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Then and Now: A Surprise!

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The first car my wife, Patti, bought on her own was a 1969 Karmann ghia that was in awful condition. It was all she could afford in 1979 when she was fresh from college and starting a family with her first husband, Steve, who later died from complications caused by cancer. I noticed one day that she kept a photo in her office that showed her sitting proudly in that piece of junk. The photo was taken in August 1979.

So Tony, my son who loves cars, and I decided to surprise her recently with a completely restored yellow Karmann ghia. It’s a 1970 model.

Sometimes in life, as the old saying goes, “You need to stop and smell the roses.”  Or, in this case, the exhaust.

Happy Labor Day!

August 1979 Picture Karmann Ghia

august 2011

 

A New Website!

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Welcome to my redesigned website and my very first blog entry!

This new design was completed by Tony and Evan, two of my five sons. My original site was created by Tony and a friend, Ryan, nearly a decade ago when they were both in high school. (Yep, they were teenagers when they created it!)  During the past several years, Tony has revised my site and added many new features. But this is the first complete overhaul.

I love it and hope you do too!

One of the improvements is the addition of this blog. Evan, who graduates this year from Virginia Tech, has warned me that blogs should not be diaries. Instead, they should be used to share useful information. I’ll be following Evan’s advice in the coming days by posting some personal items, but mostly writing about mental health, espionage, publishing, and the joy and frustration of being an author.

Although Evan and Tony, who now is a commercial real estate appraiser in Fairfax County, didn’t believe it was still necessary, I am keeping my original guestbook – which now can be found under the title: FEEDBACK . I want readers to be able to sign in and leave comments.

I’ll start posting blog entries on Monday, January 4th, and am planning on putting a new entry on the blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Thanks for visiting and for your support.

Now let’s get started.