Serve by Design

I stood in the driveway of Dad’s auto repair shop the day he confronted a gentleman representing the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Dad informed the man he was not interested in any such membership even though the fellow said it would only cost around $5.00 for three years. Dad ended the conversation that day by saying, “I’ll give you the five dollars if you’ll get off my driveway. I’ve got work to do!” Floating in the Dead Sea! Image credit: pixabay.com That terse response may have been what further emboldened Dad’s lifetime attitude about aging, “I ain’t old!” And he meant it! He was still showing up at the shop on this ninety-fourth birthday when I pulled up to get him to head out to our favorite restaurant for a barbecue baby back rib dinner! Over the years, we had used his birthday and mine as an annual occasion for such a celebration! I just celebrated my seventy-fifth birthday over a recent weekend that included some of my other favorites that I don’t get too ...

A recent long day of travel home from Albuquerque involved a connecting flight to Chicago. As we landed at Midway, we were tired, hungry and ready to be at our final destination in St. Louis. Little did I know that "a chance encounter" would make the day a lot more enjoyable! We had drawn a good boarding number in the A section and the six of us were standing in the area where lines form before heading down the jetway into the aircraft. Matt and I looked at an athletically built young man and thought we recognized him but couldn’t say how or where. Number 21's Autograph! Go Noooooot!! I happened to be standing next to him in line and immediately noticed he was watching the Friday night Cardinal’s game on his cell phone. That gave me a clue. I boldly asked, “Sir, are you with the organization?” He answered, "Yes. I'm a player." I then pressed, “May I ask, who?” And he readily responded, “Lars Nootbaar.” No sooner had the name come out of his mouth, Matt hande...