I was born and grew up in Milan, Tennessee, which is roughly halfway between Memphis and Nashville. My father, an attorney and judge, died when I was 12. My eldest brother had already moved on and the second, eldest son left soon thereafter on a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University. Thereafter, my mother, our high school English teacher, raised me and my disabled sister (Turner's Syndrome). Mother was from a broken home and, in her day, the options were working for one's...
I was born and grew up in Milan, Tennessee, which is roughly halfway between Memphis and Nashville. My father, an attorney and judge, died when I was 12. My eldest brother had already moved on and the second, eldest son left soon thereafter on a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University. Thereafter, my mother, our high school English teacher, raised me and my disabled sister (Turner's Syndrome). Mother was from a broken home and, in her day, the options were working for one's husband, nursing and teaching. She had graduated from Bethel College and began teaching before reaching the age of 20. She became one of the most respected and highly regarded persons in my community as she taught generations of Milan's youth. I grew up a child of modest, financial means as, like today, public teachers were not paid well. To wit, I was most often clad in hand-me-downs. I did, however, live in a culture that placed the highest value on education. When describing my experience, I explain that, "In my family, going off to college was as natural as going to the 9th grade after the 8th."
I enjoyed hunting ducks, fishing and playing football and baseball in my youth. I did not realize at the time that Mother tacitly endorsed these activities because of the fine men that coached or led them. I also spent countless days gardening, picking blackberries and fishing under the tutelage of my paternal grandfather, a prince of a human being.
As a child, I recall being faced with what I now call my first, ethical dilemma. Mother's take was, "Always tell the truth, then you never have to worry about what you said." This adage has helped me more than any advice I ever received.
To this day, I have never rued having grown up a fatherless child.
I am a West Point graduate and, since leaving the Army, have given full chase to pursuing the almighty dollar.
I am now eager to give something back.
