Memory is a funny thing…I remember:
- A conversation with Prime Minister Thatcher about her trip to Russia at her son Mark’s engagement party at the American ambassador’s home in London.
- Shaking hands and conversation with Price Charles discussing tech in the north of England during his visit to Dallas.
- Discussing Tang figurines with Chinese vice-premier Li Peng who later served as Premier from 1987-1998 and was instrumental in the Tiananmen Square fiasco.
- Watching baby Chinstrap penguins diving off an iceberg in Antarctica
- Watching Bluefooted boobies nesting happily in the Galapagos Islands
- Making sales calls with Ross Perot
- Standing at ground zero in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and contemplating the horror of a nuclear holocaust
- Shaking hands with Ronald Regan in the Indian Treaty Room of Old Executive Office Building. Noticing his highly shined shoes. Wondering who shined them.
- Meeting with Mayor Giuliani at Grace Mansion and noticing his wrinkled brown suit and brown shoes with scuffed toes.
- Shooting baskets with Roger Staubach in his back yard.
- Photo session and conversation with Michelle and Barrack Obama at a Dallas dinner party
- Playing 18 holes with Arnold Palmer
- Hearing Jack Nicklaus apologize to Sandra for being rude the previous night at dinner.
- Ringing the bell at the NYSE when EDS was listed on the big board in 1996
- Signing EDS’ largest and first megacontract with US Government
- Attending White House Christmas (Holiday) parties with the Obamas
- Playing on the first integrated Jr League baseball team in San Angelo
- Seeing “white’s only” signs on water fountain and waiting room in Texas bus station
- Learning of my father’s combat record in WWII
- Touching the letters of my friend Charley’s name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC
- Learning of Sandra’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis
- Being elected Student Body President at Ames High School after having been a student there less than a year.
- Watching Mohammed Ali light the Olympic cauldron in 1996 in Atlanta
- Being selected as a Distinguished Alumni at ETSU even though I graduated from Baylor
- Enjoying a career of 30 years at EDS. Starting as a trainee in a company of a couple of hundred and retiring as Vice-Chairman with over 40,000 employees
- Giving a speech in french at the grand opening of the EDS data center in Paris
- Seeing all of my children graduate from college in 4 years. It looks like all the grandchildren will too. Just 3 to go.
- Enjoying the benefits of being married to the same wonderful woman for over 60 years.
- Slamming my thumb in the car door on my first car date.
- Learning to drive a John Deere tractor at age 60
- Playing 36 holes with Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach in Mexico.
- Enjoying retirement more than I thought I would.
