Dad didn't speak of his youth much; he had 11 brothers and sisters and did let me know at one point that his father was physically abusive at times. He graduated from Glen Burnie High in Anne Arundel County, MD, and met my mom at a night club where he was a singer. They married on 2/13 when mom was 20 and dad was 26.

Dad had been drafted into the minor leagues: he was a fantastic baseball players. Unfortunately, he was shortly thereafter drafted into the army to fight in the Korean War. It took a toll on him and he received several Purple Hearts, then was honorably discharged when a mortor exploded nearby, leaving him with a severe concussion. He was transported to Germany to recover and then sent home.

Dad served for many years as a Detective with the Anne Arundel County Police force, and was written up several times in the paper for his valor in rescuing a child who had fallen in a pond of ice, leaving him with a broken leg, as well as many other accomplishments.

In his later years, he taught high school students, swam every morning at the Holiday Inn pool on Ritchie Highway before teaching and seemed to enjoy this often frustrating position of teaching teens.

After his retirement, he and mom wanted to live in the country (it was dad's life-long dream) and they built a beautiful home north of Westminster, MD, and lived there happily for several years. My son Corey spent many weekends there with his grandparents until they decided to move to GA after my mom had a short stay in the hospital in Carroll County. I think it frightened dad and he was not certain he could care for her should something happen. But mom is a socialite and quite healthy and I believe the decision was premature.

I was shocked to receive a call from my mom asking if they could leave my sister's home in GA and come live with me, and about how happy I was to care for them. I got my father off of 6 of his 12 medications, mom off of 2 and they both looked like 2 different people 2 months after staying with me. I hired a personal trainer to work out with them both at my home, and dad went from sitting in a chair all day staring at the walls in GA to ditching his walker and going up and down the steps on his own in a month. We had a wonderful helper in my friend, Belinda Carroll, their personal trainer that they loved.

More to come. I have to go for now...