The First Man On The Moon
The Year I Sat Next to My Hero
1969 was one of those years that just bends culture in a new direction. In the span of about a month, we landed on the moon, the Manson killings shook California to its core, and a few weeks after that, half a million people showed up in a muddy field in New York for Woodstock.…My Afternoon with Pele
I’ve been lucky throughout my life. More times than I can count, I’ve ended up in the right place at the right time. If I have one real skill, it’s spotting an opportunity and grabbing it before it passes by.
As a teenager, I banged up my knees pretty badly, which knocked me out of the sports I’d been playing and pushed me toward other interests.…
The Backward House
People sometimes use the word “backward” to describe something that’s just not quite right. I once lived in a house like that — literally backward.
It sat in a field behind an industrial strip of shops. The story goes that the city of Hayward, California planned to build a street through that section, then scrapped it — but not before the house got built facing the street that never happened.…
I’ll Get My Degree Later
Finishing my undergraduate degree is one of my greatest accomplishments, but it almost didn’t happen. Being the first in my family expected to graduate, the pressure was on. Yet, in my rush to kickstart my adulthood, I nearly threw it all away—and learned a brutal lesson about corporate loyalty along the way.…
Rocky the Squirrel
There’s a lot of political talk these days about welfare and being “on the dole.” Well, I have a welfare mother at my door every single day. She’s bold enough to walk right up to the patio door, even interrupting Thanksgiving dinner by begging from my family and friends.…
Broncos Training Camp
My senior year of high school was when I decided I wanted to be a professional athletic trainer. Back then, trainers weren’t really a thing at the high school level, but I had a knack for it. And since my knees were already a mess, it felt like a great way to stay connected to sports without being on the field.…