruce, a paranoid schizophrenic who wrote me many letters during the time he was our neighbor. Some of our neighbors were afraid of Bruce because he acted strangely with regard to the children in the neighborhood (he was fixated with some of the kids, including my son Jake). Bruce was pretty harmless and I believe his interest in the kids was heartfelt and well-intentioned, but sometimes he would get off his medication and that caused him to exhibit some strange behaviors, like the night he came to our back door at 3:00 a.m. and pounded on the door and yelled that demons were surrounding our door. That was pretty spooky, but fortunately I was able to get him to calm down and return home. Paranoid schizophrenia is an awful mental health condition that causes those afflicted to interpret reality abnormally…lots of hallucinations, imaging things that don’t actually exist, etc.. Bruce developed paranoid schizophrenia in high school and lived with his mother until her death. Fortunately, arrangements were made so that Bruce could remain in the family home where he lived somewhat independently for a number of years. It was my pleasure to know Bruce and call him my friend. He was an intelligent person and extremely well read. He and I shared a mutual interest in History and we had some good talks over the years. My heart goes out to anyone who suffers from this mental health condition and to their family members and/or caregivers. Here’s an excerpt from a letter I received from Bruce in 2002:
“Dear Mark,
I get weaker and weaker and more and more tired every week. There’s no use to tell me to push myself because if I try, I am almost sick the next several days…”
“…I sleep alot during the day and am up at night (because of my meds??) and am so tired…about all I can do is sit in a chair all day (except for appointments, which tire me).”
Here’s to you, Bruce, and thanks for your friendship and being our neighbor for a number of years…
I came across the 1969 Topps Football Card for New York Jets defensive end great, Gerry Philbin, part of the Jets’ team that won Super Bowl III. Gerry was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1941; played high school football at Tolman High School in Pawtucket and went on to play college football at the University of Buffalo. The New York Jets picked him the 3rd round of the 1964 AFL Draft and, even though he was also selected by the Detroit Lions of the NFL in their 1964 Draft, he decided to sign with the Jets because they treated him extremely well and showed more interest in him. He was small for a defensive end, but was known for being a ferocious pass-rusher and had good range, speed and was aggressive and hard hitting. Gerry was one of the leaders of the Jets’ defense. His first season was the first winning season for the Jets. He is a member of the All-Time AFL Team and the Jets Ring of Honor. He recorded 14 1/2 sacks of opposing quarterbacks in 1968. In 1973, he joined the Philadelphia Eagles for one season and finished his career in the short-lived World Football League as a member of the New York Stars in 1974. After football, Gerry owned a sand & gravel business on Long Island and then went into real estate after selling his business. He now lives in Palm Beach Garden, Florida, where he lives close to his grandchildren. Here’s to Gerry Philbin and the amazing 1969 New York Jets, quarterbacked by the legendary Joe “Willie” Namath!
Here’s the fact for the day:
The average U.S. worker stays at each of his/her jobs for 4.4 years.
Here’s the trivia question for the day:
Q: What color M&M is currently voiced by an Oscar-winning actor?
A: At the 87th Academy Awards in 2014, J.K. Simmons took home the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in the film “Whiplash.” making him the first M&M to win an Oscar. Simmons has provided the voice for the bumbling Yellow M&M character since 1996. (J.K. (or “Kim” as he is known to friends like my wife’s sister, Nancy, who knows him from Missoula, Montana days and his connection with The Missoula Children’s Theater). How about that?
Here is the thought for the day: