I was born in Spokane and enjoyed living here until the age of 10, when my father accepted a new job and the family moved to Bellingham for 8 years. As a kid, Marc [my younger brother by 13 months – we were known as the Irish twins!] and I played baseball and soccer. My dad taught us both how to chop wood early; I was six. After that, ‘seeing to the wood’ was a regular chore for both of us. Although I attended Pasadena and Ponderosa elementary schools here, my middle and high school years were spent in Bellingham.
When I was a senior, our baseball team competed for the state championship; I was a pitcher. We lost to Mt. Vernon High School. Ug! |
One of the first life lessons I learned was at 11. Dad took us boys hiking in the woods, complete with full packs. We traversed down to a valley, some 4,000 feet below where we’d started. Going down was hard enough, but climbing back up was especially grueling for two kids. Finally, when we reached our way back to the top, dad told us both,
“You’ll never know how high you can climb until you’re forced to.” I never forgot this.
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From a young age on, Dad instilled in me a deep sense of responsibility and personal obligation to our country. I learned all about patriotism from him.
He taught me the importance of giving back to America in gratitude for all the freedoms this country has given to me. |
